January - December 2019
First published April 2020
• Between January to December 2019, an estimated 8.58 million people were reached at least once with some form of humanitarian assistance, including over
91,000 people through three inter-agency convoys, two to Rukban and one to Menbij. On ...average, 3.4 million people received some form of humanitarian
assistance on a monthly basis.
• Response efforts have seen a 39% increase in December compared to November with around 4.88 people reached.
• More than a third (38.5%) of this response was delivered to areas of most acute need (which host an estimated 40% of people in need); 25.3% of the response
was delivered to areas with major needs (which host an estimated 42% of people in need); and 36.2% of the response was delivered to other areas of lower
severity and include life-saving activities (e.g.: vaccination campaigns, nutrition screening and water provision) to reduce excess morbidity and mortality.
more
The current trend in AMR in Uganda and globally is rising and calls for immediate action. The 71st UN General Assembly (UNGA), the 68th World Health Assembly, and organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Organization for ...Animal Health (OIE), have agreed on a set of actions that member countries such as Uganda are committed to implement. The Government of Uganda (GoU) has put in place a framework through this National AMR Action Plan to address the threat AMR poses to the welfare of the peoples of Uganda. The Action Plan sets out a coordinated and collaborative One Health approach involving key stakeholders in government and other sectors to confront the threat and shall be coordinated by a Uganda National Antimicrobial Resistance Committee (UNAMRC).
more
Aligned to the Lancet Migration Global Statement to include migrants and refugees incountries’response to COVID-19, this update focuses on Mexico’s challenges and opportunities to build an inclusive response that is based on a contextualized adaptation of there commendations published by th...e Lancet Migration. A critical component for this analysis is the recognition of migration as a social determinant of health, which acts as a major risk factor for populations subjected to violence, trauma and forced exile while in the face of a global pandemic.
more
In an effort to limit transmission and achieve pandemic control on the continent, Africa CDC is proposing the following measures to be taken by all Member States:
Remain vigilant
Countries should adapt or adopt best practices, strategies, guidelines and recommendations proposed by the Africa CDC... and World Health Organization (WHO), aimed at limiting transmission. Measures taken should strike a balance between saving lives and minimizing the impact of the pandemic on the economy and social wellbeing of citizens.
more
ICTC’s 2022-2030 strategic plan spans the critical period running to the end of 2030, the year by which we are striving to achieve the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. This strategic plan is in alignment with the NTD road map, Ending the neglect to attain the Sustainable Develop...ment Goals: a road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021−2030.
more
To its credit, Chile has implemented a highly successful vaccine program and taken a number of other important public health measures to improve the well-being of its inhabitants. Nevertheless, these measures have proved insufficient to curb the spread of the virus and ensure full compliance wit...h Chile’s obligations to respect, protect and
fulfil the right to health. It is in this context that this report examines the human rights impacts of the pandemic and the responses of the Chilean authorities.
more
This report investigates the impact of potential misclassification of samples on HIV prevalence estimates for 23 surveys conducted from 2010-2014. In addition to visual inspection of laboratory results, we examined how accounting for potential misclassification of HIV status through Bayesian latent ...class models affected the prevalence estimates. Two types of Bayesian models were specified: a model that only uses the individual dichotomous test results and a continuous model that uses the quantitative information of the EIA (i.e., the signal-to-cutoff values). Overall, we found that adjusted prevalence estimates matched the surveys’ original results, with overlapping uncertainty intervals. This suggested that misclassification of HIV status should not affect the prevalence estimates in most surveys. However, our analyses suggested that two surveys may be problematic. The prevalence could have been overestimated in the Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey 2011 and the Zambia Demographic and Health Survey 2013-14, although the magnitude of overestimation remains difficult to ascertain. Interpreting results from the Uganda survey is difficult because of the lack of internal quality control and potential violation of the multivariate normality assumption of the continuous Bayesian latent class model. In conclusion, despite the limitations of our latent class models, our analyses suggest that prevalence estimates from most of the surveys reviewed are not affected by sample misclassification.
more
The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoEAC) has been implementing the Integrated School Health Programme in various forms since before the country attained political independence in 1990. School health goes beyond the physical health of the learner, in that it includes the holistic wellbeing... of the individual learner, meaning that the school environment should be safe and conducive to learning. The National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF) is an exciting dimension of the Integrated School Health Programme. The Programme focuses on promoting the health, safety and wellbeing of learners and other school stakeholders in Namibia, and the NSSF was developed to provide practical guidance to the schools and school stakeholders on how to systematically improve the standards of school safety, and how to develop a culture of care in any school.
more
The 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in western Africa was the longest and most deadly Ebola epidemic in history, resulting in 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The Ebola virus has been known since 1976, when two separate outbreaks were identified in the Democratic Repub...lic of Congo (then Zaire) and South Sudan (then Sudan). However, because all Ebola outbreaks prior to that in West Africa in 2014–2015 were relatively isolated and of short duration, little was known about how to best manage patients to improve survival, and there were no approved therapeutics or vaccines. When the World Heath Organization declared the 2014-2015 epidemic a public health emergency of international concern in August 2014, several teams began conducting formal clinical trials in the Ebola affected countries during the outbreak.
more
Global actions to reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR) include optimising the use of antimicrobial medicines in human and animal health. In countries with weak healthcare regulation, this requires a greater understanding of the drivers of antibiotic use from the perspective of providers and consume...rs. In Bangladesh, there is limited research on household decision-making and healthcare seeking in relation to antibiotic use and consumption for humans and livestock. Knowledge is similarly lacking on factors influencing the supply and demand for antibiotics among qualified and unqualified healthcare providers. The aim of this study is to conduct integrated research on household decision-making for healthcare and antibiotic use, as well as the awareness, behaviours and priorities of healthcare providers and sellers of antibiotics to translate into policy development and implementation
more
These are two parallel guidelines, one for small hospitals and another one for large hospitals. In view of heavy burden of malaria and prevalence of drug resistant falciparum malaria in the South-East Asia Region, the guidelines were developed for use by medical personnel who treat severe malaria pa...tients, referred from lower-level health facilities. The guidelines were developed by the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia and the WHO Collaborating Centre for the Clinical Management of Malaria, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Thailand. The guidelines are based on a review of current evidence, existing WHO guidelines and experience in the management of malaria in the Region.
more
The document presents Cameroon's National Response Plan for the 2018 cholera outbreak, covering August to October 2018. It highlights the epidemiological situation, with outbreaks reported in the North and Central regions and a total of 109 suspected cases and 9 deaths by July 2018. The plan outline...s strategies for controlling the epidemic, including epidemiological surveillance, improved access to clean water, sanitation, mass vaccination, community awareness campaigns, and hospital and community-based treatment.
The response is coordinated by the Ministry of Public Health, WHO, and various partners, focusing on early detection, rapid response, and multi-sectoral collaboration. Challenges include poor sanitation, limited healthcare infrastructure, and cross-border disease transmission risks. The plan emphasizes resource mobilization, monitoring, and evaluation to contain the outbreak and prevent future cases.
more
Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) is one of the greatest child survival challenges in the world today and
reportedly affects more than 16.2 million children each year1. High impact, proven treatment interventions exist
yet sadly approximately only 3.2 million children with SAM have access to treatme...nt each year2. Thus, there
is a need to scale up interventions to improve coverage and access across high burden countries. While efforts
are currently underway to expand services in many countries, obstacles remain.
One critical barrier to expanding SAM treatment services is the acceptance, accessibility and utilisation of
ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). In some countries and contexts, RUTF is still not fully accepted by
community members; while other countries face problems with procurement, storage and supply chain
management which impact on availability and use3. Reports from Ghana and Zambia highlighted that stock-
outs and logistical challenges are often noted as key contributors to high default rates in outpatient treatment
centres4.
more
CHAPTER 206 | An Act to establish a national drug policy and a national drug authority to ensure the availability, at all times, of essential, efficacious and cost-effective drugs to the entire population of Uganda, as a means of providing satisfactory health care and safeguarding the appropriate us...e of drugs.
more
This manual details a collaboratively developed intervention to detect and refer Buruli ulcer, Hydrocele, Leprosy
and Lymphedema cases through the use of integrated approaches at community levels. This intervention has
been developed as part of the consortium in partnership with the Nigerian Feder...al Ministry
of Health, and Ogun and Kaduna State Ministries of Health. This manual is designed to assist community and
primary level health workers to identify, refer, diagnose and treat people affected by Buruli ulcer, Hydrocele,
Leprosy and Lymphedema, within the existing patient care pathway
more
Throughout the gestational period, it is important for obstetric health care facilities to strengthen health counselling, screening, and follow-ups for pregnant women, while incorporating screening, hand hygiene practice, good respiratory etiquette and infection prevention control precautions. These... screening procedures will help determine individualised precautions necessary, such as the wearing of face masks during consultations.
more
The marathon to eradicate polio is on its final lap: the world is more than 99% of the way to success. After millennia of living with poliovirus and suffering the paralysis it causes, today nearly all the world’s people live in polio-free countries; two of the three strains of wild poliovirus (WPV...) have been eradicated. Some 20 million people are walking who would have been paralysed had it not been for the efforts of national governments and health workers. If eradicating polio has been a marathon, the finishing line is in sight.
more
The checklist and reference list has two parts: high-level cross-cutting content (Part A) and specific programme content (Part B). Part A applies to all countries and contains situation and response analysis, the NSP development process, the goal, targets and priority-setting of the NSP and the prin...ciples of human rights and gender equity and sustainability. Part B comprises the programme requirements of prevention, treatment and care, comorbidities and integration, social protection, health systems, community engagement, human rights and gender equity, efficiency and effectiveness, governance, management and accountability, HIV and the humanitarian response
more
PLoS Negl Trop Dis 16(10): e0009774. Although the practice of communication is often called upon when intervening asn involgvingcommunties affected by NTD's, the disciplinary framewokr of healt communication research has been largely absent from NTD strategies. To illustrate how practices conceptual...ized and developed within the communication field habe been applied in the context of NTD elimination, we conducted a scoping review focusing on two diseases currently targeted for elimination by the WHO: lymphatic filariasis and Chagas disease
more
One of the most important ways we feel we can help to reduce the burden of cancer in Africa is to work with African cancer advocacy organisations to help educate and advocate about cancer in their countries. To this end in 2010 we designed with our partners, 13 posters for use in Africa
giving heal...th and lifestyle tips on how to avoid cancer and highlighting the early warning sign and symptoms of common cancers in Africa
more