Outbreak of type 1 wild poliovirus infection in adults, Namibia, 2006.

A paralytic poliomyelitis outbreak occurred in Namibia in 2006, almost exclusively among adults. Nineteen cases were virologically confirmed as due to wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), and 26 were classified as polio compatible. Eleven deaths occurred among confirmed and compatible cases (24%). Of the confirmed cases, 97% were aged 15-45 years, 89% were male, and 71% lived in settlement areas in Windhoek. The virus was genetically related to a virus detected in 2005 in Angola, which had been imported earlier from India. The outbreak is likely due to immunity gaps among adults who were inadequately vaccinated during childhood. This outbreak underscores the ongoing risks posed by poliovirus importations, the importance of maintaining strong acute flaccid paralysis surveillance even in adults, and the need to maintain high population immunity to avoid polio outbreaks in the preeradication period and outbreaks due to vaccine-derived polioviruses in the posteradication era.

Equity in health care in Namibia: developing a needs-based resource allocation formula using principal components analysis.

BACKGROUND: The pace of redressing inequities in the distribution of scarce health care resources in Namibia has been slow. This is due primarily to adherence to the historical incrementalist type of budgeting that has been used to allocate resources. Those regions with high levels of deprivation and relatively greater need for health care resources have been getting less than their fair share. To rectify this situation, which was inherited from the apartheid system, there is a need to develop a needs-based resource allocation mechanism. METHODS: Principal components analysis was employed to compute asset indices from asset based and health-related variables, using data from the Namibia demographic and health survey of 2000. The asset indices then formed the basis of proposals for regional weights for establishing a needs-based resource allocation formula. RESULTS: Comparing the current allocations of public sector health car resources with estimates using a needs based formula showed that regions with higher levels of need currently receive fewer resources than do regions with lower need. CONCLUSION: To address the prevailing inequities in resource allocation, the Ministry of Health and Social Services should abandon the historical incrementalist method of budgeting/resource allocation and adopt a more appropriate allocation mechanism that incorporates measures of need for health care.

Technical efficiency of district hospitals: evidence from Namibia using data envelopment analysis.

BACKGROUND: In most countries of the sub-Saharan Africa, health care needs have been increasing due to emerging and re-emerging health problems. However, the supply of health care resources to address the problems has been continuously declining, thus jeopardizing the progress towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals. Namibia is no exception to this. It is therefore necessary to quantify the level of technical inefficiency in the countries so as to alert policy makers of the potential resource gains to the health system if the hospitals that absorb a lion's share of the available resources are technically efficient. METHOD: All public sector hospitals (N = 30) were included in the study. Hospital capacity utilization ratios and the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique were used to assess technical efficiency. The DEA model used three inputs and two outputs. Data for four financial years (1997/98 to 2000/2001) was used for the analysis. To test for the robustness of the DEA technical efficiency scores the Jackknife analysis was used. RESULTS: The findings suggest the presence of substantial degree of pure technical and scale inefficiency. The average technical efficiency level during the given period was less than 75%. Less than half of the hospitals included in the study were located on the technically efficient frontier. Increasing returns to scale is observed to be the predominant form of scale inefficiency. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the existing level of pure technical and scale inefficiency of the district hospitals is considerably high and may negatively affect the government's initiatives to improve access to quality health care and scaling up of interventions that are necessary to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals. It is recommended that the inefficient hospitals learn from their efficient peers identified by the DEA model so as to improve the overall performance of the health system.

The global campaign against epilepsy in Africa.

One of the leading brain disorders in developing countries is represented by epilepsy. It is estimated that 80% of people suffering from epilepsy around the world, reside in developing world such as Africa. Many perinatal and postnatal causes are brain-stressers in people suffering from malnutrition and low economical conditions. This context is characterised by long delay before modern treatment, reduced number and financial inaccessibility to anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) and limited human and technical resources for epilepsy. Cultural interpretation also contributes to exclude epileptic patients from the educational and productive fields, aggravating the burden they face and favouring a treatment gap estimated to 80%. To fight against this dramatic reality, a partnership has been built between the International League against Epilepsy, the International Bureau for Epilepsy and the World Health Organisation, named the "Global Campaign Against Epilepsy" "Epilepsy Out of the Shadows" to reduce treatment gap and social and physical burden, educate health personnel, dispel stigma, support prevention.

Prioritizing the PMTCT implementation research agenda in 3 African countries: INtegrating and Scaling up PMTCT through Implementation REsearch (INSPIRE).

Countries with high HIV prevalence face the challenge of achieving high coverage of antiretroviral drug regimens interventions including for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). In 2011, the World Health Organization and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Canada, launched a joint implementation research (IR) initiative to increase access to effective PMTCT interventions. Here, we describe the process used for prioritizing PMTCT IR questions in Malawi, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Policy makers, district health workers, academics, implementing partners, and persons living with HIV were invited to 2-day workshops in each country. Between 42 and 70 representatives attended each workshop. Using the Child Health Nutrition Research Initiative process, stakeholder groups systematically identified programmatic barriers and formulated IR questions that addressed these challenges. IR questions were scored by individual participants according to 6 criteria: (1) answerable by research, (2) likely to reduce pediatric HIV infections, (3) addresses main barriers to scaling-up, (4) innovation and originality, (5) improves equity among underserved populations, and (6) likely value to policy makers. Highest scoring IR questions included health system approaches for integrating and decentralization services, ways of improving retention-in-care, bridging gaps between health facilities and communities, and increasing male partner involvement. The prioritized questions reflect the diversity of health care settings, competing health challenges and local and national context. The differing perspectives of policy makers, researchers, and implementers illustrate the value of inclusive research partnerships. The participatory Child Health Nutrition Research Initiative approach effectively set national PMTCT IR priorities, promoted country ownership, and strategically allocated research resources.