Information for disasters, information disasters, and disastrous information.

Information is needed to support humanitarian responses in every phase of a disaster. Participants of a multilateral working group convened to examine how best to meet these information needs. Although information systems based on routine reporting of diseases are desirable because they have the potential to identify trends, these systems usually do not deliver on their promise due to inadequate organization and management to support them.

Measuring health program effectiveness in the field: an assessment tool.

To assist field workers in program evaluation and to explicitly discuss program strengths and weaknesses, a practical method to estimate the effectiveness of public health interventions within the existing program capacity was developed. The method and materials were tested in seven countries (Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, Guatemala, the Philippines, and Ghana). In this method, four core components are assessed using a questionnaire: (1) the efficacy of the intervention; (2) the level of existing human resources (i.

Expanding the scope of humanitarian program evaluation.

The effectiveness of humanitarian programs normally is evaluated according to a limited number of pre-defined objectives. These objectives typically represent only selected positive expected impacts of program interventions and as such, are inadequate benchmarks for understanding the overall effectiveness of aid. This is because programs also have unexpected impacts (both positive and negative) as well as expected negative impacts and expected positive impacts beyond the program objectives.

Planning an integrated disease surveillance and response system: a matrix of skills and activities.

Background: The threat of a global influenza pandemic and the adoption of the World Health Organization (WHO) International Health Regulations (2005) highlight the value of well-coordinated, functional disease surveillance systems. The resulting demand for timely information challenges public health leaders to design, develop and implement efficient, flexible and comprehensive systems that integrate staff, resources, and information systems to conduct infectious disease surveillance and response. To understand what resources an integrated disease surveillance and response system would require, we analyzed surveillance requirements for 19 priority infectious diseases targeted for an integrated disease surveillance and response strategy in the WHO African region.

The role of the applied epidemiologist in armed conflict.

BACKGROUND: Applied epidemiologists are increasingly working in areas of insecurity and active conflict to define the health risks, suggest feasible means to reduce these risks and, monitor the capacity and reconstruction of the public health system. In 2001, The Carter Center and the United States Institute for Peace sponsored a conference within which "Violence and Health" was discussed and a working group on applied epidemiology formed. The group was tasked to describe the skills that are essential to effective functioning in these settings and thereby provide guidance to the applied epidemiology training programs.

Changing the clinical management of hereditary hemochromatosis: translating screening and early case detection strategies into clinical practice.

Background: This article describes the effect of an extensive physician educational program on detection and management of hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) before and after a hemochromatosis population screening study.

Methods: We measured the changes in clinical management by medical chart review for newly diagnosed cases before and after the educational program. The effect on detection of HH cases was determined by mail survey to primary care physicians in our health system.