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Access to HIV and AIDS care: persons with disabilities still left behind

MAC-SEING, Muriel
October 2015

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This article presents disability-inclusive good practices, policy and program related opportunities. It highlights a series of facts and figures related to people with disabilities and HIV infection and the interaction between HIV and disability.  The article goes on to outline Handicap International’s proposal to “remove HIV-related barriers for persons with disabilities” in a two-track approach that includes decision makers, service providers, and service users. Finally, the article shares discussions of successful inclusive practices involving HIV and persons with disabilities in various communities around the world and the key challenges and opportunities to include disability into HIV and AIDS

"I washed and fed my mother before going to school" : understanding the psychosocial well-being of children providing chronic care for adults affected by HIV/AIDS in Western Kenya

SKOVDAL, Morten
OGUTU, Vincent O
August 2009

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This paper presents three case studies of young people each of whom is a primary caregiver for a relative living with HIV. They are drawn from a study in Western Kenya of how well children cope with the challenges of chronic care and the psycho-social impact it has on them

The health worker shortage in Africa : are enough physicians and nurses being trained?

KINFU, Yohannes
et al
February 2009

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"The health worker shortage in sub-Saharan Africa derives from many causes, yet the dynamics of entry into and exit from the health workforce in many of these countries remain poorly understood. This limits the capacity of national governments and their international development partners to design and implement appropriate intervention programmes. This paper provides some of this information through the first systematic estimates of health worker inflow and outflow in selected sub-Saharan African countries"

Antimalarial drug quality in the most severely malarious parts of Africa - a six country study

BATE, Roger
COTICELLI, Philip
TREN, Richard
ATTARAN, Amir
May 2008

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This article describes research conducted on a range of antimalarial drugs, procured from private pharmacies in urban and peri-urban areas in the major cities of six African countries which were subjected to semi-quantitative thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and dissolution testing to measure active pharmaceutical ingredient content against internationally acceptable standards

An electronic medical record system for ambulatory care of HIV-infected patients in Kenya

SIIKA, A M
et al
2005

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The faculty at Moi University in Kenya and Indiana University in the USA opened adult and pediatric HIV clinics in a national referral hospital, a district hospital, and six rural health centers in western Kenya using a newly developed electronic medical record system (EMR) to support comprehensive outpatient HIV/AIDS care. The EMR contains more than 30,000 visit records for more than 4,000 patients, almost half taking antiretroviral drugs. This article describes the development and structure of this EMR and plans for future development that include wireless connections, tablet computers, and migration to a Web-based platform

Children with hydrocephalus and spina bifida in East Africa : can family and community resources improve the odds?

MILES, M
2002

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Hydrocephalus and spina bifida are life threatening conditions that often result in severe dsabilities. Risks are much reduced by immediate surgery and careful managment, but neither has been available for most of the sub-Saharan African population. This paper traces the growth of solutions and some socio-cultural resources that historically have supported family and community care for children with severe disabilities, mainly in Tanzania, and nearby countries. Some community-based rehabilitation (CBR) work with children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus is described, and challenges to the CBR approach are noted from the increased survival of people with disabilities requiring complex care. More appropriate information, recognition of indigenous knowledge, enlistment of community resources and financial assistance are needed to enhance the lives of East Africans with hydrocephalus, spina bifida and other severely disabling conditions

Using evidence to change antimalarial drug policy in Kenya

SHRETTA, R
et al
November 2000

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This review analyses the range and quality of the evidence base that was used to change the drug policy in Kenya from chloroquine to SP and examines the process of consensus building and decision making. The review illustrates the difficulties in translating sensitivity data with gross geographical, temporal and methodological variations into national treatment policy. The process was complicated by limited options, unknown adverse effects of replacement therapies, cost, as well as limited guidance on factors pertinent to changing the drug policy for malaria. Although more than 50% of the studies showed parasitological failures by 1995, there was a general lack of consensus on the principles for assessing drug failures, the inclusion criteria for the study subjects and the relative benefits of parasitological and clinical assessments. A change in international recommendations for assessment of drug efficacy in 1996 from parasitological to clinical response further perplexed the decisions. There is an urgent need for international standards and evidence-based guidelines to provide a framework to assist the process by which decision-makers in malaria-endemic countries can make rational choices for antimalarial drug policy change

Maintenance and sustained use of insecticide-treated bednets and curtains three years after a controlled trial in western Kenya

KACHUR, S Patrick
et al
November 1999

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While few questions remain about the efficacy of insecticide-treated materials (ITM) intervention, operational issues around how to implement and sustain ITM projects need attention. This article describes a study of the results of a small-scale ITM intervention trial, 3 years after the project ended, to assess how local attitudes and practices had changed

Changing home treatment of childhood fevers by training shop keepers in rural Kenya

MARSH, V M
et al
May 1999

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Malaria control in Africa relies primarily on early effective treatment for clinical disease, but most early treatments for fever occur through self-medication with shop-bought drugs. Lack of information to community members on over-the-counter drug use has led to widespread ineffective treatment of fevers, increased risks of drug toxicity and accelerating drug resistance. This study examined the feasibility and measured the likely impact of training shop keepers in rural Africa on community drug use. It concludes that this approach is both feasible and likely to have a significant impact

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