Publications

    Hashimoto K, Rhatigan J. Chagas Disease Vector Control in Honduras. Harvard Business Publishing. 2017.Abstract

    This case describes how the Honduran Ministry of Health developed and implemented a Chagas disease control program with the assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and others from 2003 to 2012. After providing background information about Honduras and Chagas disease, the case examines the work of the Guatemalan Ministry of Health and JICA to implement a Chagas disease control program that provided the template for the program in Honduras. The case then describes the adaptation of this model for the Honduran context, including details of the surveillance model and vector control interventions. The case concludes with the program considering how it would maintain its success in spite of decreased funding and changes in leadership.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Chagas vector chart
    Main vector species of Chagas disease in Central America. Source: Biblioteca Virtual en Salud de Honduras.

    Indoor residual spraying
    Training community members for indoor residual spraying in the first trial in Intibucá 2004. Source: Case writers.

    Learning Objectives: A productive class discussion will allow students to appreciate strategies in control of neglected tropical diseases; Chagas disease vector control and surveillance; the role of bilateral cooperation to strengthen health systems management; and how regional disease control initiatives are implemented locally.

    Keywords: Information management, scale-up, health care policy, public administration, government policy, resource-limited settings, data-collection

    Rosenberg J, Rhatigan J. Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment in Peru. Harvard Business Publishing. 2011.Abstract

    This case traces the development of a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment program in Peru between 1994 and 1999 by Socios en Salud (SES), a community-based nonprofit organization, in a shantytown of Northern Lima called Carabayllo. After providing some background on existing TB treatment services and the organizational history of SES, it follows the organization up to 1999 and frames its work within the context of international MDR-TB policy. The case presents background information on the epidemiology of TB and MDR-TB in Peru as well as the shantytown of Carabayllo. It describes how SES implemented community-based treatment for cadre of patients with MDR-TB and achieved cure rates comparable with those obtained in the US. The case begins with a vignette that illuminates the problem of MDR-TB from a patient’s perspective and ends with the program needing to strategize about how to scale-up and expand its reach to more patients.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Outdoor sputum collection booth to prevent TB transmission in (MOH) national hospital in northern shantytown of Peru
    Outdoor sputum collection booth to prevent TB transmission in (MOH) national hospital in northern shantytown of Peru; Credit: Julie Rosenberg Talbot

    Learning Objectives: To understand strategies that innovative programs use to improve access to health care and to explore ways that community health workers can deliver complex medical interventions within well-designed public health programs.

    Keywords: Community health workers, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis treatment, policy change, advocacy