The 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in western Africa was the longest and most deadly Ebola epidemic in history, resulting in 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The Ebola virus has been known since 1976, when two separate outbreaks were identified in the Democratic Repub...lic of Congo (then Zaire) and South Sudan (then Sudan). However, because all Ebola outbreaks prior to that in West Africa in 2014–2015 were relatively isolated and of short duration, little was known about how to best manage patients to improve survival, and there were no approved therapeutics or vaccines. When the World Heath Organization declared the 2014-2015 epidemic a public health emergency of international concern in August 2014, several teams began conducting formal clinical trials in the Ebola affected countries during the outbreak.
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The guideline elaborates on the prevention and control strategy developed by the South-East Asia Regional Office of WHO, which consists of six key components.
This guideline for the prevention and control of chikungunya fever
(CF) is intended for use by all peripheral health workers in the Region and
is based on the strategy outlined above. This document will focus mainly
on preventing, predicting and detecting outbreaks, and after detection,
investig...ating and containing them.
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The pharmaceutical sector of any nation is responsible for providing society with quality medicines and other pharmaceutical services. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Pharmaceuticals may constitute as much as 40% of the national health budget in developing countries, yet portions o...f the population may lack access to the most essential medicines; while the limited funds available for health are spent on unnecessary, ineffective and even dangerous medications.
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The guideline uses state-of-the-art evidence to identify effective policy options to strengthen community health worker (CHW) programme performance through their proper integration in health systems and communities.
Successful delivery of services through CHWs requires evidence-based models for edu...cation, deployment and management of these health workers. The guideline is intended as a tool for national policy makers and planners and their international partners to use in the design, implementation, performance and evaluation of effective community health worker programmes. It contains pragmatic recommendations on selection, training and certification; management and supervision: and integration into health systems and community engagement.
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Un enfoque práctico para elaborar políticas y estrategias destinadas a mejorar la calidad de la atención
La elaboración, mejora y ejecución de las políticas y estrategias nacionales de calidad son una prioridad para los países que se esfuerzan por mejorar el desempeño de sus sistemas de sal...ud. El creciente impulso hacia la cobertura universal de salud se acompaña de la correspondiente conciencia de que un mejor acceso requiere esfuerzos orientados a mejorar la calidad de los servicios de salud para lograr las mejoras deseadas en los resultados en materia de salud. Los países están solicitando asesoramiento para orientar sus esfuerzos en relación con las políticas y estrategias nacionales de calidad. Están adoptando diversos enfoques con múltiples puntos de entrada para mejorar la calidad, y muchos de ellos también están centrando su atención en el nivel subnacional como un ámbito de acción. Sin embargo, el objetivo sigue siendo el mismo: aumentar la calidad de la atención de salud como un punto de entrada crucial para el fortalecimiento de los sistemas de salud, y en último término lograr mejorar la salud de la población.
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Extreme heat events (EHEs) are a leading cause of weather-related injury and death in the United States, and under a changing climate, these meteorological episodes are predicted to increase in both frequency and intensity. Prolonged heat exposure from EHEs places an increased strain on the heart an...d may lead to heat-related illness if the cardiovascular system fails to properly thermoregulate internal body temperature. Every individual is susceptible to heat-related illness, however, those with reduced cardiovascular function and pre-existing cardiovascular diseases are at a greater risk for morbidity and mortality during EHEs. This document gives an overview of our current understanding of heat exposure and its impact on cardiovascular health outcomes, an overview of the medications that may exacerbate heat-related cardiovascular illness, and asummary of the interaction between extreme heat and air pollutants, and their collective impact on cardiovascular health. Additionally, this document summarizes epidemiologic evidence and identifies gaps in the extant peer-reviewed literature on the effectiveness of strategies and interventions to protect against heat-related cardiovascular disease and death. This information is intended to aid health departments and other health professionals in understanding and responding to the impacts of heat exposure on cardiovascular health.
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The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a continuous and robust impact on world health. The resulting COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating physical, mental and fiscal impact on the millions of people living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), as they have a higher risk of severe illness... and death from COVID-19. COVID-19 has been associated with an
excess in all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality beyond that related to the infection itself and its immediate consequences. Studies in the
United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA) have clearly shown increasing deaths from ischemic heart disease, stroke and hypertensive disease due to COVID-19. Overall, the impact has been greater in individuals with lower socioeconomic status, even in high income nations.
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scientific brief, 2 March 2022
Brief review of selected topics
The following pages provide a focus on selected areas in relation to neurology. The specialists who contributed the reviews are listed in the Project Team and Partners
Neurology Atlas (2004)
The World Health Organization’s comprehensive antenatal care (ANC) guideline WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience was first published in 2016 with the objective of improving the quality of routine health care that all women and adolescent girls receive during p...regnancy. The overarching principle – to provide pregnant service users with a positive pregnancy experience – aims to encourage countries to expand their health-care agendas beyond survival, with a view to maximizing health, human rights and the potential of their populations. Recognizing that ANC provides a strategic platform for important health-care functions, including health promotion and disease prevention, 14 out of the 49 recommendations in the WHO 2016 ANC guideline relate to nutritional interventions in pregnancy.
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The objectives of the meeting were to agree on coordinated and aligned support to the 3 countries’ national health recovery plans (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone); to identify cross-cutting areas and opportunities for integration; to identify ways to improve implementation modalities; and to identi...fy actions including technical assistance needed to support the countries in the process of building resilient health systems.
The outcomes of the meeting consisted in proposed country action plans to move forward with the implementation of the recovery plans. The action plans includes:priorities and areas of work; activities needed to improve implementation modalities; technical assistance needs.
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This is a guidance document for countries and implementing partners on the technical requirements for developing digital information systems for issuing standards-based interoperable digital certificates for COVID-19 vaccination status, and considerations for implementation of such systems, for the ...purposes of continuity of care, and proof of vaccination.
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9 March 2022, Timely and accurate diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 is an essential part of a comprehensive COVID-19 response strategy. Ag-RDTs can be performed by individuals in which they collect their own specimen, perform a simple rapid test and interpret their test result themselves at a time a...nd place of their choosing, termed COVID-19 self-testing. This interim guidance provides a new recommendation that COVID-19 self-testing, using SARS-CoV-2 Ag-RDTs, should be offered as part of SARS-CoV-2 testing services. It also includes implementation considerations that can guide decisions on whether, and how, to adopt self-testing in different contexts, including the populations being prioritized; the disease prevalence in that population; and the impact on accessibility of testing, health care services and result reporting.
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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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Fact Sheet Global Atlas of medical devices