In order to target resources and drugs to reach trachoma elimination targets by the year 2020, data on the burden of disease are required. Using prevalence data in African countries derived from the Global Atlas of Trachoma (GAT), the distribution of trachoma continues to be focused in East and West... Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and a few endemic countries in Central Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, 129.4 million people are estimated to live in areas that are confirmed to be trachoma endemic and 98 million are known to require access to the SAFE strategy. The maps and information presented in this work highlight the GAT as important open-access planning and advocacy tool for efforts to finalize trachoma mapping and assist national programmes in planning interventions.
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asthma is a chronic inflammatory and a heterogeneous condition of respiratory system whose pathogenesis is linked with variable structural changes. The clinical manifestation of asthma includes attacks of breathlessness, cough, chest tightness and wheezing. Provision of basic equipment and test for ...asthma diagnosis and access to essential medicines by asthmatic patients reduces morbidity and mortality rates. Significant progress has been made in the diagnosis and management of asthma in other countries but not in the health care delivery system in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop algorithm for asthma diagnosis and management for Zimbabwe.
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23 February 2021
This document describes the medical devices required for the clinical management of COVID-19, selected and prioritized according to the latest available evidence and interim guidelines. This includes: oxygen therapy, pulse oximeters, patient monitors, thermometers, infusion and suc...tion pumps, X-ray, ultrasound and CT scanners as well as personal protective equipment. In order to facilitate access to quality assured priority medical devices, the document also includes technical and performance characteristics, related standards, accessories and consumables. It is intended for policy-makers and planning officers in Ministries of Health, procurement and regulatory agencies, intergovernmental and international agencies as well as the medical device industry.
This document is an update to the List of priority medical devices for COVID-19 case management and Technical specifications for invasive and non-invasive ventilators for COVID-19.
This document complements the Technical specifications of personal protective equipment for COVID-19.
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ERS is made up of over 35,000 respiratory clinicians, scientists and allied healthcare professionals, spanning more than 160 countries worldwide. Members are central to the Society and actively participate in setting the agenda across all ERS activities. Members have access to and enjoy a comprehens...ive range of benefits.
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The postpartum period is a critical time for mothers and newborns, who require essential hygiene and personal items, such as menstrual pads, clothes, and diapers, to ensure their well- being and health. Although these items are simple, they can significantly enhance well- being. Conversely, lacking ...these essentials can increase the risk of infections for mothers and newborns.
In Gaza, the current emergency situation has meant women face significant limitations in accessing these essential items due to market unavailability, financial constraints, high security risks, and border closures.
In response, organizations working in sexual and reproductive health in Gaza have united to provide postpartum kits (PPKs) to mothers and newborns effectively.
With approximately 4,000 live births occurring in Gaza each month, it is crucial for partners to collaborate in advocating for resources and ensuring timely procurement and distribution of these kits.
Moreover, to ensure equitable access and consistent quality of the kits for all women, partners have agreed on a unified set of criteria for their composition and distribution.
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УСПЕХИ В РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ ПОЛИТИКИ В ОТНОШЕНИИ КОНТРОЛЯ НАД АЛКОГОЛЬНОЙ ПРОДУКЦИЕЙ, 2010–2019 ГГ
A detailed overview is provided of the implementation of alcohol policies described in the 10 action areas of the European Action Plan ...to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol 2012–2020 (EAPA), including the current status of implementation of the five action areas of the WHO-led SAFER initiative:
Strengthen restrictions on alcohol availability;
Advance and enforce drink–driving countermeasures;
Facilitate access to screening, brief interventions and treatment;
Enforce bans or comprehensive restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship and promotion; and
Raise prices on alcohol through excise taxes and pricing policies.
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The present Community Empowerment Manual draws upon the lessons learned of the Community Protection Approach implementation in Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territory and Central America during the period 2015-2020 by WeWorld – GVC and its partners.
The Manual means to accompany Field Staff i...n devising the most appropriate strategy to engage with communities, given the conditions of access, security and time of the specific context in which a project is implemented. Even though the steps described proceed alongside the implementation of the Community Protection Approach, the manual has different sections providing guidance for the definition of engagement strategies in any context or project in question.
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When setting national drinking-water quality regulations and standards, many countries consider the WHO Guidelines for drinking-water quality (GDWQ). To better understand the extent to which the GDWQ are used and reflected in these standards, this global review summarizes information from 104... countries and territories on values specified in national drinking-water quality standards for aesthetic, chemical, microbiological and radiological parameters.
The information provided will support regulatory agencies and other key stakeholders to access and compare data when setting or revising national drinking-water quality regulations and standards.
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Better Parenting Nigeria is a parenting education program whose goal is to see that families have the knowledge and skills needed to raise healthy, safe and resilient children. The program aims to ensure that:
The caregiver-child relationship is strengthened;
Caregiver capacity to understa...nd family needs and access resources and services is
increased; and
Caregiver capacity to protect children from all forms of harm and exploitation is
improved.
This Facilitator’s Manual is for the facilitator to use to support the community discussions, provide targeted messaging, and recommend suggestions for knowledge and experience sharing. It should be used hand-in-hand with the Community Discussion Guide.
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The world is facing an unprecedented range of emergencies. In reaction to these complex adversities, many people experience considerable distress and impairment, and a minority may even go on to develop mental health conditions. Meanwhile, those with pre-existing mental health conditions may experie...nce a worsening of their condition and are at risk of neglect, abandonment, abuse and lack of access to support. Unfortunately, evidence-based mental health care is often extremely limited in humanitarian settings. In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) published the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP-HIG) in 2015. This practical tool supports health-care providers in assessing and offering first-line management of mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) conditions in humanitarian emergency settings.
2 December 2021. The current report, Stories of change from four countries: Building capacity for integrating mental health care within health services across humanitarian settings, describes efforts in four countries to build evidence-based mental health systems in humanitarian emergency settings using the mhGAP-HIG. This report includes three sections, the first describing the importance of scaling up mental health care in emergency contexts, the second outlining case studies (“stories of change”) to scale up the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) programme in four settings and the third describing lessons learned by stakeholders.
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This manual has been prepared by the Group on Agriculture of the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. The purpose of this work is to spread the basic concepts of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)in order to: guide the production systems towards a sustainable agriculture and ecolo...gically safe, obtain harmless products of higher quality, contribute to food security generating income through the access to markets and improve working conditions of producers and their families.
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Providing financial protection to the population for larger health care expenses arising out of hospital-based care, has come forth as a crucial element in the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through the recent health financing reforms of low-and middle-income countries (LMIC). Over th...e last decade, the state of Assam in India, in an effort to ensure equitable health care access, has formulated multiple health protection schemes at different points of time. This has resulted in several such schemas which have had their own objectives, designs, institutional setups, and governance mechanisms. Moreover, they have reportedly been operating in relative silos.
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During the Programme Managers’ Review Meeting of Central and East Africa and South-East Asia (online meeting, June 2022), experts proposed additional regional and national subtargets related to VL incidence, as defined below. These targets can be revisited as progress is reviewed and access to dia...gnosis and treatment and surveillance improves.
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The chapter Closing the Gap: The Health Disparities of Older LGBTI People in the Americas, is part of the publication series titled ‘Decade of Healthy Aging: situation and challenges’. In order to outline the current knowledge available on the situation of health and well-being of older persons ...in the Americas at the beginning of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Aging (2021-2030), this document presents data and existing evidence different forms of discrimination and mistreatment older people face due to their sexual orientation and gender identities that ultimately increase health disparities. Previous studies on LGBTI older people offer valuable information on the lived experiences of these communities and demonstrate that they face unique challenges with aging, emphasizing the difficulties related to access to care. Very few studies on older people and aging include a focus on sexual orientation or gender identity; however, it is possible to point out that HIV/AIDS is one of the most significant health disparities confronting LGBTI older persons, followed by physical and mental health problems, substance use, social isolation, poverty, and the lack of access to quality healthcare, including long-term care facilities or other institutions. Closing the gap in access and quality of health and care services is an imperative to increase longevity, health status and quality of life of LGBTI older people.
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This document updates the 2014 Core Elements for Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs and incorporates new evidence and lessons learned from experience with the Core Elements. The Core Elements are applicable in all hospitals, regardless of size. There are suggestions specific to small and criti...cal access hospitals in Implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship Core Elements at Small and Critical Access Hospitals (12).There is no single template for a program to optimize antibiotic prescribing in hospitals. Implementation of antibiotic stewardship programs requires flexibility due to the complexity of medical decision-making surrounding antibiotic use and the variability in the size and types of care among U.S. hospitals. In some sections, CDC has identified priorities for implementation, based on the experiences of successful stewardship programs and published data. The Core Elements are intended to be an adaptable framework that hospitals can use to guide efforts to improve antibiotic prescribing. The assessment tool that accompanies this document can help hospitals identify gaps to address.
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This global guidance provided the framework for over 100 countries to develop their NDVPs. This updated (second) version supersedes the previous version published in 16 November 2020. New information has been added on the following areas:
the COVID-19 Partners Platform;
the use of COVID...-19 simulation exercises to test deployment strategies;
the indemnity agreement and no-fault compensation programme for vaccines secured through the COVAX Facility in the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) eligible economies;
the availability and use of the WHO-UNICEF COVID-19 Vaccine Introduction and deployment Costing (CVIC) tool;
the COVAX Facility’s humanitarian buffer that enables allocation of vaccine to cover high-risk populations in humanitarian settings;
recommendations for vaccination of pregnant and lactating women;
supplementary information on infection prevention and control (IPC) measures to be used to deliver COVID-19 vaccines safely;
the WHO licensed COVID-19 vaccines product-specific information;
use of geospatial data and digital micro plans for equitable access and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines;
lessons learned from the development of NDVPs and early experiences in COVID-19 vaccine deployment in countries; and
updated additional resources at the end of each chapter.
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Hypertension is the main risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. Each year 1.6 million deaths befall from cardiovascular disease in the region of the Americas, of which about half a million occur in people under age 70, which is considered premature and preventable death. Hypertension aff...ects between 20-40% of the adult population of the region, meaning that in the Americas around 250 million people suffer from high blood pressure. Hypertension is preventable or can be postponed by a set of preventive interventions, among which include the reduction of salt intake, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight. PAHO promotes policies and projects to impact on public health the prevention of hypertension through policies to reduce salt intake, to promote healthy eating, physical activity and to prevent obesity. Promotes and supports projects that facilitate access to essential medicines for the treatment of hypertension and promotes the development of human resources in health.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet on ambient (outdoor) air quality and health highlights the significant health risks posed by outdoor air pollution. It reports that in 2019, ambient air pollution was responsible for approximately 4.2 million premature deaths globally, primarily due to ...exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which leads to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as cancers. The fact sheet emphasizes that 99% of the global population lived in areas exceeding WHO air quality guidelines in 2019, with low- and middle-income countries bearing the highest burden. To mitigate these health impacts, WHO advocates for policies and investments that promote cleaner transportation, energy-efficient housing, improved waste management, and access to clean household energy.
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The article discusses the success of the Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (GARD) in Brazil. It details the initiatives launched to address chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) like asthma and COPD, emphasizing the development of national programs and collaborative efforts with the... World Health Organization (WHO). Key achievements include successful advocacy, education campaigns, and pilot projects for asthma control, which have led to improved access to treatment and better management of CRDs. Despite challenges such as limited government priority, GARD Brazil has made significant progress in awareness and care for respiratory conditions. The article highlights the need for continued support to sustain these efforts and develop a formal national action plan.
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The guidance provides critical considerations and practical checklists to keep schools safe. It also advises national and local authorities on how to adapt and implement emergency plans for educational facilities.
In the event of school closures, the guidance includes recommendations to mitigate... against the possible negative impacts on children’s learning and wellbeing. This means having solid plans in place to ensure the continuity of learning, including remote learning options such as online education strategies and radio broadcasts of academic content, and access to essential services for all children. These plans should also include necessary steps for the eventual safe reopening of schools.
Where schools remain open, and to make sure that children and their families remain protected and informed.
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