The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced today that preliminary laboratory results indicate a cluster of cases of Ebola virus in North Kivu province. The announcement was issued little more than a week after the Ministry of Health declared the end of an outbreak in Equateur P...rovince in the far western part of the country, some 2500 km from North Kivu.
more
The government of Kazakhstan has committed to ensuring that children with disabilities have access to inclusive education and it has taken the important step of ratifying international human rights treaties enshrining the rights of people with disabilities, including the right of children with disab...ilities to inclusive, quality education. The government has also introduced legal and policy changes toward an inclusive education system for children with disabilities. It has committed to ensuring that 70 percent of mainstream schools are inclusive by 2019.
However, this report finds that progress towards genuine inclusive education is slow. In order for the government to succeed in ensuring that all children can access an inclusive, quality, and free primary and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live, it will need to fundamentally transform its policies and approach to education and address negative attitudes more broadly towards people with disabilities in Kazakhstan.
more
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.
more
The Government of the Republic of Zambia has placed priority on ensuring that Zambians are healthy and productive as a catalyst to the attainment of socioeconomic development . The Vision 2030 aims to transform Zambia into a prosperous middle-income country as articulated also in the 7th National De...velop-ment Plan (7NDP) and National Health Strategic Plan 2017 – 2021 (NHSP 2017-2020). However, this aspiration is threatened by the double burden of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseas¬es. Zambia has been recording an increase in morbidity and mortality due to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as cancers, diabetes, chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. According to the 2016 WHO NCD country profiles, 29% of all deaths in Zambia are attributed to NCDs. This is unacceptably high, considering that most of these diseases can be reduced by modifying four main behavioural risk factors for NCDs which are tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity.
more
The Government of Republic of Zambia reported the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 on 18th March 2020. As of April 27th, 2020, there were 89 confirmed cases, three deaths and 42 recoveries. Confirmed cases are located in three provinces: Lusaka (83 cases), Copperbelt province (5 cases) and Central ...(1 case). Zambia introduced a series of measures including closure of three international airports, closure of all schools, movement restrictions and closure of non-essential services such as restaurant, bar, gym and public gatherings to curb the transmission rate.
more
The Government has declared a national emergency and three days of national mourning starting on 20 March. The official death toll from Cyclone Idai’s landfall has reportedly risen to at least 202 and is expected to increase in the days ahead.Flood waters are predicted to rise significantly in ...the coming days and 350,000 people are at risk. The town of Buzi – home to 200,000 people – is at risk of becoming at least partially submerged.
more
The Government of Malawi’s Health Sector Strategic Plan II highlights the importance of service integration; however, in practice, this has not been fully realized. We conducted a mixed methods evaluation of efforts to systematically implement integrated family planning and immunization services i...n all health facilities and associated community sites in Ntchisi and Dowa districts during June 2016–September 2017. Methods included secondary analysis of service statistics (pre- and postintervention), focus group discussions with mothers and fathers of children under age one, and in-depth interviews with service providers, supervisors, and managers. Results indicate statistically significant increases in family planning users and shifts in use of family planning services from health facilities to community sites. The intervention had no effect on immunization doses administered or dropout rates. According to mothers and fathers, benefits of service integration included time savings, convenience, and improved understanding of services. Provision and use of integrated services were affected by availability of human resources and commodities, community linkages, data collection procedures and availability, sociocultural barriers, organization of services, and supervision and commitment of health surveillance assistants. The integration approach was perceived to be feasible and beneficial by clients and providers.
more
The Government of Liberia (GoL) reports three additional EVD cases linked to the Margibi County cluster, including one in Liberia’s Montserrado County; new confirmed case total reaches six
Recently extended Operation Northern Push strengthens contact tracing and EVD prevention activities ...in Sierra Leone
The Government of Guinea (GoG) and EVD response actors investigate source of infection for EVD-positive nurse in Forécariah Prefecture, the area’s first confirmed case among health care workers since March
more
Le gouvernement du Bénin a engagé le processus de mise en oeuvre du RAMU dans le but d’améliorer l’accessibilité fi nancière des populations à un paquet de base de soins de santé de qualité. Commencées en 2008, la réflexion, la préparation et la mise en oeuvre du RAMU au Bénin ont fa...it émerger des défi s et des questions divers au sein des acteurs impliqués dans le processus. Ces acteurs qui se retrouvent tant aux niveaux international, national et opérationnel, que dans les secteurs gouvernemental, non-gouvernemental et privé sont la cible principale de cette publication.
more
IYCN supported the Government of Haiti to develop this set of nationally-validated infant and young child feeding counseling cards for health workers and community workers. IYCN developed the messages based on formative research and pre-tested the cards to ensure that they are locally appropriate.
The Philippine Government, International Non-government Organizations (INGOs) and local NGOs are all making attempts to address the impact of disasters and climate change at various levels. The Philippine Government has made significant strides in the implementation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) ...planning and activities through the development of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) which acts as the lead agency for DRR in the Philippines. The disaster focal points are the NDRRMC and the Office of Civil Defence (OCD). The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is responsible for leading immediate disaster relief efforts.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is a primary responder in disasters and have been deployed frequently to several disaster relief operations in the country in recent years. The Philippines has endured disasters that involve national and international assistance.
more
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.
more
Estimates of government spending and development assistance for tuberculosis exist, but less is known
about out-of-pocket and prepaid private spending. We aimed to provide comprehensive estimates of total spending on
tuberculosis in low-income and middle-income countries for 2000–17.
The Indonesian government has reformed its laws, policies, and institutions to better manage disaster risk since the significant 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The Government of Indonesia now has contingency plans for every disaster-prone city which identifies its vulnerabilities, outlines the relief re...sponse, and builds overall preparedness. In 2007, the government introduced a disaster management bill that incorporated disaster management prevention into disaster management response. In 2008, Indonesia created the National Disaster Management Agency (Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana, BNPB). The new shift led to the strengthening of the country’s disaster management agency, and the addition of district branches and representatives. Despite the progress made, more work is needed at the local level as well as integration of disaster risk reduction in government departments.11 Under Indonesia’s 2007 Disaster Management law, provincial and district administrations are mandated to head disaster management during a crisis.
more
March - December 2018
The Government of Bangladesh has kept its borders open to Rohingya refugees and leads the humanitarian response. The people of Bangladesh continue to show tremendous generosity and hospitality in the face of a massive influx. In keeping with its policies, the Government of Ban...gladesh refers to the Rohingya as “Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals”, in the present context. The UN system refers to this population as refugees, in line with the applicable international framework for protection and solutions, and the resulting accountabilities for the country of origin and asylum as well as the international community as a whole. In support of these efforts, the humanitarian community has rapidly scaled up its operations as well. Over a two-month period, the refugee population in Cox’s Bazar more than quadrupled.
more
The UK government hosted the Global Vaccine Summit on June 4, 2020 under the patronage of the Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The meeting was held by videoconference in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 2. The Summit brought... together more than 300 people, including 42 Heads of State and Government. 62 countries were represented, notably 14 Gavi implementing countries, all of the G7 nations and 19 governments of the G20. Eminent participants also included H.E. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations; H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission; H.E. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General; H.E. Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director; Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Ministers from implementing and donor countries; CEOs of vaccine manufacturing companies and private sector partners; leaders of UN and other international agencies; senior civil society representatives; and Gavi champions. A full list of the participants can be found in Annex.
more
Since independence (1961) the Government through the Department of Social welfare has been providing services to people with disabilities without a comprehensive policy. The adoption of the National Policy on Disability (NPD) is the outcome of many years of consultations among disability stakeholder...s.
more
Venezuela’s government announced on 24 March that COVID-19 infections had reached 91... “The government says wear masks, wash your hands often, and stay inside,” Gomez said. “But we don’t have water, we often don’t have electricity, and there are no masks.”...
[President] Maduro den...ies there are shortages in Venezuela, insisting in a national broadcast on 16 March that hospitals have all the mandatory equipment.
There is no news about when health workers will receive biosecurity equipment, which Maduro said was being shipped by China along with thousands of test kits.
He also claimed the country’s collapsed pharmaceutical industry would be able to produce both a treatment and a cure for coronavirus – neither of which exist.
He recommended to the nation a homemade “cure” promoted by one Venezuelan, one “given to us by our ancestors: pepper, lemon grass, honey and ginger”.
Although the World Health Organisation advises that only people suffering respiratory problems should wear masks, Maduro decreed: “No one can walk the streets without a mask.”
more
The Syrian Government’s Widespread and Systematic Use of Chemical Weapons
Commitment objective
The Government of Myanmar views family planning as critical to saving lives, protecting mothers and children from death, ill health, disability, and under development. It views access to family planning information, commodities, and services as a fundamental right for every... woman and community if they are to develop to their full potential.
• Increase CPR from 41 percent to 50 percent by 2015 and above 60 percent by 2020
• Reduce unmet need to less than 10 percent by 2020 (from 12 percent in 2013)
• Increase demand satisfaction from 67 percent in 2013 to 80 percent by 2020
more