The immediate objective of the country visit to Cameroon was to ensure that the country is as operationally ready as possible to effectively and safely detect, investigate and report potential Ebola virus disease cases and to mount an effective response that will prevent a larger outbreak. After te...chnical working group meetings, field visits, a “table-top” exercise and a hospital-based simulation exercises were undertaken.
Key strengths and weaknesses were identified, and the following areas for improvement were proposed to the Ministry of Health: coordination, surveillance, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, rapid response teams, case management, social mobilization, laboratory, points of entry, budget, logistics.
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The right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is enshrined in many international human rights treaties. However, studies have shown that people with mental disabilities are often marginalized and discriminated against in the fulfillment of their right to... health. The aim of this study is to identify and reach a broader understanding of barriers to the right to mental health in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Eleven semi-structured interviews were carried out with health professionals and administrators.
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Comprehensive public health action on population ageing is urgently needed. This will require fundamental shifts, not just in the things we do, but in how we think about ageing itself. The World report on ageing and health outlines a framework for action to foster Healthy Ageing built around the new... concept of functional ability. Making these investments will have valuable social and economic returns, both in terms of health and wellbeing of older people and in enabling their on-going participation in society
Executive summaries : Arabic; Chinese; English; French; German; Japanese; Portuguese; Russian; Spanish
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"Patient decontamination principles are set forth here from a strategic perspective, rather than a tactical
one. The principles are meant to guide, but not specify, operational practices. The guidance is evidencebased
to the extent possible and the supporting evidence is documented and briefly dis...cussed."
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In the present study, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights sets forth the standards on equality and non discrimination of persons with disabilities under article 5 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It aims at providing guidance for implement...ation of article 5 of the Convention, identifying good practices and making recommendations.
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4th edition
The WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual (LBM) has been in broad use at all levels of clinical and public health laboratories, and other biomedical sectors globally, serving as a de facto global standard that presents best practices and sets trends in biosafety.
LBM encouraged countries t...o accept and implement basic concepts in biological safety and to develop national codes of practice for the safe handling of biological agents in laboratories within their geographical borders.
This fourth edition of the manual builds on the risk assessment framework introduced in the third edition. A thorough, evidence-based and transparent assessment of the risks allows safety measures to be balanced with the actual risk of working with biological agents on a case-by-case basis.
This novel evidence- and risk-based approach will allow optimised resource use and sustainable laboratory biosafety and biosecurity policies and practices that are relevant to their individual circumstances and priorities, enabling equitable access to clinical and public health laboratory tests and biomedical research opportunities without compromising safety.
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This module should always be used together with the
mhGAP Intervention Guide for Mental, Neurological
and Substance Use Disorders in Non-specialized Health
Settings (WHO, 2010), which outlines relevant general
principles of care and management of a range of other
mental, neurological and substa...nce use disorders.
(www.who.int/mental_health/publications/mhGAP_
intervention_guide/en/index.html)
In the future, this module may be integrated with other
products in the following ways:
– This module may be integrated – in its full form –
into future iterations of the existing mhGAP Intervention
Guide.
– The module will be integrated –in a simplified structure –
into a new product, the WHO-UNHCR mhGAP Intervention
Guide for Humanitarian Settings (planned for 2014).
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This document presents an integrated strategy for mental health system development that will lead to enhanced service delivery, improved outcomes, and improved human rights for people with mental disorders.
By using the practical guidance provided in this document, countries can ensure that thei...r mental health systems are not haphazard, but rather, the products of careful consideration and planning.
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This paper is Oxfam’s essential guide for WASH staff and partners. It describes the processes and standards that Oxfam WASH programmes should follow if they are to be carried out effectively, consistently and in a way which treats affected communities with respect.
All WASH staff members are expe...cted to understand and follow these Minimum Requirements. However, it is recognised that in acute emergencies it is preferable to start work on the basics immediately, and build up a comprehensive, quality programme in the following days and weeks. There will, therefore, be some programmes in which certain individual requirements are not appropriate or relevant; in such cases staff members responsible should be able to justify why she/he did things differently, or how the minimum requirement was achieved over time.
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An Overview of Current Evidence with Recommendations for Strengthening Community Health Worker Programs to Accelerate Progress in Achieving the Health-related Millennium Development Goals
The guidelines acknowledge that overcrowding, unhygienic conditions and high inmate turn over contribute to the spread of infectious diseases within correctional facilities. The document states that voluntary HIV counselling and testing must be offered to all inmates when they enter facilities, duri...ng their incarceration at an inmate’s request and upon their release. All inmates must be screened for TB symptoms upon entry to facilities and at least bi-annually thereafter as well as upon release. Universal screening for anal, oral and genital STIs must be done at entry and upon self-presentation
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Keep Safe – Keep Serving; Liberia: Updated Sept 25 2014.
This document is intended to inform infection prevention and control practices and supply needs in healthcare facilities. As the Ebola outbreak evolves, the document will need to be adapted accordingly.
The guidance provides considerations... for establishing Ebola Care Centres. Because needs and resources may vary in different settings, these recommendations should be adapted to the situation in each county
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Self-care interventions are among the most promising and exciting new approaches to improve health and well-being, both from a health systems perspective and for people who use these interventions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) uses the following working definition of self-care: Self-care i...s the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker. The scope of self-care as described in this definition includes health promotion; disease prevention and control; self-medication; providing care to dependent persons; seeking hospital/specialist/primary care if necessary; and rehabilitation, including palliative care. It includes a range of self-care modes and approaches. While this is a broad definition that includes many activities, it is important for health policy to recognize the importance of self-care, especially where it intersects with health systems and health professionals.
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The aim of this paper is to map and critically analyse evidence of good practice in prevention and response to gender-based violence (GBV) in humanitarian contexts which can support humanitarian practitioners and policy makers to improve the quality of GBV programming in the field. The paper is stru...ctured as follows. Following a brief discussion of key concepts and definitions in relation to GBV, Chapter 2 presents an overview of the extent of GBV in emergencies, and some of the challenges in responding to the problem. Chapter 3 then analyses some of the literature on the evidence of GBV programming effects in humanitarian settings, and draws out key lessons with regard to good practice. Chapter 4 discusses some of the key issues emerging from this review, and Chapter 5 concludes the paper with a discussion of the implications of the findings for research, policy and programming on GBV.
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The Minimum Standards for Protection Mainstreaming are a set of international standards designed to provide practical assistance to humanitarian actors to mainstream protection in the assessment, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of humanitarian programmes, projects and activities. ...All humanitarian actors are expected to mainstream protection in their humanitarian assistance activities as a component of a broader commitment to quality and accountability in humanitarian response.
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Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2017 Jun; 19(2): 93–107.