Reporting on Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific: A Handbook for Journalists.
UNESCO Series on Journalism education.
It explores the essential aspects of climate change, including its injustices to vulnerable communities, especially women and girls and least develope...d countries, and provides examples of best practices and stories of hope unique to the region. It can be used as a resource for journalists to understand the science of climate change, as well as helping journalists to improve their reporting of the environmental, social, economic, political, technological and other angles of the story
more
The Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies is a collaborative partnership which supports and promotes evidence-based health policy making in the Asia Pacific Region. Based in WHO’s Regional Office for South-East Asia, it brings together governments, international agencies, foundat...ions, civil society and the research community with the aim of linking systematic and scientific analysis of health systems in the Asia Pacific Region with the decision-makers who shape policy and practice.
more
Orientaciones provisionales
9 de agosto de 2021
El presente documento tiene por objeto describir un conjunto mínimo de actividades de vigilancia recomendadas a nivel nacional para detectar y supervisar la prevalencia relativa de las variantes del SRAS-CoV-2 y esbozar un conjunto de actividades pa...ra la caracterización y evaluación del riesgo que plantean estas variantes. También se ofrece un conjunto de indicadores para normalizar la vigilancia y la notificación pública de la circulación de variantes.
El documento está dirigido principalmente a las autoridades de salud pública nacionales y subnacionales y a los socios que apoyan la aplicación de la vigilancia de las variantes del SRAS-CoV-2
more
Psoriasis, which can involve the skin, nails and joints, is a chronic, painful, disfiguring and disabling noncommunicable disease (NCD) for which there is no cure. It negatively impacts on quality of life. Some of those who suffer from the disease develop chronic, inflammatory arthritis (psoriatic a...rthritis) that leads to joint deformations and disability. People with psoriasis are also reported to be at increased risk of developing other serious clinical conditions such as cardiovascular and other NCDs
more
The waves of yellow fever transmission in the Region of the Americas in 2016–2018 involved the largest number of human and epizootic cases to be reported in several decades. Yellow fever is a serious viral hemorrhagic disease that poses a challenge for health professionals. It requires early recog...nition of signs and symptoms, which are often nonspecific, and it can mimic other acute febrile syndromes. Early detection of suspected or confirmed cases, monitoring of vital signs, life support measures, and treatment of acute kidney failure continue to be the recommended strategies for case management. This report is the result of discussions among experienced specialists in the Americas on the clinical management of yellow fever patients, especially during outbreaks and epidemics, in the context of current medical and scientific evidence and taking into account the technical guidelines already available in the countries of the Region. It includes flowcharts for initially addressing patients with clinical suspicion of yellow fever and proposes a minimum package of laboratory tests that may be useful in contexts where resources are limited. In addition, it considers aspects of health system organization for dealing with yellow fever outbreaks and epidemics.
more
This catalogue provides tools and information resources to support EU/EEA countries in addressing the challenging issue of vaccine hesitancy. The catalogue provides examples of practices that can serve as a resource for other countries. The project was developed in the context of ECDC’s support fo...r EU/EEA Member States in prevention and control of vaccine-preventable diseases, including effective communication to promote immunisation.
more
Vol. 5, No. 3 - 2011 | The Quarterly provides summaries of the best available research evidence on a variety of children’s mental health topics, prepared using systematic review and synthesis methods adapted from the Cochrane Collaboration and Evidence-Based Mental Health. Our goal is to improve ...outcomes for children by informing policy and practice. The BC Ministry of Children and Family Development funds the Quarterly.
more
The question of amnesties has come to the forefront once again as the Central African Republic (CAR) started a new round of African Union-mediated peace negotiations on 24 January 2019. While rebel groups demanded a general amnesty as a non-negotiable condition, the government maintained strong oppo...sition to any new amnesty. The Khartoum peace agreement signed on 6 February 2019 did not uphold rebel groups’ demand for a general amnesty, but it leaves many grey areas concerning the question of amnesty and justice.
more
Purpose: This research study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the services provided by CBR programmes in Jordan.
Method: This was a mixed- methods investigation. A survey was carried out with 47 participants (stakeholders and volunteers) from four CBR centres in Jordan. It comprised 18 que...stions that collected both qualitative and quantitative data with both closed- and open-ended questions. The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS Version 22.0. Qualitative data were analysed through thematic content analysis and open coding to identify emergent themes.
Results: 40.4% of the participants evaluated the effectiveness of CBR services as low. This mainly stemmed from the lack of efforts to increase the local community’s knowledge about CBR, disability and the role of CBR programmes towards people with disabilities.
Conclusions: A proposal was offered concerning the priorities of CBR programmes in Jordan. Efforts need to be directed at promoting livelihood and empowerment components in order to actualise the principles of CBR, mainly by promoting multispectral collaboration as a way of operation.
Implications: This study was inclusive of all types of disability. Barriers to the effectiveness of services may stem from accessibility issues to the families of persons with disabilities (hard to reach) or from CBR services themselves (hard to access). The culturally specific evaluative tool in this study was of “good” specificity and sensitivity, this evaluative instrument can be transferrable to measure the impact of CBR programmes in other settings.
more
Scoping Question: For adults and children living with HIV, which antiepileptic medications (such as phenobarbital, phenytoin, carbamazepine or valproic acid) produce benefits and/or harms when compared to a placebo or controls?
Following review of the latest evidence, WHO recommends that TB-LAMP can be used as a replacement for microscopy for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in adults with signs and symptoms of TB. It can also be considered as a follow-on test to microscopy in adults with signs and symptoms of pulmonary TB, e...specially when further testing of sputum smear-negative specimens is necessary.
more
Conclusion: CBR has improved the quality of life, access to medical services, functional independence, autonomy, community inclusion, and empowerment of people with disabilities in LMICs in the Asia-Pacific region. However, challenges in the implementation of CBR remain. These include lack of awaren...ess and understanding of CBR, and physical, environmental, socio-economical and personal barriers.
more
Tuberculosis (TB) is among the top ten most common causes of death globally and as a single infectious disease it top among infectious diseases. Furthermore, it is noted as the top causes of death among people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Despite recent decreases in the numb...er of notified cases, Namibia still has a high TB burden and is included among the top 30 high-burden TB countries by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In the 2018 Global TB Report, the estimated incidence rate of TB in Namibia was 423/100,000. The same report estimated that 60 people per 100,000 populations died of TB in Namibia, which is a concern, for a disease that is curable and preventable.
more
This technical report presents the epidemiology of human and animal leishmaniases in the EU and its neighbouring countries and concludes that the disease remains widespread and underreported in many countries of southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East and that there is a need to improv...e leishmaniasis prevention and control based on robust surveillance in humans, animals, and vectors, and to increase public awareness following a one health approach.
more
Download (7.4 MB)
Overview
Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders globally. The WHO epilepsy technical brief aims to strengthen action for epilepsy and complements the Intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders 2022–2031.
The technical bri...ef presents the key information on epilepsy and recommends actions to policy makers and other stakeholders. Using the concept of levers for change introduced by the Operational Framework for Primary Health Care, it identifies actions on the policy and operational levels that stakeholders should take to strengthen services for people with epilepsy using a person-centered approach based on human rights and universal health coverage.
more
High salt consumption is an important determinant of high blood pressure and reducing it would improve health outcomes by lowering cardiovascular disease and therefore death rates. Reducing salt intake has been identified as one of the most effective public health measures and is one of the leading ...targets at global, regional and national levels to reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases. The purpose of the Dietary Salt Intake Survey in the Republic of Moldova was to establish current baseline average consumption of salt (sodium), potassium and iodine through 24-hour urinary excretion testing among a random sample of the adult population (aged 18–69 years), and to assess the knowledge, attitudes, practices and behaviour around dietary salt in order to enable more efficient planning and the implementation of an effective salt-reduction strategy in the Republic of Moldova.
more
This concept note describes the methods used to assess the prevalence of any HIVDR and HIVDR by PMTCT exposure among children less than 18 months of age using remnant dried blood spot specimens from early infant diagnosis over a 12-month period
The new WHO recommendations for the treatment of isoniazid-resistant, rifampicin-susceptible TB are based upon a review of evidence from patients treated with such regimens by a Guideline Development Group in conformity with WHO requirements for evidence-based policies.
Guidelines for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis. Web Annex A. Commissioned by WHO Cochrane Response
24 Nov. 2021
Action against gender-based violence being pushed to the outlying margins of the global COVID-19 response
A new Oxfam report shows an undeniable increase in gender-based violence (GBV) during the COVID-19 pandemic around the world to which too many governments and donors are not doi...ng enough to tackle.
The report, The Ignored Pandemic: The Dual Crisis of Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19, showed the number of calls made by survivors to domestic violence hotlines in ten countries during the first months of lockdown. The data reveals a 25 – 111 percentage surge; in Argentina (25%), Colombia (79%), Tunisia (43%), China (50%), Somalia (50%), South Africa (69%), UK (25%), Cyprus (39%), Italy (73%) and the largest increase in Malaysia where calls surged by over 111%.
more