Health literacy, the role of beliefs and barriers in Afghanistan. A quantitative study

The concept of health literacy (HL) is of growing interest worldwide but little is known about the status of HL in crisis-affected countries such as Afghanistan. Afghan health professionals report that HL and the health status are very poor and  cultural and religious belief and various barriers influence the health-related behavior. Following the assumption that improving HL may increase adequate health behavior, to measure HL and perception is of political , scientific and practical relevance. 

Towards universal health coverage and sustainable financing in Afghanistan: progress and challenges

Afghanistan has made impressive progress in introducing primary health care across the country over the last fifteen years. In the face of the diverse challenges ranging from persistent insecurity, conservative social norms, weak public financing, and reducing donor aid, Afghanistan is arguably among one of the most challenging contexts to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). Therefore, it is important to consider additional avenues towards UHC while building on the progress in coverage and financing of primary health care to date.
The right to health is considered a fundamental human right and UHC has gained prominence globally as a goal for countries in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UHC is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as: “access to key promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health
interventions for all at an affordable cost, thereby achieving equity in access.

Effects of Training Health Workers in Integrated Management of Childhood Illness on Quality of Care for Under-5 Children in Primary Healthcare Facilities in Afghanistan

Training courses in integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) have been conducted for health workers for nearly one and half decades in Afghanistan. The objective of the training courses is to improve quality of care in terms of health workers communication skills and clinical performance when they provide health services for under-5 children in public healthcare facilities. This paper presents the findings on the effects of IMCI training courses on quality of care in public primary healthcare facilities in Afghanistan.

Overcoming barriers to maternal and newborn care through integrated facility and community-based services

There has been growing interest and experience of community health workers (CHWs) in recent years, especially with the goal of Universal Health Coverage. Typically, the CHWs have provided combinations of health promotion messages, treatment of childhood illnesses, malaria-control measures, nutrition interventions, family planning, and screening and supervised treatment for HIV and TB. Many CHW programs function semi-autonomously with supplies and supervision coming with varying regularity from health facilities.

For many years, this community-based health care approach included the training of traditional birth attendants (TBAs). TBAs were, for the most part, given short training courses and sent back to their communities with little or no continuing connection with health facilities. The approach was halted twenty years ago when it became clear that trained TBAs were not making any impact on maternal and newborn deaths from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. A Skilled Birth Attendant (SBA) policy, to train and deploy greater ...

Person-centred care and short oral treatment for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis improve retention in care in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Aknowledging that people living with TB face multiple challenges in addition to TB disease and that better access to new diagnostic or treatment tools alone cannot improve RR-TB care outcomes, person-centred care has been introduced as one of the pillars of the EndTB strategy, which calls for integration of health services, inclusion of social support as part of clinical care. Therefore, person-centred care delivery and treatment regimens were adapted to better fit specific contextual challenges and the needs of the target population, retention in care improved among people with RR-TB in Kandahar, Afghanistan.