The Story of Cholera is seen as a great tool to promote basic hygiene practices and has been narrated in Arabic to be shown in these Settlements. It is seen as both a prevention measure against potential cholera outbreak and/or other type of diarrheal diseases. Tested on site it has received a great... welcome from the refugee community and is expected to have a major impact in the hygiene promotion response.
Download flashcards, video and mobile phone version at: http://globalhealthmedia.org/story-of-cholera/videos/registration/
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Six months after its launch on 24 April, the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator has already delivered concrete results in speeding up the development of new therapeutics, diagnostics, and vaccines. Now mid-way through the scale-up phase, the tools we need to fundamentally change the course o...f this pandemic are within reach. But to deliver the full impact of the ACT-Accelerator – and ultimately an exit to this global crisis – these tools need to be available everywhere. On behalf of the ACT-Accelerator Pillar lead agencies – CEPI, Gavi, the Global Fund, FIND, Unitaid, Wellcome Trust, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – I am pleased to share this document setting out the near-term priorities, deliverables and financing requirements of the ACT-Accelerator Pillars and Health Systems Connector. Urgent action to address these financing requirements will boost the impact of the ACTAccelerator achievements to date, fast-track the development and deployment of additional game-changing tools, and mitigate the risk of a widening gap in access to COVID-19 tools between low- and high-income countries. Delivering on this promise requires strong political leadership, financial investment, and incountry capacity building. COVID-19 cannot be beaten by any one country acting alone. We must ACT now, and ACT together to end the COVID-19 crisis.
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The geographical area directly affected by military operations has increased dramatically. Affected areas are not limited as before to a strip along the contact line (which continues to exist) but are scattered across the country. There are many territories outside eastern conflict area are directly... affected for the first time (including urban centres).
Previously accessible areas or unaffected areas are now isolated settlements due to active fighting, not reachable by both humanitarian agencies and public actors. Access to these locations is still not possible, as military activities are ongoing.
Residential buildings are not a direct target, but collateral damages are registered. Civilian infrastructure – such as gas, central heating systems and electricity – is also affected, with an even higher impact on the population due to the cold season and to the impossibility to access markets for solid fuel and state winterization subsidies.
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The Kabeho Mwana project (2006–2011) supported the Rwanda Ministry of Health (MOH) in scaling up integrated community case management (iCCM) of childhood illness in 6 of Rwanda’s 30 districts. The project trained and equipped community health workers (CHWs) according to national guidelines. In p...roject districts, Kabeho Mwana staff also trained CHWs to conduct household-level health promotion and established supervision and reporting mechanisms through CHW peer support groups (PSGs) and quality improvement systems. The iCCM model implemented by Kabeho Mwana resulted in greater improvements in care-seeking than those seen in the rest of the country. Intensive monitoring, collaborative supervision, community mobilization, and CHW PSGs contributed to this success. The PSGs were a unique contribution of the project, playing a critical role in improving care-seeking in project districts. Effective implementation of iCCM should therefore include CHW management and social support mechanisms. Finally, re-analysis of national survey data improved evaluation findings by providing impact estimates.
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During the pandemic, Brazil has provided its citizens with support in the areas of long-term care and disability, the labor market, social assistance, education, and pensions. This report focuses on two social policy areas, health-care and family benefits (including labor policies), as these were th...e most crucial social policies implemented in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of the resources allocated and the magnitude of social impact. Brazil’s relatively generous social policies were uncoordinated with public health interventions, which contributed to poor compliance with these public health interventions. This suggests that social policy initiatives alone are insufficient in mitigating the social consequences of the pandemic. They need to be accompanied by and coordinated with public health measures, including regulations on testing, social distancing and mask wearing.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when disease-causing pathogens are able to withstand the killing or suppressing power of antimicrobial medicines. This phenomenon increases the global burden of infectious diseases and strains health systems.This course aims to improve the learner's awareness an...d understanding of the basic principles of AMR, the impact AMR has on individuals and society, and why it is a major public health concern.
A complementary course, Antimicrobial Resistance (Part 2), describes interventions that address the multiple factors contributing to AMR across the health system.
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A global campaign that places Ebola survivor stories at the center of efforts to inform, protect, and inspire.
#ISurvivedEbola is a multi-dimensional communications campaign that uses entertainment media to inform, engage, and empower audiences to tackle Ebola. Launched in December 2014, the I Surv...ived Ebola campaign is using personal stories and experiences told by Ebola survivors in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea "to inform, protect, and spread hope" while also countering stigma and discrimination. The stories are being documented and shared in video, audio, and print formats, and disseminated though media, online platforms, a mobile phone app, and other distribution channels, including being dramatised in a 5-part radio drama. Go to the website http://isurvivedebola.org/
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Development assistance for health (DAH)
plays a vital role in supporting health programmes in lowand middle-income countries. While DAH has historically
focused on infectious diseases and maternal and child
health, there is a lack of comprehensive analysis of DAH
trends, strategic shifts and the...ir impact on health systems
and outcomes. This study aims to provide a comprehensive
review of DAH from 1990 to 2022, examining its evolution
and funding allocation shifts.
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The article "Cardiovascular Diseases" on Our World in Data provides an in-depth analysis of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the leading cause of death globally. It examines CVD trends, such as the decline in mortality rates in high-income countries due to improved healthcare and lifestyle changes, wh...ile low- and middle-income countries experience rising CVD burdens. The article highlights major risk factors, including high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, and poor diet. It emphasizes the importance of preventive measures and access to treatment to reduce global disparities in CVD outcomes. The data-driven approach uses visualizations to illustrate the global impact and distribution of CVD.
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The World Health Organization and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are part of a group of agencies working together to accelerate progress towards the health-related SDGs through the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All. Understanding patterns of inequal...ities in these diseases is essential for taking strategic, evidence-informed action to realize our shared vision of ending the epidemics of HIV, TB and malaria.
This report presents the first comprehensive analysis of the magnitude and patterns of socioeconomic, demographic and geographic inequalities in disease burden and access to services for prevention and treatment.
The results confirm there have been improvements in service coverage and decreased disease burden at the national level over the past decade. But they also reveal an uncomfortable reality: unfair inequalities between population subgroups within countries are widespread and have remained largely unchanged over the past decade. For some disease indicators, inequalities are even worsening.
Moreover, the report points to the persistent lack of available data to fully understand inequality patterns in HIV, TB and malaria. Collecting data to improve the monitoring of inequalities in these diseases is vital to develop targeted responses for impact.
There are, encouragingly, isolated successes in reducing inequities. Change is possible when deliberate action is taken to reach disadvantaged populations.
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COVID-19 disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable. Community health workers are poised to play a pivotal role in fighting the pandemic, especially in countries with less resilient health systems. Drawing from practitioner expertise across four WHO regions, this article outlines the targete...d actions needed at different stages of the pandemic to achieve the following goals: (1) PROTECT healthcare workers, (2) INTERRUPT the virus, (3) MAINTAIN existing healthcare services while surging their capacity, and (4) SHIELD the most vulnerable from socioeconomic shocks. While decisive action must be taken now to blunt the impact of the pandemic in countries likely to be hit the hardest, many of the investments in the supply chain, compensation, dedicated supervision, continuous training and performance management necessary for rapid community response in a pandemic are the same as those required to achieve universal healthcare and prevent the next epidemic.
BMJ Global Health2020;5:e002550. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002550
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Insufficient funding is hindering the achievement of malaria elimination targets in Africa, despite the pressing need for increased investment in malaria control. While Western donors attribute their inaction to financial constraints, the global health community has limited knowledge of China’s ex...panding role in malaria prevention. This knowledge gap arises from the fact that China does not consistently report its foreign development assistance activities to established aid transparency initiatives. Our work focuses on identifying Chinese-funded malaria control projects throughout Africa and linking them to official data on malaria prevalence. By doing so, we aim to shed light on China’s contributions to malaria control efforts, analysing their investments and assessing their impact. This would provide valuable insights into the development of effective financing mechanisms for future malaria control in Africa.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected job satisfaction among healthcare workers; yet this has not been empirically examined in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We addressed this gap by examining job satisfaction and associated factors among healthcare workers in Ghana and Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic. W...e conducted a cross-sectional study with healthcare workers (N = 1012). The two phased data collection included: (1) survey data collected in Ghana from April 17 to May 31, 2020, and (2) survey data collected in Ghana and Kenya from November 9, 2020, to March 8, 2021. We utilized a quantitative measure of job satisfaction, as well as validated psychosocial measures of perceived preparedness, stress, and burnout; and conducted descriptive, bivariable, and multivariable analysis using ordered logistic regression. We found high levels of job dissatisfaction (38.1%), low perceived preparedness (62.2%), stress (70.5%), and burnout (69.4%) among providers. High perceived preparedness was positively associated with higher job satisfaction (adjusted proportional odds ratio (APOR) = 2.83, CI [1.66,4.84]); while high stress and burnout were associated with lower job satisfaction (APOR = 0.18, CI [0.09,0.37] and APOR = 0.38, CI [0.252,0.583] for high stress and burnout respectively). Other factors positively associated with job satisfaction included prior job satisfaction, perceived appreciation from management, and perceived communication from management. Fear of infection was negatively associated with job satisfaction. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted job satisfaction among healthcare workers. Inadequate preparedness, stress, and burnout are significant contributing factors. Given the already strained healthcare system and low morale among healthcare workers in SSA, efforts are needed to increase preparedness, better manage stress and burnout, and improve job satisfaction, especially during the pandemic.
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Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose a substantial threat to many health systems, especially in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) where they are already overstretched. In the past few decades, deaths from NCDs in LMICs have spiked, whereas numbers in high-income countries have stabilis...ed. Worryingly, a large proportion of deaths from NCDs (29%) in LMICs occur among people younger than 60 years compared with the proportion in high-income countries (13%). This finding has been attributed to poor access to effective and equitable health-care services in most LMICs. The threat of NCDs in LMICs was recognised by the UN 2011 High-Level Meeting, and is now featured in Sustainable Development Goal 3 in the form of reducing premature mortality from NCDs by one-third before 2030. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of deaths from NCDs (ie, 48% of all NCDs deaths). Therefore, substantial reductions in CVDs will have a major impact on reducing the overall burden of NCDs globally. The good news is that most CVDs can be prevented by addressing the key underlying behavioural risk factors, such as physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, tobacco use, and harmful use of alcohol, through population-wide approaches. Among individuals with or at high risk of CVD, early detection and effective management with appropriate counselling and medicines can reduce cardiovascular deaths substantially.
The importance of effective treatment for CVD has been recognised in the Global NCD Action Plan 2013–20, for which one of the nine global targets is that at least 50% of eligible individuals should receive drug therapy and counselling to prevent heart attacks and strokes by 2025.5 Although admirable, this is a hard target to achieve given that secondary prevention strategies in LMICs are often unaffordable or unavailable.
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Date issued: 14 April 2020
The Global Fund is committed to ensuring that input from those closest to and living with HIV, tuberculosis and malaria are included in every funding request to the Global Fund. Their input is critical to ensuring that programs are effective and designed to help those m...ost impacted.
Inclusive country dialogue and the engagement of civil society, communities, and key and vulnerable populations in the development of funding requests remains a requirement for receiving financing from the Global Fund.
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The article discusses the significant impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a global health issue, with cigarette smoking as the main risk factor. However, in developing countries, the causes of COPD are often multifactorial, involving environmental tobacco smoke, biomass fuel sm...oke, dust, fumes, childhood illnesses, and tuberculosis (TB). Up to half of COPD patients in these regions are non-smokers. The article emphasizes that while smoking is crucial, other risk factors contribute significantly to COPD, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. It highlights the need for targeted research and public health strategies to address these diverse contributors to COPD, especially in Africa.
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The article reviews the impact of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) on global health, emphasizing its significant burden on infants, children, and the elderly. It discusses current and emerging prevention strategies, including the development and implementation of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies.... The review highlights advancements in RSV research, the challenges of creating effective vaccines for different age groups, and the importance of global collaboration to reduce RSV-associated morbidity and mortality. It also calls for increased investment in research and public health measures to enhance prevention and treatment options.
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As the global impact of climate change accelerates, there is increasing awareness that human health is severely threatened. Just what are these threats to health and what can we do about them?
UCSF faculty and associates examined the effects of global warming on individual patient health and expl...ore fundamental principles of public health, challenges in climate health and science communication, and the big picture of global warming effects on populations.
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Global Knowledge for Climate and Public Health. Informing action to protect populations from the health risks of climate change. It is in response to growing calls for actionable information to protect people from the health risks of climate change and other environmental hazards.
Climate and hea...lth are inextricably linked. Climate change, extreme weather events and environmental degradation have fundamental impact on human health and well-being. More people than ever before are exposed to increased climate-related health risks, from poor water and air quality to infectious diseases and heat stress.
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Global Level
COVID-19: Vulnerability to containment measures (21/04/2020)
COVID-19: Government Measures: Impact on Displaced Populations (16/04/2020)
COVID-19: Scenarios + Comparison table (10/04/2020)
COVID-19: Government Measures Report (26/03/2020)