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Anne Mills

Bio: Anne Mills is an academic researcher from University of London. The author has contributed to research in topics: Health policy & Health care. The author has an hindex of 81, co-authored 494 publications receiving 23225 citations. Previous affiliations of Anne Mills include London School of Economics and Political Science & Kenya Medical Research Institute.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The forthcoming Ministerial Summit on Health Research seeks to help define a learning agenda for health systems, so that by 2015, substantial progress will have been made to reducing the system constraints to achieving the MDGs.

879 citations

BookDOI
TL;DR: This second edition of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries (DCP2) seeks to update and improve guidance on the what-to-do questions in DCP1 and to address the institutional, organizational, financial, and research capacities essential for health systems to deliver the right interventions.
Abstract: This is the second edition of the original 1993 publication on public health. The purpose of this book is to provide information about what works, specifically, the cost-effectiveness of health interventions in a variety of settings. Such information should influence the redesign of programs and the reallocation of resources, thereby helping to achieve the ultimate goal of reducing morbidity and mortality. As was the case with the first edition, this second edition of will serve an array of audiences. This second edition of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries (DCP2) seeks to update and improve guidance on the what-to-do questions in DCP1 and to address the institutional, organizational, financial, and research capacities essential for health systems to deliver the right interventions. DCP2 is the principal product of the Disease Control Priorities Project, an alliance of organizations designed to review, generate, and disseminate information on how to improve population health in developing countries. In addition to DCP2, the project produced numerous background papers, an extensive range of interactive consultations held around the world, and several additional major publications.

786 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a supplement on malaria-related perinatal mortality, occurrence of human immunodeficiency virus in pregnancy, undernutrition, and neurologic, cognitive, and developmental sequelae.
Abstract: Each year, up to three million deaths due to malaria and close to five billion episodes of clinical illness possibly meriting antimalarial therapy occur throughout the world, with Africa having more than 90% of this burden. Almost 3% of disability adjusted life years are due to malaria mortality globally, 10% in Africa. New information is presented in this supplement on malaria-related perinatal mortality, occurrence of human immunodeficiency virus in pregnancy, undernutrition, and neurologic, cognitive, and developmental sequelae. The entomologic determinants of transmission and uses of modeling for program planning and disease prediction and prevention are discussed. New data are presented from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe on the increasing urban malaria problem and on epidemic malaria. Between 6% and 28% of the malaria burden may occur in cities, which comprise less than 2% of the African surface. Macroeconomic projections show that the costs are far greater than the costs of individual cases, with a substantial deleterious impact of malaria on schooling of patients, external investments into endemic countries, and tourism. Poor populations are at greatest risk; 58% of the cases occur in the poorest 20% of the world's population and these patients receive the worst care and have catastrophic economic consequences from their illness. This social vulnerability requires better understanding for improving deployment, access, quality, and use of effective interventions. Studies from Ghana and elsewhere indicate that for every patient with febrile illness assumed to be malaria seen in health facilities, 4-5 episodes occur in the community. Effective actions for malaria control mandate rational public policies; market forces, which often drive sales and use of drugs and other interventions, are unlikely to guarantee their use. Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for malaria is rapidly gaining acceptance as an effective approach for countering the spread and intensity of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to chloroquine, sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine, and other antimalarial drugs. Although costly, ACT ($1.20-2.50 per adult treatment) becomes more cost-effective as resistance to alternative drugs increases; early use of ACT may delay development of resistance to these drugs and prevent the medical toll associated with use of ineffective drugs. The burden of malaria in one district in Tanzania has not decreased since the primary health care approach replaced the vertical malaria control efforts of the 1960s. Despite decentralization, this situation resulted, in part, from weak district management capacity, poor coordination, inadequate monitoring, and lack of training of key staff. Experience in the Solomon Islands showed that spraying with DDT, use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), and health education were all associated with disease reduction. The use of nets permitted a reduction in DDT spraying, but could not replace it without an increased malaria incidence. Baseline data and reliable monitoring of key outcome indicators are needed to measure whether the ambitious goals for the control of malaria and other diseases has occurred. Such systems are being used for evidence-based decision making in Tanzania and several other countries. Baseline cluster sampling surveys in several countries across Africa indicate that only 53% of the children with febrile illness in malarious areas are being treated; chloroquine (CQ) is used 84% of the time, even where the drug may be ineffective. Insecticide-treated bed nets were used only 2% of the time by children less than five years of age. Progress in malaria vaccine research has been substantial over the past five years; 35 candidate malaria vaccines are in development, many of which are in clinical trials. Development of new vaccines and drugs has been the result of increased investments and formation of public-private partnerships. Before malaria vaccine becomes deployed, consideration must be given to disease burden, cost-effectiveness, financing, delivery systems, and approval by regulatory agencies. Key to evaluation of vaccine effectiveness will be collection and prompt analysis of epidemiologic information. Training of persons in every aspect of malaria research and control is essential for programs to succeed. The Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) is actively promoting research capacity strengthening and has established networks of institutions and scientists throughout the African continent, most of whom are now linked by modern information-sharing networks. Evidence over the past century is that successful control malaria programs have been linked to strong research activities. To ensure effective coordination and cooperation between the growing number of research and control coalitions forming in support of malaria activities, an umbrella group is needed. With continued support for scientists and control workers globally, particularly in low-income malarious countries, the long-deferred dream of malaria elimination can become a reality.

633 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A broad perspective on maternal health is taken and links to a range of global survival initiatives, particularly neonatal health, HIV, and malaria, and to reproductive health.

549 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Anne Mills1
TL;DR: This article addresses how — or whether — these needs are being met in low- and middle-income countries.
Abstract: Health care systems need organizational direction, physical plants, and fiscal resources to deliver services to their constituents. This article addresses how — or whether — these needs are being met in low- and middle-income countries.

431 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
Rafael Lozano1, Mohsen Naghavi1, Kyle J Foreman2, Stephen S Lim1  +192 moreInstitutions (95)
TL;DR: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010 aimed to estimate annual deaths for the world and 21 regions between 1980 and 2010 for 235 causes, with uncertainty intervals (UIs), separately by age and sex, using the Cause of Death Ensemble model.

11,809 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) as mentioned in this paper was created to marshal the evidence on what can be done to promote health equity and to foster a global movement to achieve it.

7,335 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Theo Vos, Abraham D. Flaxman1, Mohsen Naghavi1, Rafael Lozano1  +360 moreInstitutions (143)
TL;DR: Prevalence and severity of health loss were weakly correlated and age-specific prevalence of YLDs increased with age in all regions and has decreased slightly from 1990 to 2010, but population growth and ageing have increased YLD numbers and crude rates over the past two decades.

7,021 citations