Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) are public health measures that aim to prevent and/or control SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the community. As long as there is no effective and safe vaccine to protect those at risk of severe COVID-19, NPI are the most effective public health interventions against... COVID-19. These ECDC guidelines detail available options for NPI in various epidemiologic scenarios, assess the evidence for their effectiveness and address implementation issues, including potential barriers and facilitators.
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This summary highlights the experiences, results and actions from the implementation of the Rapid Assessment Tool for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Linkages in Botswana. The tool – developed by IPPF, UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS, GNP+, ICW and Young Positives in 2009 – supports national assessmen...ts of the bi-directional linkages between sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV at the policy, systems and services levels. Each country that has rolled out the tool has gathered and generated information that will help to determine priorities and shape national plans and frameworks for scaling up and intensifying linkages. Country experiences and best practices will also inform regional and global agendas.
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The purpose of this document is to inform the public about biological and chemical hazards and thereby prepare the population for an immediate response in the event of an incident until public health support is provided.
The agents reported here are: Anthrax, Botulism, Haemorrhagic Fever,
...Smallpox, the Plague, Tularaemia, Chlorine, Cyanide, Lewisite, Mustard Gas,
Ricin, Sarin, Soman, Tabun and VX. This list is not exhaustive and no doubt
other dangerous types could be produced. They have been selected as they are the most often mentioned threats. This information has been prepared with the public in mind, and thus much of the medical terminology has been removed and replaced with every day language.
Also available in Arabic: http://www.who.int/csr/delibepidemics/biochem_threatsAR.pdf?ua=1
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Thefirst report on Latin America and the Carribean presents key indicators on health and health systems in 33 Latin America and the Caribbean countries. . Analysis is based on the latest comparable data across almost 100 indicators including equity, health status, determinants of health, health car...e resources and utilisation, health expenditure and financing, and quality of care. The editorial discusses the main challenges for the region brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as managing the outbreak as well as mobilising adequate resources and using them efficiently to ensure an effective response to the epidemic.
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Background: Community health worker (CHW) programmes are a valuable component of primary care in resource-poor settings. The evidence supporting their effectiveness generally shows improvements in disease-specific outcomes relative to the absence of a CHW programme. In this study, we evaluated expan...ding an existing HIV and tuberculosis (TB) disease-specific CHW programme into a polyvalent, household-based model that subsequently included non-communicable diseases (NCDs), malnutrition and TB screening, as well as family planning and antenatal care (ANC).
Methods: We conducted a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial in Neno District, Malawi. Six clusters of approximately 20 000 residents were formed from the catchment areas of 11 healthcare facilities. The intervention roll-out was staggered every 3 months over 18 months, with CHWs receiving a 5-day foundational training for their new tasks and assigned 20–40 households for monthly (or more frequent) visits.
Findings: The intervention resulted in a decrease of approximately 20% in the rate of patients defaulting from chronic NCD care each month (−0.8 percentage points (pp) (95% credible interval: −2.5 to 0.5)) while maintaining the already low default rates for HIV patients (0.0 pp, 95% CI: −0.6 to 0.5). First trimester ANC attendance increased by approximately 30% (6.5pp (−0.3, 15.8)) and paediatric malnutrition case finding declined by 10% (−0.6 per 1000 (95% CI −2.5 to 0.8)). There were no changes in TB programme outcomes, potentially due to data challenges.
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Five years after a global commitment to Fast-Track the HIV response and end AIDS by 2030, the world is off track. A promise to build on the momentum created in the first decade of the twenty-first century by front-loading investment and accelerating HIV service provision has been fulfilled by too fe...w countries
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On 25 August, UN agencies and partners launched a US$187.3 million Flash Appeal to reach 500,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by the 14 August earthquake.
Around 650,000 people are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance in the three most affected departments – Grand’Anse, Nipp...es and Sud – where 634,000 were already in need of multisectoral assistance before the quake.
Based on lessons learned from past emergencies, humanitarian actors are aiming to capitalize on local and national level expertise, capacities and knowledge to promote a rapid and effective response tailored to the expressed needs of affected people.
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front cover © Hannah Maule-Ffinch/Save the Children
Biology, Diagnosis and Treatment, Epidemiology and Prevention
The purpose of the review was to assign a cause of death, to ascertain the fac-tors that contributed to the death and to identify any systemic issues that could be addressed to prevent future similar deaths. The perinatal mortality audit process in 2019 provided important insights and evidence-based... recommendations that can be used both to address system errors and barriers and to identify and praise points of strength. The aim is to pro-vide recommendations for better care for mothers and their infants during pregnancy, childbirth and the neonatal period and improve the quality of care provided throughout the health system.
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This report of the EFSA and ECDC presents the results of zoonoses monitoring activities carried out in 2020 in 27 EU Member States (MS) and nine non-MS. Key statistics on zoonoses and zoonotic agents in humans, food, animals and feed are provided and interpreted historically.
В настоящем документе представлен первоначальный обзор поступающей информации
(по состоянию на 2 июля 2020 г.) о взаимосвязи между COVID-19, НИЗ и факторами
риска НИЗ. Ре...цензируемые статьи взяты из баз данных NCBI PubMed, PMC и Google
Scholar. Данный обзор свидетельствует о том, что лица, живущие с НИЗ, подвержены
более высокому риску развития тяжелого заболевания и смерти в связи с COVID-19,
и об ограниченности данных для оценки риска. Наряду с этим в нем обобщаются
результаты двух проведенных ВОЗ обследований, указывающих на то, что с началом
пандемии была серьезно нарушена система предоставления услуг по профилактике и
лечению НИЗ.
Response to non-communicable diseases during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
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The development of this draft Proposed programme budget 2022–2023 comes at a unique moment for WHO. The world is in the grip of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and faces health, social and economic consequences on an unprecedented scale. Although it is not known when the COVID-19 pande...mic will end, recent encouraging vaccine results, in addition to the examples of countries that have achieved good results through public health measures, hold out the prospect of better days ahead. The full impact of the pandemic cannot yet be determined. But whatever its implications, the Secretariat will rise to the challenge and is ready to adapt so that it is fully equipped to support Member States for any eventuality in the future – to make sure that the world will never again have to face this kind of crisis.
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Overcoming barriers in low- and middle-income countries
For the first time, this year’s report includes information on hepatitis C diagnostics. With a focus on selected countries with diverse HCV epidemics, the report provides updates on the various dimensions of access to HCV diagnostics and pha...rmaceutical products, including product pricing, the regulatory environment and patent status, which together shape the national hepatitis response in different settings. It highlights key areas for action by ministries of health and other government decision-makers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and technical partners.
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This document sets out, therefore, to explain the socioeconomic value of investing in the fight against NTDs and highlights priorities for global investment attention. Our work was guided by the need not only for
additional funding and funders but also for the need to understand the current funding... climate, in which value for money and the efficient use of resources to fill the most critical of gaps are more relevant than ever.
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