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 FY 2018 Malaria Operational Plan (MOP) presents a detailed implementation plan for Ethiopia, based on the strategies of PMI and the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP). It was developed in consultation with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), NMCP, Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EP...HI), and regional health bureaus, and with the participation of national and international partners involved in malaria prevention and control in the country. The activities that PMI is proposing to support align with the National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP 2014-2020) and build on investments made by PMI and other partners to improve and expand malaria-related services, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund) malaria grants. This document briefly reviews the current status of malaria control policies and interventions in Ethiopia, describes progress to date, identifies challenges and unmet needs to achieving the targets of the NMCP and PMI, and provides a description of activities that are planned with FY 2018 funding.
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 106 (Suppl 5), 2022, pp. 56–60. Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a parasitic disease that is a major cause of chronic disability in the developing world. According to the 2021–2030 road map for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) published by the World Health Organization (WHO...), the global goal for LF is elimination as a public health problem by 2030 through repeated rounds of mass drug administration (MDA). Critical components of any elimination program are monitoring and surveillance. Appropriate assessment tools and methods are needed for each stage of an elimination program; mapping to identify which areas require intervention, monitoring to assess the impact of interventions, and post-intervention surveillance to validate elimination or detect recrudescence.
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A year ago, the second Special Session of the World Health Assembly (WHASS) unanimously agreed to start a diplomatic process for a new binding instrument aimed at ensuring the international community is better prepared for the next health emergencies. The establishment of an Intergovernmental Negoti...ating Body (INB) at the WHO paved the terrain for a proper negotiation, which has started to unfold. The INB will be releasing the “conceptual zero draft” of the treaty text in early December 2022.
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Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET): Disussion Paper 110
This report compiles evidence from published, grey literature and key informants on the UNMHCP
since its introduction in Uganda’s health system, and findings were further validated during a oneda...y
national stakeholder meeting.
Three main factors motivated introduction of the UNMHCP. First, Uganda, along with other lowincome countries, was unable to implement holistically the primary healthcare (PHC) concepts as set out in the Alma Ata Declaration. Second, the macro-economic restructuring carried out in the 1990s, which was an international conditionality for low-income countries to access development financing, influenced the trend towards more stringent prioritisation of health interventions as a means of rationing and targeting use of resources. Third, the government sought to achieve equity with a service package that would be universally available for all people.
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The strategic plan reflects shared commitments to enhance collaboration between environmental, animal (wildlife and domestic) and human health, and building new One Health workforce capacity through higher institutions of learning. The strategy also outlines interventions to be undertaken by governm...ent institutions and other partners to enhance existing structures and pool together additional resources to prevent and control zoonotic diseases and other events of public health importance. Successful implementation of the strategy will contribute to the realization of vision 2020 by improving public health, food safety and security, and hence significantly improve the socioeconomic status of the people of Rwanda. It is in this regard that we call upon implementing institutions, bilateral and multilateral partners, civil society and the private sector to join us in implementing the One Health strategy in Rwanda.
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These policy guidelines provide a strategic approach and new recommendations for integrated TB and HIV services for patients suffering from substance-abuse addiction. The key recommendations fall under three main categories: joint planning, key interventions, and overcoming barriers.
This publication aims to provide examples of better palliative care practices for older people to help those involved in planning and supporting care-oriented services most appropriately and effectively. Examples have been identifi ed from literature searches and from an international call... for examples through various organizations, including the European Association of Palliative Care and the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society. Some examples consider how to improve aspects within the whole health system; specifi c smaller examples consider how to improve palliative care education, support in the community, in hospitals or for specifi c groups of people, such as people in nursing homes and people with dementia and their families. Some examples await rigorous evaluation of effectiveness, and more research is needed in this fi eld, especially the cost–effectiveness and generalizability of these initiatives.
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The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is a global federation of national associations of pharmacists and
pharmaceutical scientists. In order to support these associations in their fight against AMR, FIP has prepared this
briefing document. It is an overview of the different activities ...that community and hospital pharmacists are involved
into prevent AMR and to reverse AMR rates.
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Previous crises, such as the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa in 2014, indicate the direct impact movement restrictions and disease containment efforts have on food availability, access, utilization and violence – particularly gender-based violence (GBV). The importance of maintaining and ...upscaling food security interventions for the most vulnerable populations, alongside the health sector’s efforts to avert disease spread, is therefore undeniable. The COVID-19 outbreak in South Sudan threatens to paralyze an already fragile food system and negatively impact more than 6.5 million people in South Sudan who remain vulnerable. At the same time, the core national capacities for prevention, preparedness and response for public health events is limited, and the healthcare system has been weakened by years of conflict, poor governance and low investments.
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No country can claim to be free from health-care associated infections, therefore, improvement of infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies is essential. WHO recommends the use of multimodal improvement strategies to implement IPC interventions. These include each item of standard and transm...ission-based precautions according to national guidelines or standard operating procedures and under the coordination of the national IPC focal point (or team, if existing). This publication consists of three focused improvement tools, called “aide-memoires”, which focus on 1) respiratory and hand hygiene, 2) personal protective equipment, and 3) environmental cleaning, waste and linen management, all elements of standard, droplet/contact and airborne precautions.
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An approach to emergency situations. Relief workers face rapidly changing and complex environments, new disease patterns, enormous humanitarian needs and relatively limited resources. The authors of this book use their experience in the area to produce an operational manual of the issues involved in... refugee health programs. This book is aimed at professionals involved in public health assistance to refugees and displaced persons. It deals with a variety of specific refugee health issues at the decisional level, and discusses the priorities of intervention during the different phases of a refugee crisis, from emergency to repatriation.
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Advice on physical activity should be encouraged as part of treatment for adults with depressive episode/disorder with inactive lifestyles. In moderate and severe depression, this intervention should be considered as adjunct to antidepressants or brief structured psychological treatments.
Reporting Period: 4 to 10 April 2020
• In collaboration with the Ministry of Youth, UNICEF started training 50 young bloggers on how to identify and respond to fake news.
• UNICEF engaged with 97 social services to enable front-line social workers to carry out community prevention work and... case management.
• With support from UNICEF, the nationwide distance learning program, “Mon école à la maison” was officially launched on TV, Radio, WebTV in addition to the free of charge SMS-based learning system.
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This manual summarizes key issues related to the safety of NTD medicines and their administration, with a focus on essential medicines used in mass drug administration (MDA), also called preventive chemotherapy. It can be used as a standalone reference manual, but is intended to be used in conjuncti...on with the accompanying training modules, which provide practical instruction, and the aide-mémoires. Versions of the aide-mémoires and training modules are available respectively for both (i) programme managers and district-level health officials and (ii) community drug distributors and community health workers
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This predominantly qualitative research on disability and development in Myanmar was conducted between August 2011 and February 2012, in three commercial centres of Yangon, Mandalay and Taunggyi. Stakeholders of service providers, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and families of disabled people were... interviewed in order to discover the needs and challenges that they face. Discoveries were made concerning independent living and adaptive education, vocational training and livelihoods challenges, community-based rehabilitation, organisational and human resource capacity, and information channels, networking and cooperation between organisations.
The study found that PWDS, especially those with intellectually disabilities, need training for independent living, adaptive special education, motor development programs and behaviour modification programs in special institutions. Effective services and programs are necessary in all of these areas of need.
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This compendium represents a curated, pragmatic and non-prescriptive collection of tools and resources to support the implementation of interventions to improve quality of care in such contexts. Relevant tools and resources are listed under five areas: Ensuring access and basic infrastructure for qu...ality; shaping the system environment; reducing harm; improving clinical care; and engaging and empowering patients, families and communities.
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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.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on the mental health of populations in the Americas. Studies
show high rates of depression and anxiety, among other psychological symptoms, particularly among women, young
people, those with pre-existing mental health conditions, health workers, and p...ersons living in vulnerable condi-
tions. Mental health systems and services have also been severely disrupted. A lack of financial and human resource
investments in mental health services, limited implementation of the decentralized community-based care approach
and policies to address the mental health gap prior to the pandemic, have all contributed to the current crisis. Coun-
tries must urgently strengthen their mental health responses to COVID-19 by taking actions to scale up mental
health and psychosocial support services for all, reach marginalized and at-risk populations, and build back better
mental health systems and services for the future.
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This guideline provides global, evidence-informed recommendations on daily iron supplementation in infants and children, as a public-health intervention for the prevention of anaemia and iron deficiency. It includes recommendations for iron supplementation in countries where malaria is prevalent.