How can health ministries present persuasive investment plans for women's, children's and adolescents' health?

Most low- and middle-income countries face financing pressures if they are to adequately address the recommendations of the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescent's Health. Negotiations between government ministries of health and finance are a key determinant of the level and effectiveness of public expenditure in the health sector. Yet ministries of health in low- and middle-income countries do not always have a good record in obtaining additional resources from key decision-making institutions. This is despite the strong evidence about the affordability and cost-effectiveness of many public health interventions and of the economic returns of investing in health. This article sets out 10 attributes of effective budget requests that can address the analytical needs and perspectives of ministries of finance and other financial decision-makers. We developed the list based on accepted economic principles, a literature review and a workshop in June 2015 involving government officials and other key stakeholders from low- and middle-income countries. The aim is to support ministries of health to present a more strategic and compelling plan for investments in the health of women, children and adolescents.

La plupart des pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire font face à des contraintes de financement pour pouvoir suivre correctement les recommandations de la Stratégie mondiale pour la santé de la femme, de l'enfant et de l'adolescent. Les négociations entre le ministère de la Santé et celui des Finances sont un déterminant clé de l'importance et de l'efficacité des dépenses publiques en matière de santé. Or, dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire, le ministère de la Santé ne parvient pas toujours à obtenir des ressources supplémentaires de la part des grandes institutions décisionnaires, en dépit d'éléments démontrant l'abordabilité et la rentabilité de nombreuses actions de santé publique et du rendement économique des investissements dans le domaine de la santé. Cet article présente 10 caractéristiques convaincantes de demandes de crédits permettant de tenir compte des besoins analytiques et des perspectives des ministères des Finances et d'autres décisionnaires financiers. Nous avons établi cette liste à partir des principes économiques courants, d'une analyse documentaire et d'un atelier organisé en juin 2015, auquel ont participé des représentants de gouvernements et d'autres acteurs clés de pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire. L'objectif est d'aider les ministères de la Santé à présenter un plan d'investissement plus stratégique et plus convaincant dans le domaine de la santé de la femme, de l'enfant et de l'adolescent.

La mayoría de los países con ingresos bajos y medios afrontan presiones de financiación para poder abordar de forma adecuada las recomendaciones de la Estrategia Mundial para la Salud de la Mujer, el Niño y el Adolescente. Las negociaciones entre los ministerios de sanidad y economía son un determinante fundamental del nivel y eficacia del gasto público en el sector sanitario. Aun así, los ministerios de salud de países con ingresos bajos y medios no siempre cuentan con una buena trayectoria a la hora de obtener recursos adicionales de instituciones fundamentales para la toma de decisiones. Esto se produce a pesar de la fuerte prueba acerca de la asequibilidad y rentabilidad de muchas intervenciones de salud pública y de los beneficios económicos de la inversión en sanidad. Este artículo presenta 10 características de solicitudes presupuestarias eficaces que pueden abordar las necesidades analíticas y las perspectivas de los ministerios de economía y otros responsables de la toma de decisiones financieras. La lista se desarrolló en base a los principios económicos aceptados, una revisión bibliográfica y un taller realizado en junio de 2015 en el que participaron funcionarios del gobierno y otras partes interesadas fundamentales de países con ingresos bajos y medios. El objetivo es dar apoyo a los ministerios de salud para que presenten un plan más estratégico y completo para invertir en la salud de mujeres, niños y adolescentes.

Advancing social and economic development by investing in women's and children's health: a new Global Investment Framework.

A new Global Investment Framework for Women's and Children's Health demonstrates how investment in women's and children's health will secure high health, social, and economic returns. We costed health systems strengthening and six investment packages for: maternal and newborn health, child health, immunisation, family planning, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. Nutrition is a cross-cutting theme. We then used simulation modelling to estimate the health and socioeconomic returns of these investments. Increasing health expenditure by just $5 per person per year up to 2035 in 74 high-burden countries could yield up to nine times that value in economic and social benefits. These returns include greater gross domestic product (GDP) growth through improved productivity, and prevention of the needless deaths of 147 million children, 32 million stillbirths, and 5 million women by 2035. These gains could be achieved by an additional investment of $30 billion per year, equivalent to a 2% increase above current spending.

Quality of hospital care for children in Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, and Russia: systematic observational assessment.

BACKGROUND: Major concerns about the quality of basic hospital care for children have been raised in developing countries, but no formal assessment applying international standards has been done in the Commonwealth of Independent States. METHODS: We assessed 17 hospitals in Kazakhstan, the Republic of Moldova, and the Russian Federation with a generic WHO hospital assessment framework adapted for use in the WHO European region. WHO management guidelines for paediatric care in peripheral hospitals were used as standards. FINDINGS: Hospital access for children was generally good. Good health networks existed, and skilled and committed doctors cared for children. Case-fatality rates were low. However, unnecessary and lengthy hospital stays were common, and most children received excessive and ineffective treatment (in one country median number of drugs prescribed concurrently was 5, IQR 2-6). Several conditions were systematically overdiagnosed, especially neurological disease, or overinvestigated, such as acute diarrhoea. Reasons for these practices included absence of clear evidence-based clinical guidelines, regulations tying duration of admission to financial reimbursement, generalisation of disease-control methods from rare problems to common illnesses, and regulations maintaining financial and professional status of some subspecialties. Many disincentives to efficient practice existed. INTERPRETATION: To improve quality of hospital care for children in the Commonwealth of Independent States, several issues must be addressed, including: adoption of international guidelines for inpatient management; complementary guidelines for outpatient management; reforms to health regulations governing admission and discharge criteria; improvement of quality of training, availability of medical information, and systems to promote and certify quality of care.

Child and adolescent health and development in a European perspective--a new WHO strategy--secondary publication.

In general, children and adolescents in the WHO European Region today have better nutrition, health and development than ever before. There are striking inequalities in health status across the 52 countries in the Region, however, with over ten-fold differences in infant and child mortality rates. Inequalities are also growing within countries, and several health threats are emerging. Against this background, the WHO Regional Office for Europe has developed a European strategy for child and adolescent health and development. The purpose of the Strategy, together with a tool kit for implementation, is to assist member states in formulating their own policies and programmes.

Elimination of HIV infection in infants in Europe--challenges and demand for response.

Effective interventions for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection now exist and where these are fully implemented, MTCT rates of 1-2% are achievable. Virtual elimination of HIV in infants by 2010 has therefore been set as a goal for European region. There are, however, many challenges. The eastern European and central Asian countries are facing the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world with a dramatic increase in numbers of HIV-positive pregnancies and new HIV infected infants. Nevertheless, the prevalence of HIV among pregnant women is still relatively low and the high coverage with antenatal care provide an opportunity to decrease the number of new HIV cases among infants to minimal level. The challenge is to move national strategies for prevention of HIV infection among infants from a disease-focused vertical approach towards effective preventive interventions integrated into mother-child health (MCH) and reproductive health services. The scaling up of prevention interventions among those most at risk and hard-to-reach women are key priority actions. This goes beyond clinical care and needs to include a range of care and protection issues, both in health institutions and in the community. The WHO Regional Office for Europe, together with other UNAIDS co-sponsors, has developed a regional strategic framework for prevention of HIV infection in infants. The strategic framework promotes a comprehensive approach comprising the four interrelated elements: (1) primary prevention of HIV infection; (2) prevention of unintended pregnancies among HIV-infected women; (3) prevention of HIV transmission from HIV-infected women to their children; (4) provision of care and support to HIV-infected women, their infants and families. Implementation of all four pillars of the strategic framework would help European countries to achieve the goal of virtual elimination of HIV infection in infants.

Improving family and community health in eastern Europe--the lifecycle approach at WHO.

There are great differences in the health status of young children in the European Region. Central Asia and the Caucasus are the worst-off areas. After reviewing under-five mortality in the eight countries of this part of Eastern Europe, a new WHO strategy to improve child survival is presented. Adopted in late 2005, the strategy has four main principles: a lifecycle approach, youth participation, equity and intersectoral collaboration.

[Child and adolescent health in a European perspective--a new WHO-strategy]. / Børne- og ungdomssundhed i et europaeisk perspektiv--en ny WHO-strategi.

In general, children and adolescents in the WHO European Region have better nutrition, health and development today than ever before. However, there are striking inequalities in health status across the 52 countries in the Region with over ten-fold differences in infant and child mortality rates. Inequalities are also growing within countries, and several health threats are emerging. To prevent this, the WHO Regional Office for Europe has developed a European strategy for child and adolescent health and development. The strategy, and its tool kit for implementation, aims to assist Member States in formulating their own policies and programmes.

Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection: Ukraine experience to date.

BACKGROUND: Despite the availability of effective interventions for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), questions remain regarding implementation of programmes in settings with limited resources. This article sets out to describe the first 2 years of the implementation of the national PMTCT programme in Ukraine. METHODS: National data sources and data from a cohort of pregnant HIV-infected women delivering in 13 centres in Ukraine since 2000 were analysed. RESULTS: Interventions for prevention of MTCT have been implemented as a national programme within Ukraine's well developed infrastructure for maternal and child health. Implementation of an 'opt-out' model of counselling and HIV testing in antenatal clinics resulted in a 97% uptake of women who agreed to be HIV tested. In 2002, approximately 91% of HIV-positive pregnant women received ARV prophylaxis (mainly single-dose nevirapine or short-course zidovudine) for PMTCT. The MTCT rate has decreased from 30% in 2000 to 10% in 2002. The need to scale-up prevention interventions in pregnant women with risky behaviour and late access to medical services was identified in a review of the national programme in 2003. CONCLUSIONS: Further implementation of a comprehensive approach for the prevention of HIV infection in infants, including more extensive ART regimen, as recommended by WHO, would help Ukraine to achieve the strategic goal of virtual elimination of HIV infection in infants by 2010.