The only way to prevent future Ebola epidemics of this magnitude is to address the fundamental social and political vulnerabilities that have allowed the virus to flourish, such as weak health systems and local services, poor governance, chronic poverty, and a legacy of conflict and social divisions
This bi-weekly brief details the latest developments in scientific knowledge and public health policy from around the world as well as updates to the COVID-19-related guidance from Africa CDC, WHO and other public health agencies.
The Essential Nutrition Actions and Essential Hygiene Actions Training Guide: Community Workers strengthens the capacity of community workers to deliver and promote the essential nutrition and hygiene actions. It introduces technical content within hands-on sessions to practice counseling and negoti...ation, using role plays and field practice. It guides community workers in understanding why and how to integrate messages on nutrition and hygiene into their different program platforms using a life cycle approach to deliver the right message to right person at the right time.
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Food security, human health and wellbeing largely depend on biodiversity. Biodiversity supports agriculture through ecosystem services such as pollination and water purification, and provides access to natural medicines,
which are the primary source of health care for 4 billion people worldwide
Lancet Planet Health 2022;6: e760–68
The emergence of COVID-19 has drawn the attention of health researchers sharply back to the role that food systems can play in generating human disease burden. But emerging pandemic threats are just one dimension of the complex relationship between agriculture... and infectious disease, which is evolving rapidly, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) that are undergoing rapid food system transformation. This changing relationship is examined through four current disease issues.
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Human rights-based approaches to the creation of knowledge involve application of human rights principles to both the content and process of knowledge creation. Human rights-based approaches have special significance for the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of all people, in particul...ar for women and girls, people living with disability, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or Intersex (LGBTQI) populations, refugees, migrants and other marginalised populations.
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The Malawian government recently introduced cost-covering consultation fees for self-referral patients in tertiary public hospitals. Previously, patients received medicines free of charge in government-owned health facilities, but must pay elsewhere. Before the government implements a payment policy... in other areas of health care, it is important to investigate the prices, affordability and availability of essential medicines in Malawi.
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Epidemiological Update
Dengue
7 February 2020
Situation summary
In the Region of the Americas, between epidemiological week (EW) 1 and EW 521 of 2019, a total of 3,139,335 cases of dengue have been reported (321.58 cases per 100,000 population), including 1,538 deaths. Of the total cases, 1,367,...353 (43.6%) were laboratory-confirmed and 28,169 (0.9%) were classified as severe dengue. The case-fatality rate was 0.049%.
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Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Recommendations and Reports: July 7, 2006 / Vol. 55 / No. RR-9
Disability inclusive practices for strengthening comprehensive eye care
Mental health problem is one of the growing major public health issues in the Asia Pacific region. It contributes to the high number of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), morbidity and mortality in the region. It is expected that leading mental health problems will occur in the low-and middle-i...ncome countries (LMICs) and majority of the countries which comes under this category are in the Asia Pacific region. In addition, mental health problem hamper the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly MDG 1, MDG 4 and MDG 5. The most common mental health problems in the region are depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, suicidal behaviour and substance abuse disorder. Several modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors were identified for the cause of these major mental health issues. Interventions, programmes and policies need to be designed in order to curb mental health problems at all levels.
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The ICOPE guidance for person-centred assessment and pathways in primary care (ICOPE Handbook) helps community health and care workers put the recommendations outlined in the ICOPE Guidelines into practice. The Handbook assists with setting person-centred goals, screening for loss in a range of doma...ins of intrinsic capacity and assessing health and social care needs to develop a personalised care plan. The care plan may include multiple interventions to manage declines in intrinsic capacity, provide social care and support, support self-management and support caregivers. The domains of intrinsic capacity include cognitive decline, limited mobility, malnutrition, visual impairment, hearing loss and depressive symptoms.
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Updated 8 June 2021. Coronavirus is spreading globally. How can individuals, communities, humanitarian actors, local and national authorities best respond to uphold the rights of all affected people?
Previous pandemics have demonstrated that more people could die from the indirect consequences of an outbreak than from the disease itself. As the fight against the pandemic is pushing millions into poverty and hunger, COVID-19 will likely be no different.