In depth

28.06.2006 A new report from the Health Communication Partnership (HCP) demonstrates how a powerful television serial drama about young adults living in a rural South African town impacted by HIV/AIDS led to improved attitudes about HIV/AIDS, stigma, living openly and positively with HIV and faithfulness among its viewers.

21.06.2006 In 1991, the Government of India and the World Bank expanded their collaboration on infectious disease control programs and by 1992 the first National AIDS Control Project was launched with a World Bank credit of US$84 million.

05.06.2006 In this paper, Gupta and Shriram present the findings of an investigation to understand the vulnerability of the population in Birla Institute and Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS) campus from the vector borne diseases spread through climate, temperature, precipitation, wind and ocean currents, human population movement and physical circulation. A digital map of BITS campus is generated with plotting components like hostels, institute, staff quarters, wells, market places and others.

18.04.2006 What can ICT bring for the inhabitants of 600,000 Indian villages? How India is empowering the poor and marginalised citizens to participate in the emerging knowledge society? How will India provide voice to her millions of citizens? ‘Taking ICT to every Indian village: Opportunities and challenges”, attempts at answering such questions and exploring the complex interactions between ICT and society. more...

12.04.2006 There are plenty of books, manuals and websites on how to write soaps for social development, for agricultural extension, or to raise HIV/AIDS awareness. Several of these have been important in the development of this manual , but until now nothing has described how to go about producing a radio soap which tackles violent conflict in a positive way; a radio soap designed to reduce tensions and to bring people together.

This manual tries to fill that gap within a clear and logical framework, to go from the idea to the finished product.

16.02.2006 Two European Projects are using Grid Computing Systems to discover new drugs for diseases like malaria and dengue. Grid computing, the major driving force for new approaches towards collaborative large-scale science, to discover new drugs and better understand the diseases.

01.02.2006 In the last decades, a lot of effort has been put into improving dietary habits through health interventions, however it has not been very effective: in most European countries, actual consumption does not match with basic recommendations for healthy nutrition.

05.01.2006 The 10th edition of the South African Health Review, has the major theme of Human Resources for Health (HRH). This report consists of 17 chapters focusing on various related issues. One of the chapters highlights the siginificance and importance of Information for Human Resource Management (HRM).

04.01.2006 Exchange study reports that in Africa, participatory communication in malaria control matters because without genuine community understanding and engagement with the problem of malaria, external efforts will fail.

24.11.2005 A study funded by Sida aims to explore the opportunities for using ICTs in mitigating HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa. The study focused on three countries, Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique. It seeks to discover how ICTs contribute to the empowerment of people living with HIV/AIDS and how the usage of ICTs improves ongoing and planned HIV/AIDS programs in the region.

13.10.2005 In developing country contexts, handheld computer applications are starting to show their benefits across development sectors. Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and other types of handheld computers offer considerable advantages over desktops or even laptops. Health and microfinance have been particularly keen to test handheld applications.

26.09.2005 A new project managed by AfriAfya and supported by Exchange is using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to communicate about health and development.This health communication project engages the knowledge of marginalised people in Kenya. The main emphasis is on analysing what information can be exchanged to improve the communities' situations.

16.09.2005 The EU Health Strategy, set out in May 2000, aims to integrate all EU health-related policies and concentrate resources where the Community can provide real added value, without duplicating the work of the Member States or international organisations. Information and Communication Technlolgies (ICTs) play a crucial role in European competitiveness, recognised in the Lisbon Strategy since the beginning in 2000. eHealth or ICTs for Health describes the application of ICTs across the full range of functions that affect the health sector. eHealth is a eEurope 2005 policy priority, setting targets for both the European Commission and Member States.

08.09.2005 The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy for improving child health has been adopted in many countries.The pertinent question being,whether it is more cost-effective and impactful than conventional approaches to child health care ?A World Health Organisation multi-country evaluation of IMCI was set up to identify information to help improve the delivery of the strategy. In Tanzania, the study focuses on two rural districts where facility-based components of IMCI are being implemented.

01.08.2005 Looking at the size of general population that needs to be catered to, we need to have cost effective alternatives. One such alternative can be ICT application.In a country like India where reaching people is not only expensive but also not always possible, Information and communication technology (ICT) applications can provide a possible alternative for establishing cost-effective communication linkages for large section of the population in current times. More so, with launch of Mission 2007, ICT experiences have become all the more relevant.

01.08.2005 India accounts for 68% of the South Asian HIV epidemic and ranks second only to South Africa in the total number of people living with HIV according to the recent estimates.The crisis has spawned initiatives from a variety of sectors including the central government, state agencies, non-profit organisations, local, regional and national networks of HIV positive people, international agencies and corporations.

01.08.2005 Combating HIV/AIDS by strategic communication through information technology tools is one fundamental untapped area. It is hoped that efficient and effective use of ICT would be implemented in near future.

06.07.2005 The problem of HIV/AIDS and its percolation into the social fabric is no more solely a problem of therapy or clinic.It has been recognised as a predicament where ethical, political and humanitarian issues meet.

04.07.2005 There is requirement to conduct concurrent and periodical evaluation of the AIDS Control Programmes throughout the country, so that the real financial achievements could be assessed says author Anup K. Karan.