The Pharmaceutical Forum of the Americas (PFA) has previously published guidelines and organised campaigns for community pharmacists on the prevention, detection and control of arbovirus infections in 2018 with a grant from the FIP Foundation for Pharmacy Education and Research. Building on that exp...ertise, FIP joined efforts with the PFA and is now publishing its first-ever handbook to support pharmacists in the
area of vector-borne diseases. As the integration of the regional forums in FIP advances, such collaborative projects are tangible results of an increasingly regionally informed and regionally targeted work by FIP.
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Interim Guidance.
A number of medical problems have been reported in survivors, including mental health issues. Ebola virus may persist in some body fluids, including semen. Ebola survivors need comprehensive support for the medical and psychosocial challenges they face and also to minimize the ...risk of continued Ebola virus transmission. WHO has developed this document to guide health services on how to provide quality care to survivors of Ebola virus disease
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The Second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2) is a launch into the home strait of our Vision 2020. We are faced with new challenges of ensuring greater self reliance and developing global competitiveness. Conscious of these challenges, we forge ahead knowing that working t...ogether, we always overcome.
The EDPRS 2 period is the time when our private sector is expected to take the driving seat in economic growth and poverty reduction. Through this strategy we will focus government efforts on transforming the economy, the private sector and alleviating constraints to growth of
investment. We will develop the appropriate skills and competencies to allow our people particularly the youth to become more productive and competitive to support our ambitions. We will also strengthen the platform for communities to engage decisively and to continue to develop home grown solutions that have been the bedrock of our success. These are fundamental principles as we work to improve the lives of all Rwandans in the face of an uncertain global economic environment.
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While much progress has been achieved over the past year, the Region of the Americas has stubbornly remained the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. PAHO is launching its 2021 COVID-19 Response Strategy and Donor Appeal to continue supporting Latin American and Caribbean countries and territories i...n their fight against COVID-19. This document outlines PAHO’s regional strategy for the year 2021 to sustain and scale-up the response to COVID‑19 pandemic in the Americas, suppress the community transmission of the virus and mitigate the longer-term health impact of the pandemic.
US$ 239 million is needed to support critical response efforts in the Americas between 1 January and 31 December 2021
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Bioethics 519 (online) doi:10.1111/bioe.12145 Volume 29 Number 8 2015 pp. 488–596;
Pandemic plans recommend phases of response to an emergent infectious disease (EID) outbreak, and are primarily aimed at preventing and mitigating human-to-human transmission. These plans carry presumptive weight ...and are increasingly being operationalized at the national, regional and international level with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO). The conventional focus of pandemic preparedness for EIDs of zoonotic origin has been on public health and human welfare. However, thisfocus on human populations has resulted in strategically important disciplinary silos. As the risks of zoonotic diseases have implications that reach across many domains outside traditional public health, including anthropological, environmental, and veterinary fora, a more inclusive ecological perspective is paramount for an effective response to future outbreaks.
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Each humanitarian setting provides distinct opportunities and challenges for actors to coordinate and collaborate at strategic and operational levels. The Health and Protection Joint Operational Framework has been developed to ensure that the health and protection response during humanitarian emerge...ncies can adapt to each environment and is adequately coordinated to ensure high-quality services to meet the needs of affected individuals and at-risk groups based on their situation or vulnerabilities.
The Health and Protection JOF was conceived in 2019 as a collaboration between the Global Health Cluster (GHC), the Global Protection Cluster (GPC) and its Areas of Responsibility (AoRs), the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC MHPSS RG), and the Inter-Agency Working Group for Reproductive Health in Crisis (IAWG), in addition to key technical experts.
A Steering Group (SG) comprised of representatives from each of these entities guided the framework through a joint global analysis of good practices, gaps, and barriers to integrated and inter-sectoral response coordination. This included a mixed methods review of policy and practice, a survey of humanitarian experts, multiple case studies, structured stakeholder interviews, and field visits. This exercise produced a zero-draft which was then reviewed by field practitioners in three operational contexts to clarify and fully coordinate its operationally focused lens. Finally, the JOF was reviewed by the SG including via a series of consultations in early 2023 to consolidate the current framework.
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For applying the new operational guidance on CB-MHPSS in the field, UNICEF country offices and partners will need ready access to tools and resources that can be used to implement the programs. By bringing together resources from different contexts, the compendium makes options available to country ...offices and partners for programming.
The compendium aims to strengthen UNICEF capacity for MHPSS programming consistent with the IASC Guidelines for MHPSS in Emergencies and described by the 9 circles of support in the UNICEF operational framework.
The compendium is a compiled set of resources, already being used by UNICEF and partners, both national and international, in diverse settings.
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The checklist tool described in this handbook is intended for EU/EEA public health authorities who need to assess the capacity for communicable disease prevention and control at migrant reception/detention centres hosting migrants for weeks/months (medium-term) in order to identify gaps and set prio...rities for development.
Using this tool, the aim is to monitor and support capacity development to prevent the onset and improve the management of communicable disease outbreaks at medium-term migration reception/detention centres, both on a day-to-day basis and in the event of a sudden influx of migrants.
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The second edition of the WHPCA Global Atlas of Palliative Care was launched during World Hospice & Palliative Care Day 10 October. The Atlas is an update of the original WHPCA/WHO Global Atlas of Palliative care at the end of life published in 2014. It is full of useful facts and figures to support... palliative care advocacy and development. In this edition we have switched from using the WHO methodology for need for palliative care to the evolving Lancet Commission on Palliative Care and Pain Relief methodology. As a result the number of people needing palliative care has gone from 40 million per year to almost 57 million and more accurately reflects the need for palliative care globally models of palliative care worldwide? What resources are devoted to palliative care? What is the way forward?
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Building on the 2021 Interim guidance, this second version and update, incorporates the lessons and feedback from the hepatitis pilots that successfully demonstrated the feasibility of measuring hepatitis B and C impact targets to demonstrate elimination, whilst highlighting challenges caused by hig...h disease burden in some countries, as well as delays in reaching mortality targets due to the long natural history of disease progression to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
The path to elimination provides a framework with 3 levels of achievements for which WHO certification is available. Each stepwise progression from bronze to silver to gold tiers will promote an iterative expansion of prevention, diagnosis and treatment services for viral hepatitis services and strengthen measurement systems to support attainment of the 2030 elimination goals.
This updated version also includes changes, clarifications and new guidance on alternative measurement approaches for country validation of elimination. Through the validation process, WHO and partners continue to provide country support for strengthening health system capacity and patient-centred services that respect and protect the human rights of people living with viral hepatitis and ensures meaningful engagement of communities in the national, regional and global viral hepatitis response.
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The key actions, activities, and approaches in this document are organized within each of the 5Cs (see Table 1 in the PDF) and those of the Strategic preparedness and response plan (SPRP) pillars as follows:
National action plan key activities, prioritized for the current context and the current ...understanding of the threat of SARS-CoV-2
A. Transition from emergency response to longer term COVID-19 disease management.
B. Integrate activities into routine systems.
C. Strengthen global health security.
Special considerations for fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable (including humanitarian) settings
WHO global and regional support to Member States to implement their national action plans
Key guidance documents for reference
This is a living document that will be updated to incorporate new technical guidance in response to the evolving epidemiological situation. National plans should be implemented in accordance with the principles of inclusiveness, respect for human rights, and equity.
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Early Childhood Matters is a journal about early childhood. It looks at specific issues regarding the development of young children, in particular from a psychosocial perspective. It is published twice per year by the Bernard van Leer Foundation.
On Page 54 of this issue the article titled: "Par...enting in times of war: supporting caregivers and children in crisis" can be found. In this article: Humanitarian interventions to support and guide parents and caregivers in times of war can mitigate the negative effects of violence and chaos on children and promote their resilience and development. This article highlights recent findings from the International Rescue Committee’s parenting programmes in Syria, underscoring the importance of such programmes not only in strengthening caregiving practices but also in addressing the psychological needs of parents.
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There has been a significant reduction in the number of displaced people - with 73,296 people currently hosted in 70 accommodation centres; down from 142,327 people the week before.
A total of 4,979 cholera cases were recorded in Beira, Dondo, Buzi and Nhamatanda and the death toll has reached eigh...t.
With UNICEF support, 814,293 people were vaccinated against cholera representing 99 per cent of the target population.
UNICEF continues supporting FIPAG (the water supply institution),
Government and operators to run water supply systems in affected areas providing drinking water to 771,856 people
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9 April 2020
WHO has published the guidance “Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) when COVID-19 disease is suspected” This document is intended for clinicians taking care of hospitalized adult and paediatric patients with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) whe...n COVID-19 infection is suspected. Optimized supportive care should be provided to ensure the best possible chance for survival of COVID-19 patients as described in the WHO guidance:
1. Management of severe COVID-19 requires oxygen therapy and monitoring. Supplemental oxygen therapy should be given immediately to patients with SARI and respiratory distress, hypoxaemia or shock.
2. Management of critical COVID-19 (acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)) requires advanced oxygen/ventilatory support.
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Caring for burns patients from the incident scene to definitive treatment can be a complex, resource-consuming process with the potential to overwhelm health system capacity.This document provides practical guidance for building capacity and capability for burns care from clinical, human resources a...nd operational perspectives. It is therefore recommended that guidance in this document be applied to any contexts in which the local health system might struggle to cope and require surge support.
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Integrated management of childhood illness. The last update was in the IMCI chart booklet in 2014, but since then there have been significant updates on the management of sick young infant (SYI) aged up to 2 months. This 2019 update of the sick young infant section Management of the sick young infan...t age up to 2 months: IMCI chart booklet. supersedes the 2014 IMCI chart booklet. The new updates reflect the recent guidelines on Managing possible serious bacterial infection (PSBI) in young infants when referral is not feasible published in 2015. It includes assessment, classification and referral of SYI with PSBI; and outpatient treatment of SYI with local infection or fast breathing (pneumonia) in infants 7-59 days old. Other updates include: a new section on how to reassess, classify and treat SYI with PSBI when referral is not feasible in outpatient health facilities by IMNCI trained health workers; changes in assessment and management of young infants for HIV infection; and identification of infants less than 7 days of who need Kangaroo Care.
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Putting Human Rights at the Heart of the Response
Topic in Focus: COVID-19 and Women’s Human Rights
15 April 2020
Stay-at-home restrictions and other measures restricting the movement of people contribute to an increase in genderbased violence, a finding confirmed by media reports, official ...statements and information received from OHCHR field presences and human rights defenders in many countries.
Women and girls already in abusive situations are more exposed to increased control and restrictions by their abusers, with little or no recourse to seek support. Hotlines receive reports of women being threatened with being thrown out of their homes, exposed to the infection, or having financial resources and medical aid withheld.
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This report presents the findings of research conducted by Child Soldiers International to assess the effectiveness of release, psychosocial recovery and reintegration interventions (commonly referred to as ‘DDR’) for girls associated with armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR...C). More specifically, it seeks to shed some light on the extent to which girls have been reached by DDR programmes, and on the appropriateness of this support where it was offered, mostly from the point of view of the girls themselves.
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Lancet Oncol 2022; 23: e251–312Published OnlineMay 9, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00720-8
In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), urgent action is needed to curb a growing crisis in cancer incidence and mortality.
Without rapid interventions, data estimates show a major increase in cancer mo...rtality from 520 348 in 2020 to about
1 million deaths per year by 2030. Here, we detail the state of cancer in SSA, recommend key actions on the basis of
analysis, and highlight case studies and successful models that can be emulated, adapted, or improved across the
region to reduce the growing cancer crises. Recommended actions begin with the need to develop or update national
cancer control plans in each country. Plans must include childhood cancer plans, managing comorbidities such as
HIV and malnutrition, a reliable and predictable supply of medication, and the provision of psychosocial, supportive,
and palliative care. Plans should also engage traditional, complementary, and alternative medical practices employed
by more than 80% of SSA populations and pathways to reduce missed diagnoses and late referrals. More substantial
investment is needed in developing cancer registries and cancer diagnostics for core cancer tests.
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The development of this draft Proposed programme budget 2022–2023 comes at a unique moment for WHO. The world is in the grip of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and faces health, social and economic consequences on an unprecedented scale. Although it is not known when the COVID-19 pande...mic will end, recent encouraging vaccine results, in addition to the examples of countries that have achieved good results through public health measures, hold out the prospect of better days ahead. The full impact of the pandemic cannot yet be determined. But whatever its implications, the Secretariat will rise to the challenge and is ready to adapt so that it is fully equipped to support Member States for any eventuality in the future – to make sure that the world will never again have to face this kind of crisis.
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