Towards Climate Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Care Facilities.

The aim of building climate resilient and environmentally sustainable health care facilities is: (a) to enhance their capacity to protect and improve the health of their target communities in an unstable and changing climate; and (b) to empower them to optimize the use of resources and minimize the release of pollutants and waste into the environment. Such health care facilities contribute to high quality of care and accessibility of services and, by helping reduce facility costs, also ensure better affordability. They are an important component of universal health coverage.

Medical and Assistive Health Technology: Meeting the Needs of Aging Populations.

Purpose Of The Study: To identify policy gaps in the delivery and availability of assistive health technology (AHT) and medical devices (MD) for aging populations, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Design And Methods: The findings presented in this paper are the results of several narrative overviews. They provide a contextual analysis of the conclusions and evidence from WHO commissioned research and expert consultations in 2013 and 2014, as well as a synthesis of literature reviews conducted on AHT and MD.

Assistive technologies for ageing populations in six low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Despite the benefits derived from the use of assistive technologies (AT), some parts of the world have minimal or no access to AT. In many low-income and middle-income countries (LMIC), only 5-15% of people who require AT have access to them. Rapid demographic changes will exacerbate this situation as populations over 60 years of age, as well as functional limitations among older populations, in LMIC are expected to be higher than in high-income countries in the coming years.

Addressing social determinants of health inequities: what can the state and civil society do?

In this Health Policy article, we selected and reviewed evidence synthesised by nine knowledge networks established by WHO to support the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. We have indicated the part that national governments and civil society can play in reducing health inequity. Government action can take three forms: (1) as provider or guarantor of human rights and essential services; (2) as facilitator of policy frameworks that provide the basis for equitable health improvement; and (3) as gatherer and monitor of data about their populations in ways that generate health information about mortality and morbidity and data about health equity.