Context: The implementation of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) promotes access to quality health care delivery through cost-effective initiatives to ensure good health and wellbeing without discrimination. This study examines government finance, budgetary allocation, and expenditure as key health development indicators towards achieving the UHC in Nigeria. Evidence Acquisition: Data analyzed in the study were gotten from journal articles, reports and other secondary sources. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Google Scholar, and WHO Library Database with pre-determined search terms. Further publications were identified through snowballing of citations and references. We reviewed only papers written in English with no date restrictions placed on searches. Results: Within the period of analysis, the annual national health budgetary allocation in Nigeria has been below the 2001 Abuja declaration of allocating 15% of the national budget to health. Our analysis also revealed that if the Abuja declaration was implemented, additional allocations of NGN 4.99 trillion should have been injected into the health sector between 2014 and 2020. In addition, Nigeria also lags behind relative to some other low-and middle-income countries in terms of government expenditure to the health sector in achieving the UHC. Conclusions: The inadequate budgetary allocation in Nigeria to healthcare has significantly influenced recurrent and capital health expenditure. It is worthy to note that the insufficient allocation will continue to significantly affect capital expenditure which is a large determinant of the development of any health system. With the current state of healthcare budget allocation in Nigeria, efforts need to be intensified to ensure the achievement of UHC. In the face of achieving UHC, reviewing the system of healthcare financing and ensuring prudent allocation of resources while shifting the focus from out-of-pocket payments for health is essential. We also recommend increase in political commitment towards improving the health of the populace so as to ensure health systems goals of efficiency, equity, quality of care, sustainability, financial risk protection for all citizens are achievable.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains an important global public health issue with antimicrobial misuse and overuse being one of the main drivers. The Global Point Prevalence Survey (G-PPS) of Antimicrobial Consumption and Resistance assesses the prevalence and the quality of antimicrobial prescriptions across hospitals globally. G-PPS was carried out at 17 hospitals across Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania. The overall prevalence of antimicrobial use was 50% (30–57%), with most antibiotics prescribed belonging to the WHO ‘Access’ and ‘Watch’ categories. No ‘Reserve’ category of antibiotics was prescribed across the study sites while antimicrobials belonging to the ‘Not Recommended’ group were prescribed infrequently. Antimicrobials were most often prescribed for prophylaxis for obstetric or gynaecological surgery, making up between 12 and 18% of total prescriptions across all countries. The most prescribed therapeutic subgroup of antimicrobials was ‘Antibacterials for systemic use’. As a result of the programme, PPS data are now readily available for the first time in the hospitals, strengthening the global commitment to improved antimicrobial surveillance. Antimicrobial stewardship interventions developed included the formation of AMS committees, the provision of training and the preparation of new AMS guidelines. Other common interventions included the presentation of findings to clinicians for increased awareness, and the promotion of a multi-disciplinary approach to successful AMS programmes. Repeat PPS would be necessary to continually monitor the impact of interventions implemented. Broader participation is also encouraged to strengthen the evidence base.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has significant impact on global health care delivery, occurs amid the ongoing global health crisis of antimicrobial resistance. Early data demonstrated that bacterial and fungal co-infection with COVID-19 remain low and indiscriminate use of antimicrobials during the pandemic may worsen antimicrobial resistance It is, therefore, essential to maintain the ongoing effort of antimicrobial stewardship activities in all sectors globally.
Background The declaration of COVID-19 a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020 marked the beginning of a global health crisis of an unprecedented nature and scale. The approach taken by countries across the world varied widely, however, the delivery of frontline healthcare was consistently recognised as being central to the pandemic response. This study aimed to identify and explore the issues currently facing pharmacy teams across Commonwealth countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also evaluates pharmacy professionals’ understanding of key knowledge areas from the COVID-19 webinar hosted by the Commonwealth Pharmacists’ Association (CPA). Method A quantitative survey-based approach was adopted, using a 32-item questionnaire developed from the literature on pharmacy and pandemic response. The survey was hosted on Survey Monkey and pilot tested. The final survey was disseminated by CPA member organisations. A 6-item online questionnaire was sent via email to all attendees of CPA's COVID-19 webinar. Descriptive statistics on frequency distributions and percentages were used to analyse the responses. Data were analysed using Microsoft® Excel (2010). Results There were 545 responses from pharmacy professionals across 31/54 Commonwealth countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific. Majority of the respondents reported being at least somewhat worried (90%) and more than 65% were very worried or extremely about the impact of COVID-19 on them personally and professionally. Nearly two-thirds of respondents stated finding it somewhat difficult or very difficult to work effectively during the pandemic. Challenges mostly faced by pharmacy professionals working remotely included; general anxiety about the impact of COVID-19 on their lives (12%), and difficulties in communicating with their co-workers (12%). Most pharmacy professionals had not previously been actively involved in a global health emergency (82%) nor obtained training on global/public health emergency preparedness (62%). Between 45 and 97% of the COVID-19 webinar attendees provided the correct answers to post-webinar questions, suggesting some improvement in knowledge. Conclusion Our study confirms pharmacy professionals’ concerns about practice during a pandemic and provides preliminary data on the challenges and learning needs of the profession. The CPA has since acted on these findings, providing ongoing opportunities to develop and refine resources for the profession as the pandemic evolves. Pharmacy professionals have also demonstrated improved knowledge on the management of COVID-19 and resources available for professionals.
As the world continues to respond to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), there is a larger hidden threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) lurking behind. AMR remains worrisome in that the pathogens causing resistant infections to thrive in hospitals and medical facilities, putting all patients at risk, irrespective of the severity of their medical conditions, further compounding the management of COVID-19. This study aims to provide overview of early findings on COVID-19 and AMR as well as to provide recommendations and lesson learned toward improving antimicrobial stewardship. We conducted a rapid narrative review of published articles by searching PubMed and Google Scholar on COVID-19 and Antimicrobial Resistance with predetermined keywords. Secondary bacterial infections play crucial roles in mortality and morbidity associated with COVID-19. Research has shown that a minority of COVID-19 patients need antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections. Current evidence reiterates the need not to give antibiotic therapy or prophylaxis to patients with mild COVID-19 or to patients with suspected or confirmed moderate COVID-19 illness unless it is indicated. The pandemic has also brought to the fore the deficiencies in health systems around the world. This comes with a lot of lessons, one of which is that despite the advances in medicine; we remain incredibly vulnerable to infections with limited or no standard therapies. This is worth thinking in the context of AMR, as the resistant pathogens are evolving and leading us to the era of untreatable infections. There is a necessity for continuous research into understanding and controlling infectious agents, as well as the development of newer functional antimicrobials and the need to strengthen the antimicrobial stewardship programs.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.