The right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is enshrined in many international human rights treaties. However, studies have shown that people with mental disabilities are often marginalized and discriminated against in the fulfillment of their right to... health. The aim of this study is to identify and reach a broader understanding of barriers to the right to mental health in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Eleven semi-structured interviews were carried out with health professionals and administrators.
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This Mpox SPRP Global Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Framework, also referred to as the Framework, aims to monitor and report on global progress towards these objectives, including information about country-level response efforts and WHO support to Member States. Regular collection and analysis of da...ta on these objectives, alongside the ongoing tracking of the epidemiological situation, are key to informing decision-making, operational adjustments, as well as ensuring transparency and accountability for achieving the goal to stop the Mpox outbreak. This document suggests reporting indicators for monitoring of the global response to the Mpox PHEIC as articulated in the Mpox SPRP and Operational Planning Guidelines for countries.
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Bull World Health Organ 2018;96:450–461 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.17.206466
The aim of our study was to determine whether an intervention designed
to involve the male partners of pregnant women in Burkina Faso in facility-based maternity care influences care-seeking and healthy practi...ces after childbirth.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) and United NationsHuman Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) joint globalreport, Hidden cities: unmasking and overcoming healthinequities in urban settings, exposes the extent to whichcertain city dwellers suffer disproportionately from a wide range of diseases and ...health problems. This report provides information and tools to helpgovernments and local leaders reduce health inequities in their cities. The objective of the report is not tocompare rural and urban health inequities. Urban healthinequities need to be addressed specifically for they aredifferent in their magnitude and in their distribution.
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This trainer toolkit is a guide for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) program implementers in Nigeria to train primary health care health workers to diagnose and provide care for women and girls with symptoms of female genital schistosomiasis (FGS). It has been developed based on a pilot study in ...Ogun State where 22 health facilities were trained on using the FGS tools. The trainer guide should be used alongside the ‘Health Worker Training Guide for managing FGS within primary health care’. Trainers should familiarise themselves with this manual before the training to ensure that all aspects of the training are conducted effectively.
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Urbanization, land use, global trade and industrialization have led to profound and negative impacts on nature, biodiversity and ecosystems across the world. The ongoing depletion of natural resources not only afects environmental conditions but also has an enormous impact on the well-being and secu...rity of societies.
This report provides an overview of the impacts of the natural environment on human health. It presents the ways nature and ecosystems can support and protect health and well-being, and describes how nature degradation and loss of biodiversity can threaten human health.
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Beat the heat: child health amid heatwaves in Europe and Central Asia finds that half of these children died from heat-related illnesses in their first year of life. Most children died during the summer months.
"Around half of children across Europe and Central Asia – or 92 million children –... are already exposed to frequent heatwaves in a region where temperatures are rising at the fastest rate globally. The increasingly high temperatures can have serious health complications for children, especially the youngest children, even in a short space of time. Without care, these complications can be life-threatening,” said Regina De Dominicis UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.
Heat exposure has acute effects on children, even before they are born, and can result in pre-term births, low birth weight, stillbirth, and congenital anomalies. Heat stress is a direct cause of infant mortality, can affect infant growth and cause a range of paediatric diseases. The report also notes that extreme heat caused the loss of more than 32,000 years of healthy life among children and teenagers in the region.
As the temperatures continue to rise, UNICEF urges governments across Europe and Central Asia to:
- Integrate strategies to reduce the impact of heatwaves including through National Determined Contributions (NDC), National Adaptation Plans (NAP), and disaster risk reduction and disaster management policies with children at the centre of these plans
Invest in heat health action plans and primary health care to more adequately support heat-related illness among children
- Invest in early warning systems, including heat alert systems
- Adapt education facilities to reduce the temperatures in the areas children play in and equip teachers with skills to respond to heat stress
- Adapt urban design and infrastructure including ensuring buildings, particularly those housing the most vulnerable communities are equipped to minimize heat exposure
- Secure the provision of safe water, particularly in countries with deteriorating water quality and availability.
UNICEF works with governments, partners and communities across the region to build resilience against heatwaves. This includes equipping teachers, community health workers and families with the skills and knowledge to respond to heat stress.
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N Engl J Med 2022; 386:911-922, DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2104535
Four months of antituberculosis treatment was noninferior to 6 months of treatment in children with drug-susceptible, nonsevere, smear-negative tuberculosis (SHINE Study)
Reflections and a call for action after a two-year exploration of emergency response in acute conflicts
There is general consensus that the humanitarian sector is failing to mount timely and adequate responses in the acute phase of conflict-related emergencies, according to the two-year Emergen...cy Gap Project by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The Project has explored what works for or against effective emergency responses. Its final report, Bridging the emergency gap, draws on the Project’s thematic papers and case studies, and consultations with more than 150 senior-level representatives from 60 key organisations across the humanitarian sector.
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Globally, in low-income countries, the average newborn mortality rate is 27 deaths per 1,000 births, the report says. In high-income countries, that rate is 3 deaths per 1,000. Newborns from the riskiest places to give birth are up to 50 times more likely to die than those from the safest places.
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The report also notes that 8 of the 10 most dangerous places to be born are in sub-Saharan Africa, where pregnant women are much less likely to receive assistance during delivery due to poverty, conflict and weak institutions. If every country brought its newborn mortality rate down to the high-income average by 2030, 16 million lives could be saved.
More than 80 per cent of newborn deaths are due to prematurity, complications during birth or infections such as pneumonia and sepsis, the report says. These deaths can be prevented with access to well-trained midwives, along with proven solutions like clean water, disinfectants, breastfeeding within the first hour, skin-to-skin contact and good nutrition.
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Background: Little is known about post-traumatic stress (PTSD) prevalence rates in community samples. This is especially true for the African continent where child-soldiers, HIV/AIDS affected and orphans have been the target for PTSD prevalence studies. Objectives: The aim of this study is to invest...igate the indirect and direct exposure to 20 potentially traumatic events and its relation with PTSD in a Ugandan sample of senior 3rd year students and to perform cross-cultural comparisons with previous studies examining this age group. Socio-economic status, coping styles, negative affect, and somatization are further examined.
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Because of the limited access to more powerful diagnostic tools, there is a paucity of data regarding the burden of fungal infections in Burkina Faso. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence and prevalence of serious fungal infections in this sub-Saharan country. We primarily used the na...tional demographic data and performed a PubMed search to retrieve all published papers on fungal infections from Burkina Faso and its surrounding West African countries. Considering the prevalence of HIV infection (0.8% of the population) and a 3.4% incidence of cryptococcosis in hospitals, it is estimated that 459 patients per year develop cryptococcosis. For pneumocystosis, it is suggested that 1013 new cases occur every year. Taking into account the local TB frequency (population prevalence at 0.052%), we estimate the prevalence of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis at 1120 cases. Severe forms of asthma with fungal sensitization and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis are estimated to affect 7429 and 5628 cases, respectively. Vulvovaginal candidiasis may affect 179,000 women, and almost 1,000,000 children may suffer from tinea capitis. Globally, we estimate that roughly 1.4 million people in Burkina Faso (7.51% of the population) suffer from a serious fungal infection. These data should be used to drive future epidemiological studies, diagnostic approaches, and therapeutic strategies.
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Nearly 260 000 people died in parts of Somalia between October 2010 and April 2012, including
133 000 children under five during the famine and food crisis in Somalia making it the worst famine in history.
A study commissioned and funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio...n’s food security and nutrition analysis unit for Somalia stated that the famine early warning systems clearly identified the risk of famine in South Central Somalia in 2010–2011 but timely action to prevent the onset of famine was not taken. The result was large scale
mortality, morbidity and population displacement.
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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in the treatment and care of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This report examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to NCD medicines, and the policies and strategies implemented by countries and health sys...tems to anticipate and mitigate stresses across NCD medicine supply chains. The full range of upstream and downstream impacts are investigated, including: manufacturing; procurement, importation and last mile delivery; patient-level effects through affordability and availability; and the effects on NCD medicine availability by category of disease. The report culminates in recommended actions and interventions for key stakeholders in the NCD pharmaceutical supply chain, including governments, regulatory authorities, manufacturers and the private sector; as well as directions for future research for improving access and supply chain access resilience.
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Financing Global Health 2015 is the seventh edition of IHME’s annual series on global health financing. This report captures trends in development assistance for health (DAH) and government health expenditure as source (GHE-S) in low- and middle-income countries. Annually updated GHE-S and DAH est...imates are produced to aid decision-makers and other global health stakeholders in identifying funding gaps and invesment opportunities vital to improving population health. This year, IHME made a number of improvements to the data collection and methods implemented to generate Financing Global Health estimates.
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: Development assistance for health (DAH) is one of the most important means for Japan to promote
diplomacy with developing countries and contribute to the international community. This study, for the first time,
estimated the gross disbursement of Japan’s DAH from 2012 to 2016 and clarified its... flows, including source, aid
type, channel, target region, and target health focus area
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he global architecture for providing development assistance for health (DAH)
has become increasing complex in the last decade, with many new funding agencies entering the health sector.
This study presents a detailed picture of European Union (EU) and EU member state originating DAH
between 2006 ...and 2009; with a sp
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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%.
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Induced abortion is permitted in Burkina Faso only to save the life and protect the health of a
pregnant woman, or in cases of rape, incest, and severe fetal impairment. As a result, the vast
majority of women who end unintended pregnancies do so in secrecy, out of fear of prosecution
and to avoi...d the social stigma that surrounds this practice. Most clandestine abortions are carried
out in unsafe conditions that jeopardize women’s health and sometimes their lives. This report
presents estimates of the number and rate of induced abortions that occurred in Burkina Faso in
2008 and 2012; reports levels of unintended pregnancy (the major reason that women seek
abortions in the first place); and describes some of the adverse consequences of unsafe abortion
for women, their families and society.
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The State of the World’s Children 2013: Children with Disabilities examines the barriers – from inaccessible buildings to dismissive attitudes, from invisibility in official statistics to vicious discrimination – that deprive children with disabilities of their rights and keep them from partic...ipating fully in society. The report also lays out some of the key elements of inclusive societies that respect and protect the rights of all children, regardless of disability, and progress in helping all children to flourish and make their contribution to the world.
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