Publications

    Ballard M, Madore A, Johnson A, et al. Concept Note: Community Health Workers. Harvard Business Publishing. 2018.Abstract

    Community health workers (CHWs)—lay people who engage in efforts to improve the health of their communities—have been proposed as a way to fill the global health human resource gap by extending services to hard-to-reach populations in remote areas. This concept note provides a brief history of CHWs, considers issues in CHW program design, and outlines future directions for research and funding.

    Visual Representation of CHW Density in Sub-Saharan Africa
    Visual representation of CHW density in Sub-Saharan Africa. Source: One Million CHWs Campaign, 2016.

    Learning objectives: This concept note aims to further students’ and instructors’ understanding of community health workers presented in the Cases in Global Health Delivery collection.

    Keywords: Human resources, primary care, disease management, monitoring and evaluation, resource allocation, global health policy, community health workers, partnerships

    Note: In map legend, 2,000–4,9999 should read 2,000–4,999.

    Rosenberg J, ole-MoiYoi K, Morse M. Concept Note: Clinical Background on HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis. Harvard Business Publishing. 2016.Abstract

    This concept note provides a clinical overview of three diseases that feature predominantly in our case study collection: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The concept note describes the pathology, causes, and management related to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of each of the diseases.

    Learning Objectives: To further students’ and instructors’ understanding of clinical concepts presented in the Global Health Delivery (GHD) Case Collection.

    Keyword: Epidemiology, pathology, disease management, monitoring and evaluation, resource allocation, global health policy, partnerships, reatment and prevention.

    Rosenberg J, Rhatigan J. Concept Note: The Development of Tuberculosis Treatments and Policy. Harvard Business Publishing. 2012.Abstract

    This concept note reviews the history of tuberculosis control with a focus on the development of chemotherapy for the disease, the creation of public health programs, and the evolution of international tuberculosis control policy.

    British Medical Research Council Tuberculosis Research Studies
    British Medical Research Council Tuberculosis Research Studies,1946-1986. Source: Fox, W., G.A. Ellard, and D.A. Mitchison, Studies on the treatment of tuberculosis undertaken by the British Medical Research Council Tuberculosis Units, 1946-1986, with relevant subsequent publications. International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 1999. 3(10): p. S231-S279.

    Learning Objectives: To aid students in fully understanding the history of tuberculosis control and policy and concepts in the Cases in Global Health Delivery.

    Keywords: Policy, innovation, R&D

    Sullivan E, ole-MoiYoi K, Weintraub R. Concept Note: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Harvard Business Publishing. 2012.Abstract

    This concept note explains the history, management, structure, financing, and strategy of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria-a public-private partnership and international financing institution created to attract and disburse resources to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The note also provides some insight to its impact on grantees. Because the Global Fund plays an important role for many of the organizations featured in the Cases in Global Health Delivery Series, this note will be useful background reading for students engaging in those cases.

    Global Fund–Supported Program Results

    Global Fund–Supported Program Results. Source: Making a Difference, Global Fund 2011 Results Report. (Exhibit 3 from "Concept Note: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.")

    Learning Objectives: To understand the structure, management, and role of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as an international financing institution.

    Keywords: Structure, financing, tuberculosis and malaria, history, Global Fund to Fight Aids, strategy, management

    May M, Rhatigan J. BRAC’s Tuberculosis Program: Pioneering DOTS Treatment for TB in Rural Bangladesh. Harvard Business Publishing. 2011.Abstract

    This case examines the development of a tuberculosis (TB) treatment program in Bangladesh by the non-governmental organization, BRAC, from 1984 to 2006. After providing background about Bangladesh, the burden of TB there, and BRAC, the case examines how this program was piloted and grew to cover a population of 80 million people. It details how BRAC was able to create a TB control program that utilized community health workers to perform most of its essential functions including case finding, directly-observed therapy, identification of complications, and record keeping. The case concludes with a brief summary of BRAC’s expansion to Afghanistan and recently, Africa, and asks the reader to consider the feasibility of this TB care model in other contexts and in other conditions, such as HIV/AIDS.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Timeline of BRAC TB Program Expansions
    Timeline of BRAC TB Program Expansions. Source: From One to Many: Scaling Up Health Programs in Low-Income Countries. Edited by Richard A Cash, A Mushtaque R. Chowdhury, George B. Smith, and Faruque Ahmed (2010). Ch 13. Islam A and May MA. Decentralized Management in the Expansion of BRAC's Rural Tuberculosis Program (DOTS). Pgs. 207-214. (Exhibit 3 in "BRAC’s Tuberculosis Program: Pioneering DOTS Treatment for TB in Rural Bangladesh" case.)

    Learning Objectives: To understand effective strategies for effectively engaging community health workers to deliver complex medical and public health interventions to large populations in low resource settings.

    Supporting Content: The sequel to this case is titled Tuberculosis in Dhaka: BRAC’s Urban TB Program.

    Keywords: Community health workers, tuberculosis control, rural nongovernmental organizations, social enterprise

    May M, Cash R, Rhatigan J. Tuberculosis in Dhaka: BRAC’s Urban TB Program. Harvard Business Publishing. 2011.Abstract

    This case examines BRAC’s experience expanding its rural TB program to the urban environment of Dhaka between 2002 and 2008. The case provides background information about Dhaka and describes what TB services existed at the time. The case then describes the expansion of BRAC’s TB program into Dhaka and details innovations in the Urban program. Students should gain an understanding of how these program modifications were a response to the specific challenges the program faced in the urban setting. The case allows an exploration of how successful health care delivery program adapt to new environments.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Map of Dhaka
    Map of Dhaka. Source: Available at http://www.urpnissues.com/webpage/maps/Districts/13.GIF. (Exhibit 1 in "Tuberculosis in Dhaka: BRAC’s Urban TB Program" case.)

    Learning Objectives: To understand how a successful health care delivery program that is uniquely tailored to a particular setting can adapt its operations in a new environment.

    Supporting Content: This case is a sequel to BRAC’s Tuberculosis Program: Pioneering DOTS Treatment for TB in Rural Bangladesh

    Keywords: Service delivery innovation, tuberculosis control, urban nongovernmental organizations

    Rosenberg J, Rhatigan J, Kim JY. The Peruvian National Tuberculosis Control Program. Harvard Business Publishing. 2011.Abstract

    This case examines effective public health management strategies by examining the turnaround of National Tuberculosis (TB) Control Program (NTP) in Peru during the 1990s under Director Dr. Pedro Suarez. The case presents background information on the NTP before 1990 and situates its underperformance within the political and economic context of Peru at this time. It describes how Suarez transformed the NTP from an essentially bankrupt program in August 1990 to a model program, using effective management techniques. It concludes with the program struggling to improve outcomes among a group of patients failing its standardized protocols.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Health Center in Peru
    Health center in Peru; Credit: Julie Rosenberg Talbot

    Learning Objectives: To understand the operations of a national tuberculosis control program and to learn how effective management techniques can be employed in public health programs to improve performance with an emphasis on basic principles of quality improvement.

    Keywords: Program management, leadership, vertical programming, public health, tuberculosis control

    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