The WHO document "Integrating the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and sexual and reproductive health programmes: implementation guidance" provides a framework for integrating noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) into existing health programs for HIV/AIDS, tub...erculosis (TB), and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). It emphasizes the importance of a people-centered approach to enhance healthcare accessibility and efficiency, especially in low-resource settings. The document outlines strategies for strengthening policy, financing, capacity building, and health system infrastructure. It offers actionable steps, tools, and case studies to support countries in reducing the burden of NCDs through integrated, holistic care within primary health services.
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Mental health problems are common and cause great suffering to individuals and communities around the world. They have a significant impact not only on the physical and mental health of those affected but also on their families and the communities they live in. At the same time, all communities have... their own traditional mechanisms for support and contain a range wide of resources that can be helpful in preventing mental health conditions from developing, promoting positive mental health and supporting the recovery of people that are struggling with a mental health condition.
In the wider context, people living with a mental health condition are often excluded from their communities and experience various violations to their basic human rights (discrimination, violence, exclusion from employment opportunities). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the mean prevalence of global mental health disorders is 10.8% while the prevalence in emergency settings is 22.1% in any conflict-affected population.
During emergencies and crisis, the stigma, exclusion and discrimination towards people living with mental health conditions is often higher, which can cause isolation and protection issues. Communities can play a crucial role in promoting mental health as well as enhancing primary care and access. Their role is to help reduce mental health inequalities by providing community resources that connect people to community-based resources and by providing mental health education. This also helps to reduce the massive mental health treatment gap.
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Scientists have known for more than half a century that patients could develop resistance to the drugs used to treat them. Alexander Fleming, who is credited with creating the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928, cautioned of the impending crisis while accepting his Nobel prize in 1945: “There ...is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant.” Since then antibiotics have proved one of the most effective interventions in human medicine. Sadly, the overuse and misuse of this precious resource have brought us to a global crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). To address this crisis nearly seven decades after Fleming’s lecture the first UN general assembly meeting on drug resistance bacteria was convened in September 2017.
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It outlines key achievements, needs and opportunities for intervention in the field of rehabilitation in Ukraine. The content of this document is a snapshot in time – not an in-depth analysis of the entire rehabilitation sector. The analysis focuses on rehabilitation policy and governance, service... provision, financing, information management and human resources, with the aim of improving access to high-quality rehabilitation services in Ukraine.
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This publication articulates the WHO Botswana Country Office’s focus and investment needs for the biennium 2022–2023, building on achievements, networks, and partnerships fostered in 2020-2021.
As the leading health authority within the United Nations system in Botswana, the WHO Country Offi...ce has been at the forefront of supporting the government to improve health since 1996. The WHO Country Office supports the Ministry of Health in realizing the health goals the Government of Botswana defines. Acknowledging that as an upper middle-income country, Botswana provides the bulk of its resources for implementing health programmes, the WHO directly brings technical expertise to the table by collaborating with relevant partners. Where the country office has limitations in terms of human resources with the requisite expertise to answer the country’s needs, the regional level and headquarters of the WHO will be mobilized to provide the necessary support.
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Health facilities in the Region of the Americas frequently suffer the effects of health emergencies and disasters, which jeopardize their ability to provide services to the population. The STAR-H methodology helps staff responsible for health emergency and disaster risk management to identify and as...sess risks as part of strategic planning to improve facility preparedness. It is intended to help them develop, with a multi-hazard approach, a response framework with operating procedures to deal with hazards of any type, scale, or frequency; determine roles and responsibilities; facilitate the effective use of resources; undertake strategic planning exercises, and improve the preparedness of facilities to effectively respond to and recover from impacts. This methodology is designed for use in health facilities of any size and capacity, and makes it possible to generate historical reports and national or subnational risk profiles. This information can be used to develop an effective health emergency and disaster risk management program.
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The tools are designed to complement existing guidelines, protocols and tools for GBV prevention and response, and should not be used in isolation from these. GBV practitioners are encouraged to adapt the tools to their individual programs and contexts, and to integrate pieces into standard GBV tool...s and resources.
You can download from English, French and Arabic Version
http://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/research-resources/building-capacity-for-disability-inclusion-in-gender-based-violence-gbv-programming-in-humanitarian-settings-overview/
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Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, health is receiving unprecedented public and political attention. Yet the fact that climate change also presents us with a health crisis deserves further recognition. From more deaths due to heat stress to increased transmission of infectious diseases, ...climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health in ways that are profound and far-reaching. The fundamental interdependency of human health and the health of the environment is encapsulated in the concept of planetary health, a scientific field and social movement that has been gaining force since the 2015 publication of the Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission report “Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene epoch”.
We see an urgent need for strategic communication to raise awareness of climate-health synergies in order to overcome the misperception that climate and health are two independent agendas. The fragmented and sector-focused nature of thinking and action remains a significant barrier to integrating health considerations into climate planning and project development. Inevitably, collaboration across sectors requires a community of practice. Despite recent efforts focused on the climate-health nexus, much work remains to be done to translate scientific findings for policymakers, mobilise climate financing resources in support of health co-benefits, and promote genderjust solutions within climate change projects.
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Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
An Ebola epidemic that started in March 2014 in Guinea has relentlessly continued to claim lives and to spread to other countries in West Africa. The current Ebola outbreak is the largest in history and the first to affect multiple countries simu...ltaneously. There have been over 24 000 reported confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of EVD in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone (table 1), with almost 10 000 reported deaths (outcomes for many cases are unknown). A total of 58 new confirmed cases were reported in Guinea, 0 in Liberia, and 58 in Sierra Leone in the 7 days to 8 March (4 days to 5 March for Liberia). Many experts believe that the official numbers substantially understate the size of the outbreak because of families' widespread reluctance to report cases. Because of the fluidity of movement of people between West Africa and several countries in the East African countries, especially Kenya and Ethiopia (who in turn have extensive interaction with other countries in the region in terms of human movement), the risk of an outbreak of Ebola in East Africa is as eminent as in any of the countries bordering the affected countries. The IFRC regional office intends to support National Societies to raise their Ebola preparedness and response capacity through training, technical support in planning and implementation of Ebola related activities, and coordination both within and outside the movement.
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The Demographic Dividend study on Rwanda assessed the socio economic and human development potential of our country in the short, medium and long-term period using a comprehensive approach. It generated relevant policy and programme information to guide a well informed polciy required to propel Rwan...da towards achieving its aspirations of being high middle income country by 2035 and high income country by 2050.
The primary objectives of this study were to assess Rwanda’s prospects for harnessing the demographic dividend and demonstrate priority policy and programme options that the country should adopt in order to optimise its chances of earning a maximum demographic dividend in the context of its youthful population and medium, long-term socio economic development aspirations.
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This European compendium was produced to provide operational examples of the new nursing and midwifery roles and new service delivery models currently being employed across the Region. The case studies directly relate to the priority areas in Health 2020 and exemplify the types of activities needed ...to fully implement the objectives within the Strategic Directions framework.
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Forests, trees and green spaces, hereinafter ‘forests and trees’ for short, provide multiple goods and services that contribute to human health. These include medicines, nutritious foods and other non-wood forest products (NWFPs). Globally, at least 3.5 billion people use NWFPs, including medici...nal plants, which are particularly important for vulnerable groups and Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs).
During periods of crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for forest products typically increases amongst these groups. Forests and trees also contribute to better health by playing a role in climate change
mitigation and adaptation, contributing to regulating the carbon cycle, but also moderating the micro-climate, filtering pollutants from the air and protecting settlements against the effects of extreme events such as droughts and flash floods.
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A step towards implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) related to personal mobility.
Health Systems for Outcomes Publication | Using qualitative data from Rwanda, this study focuses on four institutional factors that affect health worker performance and career choice: incentives, monitoring arrangements, professional norms and health workers’ intrinsic motivation. It also provides... illustrations of three institutional innovations that work, at least in the context of Rwanda: performance pay, the establishment of community health workers and increased attention to the training of health workers.
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Health Systems for Outcomes Publication | The government of Rwanda has identified human resources for health as one of its policy priorities. This study aims to contribute to building a better understanding of health worker choice and behaviour, and to improve evidence based polcies.
Some consider there to be ten themes. Here is a resource that explores the ten themes with one and two page pdf summaries.
Accessed August, 19, 2020
Recently, a renewed interest in large-scale community health worker (CHW) programs has been seen globally. This renewal provides an opportune moment to take stock of issues and challenges such programs face and what can be done to make them as effective as possible. With this in mind, this manual is... intended to be used a practical guide for policymakers and program
managers wishing to develop or strengthen a CHW program, drawing lessons from other countries that have implemented CHW programs at-scale. Throughout, we discuss major policy and programmatic issues that decision-makers and planners need to consider when designing, implementing, scaling up or strengthening a national-level CHW program. We offer an overview
of specific challenges CHW programs face, country lessons, tools, and other resources that may be helpful, while incorporating relevant programmatic examples as much as possible.
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The Return Counselling Toolkit is a capacity-building instrument aimed at providing a harmonized and coherent approach to return counselling, based on key migrant-centred principles while protecting migrants’ rights. Mindful of the specific needs and rights pertaining to children, this additional ...module on counselling children and families further complements the first five modules of the Return Counselling Toolkit. It provides specialized guidance on how to prepare and deliver return counselling to accompanied, unaccompanied and separated children while upholding child rights and safeguards.
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