This guide aims to provide an overview of successful practice from the field for the disaster risk reduction/management practitioner interested in EWS. It presents guiding principles that will build a strong foundation for the design or strengthening of EWS at any level. It is not an operational, bu...t a strategic, guide that insists on asking the right questions and exploring all perspectives prior even to deciding whether or not early warning is the appropriate tool for a given context.
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                                                                The Training Toolkit for Community Early Warning Systems is an operational manual that aims to strengthen early warning systems in a developing country context. It accompanies and should put into practice the guiding strategic principles found in the Community Early Warning Systems: Guiding Principl...es.
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                                                                Despite being a preventable and curable infectious disease, tuberculosis (TB) has continued to elude global controll efforts. In 2023, 8.2 milion people with TB were diagnosed and notified to the WHO, the hightest number ever reported since WHO began tracking.
                                                            
                         
                     
                                                        
                        
                        
                            
                            
                                                                More than a quarter of the global population still cook meals over open fires and/or on simple stoves fuelled by firewood, agricultural waste, dried dung, charcoal, and coal. This practice results in the emission of harmful and dangerously high levels of household air pollution.
 Exposure to this h...ousehold air pollution has been estimated to cause around 3.2 million deaths annually in 2019; these emissions also worsen ambient air quality, alter the global climate, have gendered livelihood impacts, and degrade the local environment.
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                                                                Exposure to air pollution has significant adverse health effects, leading to nearly 1 in every 8 deaths globally. Air pollution affects all age groups, from unborn children to older people, in both high- and low-income nations.
                                                            
                         
                     
                                                        
                        
                        
                            
                            
                                                                Effective surveillance and monitoring of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors are essential for informing evidence-based public health policies, addressing health inequities, and ensuring progress toward global and regional targets. By tracking trends in NCDs, their modifiable risk... factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, and air pollution, along with biological risk factors such as overweight and obesity, high blood pressure (hypertension), and elevated blood glucose (diabetes), policymakers can identify emerging threats, target vulnerable populations, allocating resources efficiently. Reliable data also enable countries to evaluate interventions, adjust policies, and strengthen health systems to reduce the burden of NCDs.
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                                                                Las enfermedades no transmisibles (ENT), entre las que se incluyen lasenfermedades cardiovasculares (ECV), el cáncer, las enfermedades respiratoriascrónicas (ERC) y la diabetes, son las principales causas de muerte y discapacidaden la Región de las Américas. En el 2021, las ENT ocasionaron 6 mil...lones de muertes, de las cuales el 38% fueron prematuras.
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                                                                Las enfermedades no transmisibles (ENT) (por ejemplo, las enfermedades cardiovasculares, el cáncer, la diabetes y las enfermedades respiratorias crónicas) y los problemas de salud mental (por ejemplo, la enfermedad de Alzheimer y las demencias relacionadas, la depresión, la ansiedad y los trastor...nos del espectro autista) son la principal causa mundial de enfermedades prevenibles, discapacidad y muerte. En este informe se examinan los riesgos que plantean las actuales tasas crecientes de ENT y problemas de salud mental en América del Sur, más allá de los riesgos para la salud, y se ponen de manifiesto sus considerables efectos negativos en el crecimiento económico. Se concibió un modelo analítico que proyecta los efectos macroeconómicos de las ENT y los problemas de salud mental durante el período 2020-2050 en 10 países de América del Sur: Argentina, Bolivia (Estado Plurinacional de), Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay y Venezuela (República Bolivariana de). Los resultados revelan que el impacto macroeconómico de las ENT y los problemas de salud mental en América del Sur se traduce en déficits económicos importantes. En términos generales, la pérdida total de PIB en América del Sur asciende a US$ 7,3 billones (US$ internacionales del 2022) en el período 2020-2050, lo que equivale al 4% del PIB total de la región. Es decir, si se eliminaran estas enfermedades y problemas, el PIB anual sería cerca de un 4% mayor cada año durante 30 años
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                                                                A pesar de los avances, persisten importantes barreras para el diagnóstico y tratamiento oportunos de la malaria en las Américas, especialmente en zonas rurales y de difícil acceso. Para reducir la transmisión, es esencial ampliar el uso de pruebas de diagnóstico rápido y garantizar la disponi...bilidad gratuita de antimaláricos como bienes públicos. La OPS propone un marco estratégico para eliminar obstáculos, acelerar el inicio del tratamiento y contribuir a la eliminación de la enfermedad en la región.
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                                                                In line with the Defeating meningitis by 2030: a global road map, the WHO guidelines on meningitis diagnosis, treatment and care Executive Summary provides a summary of the evidence-based recommendations for the clinical management of children and adults with community-acquired meningitis, including... acute and long-term care. Meningitis poses a significant public health threat, despite successful efforts to control the disease globally. The burden of morbidity and mortality from meningitis remains high, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and in settings experiencing large-scale, disruptive epidemics.
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                                                                Al afrontar la amenaza común que supuso el coronavirus del síndrome respiratorio agudo severo de tipo 2 (SARS CoV 2), los países y las instituciones de todo el mundo se vieron rápidamente desbordados por la monumental tarea de responder a un problema que avanzaba rápidamente y que les obligó a... idear estructuras y alianzas ad hoc para ampliar las medidas de respuesta. En este sentido, el Grupo Independiente de Preparación y Respuesta frente a las Pandemias señaló:
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                                                                This guidance synthesizes current evidence on dengue laboratory testing and diagnostics and provides practical recommendations for laboratories, clinicians, public health officials, and programme managers involved in dengue diagnosis, surveillance, and control, in the context of the global emergency.... It includes a diagnostic algorithm for suspected cases, outlining appropriate testing methods based on days post symptom onset.
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                                                                For education to be competency-based and effective, appropriate training methodologies have to  be used to support the learner to have the appropriate knowledge and to translate this knowledge  into skills and competencies. Such education and training should lead to a change in attitudes, beliefs  a...nd values, thus making the palliative care graduate able to do their job very effectively. To that end,  APCA has developed this new resource, which is a guide to effective teaching methodologies in  palliative care, targeting educators and trainers across Africa.  This guide has been developed to enable educators and trainers to acquire knowledge and skills  for using effective, practical, participatory and experiential teaching methods, and to use these in  extending learning to all health care providers in Africa. The methods presented in this guide are  based on existing practical and documented evidence of effective palliative care education.
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                                                                To contribute to the availability of basic knowledge and skills for the provision of palliative care in 
the African region, the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) has developed a competencybased core curriculum framework for use in introductory training on palliative care. The curriculum ... is based on the APCA Standards for Providing Quality Palliative Care Across Africa to ensure that  care providers are trained to the appropriate competence for their cadre and level of skill. This  curriculum therefore aims to facilitate the development of the best basic skills and attitudes required  for the delivery of palliative care services that meet the desired standards of palliative care. The  curriculum incorporates theoretical, practical, mentorship and supervision components that are  critical to the effective application of knowledge in practice.
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                                                                The Guidelines for the Use of the APCA African  Palliative Outcome Scale (POS) has been  developed by the APCA, in collaboration with 
stakeholders, to help appropriately trained  health practitioners and researchers across  the region to utilise the APCA African POS in  their work place (Powell et... al, 2007; Warria  et al, 2007). Not only do the guidelines  provide a clear rationale for measuring  palliative care outcomes, but they also outline  practical information on how to use the tool  to collect data and analyse its results.  So why is there a need for these guidelines? 
Palliative care as a concept and discipline  is not well understood across Africa, and  its development is still embryonic in many  countries. While there are many obstacles  that hinder palliative care development on  the continent, a key challenge is the lack of  accurate information about the palliative  care being provided and its outcomes. The  APCA African POS is a useful tool to help us  measure these outcomes and, given that 
measuring palliative care outcomes remains  a relatively new concept, it is important  to guide people on how to use the tool. Of course, these guidelines are not intended  to address everything related to the  measurement of palliative care outcomes;  they contain only essential information for  providers. More detailed information on the  use of outcome tools, and in particular within  the research setting, can be gained from  contacting relevantly trained professionals.
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                                                                In this guide, the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) has put together  evidence‑based information on the use of specific opioids commonly used in the  management of moderate‑to‑severe pain to manage both cancer and non‑cancer  pain. APCA hopes that this guide will be a useful tool i...n aiding health professionals  at all levels of healthcare delivery to assess and manage pain using opioids.  All opioids included in this guide are listed on the WHO model list of  essential medicines but we remind readers that oral morphine is the  standard opioid of choice for managing moderate‑to‑severe pain and  we recommend that it should be made available at all times.
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                                                                En la tercera edición del RSI se recogen las enmiendas al anexo 7 adoptadas por la 67.ª Asamblea Mundial de la Salud en virtud de la resolución WHA67.13 (2014). Con arreglo al anexo 7, en su versión enmendada, la protección contra la fiebre amarilla conferida por la administración de una vacun...a aprobada y la validez del correspondiente certificado son para toda la vida de la persona vacunada y no solo para un periodo de 10 años, como antes.
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                                                                The global cholera statistics for 2024, showing an increase in both the number of people who fell sick and died from the disease.
Reported cholera cases rose by 5% and deaths by 50% in 2024 compared to 2023, with more than 6000 people dying from a disease that is both preventable and treatable. Whi...le these numbers are themselves alarming, they are underestimates of the true burden of cholera.
Weekly epidemiological record WER No 36, 2025, 100, 347–364
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                                                                Updated guidance on the integration of diabetes, hypertension and mental health services, and interventions to support adherence to antiretroviral therapy.  The guideline offers practical implementation guidance for countries and key stakeholders as well as outlining key research gaps. As life expec...tancy for people living with HIV continues to increase, managing noncommunicable diseases, mental health, and adherence to antiretroviral therapy is essential to sustaining treatment success, quality of life, and engagement in care. A life course approach addresses these needs from childhood through older age. Service integration supports more person-centred, coordinated care across the life course.
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