Contributions of non-governmental organizations to WHO targets for control of soil-transmitted helminthiases

Soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) may affect up to 1 billion children globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends regular preventive chemotherapy for at-risk individuals. The WHO Preventive Chemotherapy (PCT) Databank tracks annual treatments reported by national Ministries of Health (MOHs) to evaluate progress to coverage goals. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) deliver STH treatments; the extent to which they are included in MOH reports to the WHO is unclear. The Global NGO Deworming Inventory solicited treatment reports from NGOs to compare with the PCT Databank. In 2010, NGOs delivered 65.4 million STH treatments, which is an estimated 25.1% of the total delivered. Of these treatments, 23.3 million (35.6%) were not reported to the WHO; 22.3 million (95.7%) were from countries that had not submitted STH treatment reports to the WHO. Reporting from NGOs to MOHs and from MOHs to the WHO should be strengthened to ensure that progress to WHO treatment goals is monitored with better completeness and assessed accurately.

Analyzing health organizations' use of Twitter for promoting health literacy

This study explored health-related organizations' use of Twitter in delivering health literacy messages. A content analysis of 571 tweets from health-related organizations revealed that the organizations' tweets were often quoted or retweeted by other Twitter users. Nonprofit organizations and community groups had more tweets about health literacy than did other types of health-related organizations examined, including health business corporations, educational institutions, and government agencies. Tweets on health literacy topics focused predominantly on using simple language rather than complicated language. The results suggest that health organizations need a more strategic approach to managing positive organizational self-presentations in order to create an optimal level of exposure on social networking sites.

Faith-based aid, globalisation and the humanitarian frontline: an analysis of Western-based Muslim aid organisations

This paper focuses on the emergence and modus operandi of Muslim faith-based aid organisations from the West, particularly those from the United Kingdom. Through case studies of Islamic Relief Worldwide and Muslim Hands, it examines the actual and potential added value generated by these humanitarian players in Muslim-majority contexts at times when aid actors from or associated with the West are being perceived by some as instrumental to the political agendas of Western powers, or are being confronted with the consequences thereof. The study analyses Muslim faith-based aid organisations' transnational networks, their implementing partnerships with local faith-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and their security position within and their access to insecure contexts, drawing on field examples and opinion from Central Asia, Iraq and Pakistan. It thereby argues that there is ground for an expansion of the role of Muslim aid actors, because of the existence of social and political realities in the field that cannot be always effectively tackled by the dominant international development approaches.

The politics of risk in the Philippines: comparing state and NGO perceptions of disaster management

It is now generally appreciated that what constitutes vulnerability to one person is not necessarily perceived as such by the next. Different actors 'see' disasters as different types of events and as a result they prepare for, manage and record them in very different ways. This paper explores what different perceptions of vulnerability mean in terms of the understanding and practices of two significant sets of actors and stakeholders involved in disaster preparedness and management in the Philippines: the state and NGOs. Approaches to disaster are not just a function of people's perceptions of disaster risk but also of their understanding of the prevailing social order and social relations. Despite a shared vocabulary-which increasingly presents disasters as processes rather than events, takes a proactive rather than a reactive approach, and favours the inclusion of stakeholders rather than solely relying on technocratic management-different realities continue to make for different responses.

Suicide assisted by two Swiss right-to-die organisations

BACKGROUND

In Switzerland, non-medical right-to-die organisations such as Exit Deutsche Schweiz and Dignitas offer suicide assistance to members suffering from incurable diseases.

OBJECTIVES

First, to determine whether differences exist between the members who received assistance in suicide from Exit Deutsche Schweiz and Dignitas. Second, to investigate whether the practices of Exit Deutsche Schweiz have changed since the 1990s.

METHODS

This study analysed all cases of assisted suicide facilitated by Exit Deutsche Schweiz (E) and Dignitas (D) between 2001 and 2004 and investigated by the University of Zurich's Institute of Legal Medicine (E: n = 147; D: n = 274, total: 421). Furthermore, data from the Exit Deutsche Schweiz study which investigated all cases of assisted suicide during the period 1990-2000 (n = 149) were compared with the data of the present study.

RESULTS

More women than men were assisted in both organisations (D: 64%; E: 65%). Dignitas provided more assistance to non-residents (D: 91%; E: 3%; p = 0.000), younger persons (mean age in years (SD): D: 64.5 (14.1); E: 76.6 (13.3); p = 0.001), and people suffering from fatal diseases such as multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (D: 79%; E: 67%; p = 0.013). Lethal medications were more often taken orally in cases assisted by Dignitas (D: 91%; E: 76%; p = 0.000). The number of women and the proportion of older people suffering from non-fatal diseases among suicides assisted by Exit Deutsche Schweiz has increased since the 1990s (women: 52% to 65%, p = 0.031; mean age in years (SD): 69.3 (17.0) to 76.9 (13.3), p = 0.000), non-fatal diseases: 22% to 34%, p = 0.026).

CONCLUSIONS

Weariness of life rather than a fatal or hopeless medical condition may be a more common reason for older members of Exit Deutsche Schweiz to commit suicide. The strong over-representation of women in both Exit Deutsche Schweiz and Dignitas suicides is an important phenomenon so far largely overlooked and in need of further study.

Determinants of malnutrition in Senegal: individual, household, community variables, and their interaction

The relationship between poverty and nutrition is a two-sided one: on the one hand, economic growth (which is generally associated with an eradication of poverty) leads to reduced malnutrition. On the other hand, nutrition is one of the key ingredients for human capital formation, which in turn represents one of the fundamental factors of growth. There are numerous studies that show the correlates of malnutrition using both household- and community-level variables. However, few of these studies allow for the potential endogeneity of community infrastructure or indicate their interplay with characteristics of the mother. The current study considers the socio-economic determinants of child malnutrition and investigates how programs compensate for the increased risks facing young mothers and their children or substitute for a low social status of the mother in the household. The empirical results show that children of mothers giving birth at a young age are disadvantaged in terms of their anthropometric status. Interaction effects of the presence of a non-governmental organization (NGO) or a health post in the village with characteristics of the mother stress the important role played by these institutions in helping disadvantaged mothers overcome their difficulties. These findings have implications for efficient program design and represent a further step towards gaining an improved understanding of the complex determinants of child (mal)nutrition.

Variations In The Quality Of Care Accessible To Rural Communities In Tanzania

The government of Tanzania has made access to health care a priority. In particular, it has made great efforts to increase the number of facilities available to the rural population. By examining one such rural area, we find that although facilities exist and are staffed with competent clinicians, the quality of care received by patients visiting government facilities is subpar, especially that received by the poor in rural areas compared with urban areas. Importantly, nongovernmental organization (NGO) facilities provide better and more consistent care across the rural-urban divide. Access to high-quality care is inequitable, and this inequality is not inevitable.

YMCA Hiking Patterns at Rocky Mountain National Park: Implications for Public Health

Background:

There is little data on hiking patterns in national parks to support hiking behavior as a vehicle to meet the joint YMCA, CDC, and National Park Service initiatives to encourage physical activity through public land use.

Methods:

The YMCA of the Rockies hiking program provided data from Hike Report forms completed after 343 supervised hikes for one summer season in Rocky Mountain National Park (ROMO) to assess visitor hiking patterns.

Results:

Of the total hikes, 64.4% were categorized as easy, 27.1% moderate, and 8.5% difficult. There were 1937 individual hikers which represented 13.3% of the estimated potential hiker sample. The majority of hikers (69%) only took easy hikes with 72.7% participating in only one hike and 27.3% doing two or more hikes. Energy cost estimates for hike categories indicated mean MET levels between 4.0 to 5.7.

Conclusion:

Hiking patterns at ROMO may be reflective of general population inactivity suggesting the need to design strategies to promote visitor hiking.

Validating Neonatal Mortality and Use of NGO Reproductive Health Outreach Services in Rural Bangladesh

Although the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) in Bangladesh remained steady between 1995-99 and 1999-2003 (41-42 deaths per 1,000 live births), evidence from the management information system (MIS) of a large nongovernmental organization (NGO) program indicates that the NMR declined by about 50 percent between 1996 and 2002 in the area served. This study aims to validate the recording of neonatal deaths among the cohort of children registered as born in 2003 and to assess the evidence of a decline in the NMR. It also measures the coverage of reproductive health outreach services, focusing on 12 of the 27 NGOs that have provided services in the same areas since 1996. Field-workers' registers, verbal autopsy reports, and immunization records were checked to confirm infants' survival. Interviews were conducted with 142 mothers of children who died within 28 days postpartum and with a random sample of 109 women with registered stillbirths. Out of 11,253 registered live births in 2003, 210 neonatal deaths were found, compared with 194 deaths that were reported in the MIS for 2003. The corrected NMR was 19 deaths per 1,000 live births, and it was in the range of 15-29 deaths per 1,000 live births in 11 of the NGO areas. Because underreporting of neonatal deaths was probably higher in 1996 when the MIS-reported NMR was 39 deaths per 1,000 live births, the decline in the NMR is likely to have been genuine.

The Dutch heart health community intervention ‘Hartslag Limburg’: results of an effect study at organizational level

BACKGROUND

'Hartslag Limburg', a cardiovascular diseases (CVD) prevention programme, integrates a community strategy and a high-risk strategy to reduce CVD risk behaviours. This article presents the results of the effect evaluation study of the community intervention at the organizational level. Organizational changes were an intermediate goal of the Hartslag Limburg community intervention, as these are assumed to be a prerequisite for changes at the individual level.

METHODS

A baseline-post-test control group design was used. The baseline measurement was conducted in 1998 and the post-test measurement in 2001. At baseline, 700 organizations were selected in the Maastricht region, and 577 in a control region. All organizations that were potentially significant agents in health-promoting activities were included. Data on organizational involvement in health-promoting activities were gathered by means of structured questionnaires, and sent to organization representatives by mail.

RESULTS

The overall post-test percentage of organizations involved in at least one activity relating to physical activity was higher in the Maastricht region than in the control region. Furthermore, the number of activities per organization involved in activities relating to healthy eating, smoking behaviour or physical activity was higher in the Maastricht region than in the control region at post-test.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provided valuable information about organizational involvement in health-promoting activities, as well as important information to consider in future research in this area. Due to the limitations of the study, the importance of measuring change at different social levels in community-based programmes, and the scarcity of effect studies of community interventions at the organizational level, further research on this subject is warranted.

Registro español sobre organización, recursos y actividades en Cardiología Pediátrica

INTRODUCTION

We present the findings of the registry of activities and resources of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Cardiology in 2002, with the objective of providing a national reference for professionals and entities involved in the study and treatment of congenital heart defects.

METHODS

Data were retrospectively collected through questionnaires sent from the Spanish Society of Pediatric Cardiology to the heads of pediatric cardiology units with medical and surgical activities, as well as to all the members of the Society and those of the Pediatric Cardiology Section of the Spanish Society of Cardiology.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight centers, including 17 national centers with medical and surgical activities, completed the questionnaire. Human resources consisted of 110 cardiologists, 43 surgeons and 12 residents in training. All the centers had the elementary tools for diagnosis and all except one had Echo-2D-Doppler. There were eight catheterization laboratories exclusively used for pediatric activities and nine further laboratories that combined adult and pediatric activities. A total of 83,061 patients were attended in outpatient clinics and there were 6,938 hospital admissions in 22 centres. A total of 279 ablation procedures were performed in 12 electrophysiology laboratories. The seventeen centres with surgical activities performed 2,498 cardiac catheterisms (968 interventional) and 2,292 cardiac surgical interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the large number of participating centers, the present report provides exhaustive information on the organization, resources and activities of pediatric cardiology in Spain. Pediatric cardiology should be granted official recognition of its work so that teaching hospitals, organization, resources and activities can be regulated.

The right-to-die movement: extrapolating from the National Hemlock Society U.S.A. membership survey

A national membership survey of Hemlock Society USA was conducted by Fox and Kamakahi (1995). Respondents (N=6398) were asked a variety of questions, but in this paper we perform a longitudinal analysis of the characteristics of Hemlock Society USA members. Hemlock Society USA members are divided into three 5-year cohorts: Early Joiners (11 or more years of membership), Middle Joiners (6 to 10 years membership), and Late Joiners (5 or fewer years of membership). Differences between cohorts are examined and extrapolations made regarding Hemlock Society USA and the Right-to-Die Movement. A series of one-way ANOVAs were used with Scheme post-hoc comparisons as heuristic tools for assessing between-cohort differences. Late Joiners are different from earlier members, but are more like other Hemlock Society USA members than the adult U.S. population at large. Hemlock Society USA members are essentially societal "elites" (based on socio-demographic variables) who work in social environments that are decidedly split on the issue of voluntary suicide and euthanasia.

Conflicts among human values and trust in institutions

Institutions contribute to maintaining social order and stability in society. At the same time, they restrain the freedom of individuals. Based on the theory of value structure and content (Schwartz, 1992), we hypothesized about the relations of people's trust in institutions to their value priorities. More precisely, we predicted and found that the level of trust in various institutions correlated positively with values that stress stability, protection, and preservation of traditional practices, and negatively with values that emphasize independent thought and action and favour change. In addition, we demonstrated that groups defined on the basis of religious affiliation or political orientation exhibited contrasting value priorities on the same bipolar dimension. Moreover, differences in value priorities accounted for the fact that religious individuals and right-wing supporters expressed more trust in institutions than non-religious individuals and left-wing supporters.

Organizational impact in the dermatologic literature

We revisit our citation data derived from 58,201 articles published between 1981 and 1994 in the 17 top-ranked peer-reviewed international dermatology journals to identify the institutions that house the people who have made the greatest impact on the dermatologic literature during this period. Using these citation data, we estimate an institution's impact in 2 ways. First, institutions are ranked by the gross number of citations to articles from 1981 to 1994 accurred during this same period. To recognize institutions whose articles, on average, have received higher numbers of citations, we also rank institutions by the average number of citations received by each article published by a particular institution (blended impact factor).

State tobacco lobbyists and organizations in the United States: crossed lines

OBJECTIVES

This research took a quantitative look at state-level tobacco lobbying in the United States.

METHODS

Publicly available lobbying data were collected from all states during 1994. Data were compiled on tobacco industry lobbyists, their tobacco employers, health lobbyists, and factors associated with such lobbying.

RESULTS

In 1994, 450 tobacco industry lobbyists lobbied at a state level. Most lobbying was on behalf of four organizations: Philip Morris (34%), the Tobacco Institute (21%), RJ Reynolds (17%), and the Smokeless Tobacco Council (15%). Approximately one half of all tobacco lobbyists also lobbied for a health-related organization (e.g., state medical association, hospital, physician association).

CONCLUSIONS

All US states have tobacco lobbyists. Many health organizations knowingly or unknowingly employ lobbyists who also lobby for the tobacco industry.

Buying groups seek compliance

Purchasing groups are trying harder than ever to entice hospitals into buying a greater percentage of products through group contracts, and to tackle the old obstacle of contract compliance, according to Modern Healthcare's 1994 purchasing survey.