In 2015, to advance the global and national response to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the World Health Assembly issued resolution WHA68.7 calling for all Member States to develop AMR national action plans that address the five objectives of the World Health Organization Global Action Plan (GAP) by... May 2017. The WHO GAP provides a framework to support countries in developing their national action plans on AMR. To operationalize and accelerate implementation of national action plans on AMR, WHO has developed a costing and budgeting tool and accompanying user guide. The purpose is to support countries in costing prioritized activities of an operational plan linked to their AMR national action plan, and identify existing funding and funding gaps to promote resource mobilization and sustainable implementation. The target audience of the publication are national policy makers and designated costing coordinators for national action plans on AMR.
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Ce document est consolidé par OCHA pour le compte de l’Équipe humanitaire pays et des partenaires humanitaires. Il présente une compréhension commune de la crise, notamment les besoins humanitaires les plus pressants et le nombre estimé de personnes ayant besoin d’assistance. Il constitue u...ne base factuelle aidant à informer la planification stratégique conjointe de la réponse.
Les désignations employées et la présentation des éléments dans le présent rapport ne signifient pas l’expression de quelque opinion que ce soit de la part du Secrétariat des Nations unies concernant le statut juridique d’un pays, d’un territoire, d’une ville ou d’une zone ou de leurs autorités ou concernant la délimitation de ses frontières ou de ses limites.
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On March 1, 2021, the countries of the Americas began receiving vaccines through the COVAX Mechanism, an unprecedented global effort between CEPI, Gavi, Unicef, PAHO, and WHO to ensure equitable access to immunization throughout the world. The PAHO Revolving Fund is the mechanism designated by COVA...X to procure the vaccines on behalf of the countries in the region.
— Data on vaccine doses administered in the Americas
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En el año 2020 se registró una muerte materna cada hora en América Latina y el Caribe (ALC). Ese mismo año, la tendencia de la razón de mortalidad materna (RMM) en la Región de las Américas retrocedió de manera alarmante e inaudita a los niveles de hace veinte años. Estas cifras no solo imp...lican un empeoramiento en los resultados, sino una profundización de las desigualdades, lo que representa miles de tragedias individuales e inaceptables que en la mayoría de los casos serían evitables. La muerte materna es el resultado de un proceso multifactorial donde interactúan elementos estructurales como el sistema económico, las condiciones ambientales y la cultura. Además, intervienen otros factores relativos a la desigualdad social, como el racismo, la pobreza, la desigualdad de género y la falta de acceso al sistema educativo
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Saúde Soc. São Paulo, v.30, n.1, e200450, 2021
Desde março de 2020, quando a Organização Mundial de Saúde declarou que o mundo vivia uma pandemia de covid-19, acompanhamos um quadro sanitário sem precedentes nos últimos 100 anos. As medidas atuais contra a ...doença têm como objetivo o controle da transmissão e envolvem ações individuais e coletivas de higiene e distanciamento físico, enquanto a busca por uma vacina se apresenta como a esperança para vencer a pandemia. Considerando o contexto social de clamor por uma nova vacina, este ensaio crítico discute o paradoxo e as contradições da relação indivíduo-sociedade no contexto da covid-19 à luz da hesitação vacinal como fenômeno histórico e socialmente situado. Este ensaio aponta que as tomadas de decisão sobre (não) vacinar ou sobre (não) seguir as medidas preventivas e de controle da propagação da covid-19 são conformadas por pertencimentos sociais e atravessadas por desigualdades que tendem a se exacerbar. A infodemia que cerca a covid-19 e a hesitação vacinal refletem a tensão entre o risco cientificamente validado e o risco percebido subjetivamente, também influenciada pela crise de confiança na ciência. Percepções de risco e adesão a medidas de saúde extrapolam aspectos subjetivos e racionais e espelham valores e crenças conformados pelas dimensões política, econômica e sociocultural.
Also available in Englisch http://www.scielo.br/j/sausoc/a/rQFs3PMLgZprt3hkJMyS8mN/?format=pdf&lang=en
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Com o tema A equidade, o coração da saúde, este Plano busca catalisar esforços nos Estados Membros para reduzir as iniquidades em saúde dentro dos países e territórios e entre eles, a fim de melhorar os resultados em termos de saúde. O Plano identifica ações específicas para enfrentar a d...esigualdade em saúde, como as recomendadas pela Comissão sobre Equidade e Desigualdades em Saúde nas Américas, com a orientação da Comissão de Alto Nível para a Saúde Universal. Quatro temas transversais são centrais para o enfoque deste Plano para abordar os determinantes da saúde: a equidade, o gênero, a etnia e os direitos humanos.
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En el año 2020 se registró una muerte materna cada hora en América Latina y el Caribe (ALC). Ese mismo año, la tendencia de la razón de mortalidad materna (RMM) en la Región de las Américas retrocedió de manera alarmante e inaudita a los niveles de hace veinte años. Estas cifras no solo imp...lican un empeoramiento en los resultados, sino una profundización de las desigualdades, lo que representa miles de tragedias individuales e inaceptables que en la mayoría de los casos serían evitables. La muerte materna es el resultado de un proceso multifactorial donde interactúan elementos estructurales como el sistema económico, las condiciones ambientales y la cultura. Además, intervienen otros factores relativos a la desigualdad social, como el racismo, la pobreza, la desigualdad de género y la falta de acceso al sistema educativo
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Bajo el tema La equidad, el corazón de la salud, este plan procura catalizar los esfuerzos en los Estados Miembros para reducir las inequidades en materia de salud entre los países y los territorios y dentro de ellos, a fin de mejorar los resultados en materia de salud. En el plan se señalan medi...das específicas para abordar la desigualdad en la salud, incluidas las recomendadas de la Comisión sobre Equidad y Desigualdades en Salud en las Américas, y se sigue la orientación de la Comisión de Alto Nivel para la Salud Universal. El enfoque que se adopta en este plan para abordar los determinantes de la salud incluye cuatro temas transversales clave: la equidad, el género, la etnicidad y los derechos humanos
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El Análisis de la Situación de la Niñez y la Adolescencia (SITAN, por sus siglas en inglés), desarrollado por el Fondo de Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF), presenta y analiza la situación de la infancia. El objetivo del SITAN es examinar los desafíos y las oportunidades para lograr qu...e se respeten los derechos de los niños, niñas y adolescentes (NNyA), así como señalar los progresos en ese camino y los patrones de privación y desigualdad que impiden el ejercicio de esos derechos y el desarrollo humano.
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Introdução: Em março de 2020, a Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) declarou que o surto de COVID-19, doença causada por um novo coronavírus, passava a constituir uma pandemia, dada a velocidade e escala de transmissão da doença. A Região das Américas é caracterizada por uma riqueza mult...iétnica e multicultural. No entanto, povos indígenas, afrodescendentes e outros grupos étnicos, muitas vezes, sofrem discriminação e exclusão, e isso leva a desigualdades de saúde. A COVID-19 pode ter um maior impacto em certos grupos da população, como povos indígenas e afrodescendentes. Em 2017, os Estados Membros da Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde (OPAS) aprovaram a primeira Política de Etnia e Saúde (documento CSP29/7, Rev.1), baseada no reconhecimento de diferenças entre grupos étnicos, bem como em seus respectivos desafios, necessidades e contextos históricos. A política também reforça a necessidade de uma abordagem intercultural, fundamentada na igualdade e no respeito mútuo, para melhorar os desfechos de saúde e avançar em direção à saúde universal. A OPAS prioriza a etnia como uma questão de caráter transversal no gerenciamento de emergências e desastres. Isso está refletido em uma série de regulamentos, como o Plano de Ação 2016-2021 para a Redução do Risco de Desastres e outros manuais, diretrizes e iniciativas.
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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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The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Biosafety and Biosecurity Initiative was launched by the Africa CDC in April 2019 with the aim of strengthening the African Union (AU) Member States’ biosafety and biosecurity systems and enabling them to comply with national and i...nternational requirements for biosafety and biosecurity including the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), and United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 and the multi-country Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). The World Health Organization (WHO) Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and the Global Health Security Index report confirmed the known capacity gaps in biosafety and biosecurity among Africa Union Member (AU).
The regional consultations by Africa CDC conducted between 2019-2021 highlighted the deficiency or limited availability of standardized and regionally recognized training programs in the continent, limiting biosafety and biosecurity capacity building efforts in the region. In response, Africa CDC working with AU Member States developed a home grown, implementable and accessible professional training and certification program that is both recognized and endorsed by AU Member States. The Regional Training and Certification Program for Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals, for African Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals (RTCP-BBP) has four (4) areas of specialization, namely
Selection, Installation, Maintenance and Certification of Biological Safety Cabinets
Biorisk Management
Design and Maintenance of Facilities Handling High Risk Pathogens (Biocontainment Engineering)
Biological Waste management
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The 2019-2023 Strategy for UNU-IIGH, developed in
2018, built on UNU-IIGH’s strategic advantage and
position vis-à-vis the UN and global health ecosystem.
The Strategy set a goal to advance evidencebased policy on key issues related to sustainable
development and health and shifted the Instit...ute’s
body of work from investigator-driven global health
projects to three priority-driven, policy-relevant pillars
of work, each reflecting UNU-IIGH’s unique value
position.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the
Institute adapted and reprioritised its areas of work
while continuing to deliver on the main strategic
objectives of translating evidence to policy, generating
policy-relevant analyses on gender and health, and
strengthening capacity for local decision making
especially in the Global South.
The new strategic plan encompasses four work packages:
1. Gender Equality and Intersectionality: through this work, we will aim to improve the quality of health care through a human-centred approach, by ensuring the health system is responsive to the needs of structurally excluded individuals and communities; and by advancing a positive and enabling environment for the frontline health workforce—e.g. addressing the experience of gender-based violence.
2. Power and Accountability: through this work, we will catalyse equitable shifts in power and address key accountability deficits that prevent the equitable and effective functioning of the global health system and prevent adequate responsiveness to the needs of states and populations in the Global South.
3. Digital Health Governance: through this work, we will address the colonial legacies and power asymmetries that negatively impact robust digital health governance, identify ways to strengthen health data governance with a particular focus on SRHR and promote diversity in technology design and development.
4. Climate Justice and Determinants of Health: through this work we will leverage UNU-IIGH's position within the UN and network of UNU institutes, network experts, practitioners, policy-makers, and academics to advance evidence-based policy on the different dimensions of the climate emergency and its impact on health.
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Objectives: This paper reviews the mental health policies that have been implemented in Chile in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the international context of countries' responses. Even before the start of the pandemic, there were significant barriers to access mental health services in Chile, ...coupled with a scenario of nationwide social unrest and protests that questioned the legitimacy of public institutions; now the rapidly worsening outbreaks of COVID-19 are exacerbating the pre-existing mental health crisis.
Methods: We conducted a bibliometric and content analysis of the Chilean mental health public policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and then compared these policies with international experiences and emerging scientific evidence on the mental health impact of pandemics.
Results: Our analysis of the policies identifies five crucial points of action developed in Chile: (i) an established framework to address mental health in emergency and disaster situations; (ii) a timely COVID-19 Mental Health Action Plan; (iii) inclusion of mental health in the public health agenda; (iv) development of a presidential strategy during the pandemic for comprehensive mental health and well-being; and (v) emerging research assessing the mental health implications of COVID-19.
Conclusions: In Chile, the public policy responses to address the mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been characterized by the coordinated implementation of mental health plans, ranging from a health sectoral initiative to inter-agency and intersectoral efforts. However, it is imperative that increased funding is allocated to mental health, and efforts should be made to promote the participation of people with lived experiences and communities in the design and implementation of the proposed actions. This aspect could be of key importance to social peace and community recovery after the pandemic.
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OpenWHO is an interactive, web-based, knowledge-transfer platform offering free online courses to improve the response to health emergencies. In summary, OpenWHO currently offers courses covering the following topics and languages to support the response to COVID-19:
A general introduction to ...emerging respiratory viruses, including novel coronaviruses (available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Hindi, Hungarian, Indian Sign Language, Indonesian, Macedonian, Persian, Portuguese, Serbian, Turkish and Vietnamese);
Clinical care SARI (available in English, French, Russian, Spanish, Indonesian, Portuguese and Vietnamese);
Health and safety briefing for respiratory diseases – ePROTECT (available in Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Indonesian and Portuguese);
IPC for COVID-19 (available in Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Macedonian, Portuguese, Serbian and Turkish);
COVID-19 operational planning guidelines and partners platform to support country preparedness and response (available in Chinese, English, French, Russian and Portuguese);
SARI treatment facility design (available in Arabic, English and Portuguese);
An introduction to Go.Data (available in English and in additional languages); and
How to put on and remove PPE for COVID-19 (available in English and in additional languages).
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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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This report aims to outline the current available knowledge on the health and wellbeing of older persons in the Region of the Americas during the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030). It also seeks to guide political actions towards ensuring the human rights of older persons, and desc...ribes the negotiation and drafting process behind the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons. It reports on the doctrinal and legal developments that led the Region of the Americas to draft the Convention and describes its action areas and guaranteed rights, as well as the obligations assumed by the States Parties. The Convention is an essential tool to advance the strategies of the Decade of Healthy Ageing. This publication reflects on the importance of having a major legal instrument for this purpose at the international level. The demographic transition in Latin America and the Caribbean will continue to shape the ability of countries and health systems to respond to the needs of the population. Given this reality, international instruments will be needed to guarantee the full enjoyment of the human rights of older persons. In order to design inclusive and sustainable systems, accurate, updated, and effective information is required. The Decade of Healthy Ageing––the initiative that constitutes the framework for this document––is a strategic period in which to focus on data generation and monitoring.
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This is the seventeenth annual publication of the Global Hunger Index (GHI), a report jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
The 2022 Global Hunger Index (GHI) brings us face to face with a grim reality. The toxic cocktail of conflict, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemi...c had already left millions exposed to food price shocks and vulnerable to further crises. Now the conflict in Ukraine—with its knock-on effects on global supplies of and prices for food, fertilizer, and fuel—is turning a crisis into a catastrophe. But the speed and severity of the global food crisis reflects the fact that millions of people were already living on the precarious edge of hunger—a legacy of past failures to build more just, sustainable, and resilient food systems. This year’s report therefore focuses on food systems transformation and local governance.
According to the 2022 GHI, Hunger is at alarming levels in 5 countries—Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Yemen— and is provisionally considered *alarming *in 4 additional countries— Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria. In a further 35 countries, hunger is considered serious, based on 2022 GHI scores and provisional designations.
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We reviewed the evidence on community-based interventions for the prevention and control of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Community initiatives tailored towards awareness and mobilisation are regarded as a priority area in the Neglected Tropical Disease Roadmap 2021–2030 by the World Health Organi...zation. We searched nine electronic databases for intervention-based
studies. Two independent reviewers screened and assessed the articles for methodological quality using predefined criteria. We conducted a meta-analysis using a random effects model, along with narrative synthesis. Thirteen articles were eligible for inclusion, of which 12 were quantitative studies (quasi-experimental with control group and pre-post interventions) and one qualitative
study. All articles reported on health education interventions aimed at changing people’s knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) in relation to CL. Participant groups included students, mothers, housewives, volunteer health workers, and residents in general. An increased score was recorded for all outcomes across all interventions: knowledge (SMD: 1.85, 95% CI: 1.23, 2.47), attitudes (SMD:
1.36, 95% CI: 0.56, 2.15), and practices (SMD: 1.73, 95% CI: 0.99, 2.47). Whilst our findings show that educational interventions improved people’s knowledge, attitudes, and practices about CL, we argue that this approach is not sufficient for the prevention and control of this disease. Knowledge does not always translate into action, particularly where other structural barriers exist. Therefore,
we recommend the design of more innovative community-based interventions with a broader focus (e.g., stigma, financial barriers, and healthcare access).
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The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Biosafety and Biosecurity Initiative was launched by the Africa CDC in April 2019 with the aim of strengthening the African Union (AU) Member States’ biosafety and biosecurity systems and enabling them to comply with national and i...nternational requirements for biosafety and biosecurity including the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), and United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 and the multi-country Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). The World Health Organization (WHO) Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and the Global Health Security Index report confirmed the known capacity gaps in biosafety and biosecurity among Africa Union Member (AU).
The regional consultations by Africa CDC conducted between 2019-2021 highlighted the deficiency or limited availability of standardized and regionally recognized training programs in the continent, limiting biosafety and biosecurity capacity building efforts in the region. In response, Africa CDC working with AU Member States developed a home grown, implementable and accessible professional training and certification program that is both recognized and endorsed by AU Member States. The Regional Training and Certification Program for Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals, for African Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals (RTCP-BBP) has four (4) areas of specialization, namely
- Selection, Installation, Maintenance and Certification of Biological Safety Cabinets
- Biorisk Management
- Design and Maintenance of Facilities Handling High Risk Pathogens (Biocontainment Engineering)
- Biological Waste management
more