Researchers based in less-economically developed countries are able to apply for waivers and discounts to support publishing in fully open access journals which have Article Publishing Charges (APCs):

– Corresponding authors based in low-income countries, as categorized by the World Bank, are eligible to apply for a full waiver of the APC.

– Corresponding authors based in lower-middle-income countries, as categorized by the World Bank, are eligible to apply for a 50% discount of the APC which applies to their article.

Eligibility is determined by the country of the corresponding author’s primary affiliation.

Our discretionary waiver policy, for researchers who are not automatically eligible under the above policy, will still be handled on a case-by-case basis. Authors should supply full details of institutional affiliations and grant funding when making their request.

Applications must be made upon submission.

All discussion and decision on APC waivers and discounts is entirely separate from the peer review process. This is key for our membership of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) and inclusion in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). We therefore ask editors to defer all questions from authors regarding the policy and requests under the policy to Rebecca Evans, Open Access Coordinator (Rebecca.evans@tandf.co.uk)…. see details below and here

EJGP Waivers

Even supporters of the National Health Insurance disagree on what the shift will mean, especially for private medical schemes, writes Amy Green in a Health-e News report. Meanwhile, the SA  Department of Health has again lashed the media and other critics, saying that Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi had predicted ‘a war’ by those ‘ideologically opposed’ to the NHI.

Even among those who support the implementation of universal health coverage in the form of a National Health Insurance (NHI) there is disagreement on what the shift will mean especially for private medical schemes, writes Amy Green in a Health-e Newsreport.

Green writes that according to the new NHI White Paper, the role of medical schemes inSouth Africa will change fundamentally with the implementation of a universal healthcare system. The first victims will be government schemes, including the Government Employee Medical Scheme (Gems), the Police Medical Scheme and the Parliamentary Medical Scheme (Parmed)…..more

A new approach to patient care has been launched, developed at Stellenbosch University and spearheaded by Pharma Dynamics. The training initiative, aimed at reducing chronic lifestyle diseases, is being introduced in medical school curricula and to practising doctors as continuing professional education, writes Karen MacGregor for MedicalBrief.

The resource, Brief Behavioural Change Counselling or BBCC, offers training on how to quickly and effectively advise patients about lifestyle adjustments that can help to reduce the epidemic of chronic lifestyle diseases which cause close to 40% of deaths in South Africa…..more

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Obviously, now that the ANC’s national policy conference has come and gone, your intellectual life has been enriched more generously than the troughs at the Saxonwold shebeen. In no time at all, the material conditions of your life will also start to improve, flowing from this festival of policy ideas debated (robustly, of course) over the past week, ready for imminent adoption at the ANC’s elective conference in December.

By the time we get to the 2019 general elections, you will experience orgasmic joy as you witness the early and demonstrable positive returns on the policy debates that took place in Johannesburg some two years before. Evidence of the ANC having started to “renew” itself will be everywhere, from the branches of the organisation, functioning as world-class debate chambers, right up to the quality men and women heading up critically important institutions such as the South African Police Service, the Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority and the SABC…..more

MAY 2017 | GENEVA — On 24 May at the 70th World Health Assembly, a group of large emerging economies referred to as the “BRICS countries” – which includes Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa – convened at a side event sponsored by China. The aim: to share experiences and innovations on people-centred reforms as a cornerstone to making progress towards universal health coverage, using the WHO Framework on integrated people-centred health services as a basis for discussion.

The countries have made progress towards universal health coverage over the years, improving access to quality health services while also lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. With this, they have amassed a wealth of experience on service delivery reforms from which other countries can draw valuable lessons…..more

JUNE 2017 | KAZAKHSTAN – A global network aimed at supporting the implementation of the WHO Framework on integrated people-centred health services (IPCHS) has been established by the WHO Service Delivery and Safety Department. The WHO Global Service Delivery Network (GSDN) was launched on 20 June in Almaty, Kazakhstan, alongside the first Primary Health Care Advisory Group meeting to the WHO Regional Director/EURO and WHO inter-regional hospitals meeting.

The first meeting of the GSDN took place on 22 June and convened an initial group of network members representing professional associations, civil society groups and other non-governmental organizations including:

• International Council of Nurses (ICN)
• International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)
• International Patients Alliance Organization (IAPO)
• International Hospital Federation (IHF)
• Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI)
• World Family Doctor (WONCA)
• World Public Health Association (WPHA)

Network members had the opportunity to meet, discuss and provide input on ways of moving the network forward…..more

New WHO advisory group launched in Almaty to shape the future of primary health care

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This article describes the development of the first training program in family medicine in Ethiopia that was launched on February 4, 2013, at Addis Ababa University (AAU). The postgraduate program will prepare highly trained doctors for all parts of the country who choose generalism for their lifelong career. The paper describes a series of strategies that were used from 2008 to 2013 to take the Ethiopian family medicine program from vision to reality. There is no single model for the development of family medicine in a country where it does not yet exist. In this case the strategies included Continuing Medical Education events, discussions with stakeholders, international collaboration, needs assessment, curriculum design, and faculty development. The article also reviews both the potential for a new program in family medicine to contribute to the country’s health system plus the challenges that are expected in the early stages of establishing a new specialty. The challenges include the ambiguous roles of the family physician in the Ethiopian health care system, uncertainty about career opportunities, adaptation of the curriculum to address local needs, expansion of the training programs to produce larger numbers of family physicians, development of Ethiopian faculty who will be teachers of family medicine, and internal and external brain drain. Family physicians will need to maintain a respectful relationship with other specialist physicians as well as nonphysician primary care providers. The development of this AAU family medicine residency is an example of a successful inter- institutional relationship between local and international partners to create a sustainable, Ethiopian-led training program. Insights from this article may guide development of similar training programs…..more

Rumors are at a fever pitch that Apple has big plans for healthcare, including putting a medical record on the iPhone, possibly acquiring its way into the EHR market.   From its leap into healthcare in 2014 with its HealthKit application programming interface in September 2014 to the June 19 revelation of Apple’s work with the tiny start-up Health Gorilla, Apple has made a series of moves in healthcare that clearly indicate the company has plans for the space that will somehow manifest on its mega-popular iPhone and iPad products.   Here’s a look at how Apple got to where it is today in healthcare….more

With 1.3 billion people, India is the world’s third largest consumer of electricity. Over 450 million ceiling fans are in use and 40 million sold each year, but 240 million people still have no legal electricity connection. Demand for electricity is growing at the same rate as in France or Germany as millions of people in rural or impoverished areas seek access to power in their homes and workplaces.

What if India planned to meet that need with conventional energy sources like coal?   It isn’t. In fact, the country is focused on just the opposite. With a sweeping commitment to solar power, innovative solutions, and energy efficiency initiatives to supply its people with 24×7 electricity by 2030, India is emerging as a front-runner in the global fight against climate change.

That’s good news because if the world expects to reach its Paris Climate Agreement objective of containing global warming to under a 2-degrees Celsius increase, it is imperative for India – the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide — to be a global leader in renewable energy…..more

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The practice of medicine has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. In addition to the incredible breakthroughs and advancements in medical knowledge, there has been a revolutionary change in the delivery of healthcare. Specialties such as hospitalists, medical informatics, and palliative care didn’t even exist just a few decades ago and now are integral to modern healthcare. There is also a growing demand for physicians to have administrative and leadership skills. For example, there has been a growth in physicians serving as hospital CEOs since a 2011 report suggested better outcomes (in terms of ranked quality) with a physician CEO. Expectations of knowledge and skills of physicians graduating from medical schools have expanded in parallel to these changes.

Over the past 20 years, the concept of “core competencies” has emerged in medical education that has helped categorize other areas of physician knowledge and skills. The core competencies include areas such as systems-based practice (e.g. population health, health policy), practice-based learning and improvement, communication, and professionalism. While medical school curricula have covered these areas in the past, more training in these areas has expanded dramatically…..more

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela says there is enough evidence in the hundreds of thousands of leaked Gupta e-mails for the NPA to start laying down the law.

In an interview with the Sunday Times on Friday, Madonsela said she believed the NPA should be investigating the Gupta business dealings recently exposed by the media.

“I would say this gives us prima facie evidence that there is grand corruption by the Gupta family working with the president’s son,” she said, adding that some of the evidence suggests the information being used comes from President Jacob Zuma.

The Sunday Times previously reported that at a late-night meeting in 2009 at the president’s official residence in Pretoria, Zuma told then deputy director-general of mineral resources Jacinto Rocha to assist Duduzane, “my only son involved in money”. ….more

By identifying the most influential kids in small social media circles, researchers can create positive peer pressure that persuades young people to live healthier lives. Generation Z, or those born after 1995, are digital natives who grew up in a world of constant connectivity. They often see their online and offline lives as one and the same, and may spend as much time, or more, interacting with friends on social media as they do face-to-face. Important habits are also being formed within these groups, ones around eating, drinking and physical activity. This raises the question: what if we could harness the power of this peer pressure to influence adolescents to lead healthier lives? That’s the goal of researchers in the EU-funded SNIHCY project at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. They have developed the Wearable Lab – a bracelet that can track the activities and social networking of adolescent in small groups – and combine it with a mobile phone app, which includes a game and personalised avatar…..more

Medical scheme members are likely to lose their tax credits to help pay for the first set of benefits to be rolled out under National Health Insurance (NHI), Health Minister Aaron Motsolaedi said on Thursday.

Briefing reporters on the government’s latest policy position on NHI, which will be published as a revised White Paper in the government gazette tomorrow, Motsolaedi said the first package of benefits would target women, children and the elderly: “The central philosophy is that we are going to start pooling funds for people who are not on medical aid, starting from the bottom.”….more