Reporting period: January 2014 – December 2014
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in Myanmar is concentrated among men who have sex with men (MSM), people who inject drugs (PWID) and female sex workers (FSW). HIV prevalence in the adult population aged 15 years and older was esti...mated at 0.54% in 2014. But data from HIV Sentinel Sero-Surveillance (HSS) indicates higher prevalence in 2014 among key populations: FSW 6.3%, MSM 6.6% and PWID 23.1%. Compared to 2012 data, the prevalence has declined from 7.1% in FSW and 8.9% in MSM, but has increased from 18% in PWID.
Epidemiological modelling suggests that in 2014 there were around 212,000 people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Myanmar, 34% of whom were females. Nearly 11,000 people died of HIV-related illnesses, compared to approximately 15,000 in 2011. An estimated 9,000 new infections occurred in 2014.
more
DHS Analytical Studies No. 51
Child Health, Family Planning, Geographic Information, HIV, Malaria, Maternal Health
The Compendium brings together for the first time key consensus-based policy recommendations and guidance to improve the delivery of proven interventions to women and children. The user-friendly format incorporates icons and tabs to present key health-related policies that support the delivery of es...sential RMNCH interventions. It also includes multisectoral policies on the economic, social, technological and environmental factors that influence health outcomes and service delivery. The Policy Compendium is a companion document to the Essential Interventions, Commodities and Guidelines for RMNCH.
more
The humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) has further worsened over the past six months. Election-related violence that broke out in mid-December 2020 has had a devastating effect on civilians. Thousands of people have been forced to flee, human rights violations have surged, ...hundreds of schools and dozens of hospitals have been forcibly closed and food prices have skyrocketed. This deterioration occurred in an already alarming context, with more than half of the population (2.8 million people) in need of humanitarian assistance and protection and 1.9 million people in acute need. In the past five years, there have never been as many people in humanitarian distress in CAR as today.
more
WHO today released its first roadmap to tackle postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) – defined as excessive bleeding after childbirth - which affects millions of women annually and is the world’s leading cause of maternal deaths.
Despite being preventable and treatable, PPH results in around 70 000 de...aths every year. For those who survive, it can cause disabilities and psychological trauma that last for years.
“Severe bleeding in childbirth is one of the most common causes of maternal mortality, yet it is highly preventable and treatable,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This new roadmap charts a path forward to a world in which more women have a safe birth and a healthy future with their families.”
The Roadmap aims to help countries address stark differences in survival outcomes from PPH, which reflect major inequities in access to essential health services. Over 85% of deaths from PPH happen in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Risk factors include anaemia, placental abnormalities, and other complications in pregnancy such as infections and pre-eclampsia.
Many risk factors can be managed if there is quality antenatal care, including access to ultrasound, alongside effective monitoring in the hours after birth. If bleeding starts, it also needs to be detected and treated extremely quickly. Too often, however, health facilities lack necessary healthcare workers or resources, including lifesaving commodities such as oxytocin, tranexamic acid or blood for transfusions.
“Addressing postpartum haemorrhage needs a multipronged approach focusing on both prevention and response - preventing risk factors and providing immediate access to treatments when needed - alongside broader efforts to strengthen women’s rights,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, WHO Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HRP, the UN’s special programme on research development and training in human reproduction. “Every woman, no matter where she lives, should have access to timely, high quality maternity care, with trained health workers, essential equipment and shelves stocked with appropriate and effective commodities – this is crucial for treating postpartum bleeding and reducing maternal deaths.”
more
With this quick reference guide, providers can easily recognize diseases and side effects related to climate change, implement appropriate management and provide guidance to exposed populations, provide up-to-date information on the relationship between the adverse effects of certain drugs and the w...orsening of climate-sensitive health conditions, and determine the possible consequences of climate change for health services. This book addresses key meteorological risks, as well as the health conditions which they may influence, grouped by specific clinical areas.
more
J Glob Health Sci. 2020 Jun;2(1):e3. A group of enzootic and zoonotic protozoan infections, the leishmaniases constitute among the most severely neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and are found in all continents except Oceania. Representing the most common infectious diseases, NTDs comprise an open-...ended list of some 20 parasitic, bacterial, viral, protozoan and helminthic infections. Called “diseases of the poor,” because of their characteristic prevalence in poor populations regardless of a country's income status, they infect over one billion people in over 140 countries, with about 90% of the global burden in Africa. While NTDs do not contribute significantly to global deaths, they are debilitating and remain the most common infections among the poor worldwide, preventing them from escaping poverty by impacting livelihoods such as agriculture and livestock, and affecting cognitive, developmental and education outcomes.
more
This open access book not only describes the challenges of climate disruption, but also presents solutions. The challenges described include air pollution, climate change, extreme weather, and related health impacts that range from heat stress, vector-borne diseases, food and water insecurity and ch...ronic diseases to malnutrition and mental well-being.
more
In Kenya, the bacterial infections that contribute most to human disease are often those in which re-‐sistance is most evident. Examples are multidrug-‐resistant enteric bacterial pathogens such as typhoid, ... diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli and invasive non-‐typhi salmonella, penicillin-‐resistant Streptococcus pneu-‐moniae, vancomycin-‐resistant enterococci, methicillin-‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multidrug-‐re-‐sistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Resistance to medicines commonly used to treat malaria is of particu-‐lar concern, as is the emerging resistance to anti-‐HIV drugs. Often, more expensive medicines are required to treat these infections, and this becomes a major challenge in resource-‐poor settings.
more
This rapid compilation of data analyses provides a ‘stock-take’ of social science and behavioural data related to the on-going outbreak of Ebola in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. Based on data gathered and analysed by organisations working in the Ebola response and in the region mor...e broadly, it explores convergences and divergences between datasets and, when possible, differences by geographic area, demographic group, time period and other relevant variables. Data sources are listed at the end of the document.
more
This report is not a country scorecard. Rather, its purpose is to act as a compass to guide progress towards health in the SDGs.
There has been a significant improvement in the state of health in the region with healthy life expectancy - time spent in full health - in the region increasing from 50....9 years to 53.8 between 2012 and 2015 - the most marked increase of any region in the world.
What is making Africans sick is changing. The top killers are still lower respiratory infections, HIV and diarrhoeal disease and countries have routinely focused on preventing and treating this trio, often through specialized programmes. The payoff has been significant declines in deaths due to these diseases. There has been a 50% reduction in the burden of disease caused by what have been the top 10 killers since 2000 and death rates have dropped from 87.7 to 51.1 deaths per 100,000 persons between 2000 and 2015...
Chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer are now claiming more lives with a person aged 30 to 70 in the region having a one in five chance of dying from a noncommunicable disease (NCDs).
Countries are specifically failing to provide essential services to two critical age groups – adolescents and the elderly...
more
This document outlines Rwanda's policy on non-communicable diseases. The overall goal of NCDs Policy is to alleviate the burden of NCDs and their risk factors and protect Rwandan population from premature morbidity and mortality related to NCDs. This policy was developed through a series of consulta...tive meetings and workshops of NCDs' core team members of MOH and RBC, National Technical Working Group (TWG), all implementing and non implementing partners and other development partners. This policy was developed in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Vision 2020, Rwanda Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II) of 2013-18 and NCDs Global Action Plan 2013-2020 and national Health Policy. This policy focuses on of the following NCDs: Cardiovascular diseases, Chronic Pulmonary Diseases (CPD), Cancers, Diabetes, injuries and disabilities, oral, eye and kidney diseases.
more
Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) organisms are increasing globally, threatening to render existing treatments ineffective against many infectious diseases. In Africa, AMR has already been documented to be a problem for HIV and the pathogens that cause malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid, cholera, meningitis..., gonorrhea, and dysentery. Recognizing the urgent need for action, the World Health Assembly adopted the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance in May 2015. In accordance with the Global Action Plan and to meet needs specific to Africa, Africa CDC will establish the Anti-Microbial Resistance Surveillance Network (AMRSNET). AMRSNET is a network of public health institutions and leaders from human and animal health sectors who will collaborate to measure, prevent, and mitigate harms from AMR organisms.
more
This review examines high-quality research evidence that synthesises the efects of extreme heat on human health in tropical
Africa. Web of Science (WoS) was used to identify research articles on the efects extreme heat, humidity, Wet-bulb Globe
Temperature (WBGT), apparent temperature, wind, Heat ...Index, Humidex, Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), heatwave, high temperature and hot climate on human health, human comfort, heat stress, heat rashes, and heat-related morbidity
and mortality
more
COVID-19 Vaccines: 1 Safety Surveillance 2 Manual
While there is no indication that pregnant women have an increased susceptibility to infection with SARS-CoV-2, there is evidence that pregnancy may increase the risk of severe illness and mortality from COVID-19 disease in comparison with non-pregn...ant women of reproductive age. As seen with non-pregnant women, a high proportion of pregnant women have asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe disease is associated with recognized medical (e.g., high body-mass index (BMI), diabetes, pre-existing pulmonary or cardiac conditions) and social (e.g., social deprivation, ethnicity) risk factors. Pregnant women with symptomatic COVID-19 appear to have an increased risk of intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation and death in comparison with non-pregnant women of reproductive age, although the absolute risks remain low. COVID-19 may increase the risk of preterm birth, compared with pregnant women without COVID-19, although the evidence is inconclusive.
more
This module covers common Non-Communicable Diseases such as Hypertension, Diabetes and three common cancers (Cervical,
Breast and Oral cancer). The focus of this module is on building the knowledge and skills of the Multi-Purpose Workers (MPW) in
undertaking Population Based Screening, identifi ca...tion of cases for referral, follow up, recognition of complications, prevention
and health promotion. This module can be used by the female
or male MPW. However, while the content of the overall module
is the same for both some tasks will be different, particularly
those related to screening which the female MPW will have to
undertake. It is expected that the ANM/MPW will work closely
with the ASHA in her area. Together they form a front line worker
team to serve the needs of the community. The content of this
module will be covered in three days.
more
Reports of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) microorganisms are increasing globally, threatening to render existing treatments ineffective against many infectious diseases. In Africa, AMR has already been documented to be a problem for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the pathogens that cause mala...ria, tuberculosis (TB), typhoid, cholera, meningitis, gonorrhoea and dysentery. Recognizing the urgent need for action, the 2016 United Nations (UN) General Assembly approved a resolution to ensure sustained and effective global action to address AMR.
more
Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2019 Jun; 222(5): 765–777. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2019.05.004;
To develop updated estimates in response to new exposure and exposure-response data of the
burden of diarrhoea, respiratory infections, malnutrition, schistosomiasis, malaria, soil-transmitted helminth
infec...tions and trachoma from exposure to inadequate drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene behaviours
(WASH) with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.
more
This report compiles data for the first time on the far-reaching consequences of uncontrolled hypertension, including heart attacks, strokes and premature death, along with substantial economic losses for communities and countries. It also contains information on the global, regional and country-lev...el burden of hypertension and progress of control efforts.
more
DHS Further Analysis Reports No. 107 - This report, based largely on the 2014-15 national survey in Rwanda, focuses on changes and trends in reproductive behavior since 2010. In the 4-5 years after the 2010 survey, fertility continued its decline to 4.2 births per woman as contraceptive prevalence i...ncreased slightly. However, the earlier downward trend in number of children desired appears stalled. This is clearly evident from an increase in the proportions of married women and men who say they want more children. Child mortality has significantly declined and remains strongly related to fertility; while age at marriage has continued to increase. The demographic goals specified in the 1998-99 plan for development, Rwanda Vision 2020, appear on track, but the annual rate of population growth remains high, currently 2.5%, because fertility is high. Furthermore, large numbers of young people are now entering their child-bearing years. Although most trends seem encouraging, especially compared with other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, significant population growth is expected in Rwanda, from 12 to 16 million people by 2030, and to 22 million people by mid-century, even with assumed reductions of fertility.
more