The Lancet Infectious Disease Volume 25, Issue 2e77-e85February 2025
Economics plays a vital role in health policy-making and investments to reduce air pollution; in helping to understand the costs of health care; and in determining nations’ wealth and ability to invest in health and well-being..
Much of our knowledge about PTSD is based on studies of adults. As evidenced by the birth of new scientific disciplines (e.g., developmental translational neuroscience), it is clear that what we learn from research involving adults may not necessarily be applicable to children and adolescents. Indee...d, the field of child and adolescent PTSD and trauma is relatively young, although the knowledge base has increased substantially over the past 2 decades. Moreover, task force members recognize that mental health professionals may have many different perspectives on child and adolescent trauma, particularly in regard to the specific nature of its effects and what interventions may be most effective in reducing negative outcomes and enhancing adaptive functioning. Although we attempt to summarize here what is currently known about child and adolescent PTSD and trauma, we welcome ongoing discussion and novel perspectives, which help to advance the field.
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Recognizing the importance of the critical role of community health in disaster management, the Amref health Africa has
developed this operational guide to provide policy direction on COVID-19 response at community level. This guide has
been developed in collaboration with all the implementing cou...ntries in supporting prevention and control of COVID-19.
With a strong community COVID-19 response system at community level, we can all contribute to prevention and control
of COVID-19, and thereby improve health and livelihoods for all people
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Over the past few decades and throughout the world, the landscape of adolescent health has been altered dramatically. Currently, the total population of adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 years is 1.2 billion – the largest generation of young people in history. The vast majority of adolesce...nts (85%) live in developing countries where, in many areas, they make up more than a third of the population. They face a variety of different experiences given the diverse political, economic, social and cultural realities within their communities. Although, for many, adolescence is a period of learning and building confidence in a nurturing environment, for others it is a period of heightened risk and complex challenges.
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This study has been produced jointly by Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, a federally owned enterprise, implementing development programmes on behalf of the German Government, and CBM, a non-governmental organisation. Accordingly, its aim is to offer guidance to those in bo...th governmental and non-governmental organisations on development cooperation. Given the wide and differing range of implementation procedures, levels of intervention and organisational cultures, it is not a ready-to-be-applied toolbox with concrete blueprints for action. Rather, it raises awareness on core human rights and disability – inclusive principles. It explains and illustrates the implications of applying these principles to development practice. Practitioners can therefore use the guidance to initiate a process of consideration of how to embed these principles within their programmes.
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Women and girls have specific needs that are often ignored during crisis. While on the run or while living in shelters, women and girls continue to become pregnant, but they often lack access to basic sexual and reproduc-tive health care. Without assistance by midwifes or access to contraceptives, w...omen and girls are at increased risk of unsafe sex, unwanted pregnancy and unsafe delivery, and are at a higher risk of infection by HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. In addition, displaced women have virtually no access to protection, security, justice, and other services related to gender-based violence (GBV). For these reasons, the delivery of sexual and reproduc-tive health and rights (SRHR) as well as GBV services to conflict-affected communities – most of whom are living in protracted displacement – is a key part of UNFPA’s Women and Girls First Programme (WGF). The initia-tive is a commitment to prevent and respond to violence perpetrated against women and girls in Myanmar, and to realize their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
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Physical distancing measures are important to reduce COVID-19 transmission. However, when stringently applied, they can result in negative health and socio-economic impacts. This report draws on a rapid review of available literature, case studies from across Africa and expert knowledge to make reco...mmendations on adapting classic physical distancing measures to the contextual realities in Africa and on mitigating potential negative impacts.
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More than 40% of the world population is 24 years old or younger, the vast majority of whom live in low- and lower middle–income countries. Globally, a quarter of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for mental disorders and substance abuse is borne by this age group and about 75% of mental diso...rders diagnosed in adulthood have their onset before the age of
24 years . Most children and young people in developing countries, however, do not have access to mental health care.
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Q13: What is the effectiveness of behaviour change techniques including life skills education in promoting mental health for children and adolescents?
The GTFCC Laboratory Support for Public Health Surveillance document provides guidelines on using DNA-based molecular techniques for identifying and monitoring Vibrio cholerae strains in cholera outbreaks. It highlights the importance of genetic sequencing for tracking transmission, detecting new va...riants, and improving outbreak response. The report explains methods like PCR testing, whole genome sequencing (WGS), and multiple loci VNTR analysis (MLVA), detailing their advantages and applications. It also outlines best practices for sample collection, storage, and transportation, emphasizing collaboration between national and international laboratories to enhance cholera surveillance and control efforts.
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This Guide is part of WHO’s overall programme of work on Political Economy of Health Financing Reform: Analysis and Strategy to Support UHC. The impetus for this work came from demands for more concrete evidence, recognition and integration of political economy issues within
health financing, and... overall system, reform design and implementation processes. This Guide is complementary to WHO’s Health Financing Progress Matrix assessment, as well as Health Financing Strategy development guidance. In this way, it promotes an embedded political
economy analysis approach that can be used in conjunction with other health financing assessments and guidance. The political economy framework can also be extended and easily adapted to broader health policy reforms.
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Introduction Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly being tasked to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors in underserved populations in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs); however, little is known about the required training necessary for them to ...accomplish their role. This review aimed to evaluate the training of CHWs for the prevention and management of CVD and its risk factors in LMICs.
Methods A search strategy was developed in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, and five electronic databases (Medline, Global Health, ERIC, EMBASE and CINAHL) were searched to identify peer-reviewed studies published until December 2016 on the training of CHWs for prevention or control of CVD and its risk factors in LMICs. Study characteristics were extracted using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and quality assessed using Effective Public Health Practice Project’s Quality Assessment Tool. The search, data extraction and quality assessment were performed independently by two researchers.
Results The search generated 928 articles of which 8 were included in the review. One study was a randomised controlled trial, while the remaining were before–after intervention studies. The training methods included classroom lectures, interactive lessons, e-learning and online support and group discussions or a mix of two or more. All the studies showed improved knowledge level post-training, and two studies demonstrated knowledge retention 6 months after the intervention.
Conclusion The results of the eight included studies suggest that CHWs can be trained effectively for CVD prevention and management. However, the effectiveness of CHW trainings would likely vary depending on context given the differences between studies (eg, CHW demographics, settings and training programmes) and the weak quality of six of the eight studies. Well-conducted mixed-methods studies are needed to provide reliable evidence about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of training programmes for CHWs.
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