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Discusses the national health information system in Brazil which, until very recently, consisted of two main structures of health services with a dichotomy between curative and preventive health care acting in a vertical manner. The autonomy of health authorities and specialized structures created numerous independent health information systems with different methods of data collection. Although the issues of decentralization and a unified health system had been agreed on in 1963, they had not been implemented until the new health policy reform was lunched in 1988. The reform was based on the strengthening of primary health care at national level and accelerating decentralization of health systems. However, in spite of strong political will the new health managers at local level are lacking essential information, data and instruments that only a decentralized health management information system can provide. Based on a study conducted in the Ceara State of the north east of Brazil, explores how the present health information system can support the process of decentralization.

The purpose of this paper is to review the Government initiative for developing the in‐country capacity of the National Public Health Management Centre (NPMC) in Tabriz. The UNDP definition of capacity has been used as a framework for assessment with the primary focus of the current assessment being on the training component.

The paper shows that Iran, which is a lower‐middle income country, has a network of training institutions for both pre‐service and continuing education of its human resources in health. This collaborative initiative between NPMC, Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development (NCIHD) and World Health Organization (WHO), attempted to create conditions for designing, organising and conducting a training programme in health planning and management for mid‐level health managers in Iran.

The paper finds that the experience of capacity development through training, described here, is in contrast with usual practice, where candidates are sent abroad for training. Overall, the process for developing in‐country capacity of a local institute by a foreign institute was well thought out. However, there are some lessons to be learned from the process.

The paper shows that capacity has been built in NPMC for organising in‐country short course on health planning and management for health sector reform. The paper concludes by arguing that, in order to sustain these training programmes over a long period of time, in addition to including training in its mandate, NPMC should: consider networking with allied institutions in the country and beyond for sharing knowledge; and make twinning arrangements with a foreign institute for continuously upgrading the knowledge and skills of its trainers.

Looks at human resources (HR) issues with regard to the health care system in Eritrea, the newest nation in Africa with a population of 3.5 million. Notes the problems of poor infrastructure, high mortality rates and poverty. Considers the present situation and future requirements in terms of HR. Features programmes being established aimed at bridging this gap and looks particularly at initiatives aimed at enabling ex‐combatants who have wartime health care experience to train further as health workers.

The purpose of this research is to describe an action research project that proposed, monitored and evaluated the introduction of a learning portfolio used to replace examinations that were formerly used to assess the core courses.

An action research project was undertaken to find out whether the introduction of a portfolio was successful and what could be improved in the process of its implementation.

The findings indicate that portfolios are effective to support and assess the academic development of international students.

The introduction of a portfolio to replace written examinations in the NCIHD was welcomed by all concerned.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss policy analysis in Nepal and review the wide range of choices feasible in decentralisation decision making.

In this paper an iterative qualitative method was developed and used in the research, which consisted of focus group interviews, key informant interviews, document analysis, including descriptive statistics, and analysis of the policy context. Participants in the research reflected the urban/rural mix of districts and the geography of Nepal. Analysis combined transcribed interviews with findings from document searches and analysis of the policy context. Coding was pre‐determined during the training workshop and further codes were generated during and after the fieldwork.

The paper finds that Nepal is in the process of decentralising public services from the central level to the local level, particularly to local bodies: District Development Committees (DDCs), Village Development Committees (VDCs) and Municipalities. Key contextual factors referred to are the overall structure of decentralisation, the social context of poverty and the political instability leading to a fluid political situation characterised by political tension, armed conflict, controversies and agreements while carrying out the research. The key issues identified and discussed in the paper are the policy process leading to decentralisation, the organisational structure and tension in the proposed system, the systems of resource generation, allocation, planning and management and lastly the forms of accountability, participation, public‐private relations and collaborative strategies.

The paper discusses the challenges faced in conducting such a policy analysis, the broad ranging and unremitting nature of the decentralisation process, and the contextual setting of the process of change.

Sees community entry as a prelude to any action that will take place in a true partnership with the community. Lists a series of steps involved in achieving community entry drawn from a project in Pakistan. Considers the role of the participatory worker and project management team in terms of meetings, discussions and the development of individual relationships.

This paper aims to provide a framework regarding Information Technology (IT) Flexibility in Supply Chain and its relationship with the benefits we could see from Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Furthermore, this research explores the moderating effect of Process Integration Capability in the relationship between IT flexibility and ERP benefits.

This research model will help organizations get additional benefits from their ERP systems that incurred huge costs, time and multiple resources at their implementation. The technique used for analyzing data is structural equation modeling (SEM), and data is collected from 107 respondents through a questionnaire from Business and IT Professionals.

The study findings reveal a positive and significant relationship between IT flexibility and ERP systems benefits; moreover, results also confirmed that the organization's process integration capability significantly increased the benefits of ERP systems. The findings also highlight empirical evidence about the significance of the top-to-bottom approach investing in IT flexibility and the bottom-to-top approach during the implementation of IT systems for successful implementations.

This study has various implications for practitioners that help them successfully implement and long-term viability of their IT infrastructure.

This study's findings will help IT managers and strategists make effective decisions for creating IT flexibility in alignment with the strategic goals to realize the desired results expected from ERP systems and implementations of new IT systems.

The purpose of this paper is to provide detailed assessments of the mental health laws of Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.

The mental health laws of four countries were assessed both by country partners and staff of WHO, Geneva, using the World Health Organization (WHO) Checklist on Mental Health Legislation, which examines the level of coverage of key issues in mental health laws.

The older laws of Ghana, Uganda and Zambia do not address fundamental human rights of people with mental health conditions. South Africa's more recent Mental Health Care Act (2002) incorporates critical human rights standards, though certain provisions fail to adequately safeguard against potential violations. For mental health legislation to maintain currency with human rights standards it must be regularly reviewed and updated.

The findings highlight the urgent need to revise the mental health laws of Zambia, Uganda and Ghana, and to plan ways to address the gaps identified in the relatively new South African mental health law. The entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008 signals a new era in how mental health legislation is to be drafted. The identification of gaps in national laws, as has been undertaken by the four countries, is an important first step towards putting in place legal frameworks to promote the rights of people with mental health conditions in line with current international human rights standards.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted various systems that drove people to adapt to certain technologies, such as electronic government services, for daily survival and to meet social distancing requirements. Therefore, this study aims to determine the antecedents of e-government use based on prospect theory and modified unified theory of acceptance use of technology (UTAUT) during a pandemic.

Convenience sampling of 368 respondents from Vietnam was conducted, and questionnaires were distributed personally or by email. The data were analyzed following a two-stage structural equation modeling (SEM) using SPSS v23 and AMOS v23. The validity and reliability of the instrument were tested and ensured.

Results show that perceived severity drives government support and social influence while perceived security drives government support, social influence and trust. Social influence enhances government support and trust, which both drives e-government use. Mediation analysis shows that government support mediates perceived the influence of perceived severity on e-government use.

The integration of prospect theory and UTAUT brings into light what will drive the adoption of e-government in the context of Vietnam. Supporting mechanisms, such as security measures, trust-building, government support and social influence, will drive citizens to adapt to technologies provided by the government but would also rely on the perceived risks and benefits.

This study integrates prospect theory and a modified version of UTAUT to explain the drivers of e-government use. The results reveal that under uncertainties, government support is critical in driving the use of e-government for people to manage the daily lives for survival.

Refugees commonly face inequitable access to health care services in their host country. This study aimed to identify factors influence refugee access to health services and to assess perceptions of barriers to health care for different refugee groups in Jordan.

In-depth interviews were combined with document analysis and analyzed using thematic and framework methods.

Findings highlighted inequitable access to health services between different refugee groups. Unlike Palestinian refugees from the West Bank, Palestinian refugees from Gaza faced financial barriers to access health care as a result of citizenship status, which affected their health insurance, referrals for health care and legal right to work. Syrian refugees similarly lacked Jordanian citizenship and health insurance and mainly depended on UNHCR for health services, though some were able to acquire work permits and pay for private care.

This study demonstrates a need for politically and economically appropriate policies to minimize the disparity of health care access among these refugee groups.