World Health Organization's Innovative Direct Disbursement Mechanism for Payment of Grassroots Immunization Personnel and Operations in Nigeria: 2004-2015.

Background: Following the 1988 World Health Assembly resolution to eradicate polio, the government of Nigeria, with support from partners, has been implementing several rounds of supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) each year. In addition to the technical requirements, the success of the polio eradication initiative depends on timely provision of adequate financial resources. Disbursement of funds for SIAs and payment of allowances to numerous vaccination personnel at the grassroots level are enormous operational challenges in a country the size of Nigeria.

Economic analysis of the global polio eradication initiative.

The global polio eradication initiative (GPEI), which started in 1988, represents the single largest, internationally coordinated public health project to date. Completion remains within reach, with type 2 wild polioviruses apparently eradicated since 1999 and fewer than 2000 annual paralytic poliomyelitis cases of wild types 1 and 3 reported since then. This economic analysis of the GPEI reflects the status of the program as of February 2010, including full consideration of post-eradication policies.

Transient feedback and global instability in non-homogeneous systems.

Model examples of linear wave systems are considered to illustrate the origin of feedback instability in situations involving strong transients. Two mechanisms of transient growth are addressed. The first is a spatial amplification of resonant waves propagating in the same direction.

An approach to estimating human resource requirements to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

In the context of the Millennium Development Goals, human resources represent the most critical constraint in achieving the targets. Therefore, it is important for health planners and decision-makers to identify what are the human resources required to meet those targets. Planning the human resources for health is a complex process.

Polio eradication: mobilizing and managing the human resources.

Between 1988 and 2004, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative grew to become the largest international health effort in history, operating in every country of the world. An estimated 10 million health workers and volunteers have been engaged in implementing the necessary polio supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) on a recurring basis, and at least 35,000 well-trained workers have been conducting polio surveillance. A combination of task simplification, technological innovations and adaptation of strategies to fit local circumstances has allowed the Initiative to use a wide range of workers and volunteers, from both inside and outside the health sector, to deliver the polio vaccine during SIAs and to monitor progress in virtually every area of every country, regardless of the health infrastructure, conflict, geography and/or culture.