The publication is designed to provide Ipas staff, trainers, partners and other health-care providers with access to up-to-date, evidence-based recommendations. In general, the recommendations are the same as those in the World Health Organization’s 2012 Safe Abortion: Technical and Policy Guidanc...e for Health Systems, Second edition. In rare cases, the recommendations have been modified due to the settings where Ipas works. In addition, if there is more current evidence to inform the recommendations, they will be updated here.
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Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD), mainly heart attack and stroke, is the
leading cause of premature mortality in low and middle income countries (LMICs).
Identifying and managing individuals at high risk of CVD is an important strategy to prevent and control CVD, in addition to multisector...al population-based interventions to reduce CVD risk factors in the entire population.
Methods: We describe key public health considerations in identifying and managing individuals at high risk of CVD in LMICs.
Results: A main objective of any strategy to identify individuals at high CVD risk is to maximize the number of CVD events averted while minimizing the numbers of
individuals needing treatment. Scores estimating the total risk of CVD (e.g. ten-year risk of fatal and non-fatal CVD) are available for LMICs, and are based on the main CVD risk factors (history of CVD, age, sex, tobacco use, blood pressure, blood cholesterol and diabetes status). Opportunistic screening of CVD risk factors enables identification of persons with high CVD risk, but this strategy can be widely applied in low resource settings only if cost effective interventions are used (e.g. the WHO Package of Essential NCD interventions for primary health care in low resource settings package) and if treatment (generally for years) can be sustained, including continued availability ofaffordable medications and funding mechanisms that allow people to purchase medications without impoverishing them (e.g. universal access to health care). Thisalso emphasises the need to re-orient health systems in LMICs towards chronic diseases management.
Conclusion: The large burden of CVD in LMICs and the fact that persons with high
CVD can be identified and managed along cost-effective interventions mean that
health systems need to be structured in a way that encourages patient registration, opportunistic screening of CVD risk factors, efficient procedures for the management of chronic conditions (e.g. task sharing) and provision of affordable treatment for those with high CVD risk. The focus needs to be in primary care because that is where most of the population can access health care and because CVD programmes can be run effectively at this level.
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The emergence and transmission of zoonotic diseases are driven by complex interactions
between health, environmental, and socio-political systems. Human movement is considered
a significant and increasing factor in these processes, yet forced migration remains an
understudied area of zoonotic res...earch–due in part to the complexity of conducting interdisciplinary
research in these settings.
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Mugisha et al. Int J Ment Health Syst (2017) 11:7 DOI 10.1186/s13033-016-0114-2
WHO has issued a new recommendation on the length of bladder catheterization following surgical repair of a simple obstetric urinary fistula. Currently the length of catheterization is not standard and ranges from 5 to 42 days. The new guidance recommends a 7–10 day period of bladder catheterizati...on to allow complete healing. Longer periods of catheterization can be inconvenient for the woman, her family and care providers as it is associated with more discomfort and inconvenience. It also increases the risk of infection and erosion related to catheterization; requires more intensive nursing care and costs more per patient.
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Case Manangement Training Modules
Emergence of antimicrobial resistance is a result of the use, overuse and misuse of antibiotics both in humans and animals. In Ethiopia, there are indications on the misuse of antibiotics by health care providers’, unskilled practitioners, and drug consumers. These coupled with rapid spread of res...istant bacteria and inadequate surveillance contributed to the problem. Bacterial infections are the major causes of death in Ethiopia. Studies on antibacterial resistance and on bacterial infections have shown that emerging antibacterial resistance threatens the management of bacterial infections; however, the prevention and containment has received far too little attention.
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This technical brief presents the current options for safe storage and point of use water treatment. It is intended to help field staff working in a variety of locations to decide upon the most appropriate course of action for providing safe water for the communities in which they work. The effectiv...eness of household water treatment options now and in the future rely to a huge extent on user compliance; it is critical that users are involved in the decision making process, and are aware of the purpose, how to use, maintain and manage their household water options. The brief therefore details relevant hygiene promotion steps for the different treatment options.
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These guidelines are designed for settings with limited resources to provide inexpensive and effective control strategies for prevention of TB transmission in health care workers (HCW).
The Government of Botswana’s SRH Policy Guidelines and Service Standards document provides the framework for developing a responsive strategy and an implementation plan for SRHR and HIV&AIDS Linkages and Integration. The global call on governments to demonstrate commitments to intensify linkages b...etween sexual and reproductive health and HIV&AIDS at the policy and programme level is therefore an added opportunity for the government to review the current service provision model and optimize current resources to provide more integrated, comprehensive coordinated SRHR and HIV&AIDS services.
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