WEEKLY EPIDEMIOLOGICAL RECORD, NO 23, 7 JUNE 2024, pp.307-318
The most recent estimate of the global number of deaths from dog-mediatedrabies is 59 000 per year.1 Rabies is associated with a 99.9% fatality rate and severe trauma in families in which a rabies death
occurs, and remains a major publ...ic health concern in most of Africa and Asia and some parts of South America
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Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are among the most common infections worldwide with an estimated 1.5 billion infected people or 24% of the world’s population. These infections affect the poorest and most deprived communities with poor access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene in tro...pical and subtropical areas, with the highest prevalence reported from sub-Saharan Africa, China, South America and Asia. They are transmitted by eggs present in human faeces, which in turn contaminate soil in areas where sanitation is poor. Over 260 million preschool-age children, 654 million school-age children,108 million adolescent girls and 138.8 million pregnant and lactating women live in areas where these parasites are intensively transmitted, and are in need of treatment and preventive interventions.
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3rd edition.
The third edition of the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) Technical Guidelines was prepared by the WHO Health Emergencies (WHE) Programme with the active participation and involvement of programmes dealing with disease surveillance at the WHO Regional Office for Afri...ca (AFRO), Brazzaville, Congo and with technical reviews provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
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Rabies remains an under-reported neglected zoonosis with a case-fatality rate of almost 100% in humans and animals. Dog-mediated human rabies causes tens of thousands of human deaths annually despite being 100% preventable. More than 95% of human cases are caused by the bite of a rabies-infected dog.... Dog-mediated human rabies disproportionately affects rural communities, particularly children, and economically disadvantaged areas of Africa and Asia, where awareness of the disease and access to appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) can be limited or nonexistent.
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Rabies remains an under-reported neglected zoonosis with a case-fatality rate of almost 100% in humans and animals. Dog-mediated human rabies causes tens of thousands of human deaths annually despite being 100% preventable. More than 95% of human cases are caused by the bite of a rabies-infected dog.... Dog-mediated human rabies disproportionately affects rural communities, particularly children, and economically disadvantaged areas of Africa and Asia, where awareness of the disease and access to appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) can be limited or nonexistent.
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Rabies is a global public health problem with important socioeconomic impacts. Human rabies is preventable; almost all cases are transmitted through the bite of a rabid dog. Elimination of human rabies is possible. Technical support and tools are available. This report covers:
- Why investment ...is needed: key rationale.
- Investment purpose: global elimination of rabies.
- Investment in action: four case examples in Philippines, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Bangladesh.
- Summary results of case examples: Programme similarities and differences, and Health impact success stories from case examples.
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Every day, fake medicines and medical products are sold at street corners, in open air markets or on unregulated websites in several countries in the African Region. These poor quality, unsafe medicines and pharmaceutical products promote drug resistance and lead to loss of confidence in health prof...essionals, manufacturers and distributors and in health systems. In an effort to protect people’s health, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, has proposed a strategy aimed at strengthening National Medicine Regulatory Authorities (NMRAs) in order to ensure that only safe, good quality and effective medical products are available.
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Communities in snakebite endemic countries need to be properly educated on what to do in the event of a snakebite and what steps to take to lessen one from happening. These comprehensive prevention videos in multiple languages are resources YOU can share with school children, agricultural workers, h...omemakers. Help spread these important videos right on down to the people and regions affected.
Minutes to Die released snakebite prevention videos in 12 languages made for sharing and aimed at community health workers in Africa and India, produced by the Lillian Lincoln Foundation, along with the WHO, MSF, and a host of other NGOs.
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The Knowledge Translation Unit is a group within the University of Cape Town’s Lung Institute and Department of Medicine who has worked on primary care programmes to strengthen provision of evidence-informed care in low-resources settings in South Africa, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Brazil for two decad...es. See here for more information. We are working around the clock to help health workers in these and similar settings to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. These can be accessed below. We are also working to expand these to support primary healthcare workers, patients and households. You can also access our free online training.
For purposes of assisting communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are making our COVID-19 and related materials freely available for others to use subject to some simple conditions.
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West Africa is experiencing the largest, most severe, most complex outbreak of Ebola virus disease in history. On 11 August 2014, WHO convened a consultation where the participants concluded that in the particular context of the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, it is ethically acceptable to of...fer unproven interventions that have shown promising results in the laboratory and in animal models but have not yet been evaluat-
ed for safety and efficacy in humans as potential treatment or prevention
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The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is not over. WHO continues to work with governments and the international health community to get to zero cases and help countries stay there.
South Africa is a mineral-rich country. Although the mining of these minerals generates wealth for the country, it also causes diseases in the mine workers who are exposed to harmful dust. Pulmonary silicosis, the disease most commonly caused by exposure to crystalline silica dust, was described in ...South African gold miners in the early 1900s not many years after gold-mining commenced. Most studies since then have been cross-sectional, with only one large cohort study being conducted on white miners; long-term trends have not been reported. Currently, South Africa has one of the highest rates of silicosis in the world.
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To eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) by 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a campaign against the disease. Since the launch in 2000, significant progress has been made to achieve this ambitious goal. In this article we review the progress and status of the LF programme in Afric...a through the WHO neglected
tropical diseases preventive chemotherapy databank, the Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN) portal and other publications. In the African Region there are 35 countries endemic for LF. The Gambia was reclassified as not requiring preventive chemotherapy in 2015, while Togo and Malawi eliminated LF as a public health problem in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Cameroon discontinued mass drug administration (MDA) and transitioned to post-MDA surveillance to validate elimination. The trajectory of coverage continues to accelerate; treatment coverage increased from 0.1% in 2000 to 62.1% in 2018. Geographical coverage has also significantly increased, from 62.7% in 2015 to 78.5% in 2018. In 2019, 23 of 31 countries requiring MDA achieved 100% geographic coverage. Although much remains to be done, morbidity management and disability prevention services have steadily increased in recent years. Vector control interventions conducted by other programmes, particularly malaria vector control, have had a profound effect in stopping transmission in some endemic countries in the region. In conclusion, significant progress has been made in the LF programme
in the region while we identify the key remaining challenges in achieving an Africa free of LF.
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The South African (SA) guidelines for cardiac patients for non-cardiac surgery were developed to address the need for cardiac risk assessment and risk stratification for elective non-cardiac surgical patients in SA, and more broadly in Africa.
The guidelines were developed by updating the Canadian ...Cardiovascular Society Guidelines on Perioperative Cardiac Risk Assessment
and Management for Patients Who Undergo Non-cardiac Surgery, with a search of literature from African countries and recent publications. The updated proposed guidelines were then evaluated in a Delphi consensus process by SA anaesthesia and vascular surgical experts.
The recommendations in these guidelines are:
1. We suggest that elective non-cardiac surgical patients who are 45 years and older with either a history of coronary artery disease, congestive cardiac failure, stroke or transient ischaemic attack, or vascular surgical patients 18 years or older with peripheral vascular disease require further preoperative risk stratification as their predicted 30-day major adverse cardiac event (MACE) risk exceeds 5%
(conditional recommendation: moderate-quality evidence).
2. We do not recommend routine non-invasive testing for cardiovascular risk stratification prior to elective non-cardiac surgery in adults (strong recommendation: low-to-moderate-quality evidence).
3. We recommend that elective non-cardiac surgical patients who are 45 years and older with a history of coronary artery disease, or stroke or transient ischaemic attack, or congestive cardiac failure or vascular surgical patients 18 years or older with peripheral vascular disease should have preoperative natriuretic peptide (NP) screening (strong recommendation: high-quality evidence).
4. We recommend daily postoperative troponin measurements for 48 - 72 hours for non-cardiac surgical patients who are 45 years and older with a history of coronary artery disease, or stroke or transient ischaemic attack, or congestive cardiac failure or vascular surgical patients 18 years or older with peripheral vascular disease, i.e. (i) a baseline risk >5% for MACE 30 days after elective surgery (if no preoperative NP screening), or (ii) an elevated B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP)/N-terminal-prohormone B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) measurement before elective surgery (defined as BNP >99 pg/mL or a NT-proBNP >300 pg/mL) (conditional recommendation: moderate-quality evidence).
Additional recommendations are given for the management of myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery (MINS) and medications for comorbidities.
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This study compared clinical and autopsy findings for three asbestos-related diseases (asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer) in former asbestos mineworkers, and explored factors that influenced agreement between clinical and autopsy findings using data from two compensation systems. In South Afr...ica, statutory compensation for occupational lung diseases in mineworkers makes provisions for autopsy examinations of the cardio-respiratory organs at the National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH) in Johannesburg. In addition, the Johannesburg-based Asbestos Relief Trust and Kgalagadi Relief Trust (the “Trusts”) compensate individuals with defined asbestos-related diseases who worked in or lived near qualifying asbestos mining or processing operations. The Trusts also compensate dependents of deceased qualifying mineworkers and therefore encourage statutory autopsies for the detection of previously undiagnosed asbestos-related disease or disease that may have progressed to higher compensation grades.
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Malaria remains a significant global health concern, with 249 million cases and 408,000 deaths reported in 2022, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. The most vulnerable populations are children under five and pregnant women. Rapid and accurate diagnosis using microscopy or malaria rapid diagnostic test...s (mRDTs) is essential to ensure timely treatment, prevent severe disease and promote the rational use of antimalarial drugs. This UNICEF Technical Bulletin provides guidance on the procurement, quality assurance and selection of WHO-prequalified mRDTs, including considerations for areas with a high prevalence of pfhrp2/3 gene deletions. The bulletin also highlights UNICEF’s approach to sustainability, product verification and long-term arrangements with manufacturers, which ensure a reliable supply while supporting integrated child health management programmes. The bulletin serves as a valuable resource for countries, partners and programmes involved in the implementation of malaria case management and diagnostics.
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Human African trypanosomiasis is caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense in West and Central Africa and by T. brucei rhodesiense in East Africa; both species are endemic in Uganda. Trypanosoma brucei gambiense accounts for 98% of all cases of African trypanosomiasis, and T. brucei rhodesiense account...s for 2%. African trypanosomiasis has been targeted for eradication by the World Health Organization (WHO) and, as a result of control efforts, there has been a dramatic decrease (> 95%) in the number of reported cases worldwide.
Professional version as well as patient education
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The current outbreak of Ebola in west Africa constitutes the largest and most complex to date. Declared a public health emergency of international concern by WHO, the outbreak of a disease with no known treatment or vaccination is proving difficult to contain given the already fragile and under res...ourced health systems in the affected areas.
The Lancet wishes to assist health workers and researchers working under difficult and dangerous conditions to bring this outbreak to a close. This Ebola hub contains all related resources from The Lancet family of journals offered with free access to support their vital work. Find interesting articles on the website
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This video animation was created for use in West Africa to help dispel myths about how Ebola is spread, and to prevent infection and further spreading of the disease. The story is based around a teenage boy on a hospital cot in Liberia, who speaks to his parents, brother and sister warning them abou...t the disease and telling them how it can be prevented. The story highlights the need for isolation and shows the heartache of the family as they are unable to comfort, touch, or care for the boy who is very ill. His words are words of comfort to those who are separated from their loved ones as they are encouraged to take care of themselves and keep away from those who are ill.
The video was created by Chocolate Moose Media, an organisation specialising in the use of film and animation for behaviour change, and mobile-health-education innovator iHeed, in collaboration with United Methodist Communications, who provided partial funding.
The video, which uses only young voices, is being made available in eight versions: Nigerian English and Pidgin, South African English, French (for Ivory Coast and Guinea), Sierra Leone English, and Liberian English and Krio. It can be downloaded in high definition, low definition, and for use on mobile platforms.
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Learn the ETAT+ guidelines on how to resuscitate a newborn baby who is born not breathing in this exciting 3D simulation training app. Navigate around a virtual reality hospital, find the equipment you need and quiz yourself with interactive quizzes, multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and perform simu...lated procedures.
In this simulated scenario, you are faced with a baby who is born not breathing and have to use your clinical skills to follow the ETAT + guidelines and save the baby's life. You are working against the clock and must select the correct medical equipment and carry out the key life-saving steps needed.
ETAT + guidelines for the management of paediatric emergencies are currently used for training healthcare professionals in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Myanmar and are supported by the UK's Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
LIFE (Life-saving Instruction for Emergencies) is a new smartphone and virtual reality (VR) medical simulation training platform for teaching healthcare workers in Africa and low-resource settings how to save lives using a fun and challenging 3D game. LIFE allows nurses, doctors, medical students, trainees and healthcare workers who want to learn key resus skills on their own smartphones, to enter a realistic 3D hospital environment using the latest game-engine technology to try out their skills on simulated patients.
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