More articles from COMMENTARY
- Protecting Mental Health Data Privacy in India: The Case of Data Linkage With Aadhaar
In an underprepared and under-resourced digital mental health system, the linkage of health and personal data with Aadhaar, a biometric system that provides a unique identification number to all Indian residents, poses significant privacy risks to individuals seeking mental health care. We discuss the challenges in protecting mental health data privacy due to these emerging digital health technologies.
- The Conundrum of Low COVID-19 Mortality Burden in sub-Saharan Africa: Myth or Reality?
The demographic age structure of sub-Saharan Africa contributes significantly to the low morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 compared to other regions in the world.
- Social and Political Dimensions of Disseminating Research Findings on Emerging Zoonotic Viruses: Our Experience in Sierra Leone
Disseminating research findings on emerging zoonotic viruses is a complex and sensitive process, particularly in contexts with histories of outbreaks. It requires an operational framework that considers the social and political context of stakeholders aiming to empower people to protect their health, while also supporting government leaders to advance global health security.
- Mind the Global Community Health Funding Gap
Community health workers play a critical role in providing both essential health services and pandemic response. Community health demonstrates a strong return on investment, but funding for this sector is limited and fragmented. Understanding the underlying costs of a community health system is crucial for both planning and policy; the data demonstrate a strong investment case.
- Liberia's Community Health Assistant Program: Scale, Quality, and Resilience
Liberia's community health program went from concept to nationwide scale in 4 years due to the Liberian Government's vision and its partnership with implementing organizations and donors. The next community health policy will tackle the unfinished agenda related to quality, resilience, and sustainability. Liberia's experience offers valuable lessons for innovating, and institutionalizing a compensated, effective cadre of community health assistants.
- Institutionalizing Community Health Services in Kenya: A Policy and Practice Journey
The process of institutionalizing community health services in Kenya required strong leadership by the Ministry of Health, effective coordination and support of stakeholders, and alignment of community health with the political priorities at the national and decentralized government levels to facilitate adequate prioritization and financing of the community health strategy.
- Capturing Acquired Wisdom, Enabling Healthful Aging, and Building Multinational Partnerships Through Senior Global Health Mentorship
The undeniable benefit of mentorship by experience senior mentors can meaningfully increase the breadth of their experience and contributions to society as well as address the dire inequality in global health. This model captures wisdom lost to retirement, enables opportunities for purposeful lifespan, underpins sustainable health care systems, and has the potential for building multinational partnerships.
- Go Where the Virus Is: An HIV Micro-epidemic Control Approach to Stop HIV Transmission
Essentially all HIV transmission is from people living with HIV who are not virally suppressed. An HIV micro-epidemic control approach that differentiates treatment support and prevention services for people living with HIV and their network members according to viral burden could optimize the impact of epidemic control efforts.
- Opportunities and Challenges of Delivering Postabortion Care and Postpartum Family Planning During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Devoting scarce health resources to meet the family planning needs of pregnant, postabortion, and postpartum women during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is an investment against higher health systems burdens during subsequent waves of the pandemic and a means to save lives and improve livelihoods.
- Beyond No Blame: Practical Challenges of Conducting Maternal and Perinatal Death Reviews in Eastern Ethiopia
Lack of a professional body to address patients’ complaints regarding quality of health care and absence of clear medicolegal guidance hamper maternal death reviews in Ethiopia.