Rivercess, Liberia, April 25, 2024 - Liberia marks a monumental milestone in its battle against malaria
as it launches the highly anticipated RTS,S malaria vaccine today, coinciding with World Malaria Day,
commemorated under the theme: Health Equity, Gender, and Human Rights: Accelerating the Figh...t
Against Malaria for a More Equitable World. The launch ceremony, held in Rivercess County, signals a
significant step forward in the nation's commitment to safeguarding the health of its children and
communities.
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The document provides educational messages and practical guidance to prevent and manage diarrhoea, particularly in children. It emphasizes hygiene practices like proper handwashing, using latrines, and safe food handling. It also highlights the importance of breastfeeding, balanced nutrition, immuni...zation, and the use of Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS) and zinc for treating dehydration caused by diarrhoea. Developed alongside Save the Children programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the material integrates health education into schools and communities, encouraging children to act as agents of change in promoting hygiene and health practices.
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This document is a situation report (#6) from October 2, 2017, describing the cholera outbreak in Yemen. By October 1, 2017, there were 777,229 suspected cholera cases and 2,134 deaths across 22 of Yemen's 23 governorates. The response involves WASH partners providing hygiene supplies and water trea...tment, health cluster partners operating treatment centers, and communication campaigns reaching over 16 million people. Major challenges include limited supplies, security risks hindering access to affected communities, a weakened health system with over 55% of facilities closed or partially functional, and difficulties importing medicines and medical supplies. Children under 18 represent 60% of cases, while people over 60 report the highest death rates.
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Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) is an integrated approach to child health that focuses on the holistic well-being of the child. IMCI aims to reduce death, illness and disability, and to promote improved growth and development among children under five years of age. IMCI includes bo...th preventive and curative elements that are implemented by families and communities as well as by health facilities.
This booklet contains useful information on childhood sickness and offers practical guidance on diagnosis and treatment of said illnesses. it is divided into 2 parts, one for infants (new born until 2 months) and from 2 months to 5 years. It also includes:
Antiretroviral Therapy ART) treatment for children
Skin problems
Counselling the mother or caregiver on infant and you child feeding
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Updated Interim guidance 29 July 2020
The provision of safe water, sanitation and waste management and hygienic conditions is essential for preventing and for protecting human health during all infectious disease outbreaks, including of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Ensuring evidenced-based ...and consistently applied WASH and waste management practices in communities, homes, schools, marketplaces, and healthcare facilities will help prevent human-to-human transmission of pathogens including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
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SARS-CoV-2 infections among children and adolescents cause less severe illness and fewer deaths compared to adults. While a less severe course of infection is a positive outcome, there are concerns that mild symptoms may have led to less testing, resulting in fewer identified cases of COVID-19 in ch...ildren. If children with mild or no symptoms transmit the disease, they may act as drivers of transmission within their communities. Understanding symptoms, infectivity and patterns of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in children and adolescents is essential for developing, adapting and improving control measures for COVID-19 across all ages. This is a summary of the current knowledge around SARS-CoV-2 infection acquisition and transmission and COVID-19 disease symptoms in children and adolescents. It aims to inform decisions, based on local contexts, on how to best keep schools, kindergarten and day-care facilities open and what advice to apply to intergenerational mixing.
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The first of a series of graphic stories about Ebola that covers prevention and seeking early care. This tool is used by IOM and county based partners to raise awareness and encourage positive responses within communities in Liberia. It . It was developed with the guidance of the Ministry of Health... and Social Welfare, WHO and UNICEF.
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1000 days communication initiative to fight against child stunting | In an effort to accelerate the elimination of stunting among children, Ministry of Health and UNICEF created a series of posters, booklet, radio spot and videos to educate and inform families and communities. The five pillars of ke...y behaviors are breastfeeding, timely initiation of complementary feeding with balance diet, balanced diet for pregnant women, immunizations and handwashing.
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The Epidemic Preparedness and Response Plan for Cholera in Syria (November 2015) outlines strategies to prevent, detect, and manage cholera outbreaks in the country, where poor water and sanitation conditions, displacement, and damaged healthcare infrastructure increase the risk of disease spread. T...he plan aims to reduce morbidity and mortality through early detection, rapid response, and coordinated interventions. It is divided into four key phases: the Pre-Epidemic Phase, which includes risk assessment, resource mapping, stockpiling medical supplies, training health workers, and raising community awareness; the Alert Phase, which focuses on surveillance, laboratory confirmation, and mobilization of rapid response teams; the Epidemic Phase, which involves case management, infection control, environmental measures such as water chlorination and improved sanitation, and public awareness campaigns; and the Post-Epidemic Phase, which evaluates the response effectiveness and identifies lessons to improve future preparedness. The plan emphasizes multi-sectoral coordination, strengthening health surveillance, and ensuring timely intervention to control and prevent cholera outbreaks in vulnerable communities.
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The National pharmaceutical policy aligns itself to the Government vision for development of the health sector, as defined in Vision 2020, the Millennium Development Goals and the Economic Development for Poverty Reduction Strategy and the National Health Policy. The pharmacy policy addresses, among... other challenges, the establishment of functional National Medicines Regulatory Authority that will implement all the regulatory functions, lack of local manufacturing facilities, lack of pricing policy of health commodities and technologies in private sector. This policy is based on the following key priorities: the Quality assurance, accessibility and the rational use of medicines, other health commodities and technologies.
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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.”
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The National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS and STIs 2017-2024 spells out the objectives and targets that we have jointly committed to achieve. The plan describes the strategies and activities that will need to be implemented on the ground across India's 36 States and Union Territories with the help of... AIDS Control Societies, District AIDS Prevention and Control Units, Regional Institutes, communities, development partners and the private sector. We must urgently scale up our efforts to avert new HIV infections and provide care and treatment to people living with HIV to materialise our commitment of ending AIDS in India by 2030.
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The overall goal of this strategy is to ensure accurate understanding of the
benefits of covid-19 vaccination and alleviate apprehension about the vaccine, to ensure its acceptance and encourage uptake across various audiences.
Objectives
x Create demand, promote acceptability and accessibility o...f COVID-19
vaccine among at least 90% of the general public.
x Develop appropriate messages and identify channels to communicate
the potential benefits and risks of the vaccine to all concerned parties,
including decision-makers at all levels.
x Provide timely and accurate information to address misinformation,
rumors and other crisis situations.
x Effectively mobilize and empower communities to ensure participation
and ownership of the vaccination process
x Strengthen communication mechanisms and partnerships among key
stakeholders to support the national communication effort.
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All malaria-endemic countries in the Region of the Americas have taken on the challenge to eliminate the disease and to put in place measures to orient their health programs and strategies in that direction. This manual explains how to implement measures to achieve malaria elimination and prevent it...s reestablishment by increasing the intensity and quality of interventions, reorienting initiatives, reducing delays that favor transmission, and ensuring adequate monitoring to adjust interventions. In this regard, the first suggested step is to stratify the territory - so that interventions and population groups can be planned and prioritized - and then implement diagnosis, treatment, investigation and response (DTI-R) actions as a key strategy aimed at effectively eliminating the disease and preventing its reestablishment in all strata. In addition, the document seeks to operationalize the concept of "surveillance as an intervention" promoted by the World Health Organization through the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030 and highlights the importance of communities having access to early diagnosis and treatment. Finally, the manual also includes management and monitoring aspects that must be taken into account to eliminate the foci with transmission.
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A training manual for identifying, assessing, preventing and controlling the risks of pandemics in the workplace. This training manual has been developed for both medical and non-medical personnel who may be called upon to lead emergency response, (eg epidemic outbreak, etc), ensure effective conta...inment whiles work continues and essential goods and services continue to be supplied.
The manual provides insight into some of the local epidemics experienced in Ghana such as Cholera, Cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) and Influenza(s), the causes, signs and symptoms and preventive measures with a view to increasing knowledge among management, staff and their families as well as immediate communities within which they work.
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The larval stage of the parasite Taenia solium can encyst in the central nervous system causing neurocysticercosis, which is the main cause of acquired epilepsy in the countries in which the parasite is endemic. Endemic areas are those with the presence (or likely presence) of the full life cycle of... Taenia solium. The parasite is most prevalent in poor and vulnerable communities in which pigs roam free, open defecation is practiced, basic sanitation is deficient, and health education is absent or limited. Several tools are available for the control of Taenia solium. Preventive chemotherapy for Taenia solium taeniasis, which is directed at the adult tapeworm, is one of them. Other tools focus on pig management, pig vaccination and treatment, sanitation and hygiene, and community education. Three potential drugs—niclosamide, praziquantel, and albendazole—have been considered for use for preventive chemotherapy in Taenia solium taeniasis control programs through mass drug administration or targeted chemotherapy. In this Guideline, we provide recommendations for preventive chemotherapy in Taenia solium-endemic areas using niclosamide, praziquantel, or albendazole, including at which dose and in which population groups.
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These Blended Learning Modules have been produced in collaboration with the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and Regional Health Bureaus (RHBs) as well as a range of medical experts and health science specialists within Ethiopia. They are being used to upgrade the theoretical knowledge of... the country's 33,000 rural Health Extension Workers to that of Health Extension Practitioners and to train new entrants to the service.
The Modules are Open Educational Resources (OERs) and are free for everyone to use. You can download them as they are or adapt them to fit your specific context. The OERs cover the full range of health promotion, disease prevention, basic management and essential treatment protocols to improve and protect the health of rural communities.
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Small drinking-water supplies commonly experience operational, managerial, technical and resourcing challenges that impact their ability to deliver safe and reliable services. The needs and opportunities associated with these supplies therefore warrant explicit consideration in policies and regulati...ons.
These Guidelines, specifically tailored to small water supplies, build on over 60 years of guidance by the World Health Organization (WHO) on drinking-water quality and safety. They focus on establishing drinking-water quality regulations and standards that are health based and context appropriate; on proactively managing risks through water safety planning and sanitary inspections; and on carrying out independent surveillance. The guidance is intended primarily for decision-makers at national and subnational levels with responsibility for developing regulatory frameworks and support programmes related to these activities. Other stakeholders involved in water service provision will also benefit from the guidance in this document.
Designed to be practical and accessible, these Guidelines offer clear guidance that is rooted in the principle of progressive improvement. State-of-the-art recommendations and implementation guidance are provided, drawn from a comprehensive evidence review and established good practices. Additionally, case examples are provided from countries and areas around the world to demonstrate how the guidance in this publication has been implemented in practice in a wide variety of contexts.
Together with WHO’s 2024 Sanitary inspection packages – a supporting tool for the Guidelines for drinking-water quality: small water supplies, these Guidelines update and supersede WHO’s 1997 Guidelines for drinking-water quality. Volume 3: surveillance and control of community supplies. Key changes to this updated publication include a greater focus on preventive risk management and a broader range of small water supplies covered, including those managed by households, communities and professional entities.
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Fascioliasis is an animal parasitic disease (in cattle and sheep, but also pigs, donkeys, Llamas and alpacas that can be transmitted to humans. The infection is caught when aquatic or semi-aquatic plants with the larvae of the worm attached to their stem or leaves are ingested raw or poorly cooked. ...Once in the human body, the worm lodges itself in the main bile ducts and is responsible for severe morbidity. Endemic areas are distributed globally, but some of the most affected communities are found in the Andean highlands of South America. Triclabendazole is the only drug recommended for prevention and treatment and is provided free-of-charge to endemic countries through WHO. It can be distributed in mass interventions when clusters of cases are detected.
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After more than three years without cases, Haiti reported on 2 October 2022 a cluster of cholera cases in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, just as the country was on the verge of being declared cholera- free.
This cholera resurgence in Haiti is happening in a complex operational context, am...id a volatile socio- political environment marked by blockades, fuel shortages, criminal gang activity and rampant insecurity. Civil unrest and lack of access to the affected communities are deepening the complex humanitarian crisis and hindering emergency response efforts.
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