63. Seeds. 1984;(7):1-20.
Developing non-craft employment for women in Bangladesh.
Chen M.
PIP: The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) is a nongovernmental,
rural development institution founded in 1972 and run by Bangladeshis to develop
noncraft employment opportunities and participatory associations for poor rural
women by organizing them into working groups of 20-25 members. Each group chooses
2 members to receive training in group management and leadership and 1 family
planning helper. The group plans and undertakes a series of joint economic
activities based on traditional or new skills, and a series of collective social
actions. BRAC's field staff is responsible for organizing, each member working
with the poor of 5-6 villages. Each group decides its own financial and
production plans, with staff consulting on cost effectiveness and feasibility.
Seeking to expand women's occupations, BRAC undertook schemes to: 1)
commercialize traditional skills by creating new markets; 2) revive and adapt
traditional skills to new lines of useful, marketable items; 3) train women in
new or non-traditional skills; and 4) mobilize demand for women's labor by
lobbing for women's participation in public employment schemes and agriculture.
Between 1976 and 1984, BRAC's employment expansion schemes have been able to
engage the largest number of women in rice processing (3810), animal husbandry
(2344), horticulture (843), and poultry (800). Over 200 women each year have been
encouraged to undertake collective agriculturl production on leased land. In 10
years, more than 20,000 women have been organized by BRAC into over 800 active
groups, and 10,000 of these women are involved in viable economic activities,
leading to an enhanced sense of personal, social, and economic worth and power.
Lessons from the BRAC experience are: 1) begin with activities that produce
quick, tangible results; 2) organize women into economically homogeneous groups:
3) begin by studying the overall economic situation, traditional skills,
resources, markets; 4) build on traditional skills, occupations; 5) establish
systems for refresher training and technical and managerial support systems; 6)
subsidize the experimental phase; 7) technical expertise may be required from
outside resouces; 8) pay in cash on delivery at a piece-rate basis; 9) borrow
small amounts of working capital if needed to start project; 10) use group.
Guarantee credit schemes.; and 11) place all schemes in the context of broader
policies, plans.
PMID: 12313437 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
64. WHO Chron. 1984;38(2):47-59.
Executive Board monitors progress towards health for all.
[No authors listed]
PIP: The 73rd session of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Executive Board
met in January 1984 to review progress in implementing strategies for health for
all by the year 2000, based on information emanating from the countries
themselves. This monitoring function was assigned to the Board by the World
Health Assembly in 1981 and calls for the Board to evaluate progress towards
health for all at regular intervals and to report back to the Health Assembly.
The 1st country reports together with comments of the regional committees and
relevant information provided by theSecretariat were examined in November 1983 by
the Board's Program Committee. Emphasis at this stage was placed on reviewing the
relevance of national health policies to the attainment of health for all and the
progress being made in implementing national strategies. Actual evaluation of the
strategies will begin in 1985. As many of the country reports submitted were not
as complete or as accurate as they could have been, the overall progress report
submitted were not as complete or as accurate as they could have been, the
overall progress report suffered from a lack of detailed and precise informattion
on many important aspects that were crucial to national health for all
strategies. Dr. Brandt, presenting the Program Committee's views, told the board
that the report did indicate that a high level of political sensitization had
occurred and that the political will to attain the goal of health for all existed
in a large majorithy of the countries that had reported. The report indicated
that to a large extent the Secretariat had met its responsibilities. It was the
Member States that had to shoulder the responsibility and reaffirm their
commitment by action. The Program Committee's progress report points to the
existence of specific technical needs, particularly in national capability to
carry out health policies. Among the areas requiring strengthening are
information analysis and management, financial analysis, assessment of status of
public information, competence in planning and management, effective involvement
of relevant sectors in health, and measurement of intersectoral action for
health. The Board urged Member States to give highest priority to the continuing
monitoring and evaluation of their health for all strategies and to assume full
responsibility for this process. In regard to the action program on essential
drugs and vaccines, priority in the last 2 years has gone to training and
manpower development, the dissemination of experience and information,
cooperation in the procurement and production of essential drugs, technical
cooperation among developing countries, and contracts with nongovernmental
organizations and the pharmaceutical industry. During the far ranging discussion
that ensued in the Executive Board, members addressed themselves in considerable
detail to numerous aspects of the action program. The Board approved a new and
carefully phased procedure for the review of substances to be recommended for
international drug control.
PMID: 6475034 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
65. Prog Clin Biol Res. 1983;120:267-78.
Impact of network organization on head and neck cancer control.
Silverman S, Naeve PP.
Prior to the Northern California Head and Neck Cancer Network, there had been no
organized community effort regarding detection, management, and rehabilitation of
head and neck cancers. Organization depended upon endorsement by the newly formed
Northern California Cancer Program (NCCP) and membership of major treatment
centers. Important developmental steps included financial support, a principal
investigator, a representative multidisciplinary Steering Committee and By-laws.
The organization established a support staff and subcommittees of volunteer
professionals for the following areas: standards of care (state-of-the-art);
patient management guidelines; epidemiology and evaluation; pre-treatment
conferences; screening programs and dental hygienist training; demonstration of
rehabilitation techniques; and professional education. Assessment of the contract
period with a baseline year indicated beneficial and progressive standards of
care, improved referral patterns, and areas of weakness useful in guiding future
educational efforts. Utilizing a large target population of almost 9 million and
72 institutions responsible for more than 80% of the cancer patients yielded data
on 1,790 patients that was meaningful and realistic regarding cancer control. The
pre-treatment conferences in four different geographic locations are continuing,
as well as rehabilitation programs in each area. The cooperative
multidisciplinary, multi-institutional efforts developed during the contract are
continuing in educational and research programs. Screening programs were shown
not to be cost effective.
PMID: 6878285 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]