Director Of Planning Research Articles

Major Depressive Disorder: Long-Term Course, Treatment, and Complications

Major Depressive Disorder: Long-Term Course, Treatment, and Complications

El “Plan Director para la convivencia y mejora de la seguridad escolar” y sus estrategias de desarrollo en las redes sociales

La preocupación por las cuestiones relacionadas con la seguridad de los menores ha impulsado la puesta en marcha de diversas iniciativas a cargo del Gobierno de España en colaboración con las Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad del Estado. Así, con el acuerdo de los sindicatos de enseñanza, las organizaciones de los centros educativos y las asociaciones de padres y madres de alumnos, el Gobierno español aprobó en marzo de 2006 el “Plan para la Mejora de la Convivencia Escolar” con la finalidad de fomentar hábitos y conductas que promovieran la concordia en estos entornos. En el marco de la ejecución de este Plan Director no han pasado inadvertidas las posibilidades de Internet y las Redes Sociales. Describir las acciones emprendidas por los Ministerios del Interior, de Educación y Ciencia e Igualdad del Gobierno de España en colaboración con las Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad del Estado en materia de seguridad escolar a través de las Redes Sociales es, precisamente, el objetivo de este trabajo.

English

The main purpose of this research is to use a decision approach in prioritizing strategy choice for SWOT matrix analysis. This research was done in 2010, in Frab Co. which works in the field of installation of water and energy projects in Tehran. Based on the nature of the research, its statistical society was managers and experts of different units of the organization. The members of this team include the managing director, management of human resources, director of planning and project control, inspection and quality control manager, financial and administrative management and engineering management and deputy of projects affairs. The present research in terms of purpose is an applied research; it is also considered as a descriptive research. In this research for determining important weight, fuzzy analytic network process was used. The fuzzy method used was Chang’s extent analysis (EA) method. Excel software was used to calculate analytic network process by using extent analysis method for determination of important weights, and MATLAB software was used to get the final results of the study. Research results showed that when dependence exists among SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) factors, this dependence could change weight and priority of strategy alternative, and eventually WO (weaknesses- opportunities) strategy with the final weight of 0.317 was selected as the best strategy. Key words: Strategic planning, SWOT matrix, analytic network process, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, Chang’s extent analysis method, triangular fuzzy numbers.

Policies to Support Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of Telefónica

AbstractThis interview examines Telefónica's projects and efforts in the area of corporate social responsibility. Telefónica is one of the world's largest multinational firms in the telecommunications sector. It is present in 25 countries, serves more than 260 million customers, and employs a staff of approximately 285,000 professionals. The company is still advancing and finding new opportunities to increase its capacity to innovate, improving ways of doing business, enhancing customer satisfaction, and helping educate customers. In this interview, Oscar Maraver (managing director of the human resources area), Jose Buqueras Dobato (director of HR planning), and Alberto Andreu Panillos (director of corporate reputation and identity and environmental affairs) explain and share their vision of policies developed both internally with employees and externally with customers. Their approach includes a strong emphasis on corporate social responsibility.

Can Women Have It All?

Article AbstractBecause this piece does not have an abstract, we have provided for your benefit the first 3 sentences of the full text.Anne-Marie Slaughter recently published an article in The Atlantic entitled, "Why Women Still Can†t Have It All." Slaughter was the first female director of policy planning in the US State Department and left the position because of the unrelenting schedule, travel, and time away from her family. In her piece, Ms Slaughter discusses the challenges that limit the ranks of women in leadership positions across arenas such as government and the private business sector.

The Relationship between Target Costing and Competitive Advantage of Jordanian Private Universities

The study explored the relationship between target costing and competitiveness at Jordanian Private Universities.The research question regarding target costing focused on leadership of target selling price, customer needs,degree of developing a team work, cost of the product life cycle, stage of product design and value chaindevelopment. A questionnaire was used to elicit data. Two scales were used to measure the estimates by financialmanagers, directors of planning and quality, and heads of accounting departments in the universities. The samplesize was 50 subjects, and response rate was 80%. Findings of the study indicated that: universities have amedium target costing dimensions of (3.48); the dimension of target selling price leadership was the highest andreducing the life cycle of university specialization was the lowest; universities enjoy a medium competitiveadvantages with a score of (3.46); and expansion in specializations was the highest in performance anduniversity’s specializations cost was the weakest. Results showed a significant difference in the strength of linksbetween the dimensions of the target costing technique and the dimensions of strengthening the competitiveadvantage.Recommendations suggested that universities in general and Jordanian Private Universities in particular, have toactivate the dimensions of target costing technique to achieve the competitive advantages and promote it.

Good Samaritans in South Carolina

Good Samaritans in South Carolina

Good and Bad News for Habilitative Services

You have accessThe ASHA LeaderBottom Line1 Mar 2012Good and Bad News for Habilitative Services Laurie Alban HavensMA, CCC-SLP Laurie Alban Havens Google Scholar More articles by this author , MA, CCC-SLP https://doi.org/10.1044/leader.BML.17032012.4 SectionsAbout ToolsAdd to favorites ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In A December 2011 bulletin includes habilitative services in essential health benefits that health insurance companies must, under new federal health care reform legislation, include in their coverage—but falls short of clearly defining the scope of those services. And although the inclusion of habilitative services in the essential benefits is good news for those who need speech-language treatment or physical or occupational therapy, the format of the information—guidance, rather than regulation—means that states may interpret how to include habilitation in health insurance coverage. Essential health benefits are a set of health care service categories that must be covered by certain insurance plans, starting in 2014, under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (The ASHA Leader, Jan. 18, 2011; Nov. 22, 2011). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, issued the December Essential Health Benefits (EHB) Bulletin, and released additional information in January. The guidance was issued with input from the Institute of Medicine, comments from ASHA and other professional and consumer organizations, and other meetings with HHS staff. The December bulletin offered guidance on defining the 10 service categories that must be included in essential health benefits, and included habilitative and rehabilitative services and devices in one category that previously was listed only as rehabilitative services. ASHA views this guidance as a welcome start in helping states develop health insurance benefit packages; however, as HHS pointed out in the bulletin, further clarification is needed. In comments submitted to HHS at the end of January, ASHA indicated that the concept of habilitative services is still unclear to many providers and insurers. To provide more clarity, ASHA recommended that HHS: Define habilitation, using the definition from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners workgroup, and contrast it with rehabilitation. Recognize that habilitative services are similar in type and scope to rehabilitative services, though the etiology of the difficulty, condition, and exact course of treatment may differ. Mandate that habilitative services be offered at least on parity with rehabilitative services, so that a child who had never acquired language, for example, would receive the same benefits as someone who had a stroke and lost the ability to speak. Define “medical necessity” when used as a requirement to justify the need for requested services, citing the ASHA medical review guidelines as a resource. Describe maintenance programs, stressing that they are time-limited based on the needs of the individual receiving treatment. Clarify that habilitative services may be provided to children and adults (such as adults with developmental disabilities who may need assistance acquiring skills never demonstrated at a younger age). Clarify that habilitative services may be provided in a variety of settings, and ensure that services that may be provided in schools are not excluded. In its comments, ASHA also addressed its significant concern about the form of the EHB information. Because HHS issued the EHB bulletin as guidance—rather than as a regulation—there will be no strict oversight to ensure that health plans are including all of the benefits. The health reform law calls for states to provide, beginning in 2014, health insurance coverage for those who are uninsured or underinsured, many because they are self-employed or work for small companies. HHS has suggested that states choose designated “benchmark plans” that include the desired benefits to serve as coverage models for other plans that want to participate in the program. Many insurers, however, including some that are named as benchmark plans, have begun to change coverage policies and are narrowing the diagnoses and conditions for which rehabilitative and habilitative services are covered (e.g., only stroke, head injury, and head/neck cancer). In the absence of regulations, ASHA and other professional organizations are concerned that plans may deny treatment for services previously covered, and have asked HHS to address the specific monitoring that will be established to prevent this narrowing of coverage. ASHA will continue to advocate with HHS and the insurers for coverage of speech-language and audiology treatment and, as further guidance becomes available, will develop recommendations on how to advocate for continued service coverage. Author Notes Laurie Alban Havens, MA, CCC-SLP, director of private health plans and Medicaid advocacy, can be reached at [email protected]. Advertising Disclaimer | Advertise With Us Advertising Disclaimer | Advertise With Us Additional Resources FiguresSourcesRelatedDetails Volume 17Issue 3March 2012 Get Permissions Add to your Mendeley library History Published in print: Mar 1, 2012 Metrics Current downloads: 79 Topicsleader_do_tagasha-article-typesleader-topicsCopyright & Permissions© 2012 American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationLoading ...

Linking Departmental Priorities to Knowledge Management: The Experiences of Santa Cruz County's Human Services Department

Federal welfare reform, local service collaborations, and the evolution of statewide information systems inspired agency interest in evidence-informed practice and knowledge sharing systems. Four agency leaders, including the Director, Deputy Director, Director of Planning and Evaluation, and Staff Development Program Manager championed the development of a learning organization based on knowledge management throughout the agency. Internal department restructuring helped to strengthen the Planning and Evaluation, Staff Development, and Personnel units, which have become central to supporting knowledge sharing activities. The Four Pillars of Knowledge framework was designed to capture agency directions in relationship to future knowledge management goals. Featuring People, Practice, Technology and Budget, the framework links the agency's services, mission and goals to the process of becoming a learning organization. Built through an iterative process, the framework was created by observing existing activities in each department rather than being designed from the top down. Knowledge management can help the department to fulfill its mission despite reduced resources.

A Senior Manager with a Knowledge Management Portfolio: The Santa Clara County Experience

The agency director sought to create a systematically coordinated department that utilizes knowledge management strategies to promote evidence-informed practice. In his view, the organization was not providing needed information or organizational supports for practitioners to use knowledge effectively. To address this issue, he created a Director of Development and Operational Planning (DDOP) position with the responsibility to build structures and facilitate processes that support knowledge management. The DDOP oversees research and planning, government relations, legislative development and support, Board of Supervisors communications, staff development and training, community contracts, public information and in-house communication. The DDOP is reorganizing units under her supervision to create a knowledge management matrix that will implement new knowledge sharing strategies related to evaluation, contracts, legislation, organizational development, policy and planning, and staff development. The case study describes challenges and strategies related to: government regulations, size and complexity of the agency, staff resistance, and the developmental nature of the process.

Surveying local planning directors ' actions for climate change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how well local planners have recognized the issues surrounding climate change, the analysis that jurisdictions have conducted on climate change, and policies that have been implemented to address climate change. Design/methodology/approach – This study conducted a mail questionnaire survey for 214 counties ' planning directors in the USA and received 53 effective responses. This survey examined how well local planning directors have been prepared for climate change, including awareness, analysis scope, and implementation strategy. Findings – The descriptive results indicate that the directors who responded to this survey had a relatively high (79.87 percent) level of awareness for climate change; but they had limited (34.94 percent) analysis scopes to assess the sources, impacts, and risk of climate change in their jurisdictions. These directors had partially but not fully (51.51 percent) developed local land use planning implementation strategies to mitigate or adapt climate change. The regression model indicates that the political commitment and planning personnel resources have significant influence on local planning directors ' actions for climate change. Originality/value – This paper provides policy implications to improve local land use planning ability for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

GSK malpractice case raises questions about trial standards

After GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was fi ned US$92 000 by Argentinian courts for administrative irregularities in a vaccine trial, observers have questioned whether trials are done under the same strict principles all over the world. On Dec 28, 2011, Marcelo Aguinsky, a judge in the province of Mendoza, found GSK guilty of irregularities in obtaining informed consent in a trial assessing the effi cacy and safety of Synfl orix—a vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae and acute otitis media caused by non-typeable Haemophilus infl uenzae. Aguinsky fi ned the drug company and the two main investigators, Miguel Tregnaghi and Hector Abate, a total of AR$1 million. GSK is currently appealing the decision. “GSK conducts clinical trials to the same high standards, irrespective of where in the world they are run”, the company said in a statement. The COMPAS trial was done between 2007 and 2008 in rural areas of three provinces in the east and north of Argentina—Mendoza, Santiago del Estero, and San Juan. It involved around 400 health professionals and was originally intended to recruit 17 000 children. Problems in the GSK trial fi rst came to light in 2007, when paediatrician Ana Marchese reported possible irregularities to FeSProSa (Syndicate Federation of Argentinian Health Professionals) after speaking to the trial participants’ families. FeSProSa investigated the accusations and fi led a report to the National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) in December, 2007, declaring problems surrounding informed consent. GSK stated that it was the company that had identifi ed the irregularities through self-monitoring and reported them straight to ANMAT. ANMAT undertook an inspection of the procedures and consent forms and found that in some of them, there was reason to believe that the parents of the participants did not fully understand what they were signing and the witnesses were not impartial. Due to these irregularities, the recruitment process was stopped in August, 2008. Roberto Lede, director of Planning and Institutional Relationships of ANMAT, states that “the intervention of the ANMAT was very opportune. The recruitment was stopped in the way it was being carried out and resumed with intensive control. It should be noted that the irregularities only aff ected less than 1% of the subjects.”

Promise of nano revolution hasn’t materialized

Silver nanoparticles, while presumably an effective weapon against very tiny vampires, have long been touted as the technology of the future that would transform medicine. But more than a decade after former United States president Bill Clinton said that nanotechnology would yield another “industrial revolution,” the promise of medical technologies using materials on the order of a billionth of a metre hasn’t exactly materialized. New diagnostic tools using nanowires, or new treatments that slip in and deliver chemotherapy directly into tumors, remain a distant dream. Researchers remain uncertain about how silver nanomaterials will act when reduced to miniscule sizes and it’s unclear what adverse effects will result if they are put into the human body. But they say there may be a more immediate role for silver nanoparticles, as an antibacterial agent in an era of increasing concern about hospital-acquired infections. Silver nanoparticles are already being embedded into anti-stink socks, washing machines and medical devices such as surgical tools and disinfectant sprays because of their antimicrobial characteristics. But the extent to which that has occurred is unclear and scientists say they are still trying to figure out the best and safest way to use the material. Among the possibilities is impregnating intravenous catheters with antimicrobial silver nanoparticles, which would mean that they could changed every two to three weeks, instead of every few days, says Dr. Horacio Bach, an adjunct professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Medicine and head of a team that is now testing the nanoparticles against macrophages, the body’s first immunological line of defense. Preliminary results indicate there is no significant toxic effect to cells so long as the ratio stays under 2 μg/mL. Among the possible uses of antimicrobial silver nanoparticles is impregnating them in intravenous catheters, which would mean they might not need to be changed every few days, but rather, every few weeks. Image courtesy of © 2011 Thinkstock While the miniscule size of nanoparticles is seductive, that size also makes it difficult to ascertain the consequences of their use in humans. There are virtually no studies done in vivo, so potential chemical interactions or long-term side-effects are unclear. A recent paper concluded that blocks of silver, such as earrings, shed nanoparticles as a matter of course, implying that humans have been exposed to silver nanoparticles ever since we started using the metal — and without apparent consequence (ACS Nano 2011;5[11]: 8950–57). “[The study’s results] doesn’t mean there isn’t a risk, but it means that we may need to recalibrate that risk,” says Dr. Andrew Maynard, director of the Risk Science Center at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. But others aren’t convinced that silver nanoparticles are a promising avenue for medicine. They “don’t work” in medicine and are a dead end, in terms of medical applications, says Dr. Robert Burrell, professor and chair of biomedical engineering at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and Canada Research Chair in nanostructured biomaterials. “There’s an overwhelming amount of material about nanomaterials and how good they are,” he adds. “But if you actually critically look at the papers, you can see that people were looking to get an effect, and they designed their experiment to get that effect in many instances.” “These people aren’t fibbing. They’re showing that you can get an antimicrobial effect in a test-tube.” Burrell says a more promising approach may lie in the use of nanocrystalline silver, which he used to invent a wound dressing that he says is now being used to treat burn victims in 40 countries. Beyond research lies the thorny issue of government regulation related to the use of nanotechnologies in medicine. Both Canada and the United States recently released policy statements on nano safety, with the US National Science and Technology Council Committee on Technology’s Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology proposing a comprehensive framework for nano research that better integrates risk assessment into the development of nanotechnology-enabled products (www.nano.gov/sites/default/files/pub_resource/nni_2011_ehs_research_strategy.pdf). Canada, by contrast, unveiled a “tool to help the Department gather safety information about nanomaterials” (www.hc-sc.gc.ca/sr-sr/pubs/nano/pol-eng.php). Health Canada appears disinclined to move with any manner of new regulations. Rather, the department hopes to regulate the use of nanomaterials within existing legislative frameworks such as the Food and Drugs Act, says Laird Roe, the director of policy, planning and coordination at Health Canada. “Internationally, everyone’s facing the same problem. Things are being done on a case by case basis.” But even if the government were inclined to regulate, it would probably be imprudent and impossible, as there are no hard and fast rules that apply to all materials at the nano level, Maynard says.

Direito fundamental à cidade sustentável e os dilemas do planejamento urbano no estado democrático de direito

No bojo das inovações pertinentes ao direito urbanístico trazidas pelo Estado Democrático de Direito, o presente artigo objetiva abordar o direito fundamental à cidade sustentável seguindo pelos meandros de sua relação com o princípio fundamental da dignidade da pessoa humana, uma vez que o ambiente citadino se caracteriza, essencialmente, por ser espaço político, social, cultural e filosófico, em que é possível o desenvolvimento das potencialidades humanas. Nesse sentido, é realizado um estudo sobre os diferentes institutos jus-urbanísticos em vigor no ordenamento jurídico pátrio, conferindo especial ênfase à Lei Federal 10.257 - autodenominada Estatuto da Cidade - ao Plano Diretor Municipal, assim como as mudanças paradigmáticas ocorridas com a positivação da função social da cidade e da propriedade na Constituição da República federativa do Brasil.

DEMOCRACIA E PLANEJAMENTO TERRITORIAL: Desenvolvimento urbano de Goiânia e Planos Diretores Participativos na RMG

The deterioration of the quality of life in the great Brazilian cities has taken to the reflection a reasonable number of researchers of social sciences in Brazil in this beginning of century. Although they already had been debated previously, it is in the period of the democratization of years 1980 that the urban problematic in Brazil acquires a content properly politician. Through the National Movement for Urban Reform (MNRU) (MNRU) the claims gain prominence relative to the levels of social injustice in the urban way, as well as the pressures for the democratization for planning and management. In this perspective, the processes of definition of the urban politics are, now, demarcated for a new relation between State and society. In the same time, the performance of the agents in the spaces of decision and control is guided by new forms and contents. This study aimed to identify the contents of popular participation and democratization in Participative Director Plans from four cities of Goiânia’s Metropolitan Region, elaborated between the years of 2004 and 2008.

Medicaid for Adults With Disabilities

You have accessThe ASHA LeaderBottom Line1 Nov 2011Medicaid for Adults With Disabilities Laurie Alban Havens, andMA, CCC-SLP Janey McCartyMEd, CCC-SLP Laurie Alban Havens Google Scholar More articles by this author , MA, CCC-SLP and Janey McCarty Google Scholar More articles by this author , MEd, CCC-SLP https://doi.org/10.1044/leader.BML1.16142011.3 SectionsAbout ToolsAdd to favorites ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In http://www.asha.org/Publications/leader/2011/111122/Bottom-Line--Medicaid-for-Adults-With-Disabilities.htm Medicaid provides services for eligible children who have a developmental disability, covering services such as personal care, transportation, diagnostic evaluation, and intervention. They are provided under the Early and Periodic Screening and Diagnostic Treatment provision of the Social Security Act. However, when the individual turns 21 years old, those mandated services become optional. Because Medicaid is state-administered, these optional services vary from state to state. Coverage of speech-language and other services provided to Medicaid-eligible adults with developmental disabilities, therefore, depends on the policy of the client’s state (contact information is available at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s website [PDF]). Some general information, however, applies to all Medicaid programs. Definition According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, developmental disabilities are severe, life-long disabilities attributable to mental and/or physical impairments that manifest themselves before the age of 22 years and are likely to continue indefinitely. They result in substantial limitations in a number of areas, including receptive and expressive language, mobility, learning, and self-care. According to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, individuals with developmental disabilities (including Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorders) compose 13.87% of the U.S. population. Services Medicaid services available to adults with developmental disabilities might include a day habilitation program with training and supported employment; adult day care; or support services that may include nursing, behavior services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology services, transportation, and crisis services. Service settings include individual homes, community residential sites, and day programs. Individuals may live in an intermediate care facility for persons with developmental disabilities, previously (and in some states still) called an intermediate care facility for persons with mental retardation. Home-based Services Medicaid rules can require people with disabilities to live in institutions to receive services. However, under the Social Security Act, states may request waivers of certain of these requirements to develop community-based alternatives to placing Medicaid-eligible individuals in hospitals, nursing facilities, or other institutions. States may develop a variety of services under a home- and community-based service (HCBS) waiver program. Many of the state waiver programs arose as a result of the Olmstead decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits unnecessary institutionalization of persons with disabilities. Waivers allow services to be brought to recipients, rather than forcing them to be institutionalized. The number of services that can be provided is not limited. The programs may provide a combination of medical services, such as dental and skilled nursing services, and non-medical services, such as respite care and environmental modifications. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia offer HCBS waiver services through 287 active programs. Arizona operates a similar program under a different section of the act. Maryland’s Waiver for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities, for example, covers case management services, community residential services, community supported living arrangements, respite care services, behavioral support services, and adult day habilitation including supported employment. Other states may offer services limited in duration and/or intensity to Medicaid-eligible adults with developmental disabilities. According to data compiled by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured in 2008, Medicaid services vary in coverage for speech-language pathology and audiology services: 35 states provide coverage at some level and 16 provide no coverage. In contrast, Kaiser data indicate that all states provide some level of home health care services. However, some states specifically exclude therapies in their home health coverage. For example, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, and the District of Columbia exclude speech-language pathology as a home health benefit. Some states (e.g., Georgia and Louisiana) require prior approval for therapy services, and many (e.g., Indiana and South Carolina) cap the number of therapy visits allowed per year. State Information Medicaid is a federally mandated program, but much of the design and implementation of the program is determined at the state level. Therefore, it is always necessary to check with the state Medicaid office to determine available services and eligibility. Despite budget cuts, funding options are still available for speech-language and audiology services. Author Notes director of private health plans and Medicaid advocacy, can be reached at [email protected]. private health plans advisor, can be reached at [email protected]. Advertising Disclaimer | Advertise With Us Advertising Disclaimer | Advertise With Us Additional Resources FiguresSourcesRelatedDetails Volume 16Issue 14November 2011 Get Permissions Add to your Mendeley library History Published in print: Nov 1, 2011 Metrics Current downloads: 117 Topicsasha-topicsleader_do_tagasha-article-typesleader-topicsCopyright & Permissions© 2011 American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationLoading ...

Contributors

Contributors

Beware the Duck Test

Beware the Duck Test

Preparing for Health Insurance Exchanges

Preparing for Health Insurance Exchanges

Effects of global financial crisis on funding for health development in nineteen countries of the WHO African Region

BackgroundThere is ample evidence in Asia and Latin America showing that past economic crises resulted in cuts in expenditures on health, lower utilization of health services, and deterioration of child and maternal nutrition and health outcomes. Evidence on the impact of past economic crises on health sector in Africa is lacking. The objectives of this article are to present the findings of a quick survey conducted among countries of the WHO African Region to monitor the effects of global financial crisis on funding for health development; and to discuss the way forward.MethodsThis is a descriptive study. A questionnaire was prepared and sent by email to all the 46 Member States in the WHO African Region through the WHO Country Office for facilitation and follow up. The questionnaires were completed by directors of policy and planning in ministries of health. The data were entered and analyzed in Excel spreadsheet. The main limitations of this study were that authors did not ask whether other relevant sectors were consulted in the process of completing the survey questionnaire; and that the overall response rate was low.ResultsThe main findings were as follows: the response rate was 41.3% (19/46 countries); 36.8% (7/19) indicated they had been notified by the Ministry of Finance that the budget for health would be cut; 15.8% (3/19) had been notified by partners of their intention to cut health funding; 61.1% (11/18) indicated that the prices of medicines had increased recently; 83.3% (15/18) indicated that the prices of basic food stuffs had increased recently; 38.8% (7/18) indicated that their local currency had been devalued against the US dollar; 47.1% (8/17) affirmed that the levels of unemployment had increased since the onset of global financial crisis; and 64.7% (11/17) indicated that the ministry of health had taken some measures already, either in reaction to the global financing crisis, or in anticipation.ConclusionA rapid assessment, like the one reported in this article, of the effects of the global financial crisis on a few variables, is important to alert the Ministry of Health on the looming danger of cuts in health funding from domestic and external sources. However, it is even more important for national governments to monitor the effects of the economic crisis and the policy responses on the social determinants of health, health inputs, health system outputs and health system outcomes, e.g. health.