Since the end of 2018, there has been a significant upsurge in violence in Rakhine State after armed conflict broke out between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar Military. The violence escalated following attacks by the AA against military sites in January 2019 and subsequent counter-attacks by t...he Myanmar Military. The conflict has led to civilian casualties and the destruction of property that has spread to nine townships of Rakhine State (Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon, Pauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung) and Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State. Ann and Kyaukphyu townships have been affected at certain points. The conflict has led to a significant displacement of people, some for extended amounts of time and some for short periods, with people fleeing violence subsequently returning to their homes within a few days or weeks. While fighting has occurred largely in rural areas and remote locations, key transport routes and urban and semi-urban areas have also been impacted. Tens of thousands of civilians living in villages have been caught in the middle of intense armed conflict.
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This document has been developed for the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean to establish a regional plan of action to support the countries of the Region to rapidly accelerate the scaling up of their capacities for the prevention and early detection of, and ... rapid response to, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as required under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). The regional plan is aligned with the WHO global 2019 novel coronavirus strategic preparedness and response plan, but tailored to the regional context.
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Policy brief, 24 July 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected older people disproportionately, especially those living in long-term care facilities. In many countries, evidence shows that more than 40% of COVID-19 related deaths have been linked to long-term care facilities, with figures being as h...igh as 80% in some high-income countries. Concerted action is needed to mitigate the impact across all aspects of long-term care, including home- and community-based care, given that most users and providers of care are those who are vulnerable to severe COVID-19.
This policy brief provides 11 policy objectives and key action points to prevent and manage COVID-19 across long-term care. Its intended audience is policy makers and authorities (national, subnational and local) involved in the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief builds on currently available evidence on the measures taken to prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID‑19 pandemic across long-term care services including care providers
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Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) is a decentralised community-based approach to treating acute malnutrition. Treatment is matched to the nutritional and clinical needs of the child, with the majority children receiving treatment at home using ready-to-use foods. In-patient car...e is provided only for complicated cases of acute malnutrition. CMAM consists of four components: (1) stabilisation care for acute malnutrition with complications, (2) out-patient therapeutic care for severe acute malnutrition without complications, (3) supplementary feeding for moderate acute malnutrition and (4) community mobilisation.
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Core Knowledge for Emergency Preparedness and Response
This document is produced by the Humanitarian Country Team and the United Nations Resident
Coordinator’s Office in Mozambique, with the support of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The projects reflected here support the national government. It covers... the
period from November 2018 to June 2019. The Plan has been revised in March 2019 to incorporate the
immediate response to needs arising from the impact of Cyclone Idai.
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Zimbabwe has, over the years, grappled with the repercussions of the climate crisis, which have led to erratic rainfall patterns characterized by either severe floods or prolonged periods of drought. The nation has experienced a concerning trend of numerous regions reporting rainfall levels below th...e usual during what should be "normal" years. The upcoming El Niño event forecasted for 2023-2024, which is associated with drier-than-average rainfall, is poised to exacerbate this predicament. It is expected to intensify aridity, significantly impacting food and animal production across many areas, including those typically classified as "dry regions."
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A WHO guide to inform & harmonize national & international pandemic preparedness and response
The main updates from the 2013 interim guidance are:
Alignment with other relevant United Nations policies for crisis and emergency management, and
Inclusion of the significant development in re...cent years of the strategies for pandemic vaccine response during the start of a pandemic.
The guide is available in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and Russian
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This working draft develops guidance on conducting effective evaluations of conflict prevention and peacebuilding work. The current working draft will be used for a one year application phase through 2008. It is the result of an ongoing collaborative project by the OECD DAC Networks on Development E...valuation and on Conflict, Peace and Development Co-operation (CPDC). The two Networks began this collaboration in 2005, responding to the need expressed by CPDC members for greater clarity regarding techniques and issues of evaluation in their field. An assessment of past conflict and peace evaluations and a study of current practices were undertaken in 2006 and identified a need for further guidance.
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The Strategy to respond to antimalarial drug resistance in Africa is a technical and advocacy document, grounded in the best available evidence to date and aimed at minimizing the threat and impact of antimalarial drug resistance of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in Africa. Its objectives are to: i...) improve the detection of resistance to ensure a timely response; ii) delay the emergence of resistance to artemisinin and artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) partner drugs; and iii) limit the selection and spread of resistant parasites where resistance has been confirmed.
WHO Team
Global Malaria Programme
Editors
World Health Organization
Number of pages
87
Reference numbers
ISBN: 978 92 4 006026 5
Copyright
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The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a double shock - health and economic. As of March 1, 2021, COVID-19 has cost more than 2.5 million lives and triggered an economic recession surpassing any economic downturn since World War II.
Part I of this paper explores the impact of this current macro-fisc...al outlook on the three primary sources of health spending. Drawing on experiences from previous economic crises, scenario analyses suggest a fall in government per capita spending on health in 2021 and 2022 unless governments make bold choices to increase the share of health in general government spending.
Part II of the paper discusses policy options to meet the spending needs in health. These options encompass strategies to make fiscal adjustments work and channel funds where they are most needed, as well as policies to stabilize the balance sheets of social health insurance (SHI) schemes. The paper explains how the health sector can play an active role in expanding fiscal space, contributing to tax reforms, most importantly pro-health taxes, and mobilizing and absorbing external financing, including debt relief.
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The 2023 meeting of the WHO Clinical Consortium on Healthy Ageing (CCHA) was the group’s ninth gathering and took place in Geneva 5–7 December 2023. The meeting was structured around seven panels, with a series of technical presentations, plenary discussions and group work, and a final session o...utlining the work programme for 2024.
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Across Zimbabwe, 7 million people in urban and rural areas are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, compared to 5.5 million in August 2019. Since the launch of the Revised Humanitarian Appeal in August 2019, circumstances for millions of Zimbabweans have worsened. Drought and crop failure, exa...cerbated by macro-economic challenges and austerity measures, have directly affected vulnerable households in both rural and urban communities. Inflation continues to erode purchasing power and affordability of food and other essential goods is a daily challenge. The delivery of health care, clean water and sanitation, and education has been constrained and millions of people are facing challenges to access vital services.
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Claims for refugee status related to situations of armed conflict and violence under Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees and the regional refugee definitions
UNHCR issues these Guidelines on International Protection pursuant to its mandate,... as contained in, inter alia, the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, namely paragraph 8(a), in conjunction with Article 35 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Article II of its 1967 Protocol, Article VIII(1) of the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, and Commitment II(e) of the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees.
These Guidelines clarify paragraph 164 of the UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and otherwise complement the Handbook. They are to be read in conjunction with UNHCR’s other Guidelines on International Protection.
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The 2020 Report analyzes global health spending for 190 countries from 2000 to 2018 and provides insights as to the health spending trajectory from the MDG era to the SDG era prior to the crisis of 2020. The report shows that global spending on health continually rose between 2000 and 2018 and reach...ed US$ 8.3 trillion or 10% of global GDP. The data also show that out-of-pocket spending has remained high in low and lower-middle income countries, representing greater than 40% of total health spending in 2018. We also report and summarize the data on expenditures for PHC, as well as by disease and intervention, including for immunization. The report also analyzes the available data on budget allocation in response to the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, we combine World Bank/IMF projections of the macroeconomic and fiscal impact of the crisis with an analysis of the historical determinants of health spending patterns and UHC indicators, and based on this, we draw out the likely implications of 2020 for future health spending, highlighting key policy and monitoring concerns.
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