Background
Asthma remains highly prevalent, with more severe symptoms in low-income to middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with high-income countries. Identifying risk factors for severe asthma symptoms can assist with improving outcomes. We aimed to determine the prevalence, severity and ris...k factors for asthma in adolescents in an LMIC.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey using the Global Asthma Network written and video questionnaires was conducted in adolescents aged 13 and 14 from randomly selected schools in Durban, South Africa, between May 2019 and June 2021.
Results
A total of 3957 adolescents (51.9% female) were included. The prevalence of lifetime, current and severe asthma was 24.6%, 13.7% and 9.1%, respectively. Of those with current and severe asthma symptoms; 38.9% (n=211/543) and 40.7% (n=147/361) had doctor-diagnosed asthma; of these, 72.0% (n=152/211) and 70.7% (n=104/147), respectively, reported using inhaled medication in the last 12 months. Short-acting beta agonists (80.4%) were more commonly used than inhaled corticosteroids (13.7%). Severe asthma was associated with: fee-paying school quintile (adjusted OR (CI)): 1.78 (1.27 to 2.48), overweight (1.60 (1.15 to 2.22)), exposure to traffic pollution (1.42 (1.11 to 1.82)), tobacco smoking (2.06 (1.15 to 3.68)), rhinoconjunctivitis (3.62 (2.80 to 4.67)) and eczema (2.24 (1.59 to 3.14)), all p<0.01.
Conclusion
Asthma prevalence in this population (13.7%) is higher than the global average (10.4%). Although common, severe asthma symptoms are underdiagnosed and associated with atopy, environmental and lifestyle factors. Equitable access to affordable essential controller inhaled medicines addressing the disproportionate burden of asthma is needed in this setting.
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Infection prevention and control (IPC) in a CTC/ CTU IPC are all practical measures taken in the healthcare facility to prevent harm caused by infections to patients, health workers and communities.
The main goal of IPC in the cholera response is to
• To reduce transmission of health care-as...sociated infections of cholera and any other infectious disease
• To enhance the safety of staff, patients and visitors
• To enhance the ability of the organization/health care facility to respond to an outbreak
• To reduce the risk of the hospital (health care facility) itself amplifying the outbreak
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
WASH are all measures taken to guarantee environmental hygiene, safe water of all used within the health facility. It encompasses water, sanitation, waste management, cleaning within the health facility which in this case is CTU/C. A complete WASH package in the CTU/CTC reduces the risk of spread of Vibrio cholerae inside and outside the CTC/CTU.
The probability of spreading or acquiring cholera through a CTC/CTU can be highly reduced when proper IPC and WASH measures are respected, followed and monitored. These measures are, in principle, valid in CTC/CTUs and ORPs, although they need to be adapted to the specific characteristics of the facility concerned.
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The Country Cooperation Strategy is the World Health Organization’s corporate framework developed in response to a country’s needs and priorities. The 2022–2025 CCS is the fourth for WHO in Sierra Leone. It is a medium-term strategic document that defines a broad framework for WHO’s work, at... all levels, with the Government of Sierra Leone and all health partners for the next four years. This document is guided by the country’s major policy and strategy documents including the 2020 National Health and Sanitation Policy (NHSP); the 2021–2025 National Health Sector Strategic Plan (NHSSP); and the 2019–2023 National Medium-term Development Plan (NMTDP). The current CCS also reflects the broad priorities of WHO as outlined in its Thirteenth General Programme of Work (2019–2023, extended to 2025) with a focus on improving access to universal health coverage, protecting people from health emergencies, and improving people’s health and well-being. The CCS priorities are also in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) in Sierra Leone and will contribute to attaining the country's SDG targets
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The Mapping Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use Partnership (MAAP) project has conducted a multi-year, multi-country study that provides stark insights on the under-reported depth of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis across Africa and lays out urgent policy recommendations to addr...ess the emergency.
MAAP reviewed 819,584 AMR records from 2016-2019, from 205 laboratories across Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. MAAP also reviewed data from 327 hospital and community pharmacies and 16 national-level AMC datasets.
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This publication describes the reasons for the resurgence of malaria in Kyrgyzstan and presents an analysis of evidence-based elimination strategies and policies that were applied to contain the epidemic and outbreaks of the disease, achieve its elimination, and maintain the country malaria-free. Th...e strong political commitment and the mobilization of human resources that were crucial in achieving elimination are emphasized. It is hoped that the experiences of Kyrgyzstan's national malaria control programme can assist other countries aiming to eliminate malaria. The publication is intended for health managers and personnel, researchers, teachers, students and post-graduates at medical schools.
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ي الغرض من إطار عمل إجراءات المراقبة القائمة عىل األحداث هو أن به
ن
تستعي السلطات والوكاالت المسؤولة عن المراقبة
ُ واالستجابة. كما
تيب إرشال تعىل سبيل المثال؛ هذ...ه الوثيقة ألصحاب المصلحة
ي
ُ
ُعد بمثابة ك
ا عاما ي
إطار استخدام
ي
الذين يرغبون ف ن
نهج "صحة واحدة" متعدد القطاعات لتنفيذ المراقبة القائمة عىل األحداث . و للقيام بذلك، تشتمل الوثيقة عىل فصول وملحق
ن مرتبطة ويمكن
للمستخدمي تغييها وتحديثها
بناء عىل احتياجاتهم الخاصة.
ُعد هذه
الت ي وت نسخة منقحة من النسخة األصلية "إطار عمل المراقبة القائمة عىل األحداث"
عام
ي
ن صدرت
ف 2018 .و ال ينسخ إطار
العمل هذا أو يحل محل أي مواد أخرى متاحة حاليا في ما يتعلق بمج ال المراقبة القائمة عىل األحداث أن
ن ؛ وبدال من ذلك، ينبعي
يستند إطار العمل إل الوثائق الموجودة سابقا ذات الصلة أو مرتبطة وأن يكون تيب
ُ
ك ا إرشاديا عملي ا لتنفيذ المراقبة القائمة عىل
األحداث أفريقيا.
ي
ن
ف ويتوافق إطار العمل ك لمنظمة الصحة العالمية
المشي
ي
هذا مع الطبعة الثالثة من التقييم الخارج فيما يتعلق
ر بالمؤشات التالية: تعزيز
ي عىل كشف األحداث ذات األهمية للصحة العامة واألمن الصح أنظمة المراقبة و اإلنذار المبكر القادر ة
ر المؤش )
حسنة والتعاون عي القطاعات وبين 1.D2)؛ مستويات استجابة الصحة العمومية الوطنية والمتوسطة
ُ
وقنوات االتصال الم
العامة واألمن الصح والمحلية فيما يتعلق بمراقبة األحداث ذات األهمية للصحة
ي
ر )المؤش
ن 2.D2)؛ القدرة عىل
وتحسي تحليل
ن البيانات عىل المستوى المتوسط والوطت ي
ر )المؤش
رش 3.D2 .)باإلضافة إل وع
الدول تنفيذ و
ي
ن
ف عرض مهام ووظائف المراقبة
القائمة عىل األحداث إذ ، اللوائح الصحية
ي
درجات التقييم المشي ك وإحراز تقدم نحو تلبية المتطلبات المبينة ف ن
ي
ستضمن زيادة ف ن
الدولية
.
تحسين أيضا، تنفيذ المراقبة المتكاملة لألمراض واالستجابة لها، وذلك بالنسبة
ي
ن
تعد هذه الوثيقة مكملة ويمكن أن تساعد ف ل لدول
ا
ي
االتحاد األفريق
ي
ن
اعتمدت االسي األعضاء ف اتيجية المتكاملة لمراقبة األمراض واالستجابة لها،
لت عىل وجه الخصوص ي
بالنسبة
للطبعة الثالثة ) 2019 تتضمن أجزاء حول
( الت المراقبة القائمة عىل األحداث ي
.
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For the past years, Haiti has been engulfed in a socioeconomic, political, and humanitarian crisis that has reached critical levels since mid-September 2022 with the intensification of gang violence and social unrest. The widespread insecurity and
political instability have drastically affected the... country’s access to essential goods and services, including food, water, and health. The current fuel supply crisis has affected the water and electricity supply to the population, health centers, and hospitals. Due to problems of insecurity and violence, patients and health personnel have difficulty accessing hospitals and health services.
In parallel, the public health system and international partners face limited response capacity due to reduced international personnel in Haiti, logistics issues, and difficulties in importing supplies. Indeed insecurity, roadblocks, and lockdowns are affecting the importation of internationally procured goods, which may slow the arrival of essential lifesaving supplies to support cholera response efforts. This scenario is particularly problematic, as cholera recently resurfaced in early October.
Armed gangs now control over 60% of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, affecting at least 1.5 million people, and have expanded their influence outside of the capital city, interrupting vital humanitarian programs in most of the national territory,
including COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.
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On 6 February at 4:17 am, a 7.8 degrees magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey near Syria’s
northern border. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered about 33 km (20 miles)
from Gaziantep, a major city and provincial capital. Tremors were felt as far away as Lebanon, Greece...,
Palestine, and the island of Cyprus. Another big earthquake was felt on the same day at around 1:24
pm local time, largely in the same affected areas. Aftershocks will continue to shake the area as fault
lines adjust to such a huge initial tremor. There’s even a risk—albeit a small one—of an aftershock
bigger than the original quake.
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“2022 was an eventful year for the WHO Country Office in Ghana,” says Dr Francis Kasolo, WHO Representative to Ghana.
In 2022, WHO Ghana collaborated with partners to deliver interventions in support of the Government of Ghana's health sector agenda to ensure healthy lives for all towards ach...ieving Universal Health Coverage. This 2022 annual report highlights some of the achievements that were chalked in our efforts to help promote the health and wellbeing of Ghanaians
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Malawi Coronavirus(COVID-19) statistics. Total and daily confirmed cases and deaths.
The following technical report outlines the rationale, process and results of a joint research study, coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), co-chaired by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and the Ministry of Environment and Sus...tainable Development in collaboration with the Climate and Climate Air Coalition, the Stockholm Environment Institute, the Clean Air Institute and leading international and national experts. A rationale section describes the links between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, short-lived climate pollutants, air pollution and adverse health outcomes. A summary of the research study describes how scenarios were modelled to examine the health and economic implications of raising ambition in Colombia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
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Recovery from COVID-19 has been challenging in Guatemala. As a result of the prolonged socio-economic impact of the pandemic, the average poverty rate nationwide has increased by almost 5%. This rise in the poverty level further exacerbates preexisting vulnerabilities and erodes the limited safety n...ets available to vulnerable populations. Year after year, recurrent disasters and humanitarian crises aggravate the historic social gaps that result in high levels of vulnerability, multidimensional poverty, and overall deprivation of essential services among hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans. According to the World Risk Report 2020, Guatemala is the tenth country with the highest level of exposure to disaster worldwide. Globally, it ranks 28th regarding vulnerability according to the 2021 INFORM’s risk index and 62nd in the Global Climate Risk Index 2021.
In 2020, Guatemala faced a record-breaking and devastating hurricane season with extreme rainfall, catastrophic winds, and deadly landslides, from which the country has not yet recovered. Unfortunately, recurrent extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Julia that hit Central America in early October 2022, progressively but deeply eroded a weak health infrastructure and local health systems.
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Ethiopia faces unprecedented public health risks with over 17.4 million people in need of health assistance due to a compounded security, epidemiological, environmental and socio-economic hardships throughout the country. Specifically, the prolonged drought and localized conflicts have negatively im...pacted public health systems, whose access has become severely hindered because of physical constraints, infrastructure, equipment damages, lack of available healthcare workforce and negative coping mechanisms resulting from livelihoods deterioration. Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) assistance has been critical to coordinate humanitarian efforts in affected areas, additional efforts are required in the coming months to address ongoing epidemic outbreaks and support the recovery process in conflict-affected areas (Afar, Amhara, Tigray and Gambelia) that are now accessible.
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Les médicaments ont été classés à la fois par classe pharmaco-thérapeutique et par ordre alphabétique. La présence d’une marque astérisque renvoie à davantage de précision pour le (les) médicament(s) concerné(s).
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been facing a prolonged socio-political and economic situation that has profoundly and negatively impacted social and health indicators. The COVID-19 pandemic further aggravated the humanitarian context in the
country, which stretched the limits of an alread...y weakened national health system. Violence and social conflicts, hyperinflation, constant political tensions, the persistence of migratory movements, and intensification of climate threats and natural hazards
have worsened the living conditions and health status of populations in vulnerable situations, including women, children, and indigenous people. A large influx of returnees back to Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) marked the first
two years of the pandemic. However, the country’s continued deteriorating political, socio-economic, and human rights situation resulted in renewed increased migration of Venezuelans in 2022. The profile of Venezuelan migrants has progressively changed
over the years, from single men in search of better economic opportunities to families with women and children in situations of extreme vulnerability. The increasingly irregular and unsafe journeys of those migrants are constantly putting their lives at high risk
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Les médicaments essentiels sont ceux qui répondent aux besoins de santé prioritaires d'une population. Conformément aux recommandations de l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS), des listes nationales de médicaments essentiels sont régulièrement révisées, puis mises à la disposition de...s praticiens de la santé et des utilisateurs. La présente liste prend en compte les dernières orientations et directives applicales au Burkina Faso.
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This publication is part of WHO 75th anniversary and aims to capture key successes in public health globally and in Namibia. It includes contributory messages from the Head of State, Prime Minister and the Minister of Health and Social Services.
In 2023, the partnership between the Government of Canada and PAHO was launched to implement the project to improve the health of communities, women, and children by eliminating trachoma as a public health problem. In this initiative, through a contribution of 15 million Canadian dollars, the Govern...ment of Canada is supporting efforts to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem in the Region over the next 5 years.
The countries included in the initiative are Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.
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This annual report gives an overview of WHO lesotho Country office's undertakings and achievements in the context of an extraordinary health emergency. As we walk another mile this year, may we embrace all lessonst leanred in the previous year, learn from what did not work so well and take on new op...portunities in championing health in the country.
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