Health assistance in humanitarian crisis, 12 credits

Board-certified health professionals and other health professionals with relevant background.

The overall aim of the course is to provide competencies, strategies and tools to enable the students to work as humanitarian health assistance staff. 

After the course the student should be able to: 

Knowledge and understanding

• explain the humanitarian context and principles for humanitarian assistance
• ​describe and explain the general global health situation and factors that determine variations and summarize general strategies  relevant for improving global health
• in relation to common communicable diseases: describe the global burden, vulnerable groups, transmission, clinical manifestation and management 
• in relation to maternal- and child health: describe the global burden, clinical manifestation and management of common diseases and disorders 

Skill, abilities, judgment and approach
Within humanitarian contexts, the student should be able to:

• identify, interpret and summarise information related to the interrelationship between hazardous events, vulnerable populations and health outcome 
• assess health strategies limiting morbidity and mortality 
• plan for health promotion programs
• plan for optimal healthcare based on disease burden and limited resources with an ethical approach
• argue for key components needed and plan for the control of communicable diseases 
• plan interventions for prevention and management of maternal and child health, including acute malnutrition.

The course basis is the global health situation and determinants for health.  It illustrates how context and different types of disasters affects public health. The course highlights health strategies aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality. It also provides concrete tools for planning and implementing humanitarian health assistance.
 
The course comprises a total of eight weeks (estimated to 12 credits), of combined campus and web based learning. 

The course focuses on humanitarian health assistance from the following core areas. 

• Global health overview
• Communicable diseases, epidemic outbreaks 
• Maternal and child health 

In addition to the core areas, the course also includes non-communicable diseases, mental health and ethical dilemmas.

Detailed content: 
Global health and its variations, health in disasters 
The module focus on global health in a humanitarian context

• The global health situation and health determinants
• Health systems
• Basic principles of epidemiology
• Non-communicable diseases - global burden and strategies 
• Mental health
• Humanitarian health assistance, principles and scope:
  • main actors and coordination
  • needs assessment and planning of interventions
  • essential standards and guidelines
  • health priorities
  • health promotion 
  • mental health
  • trauma and mass-casualty management. 

Communicable diseases and epidemic outbreaks 
The module focus on communicable diseases and epidemic outbreaks.

• The global health situation of communicable diseases and epidemic outbreaks
• Common communicable diseases, including pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases, malaria, tuberculosis, etc. 
• Principles of communicable disease control, including extended programme for immunization and other global disease control programmes
• Response to epidemic outbreaks
• Rational use of drugs

Maternal and child health
The module focus on maternal and child health in a humanitarian context

• Maternal health, including sexual and reproductive health 
• The global health situation of maternal health
• Safe motherhood (antenatal, delivery and postpartum care)
• Family planning and post abortion care
• Health strategies and interventions concerning sexual and gender based violence, including female genital mutilation
• Child health and the global health situation of child health
• Integrated management of childhood diseases
• Neonatology and care of the newborn child
• Preventive, integrated and curative health services for common child diseases and health threats
• Care and management of acute malnutrition

Interactive lectures, discussion seminars, case-based group assignments and clinical simulation exercises.

The course will be examined individually through a written exam. 

The course also has mandatory seminars where the case based groupwork is presented and discussed by a peer-student group.

The student receives one final grade for the whole course (Pass/Fail). In order to pass the course, the student must pass on the individual examination and also have participated in and presented all group assignments. 

Compulsory participation
The examiner assesses if, and how, absence from compulsory educational elements can be compensated for. Before the student has participated in the compulsory educational elements or compensated the absence in accordance with the examiner's instructions, the final course results will not be reported. Absence from a compulsory educational component may mean that the student cannot compensate for the missed compulsory educational element until the next time the course is given.

Limitation of number of occasions to write the exam
The student has the right to write the exam six times. If the student has not passed the exam after four participations he/she is encouraged to visit the study advisor.
The number of times that the student has participated in one and the same examination is regarded as an examination session. Submission of a blank examination is regarded as an examination. An examination for which the student registered but not participated in will not be counted as an examination.

If there are special grounds, or a need for adaptation for a student with a disability, the examiner may decide to deviate from the syllabus's regulations on the examination form, the number of examination opportunities, the possibility of supplementation or exemptions from the compulsory section/s of the course etc. Content and learning outcomes as well as the level of expected skills, knowledge and abilities may not be changed, removed or reduced.