Useful Resources

Recently, the contested relation between health and human rights has drawn increasing attention. Human rights experts are taking on such issues as HIV/AIDS, abortion, family planning, and sexual violence. Perspectives on Health and Human Rights contains 30 essays that attempt to create a framework for thinking about this complex field. It is a valuable book, for the guidance it provides and for the questions it raises. (Requires free registration)

CODESRIA, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, launched the first issue of its Newsletter in December 2013. CODESRIA, headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, was established in 1973 as an independent pan-African research organisation primarily focusing on social sciences research in Africathat aims to be a source of regular information about the work of CODESRIA and its partners. The newsletter aims to stimulate discussion around the most important issues facing Africa.

This report is a collaboration between traditional medicine practitioners and scientists, and identifies 22 plants used in east Africa with possible anti-malarial properties. In recent years, there has been an emphasis on the use of artemisinin-based medicines based on the Artemisia annua shrub. The recent interest in Artemisia annua, the development of resistance to existing drugs and the limited access of poor communities to modern drugs have stimulated research in the current use and future potential of other plant products in treating malaria, both as part of traditional health care practices and in developing new conventional medicines. This guide describes a range of trees and shrubs that are used as anti-malarial treatments in East Africa. The species chosen for description have been determined by traditional medical practitioners, rural communities and scientists as among those that have potential for further study and development as tree and shrub crops. The intention of this guide is to support the further development of the cultivation of these species by smallholders in the East Africa region.

This Guide is being used in six rural districts of Zambia to train Community Health Volunteers, including members of community Safe Motherhood Action Groups (SMAGs), to promote safe pregnancy planning; help reduce maternal delays; and promote appropriate newborn care. The Guide was developed by the Mobilising Access to Maternal Health Services in Zambia (MAMaZ) programme and district health management team partners in six districts It sets out a process for engaging with rural communities to increase awareness of and social approval to act on maternal and newborn health. It contains detailed guidance on how to train SMAG volunteers in two key areas of their portfolio – maternal and newborn health care – and is intended to complement other maternal health and newborn care training resources. The training approach used here aims to build the knowledge and training capacity of the Mama SMAGs in such a way that they do not have to rely on having a paper version of the Community Discussion Guide, mainly because they may have poor literacy. The approach forces trainers to internalise the Guide’s content and techniques and avoids reliance on the production of training manuals in a context where paper and printing capacity may be in short supply and where the dissemination of manuals can be challenging logistically.