the aid library

DSM-5 - Major Changes for Child and Adolescents Disorders

J. D. Machado; A. Caye; P. J. Frick; L. A. Rohde IACAPAP (2013) C2

Introduction Chapter A.9

Managing epidemics: key facts about major deadly diseases

World Health Organization (WHO) (2018) C_WHO

Epidemics of infectious diseases are occurring more often, and spreading faster and further than ever, in many different regions of the world. The background factors of this threat are biological, environmental and lifestyle changes, among others. A... more

Managing epidemics: key facts about major deadly diseases, 2nd edition

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

Epidemics and pandemics of infectious diseases are occurring more often, and spreading faster and further than ever, in many different regions of the world. The background factors of this threat are biological, environmental and lifestyle changes, a... more

Managing epidemics: key facts about major deadly diseases, 2nd edition

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

Revised WHO classification and treatment of childhood pneumonia at health facilities

World Health Organization (2014)

The revised guidelines present two major changes to existing guidelines: (A) there are now just 2 categories of pneumonia instead of 3 (“pneumonia” which is treated at home with oral amoxicillin... more

Infrastructure, policy and regulatory interventions to increase physical activity to prevent cardiovascular diseases and diabetes: a systematic review

Durão, S.; Burns, J.; Schmidt, B. et al. BMC Public Health (2023) CC

Background Noncommunicable diseases are major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Modifying the risk factors for these conditions, such as physical inactivity, is thus essential. Addressing the context or circumstances in which physi...cal activity occurs may promote physical activity at a population level. We assessed the effects of infrastructure, policy or regulatory interventions for increasing physical activity. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase and clinicaltrials.gov to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs), controlled before-after (CBAs) studies, and interrupted time series (ITS) studies assessing population-level infrastructure or policy and regulatory interventions to increase physical activity. We were interested in the effects of these interventions on physical activity, body weight and related measures, blood pressure, and CVD and type 2 diabetes morbidity and mortality, and on other secondary outcomes. Screening and data extraction was done in duplicate, with risk of bias was using an adapted Cochrane risk of bias tool. Due to high levels of heterogeneity, we synthesised the evidence based on effect direction. Results We included 33 studies, mostly conducted in high-income countries. Of these, 13 assessed infrastructure changes to green or other spaces to promote physical activity and 18 infrastructure changes to promote active transport. The effects of identified interventions on physical activity, body weight and blood pressure varied across studies (very low certainty evidence); thus, we remain very uncertain about the effects of these interventions. Two studies assessed the effects of policy and regulatory interventions; one provided free access to physical activity facilities and showed that it may have beneficial effects on physical activity (low certainty evidence). The other provided free bus travel for youth, with intervention effects varying across studies (very low certainty evidence). Conclusions Evidence from 33 studies assessing infrastructure, policy and regulatory interventions for increasing physical activity showed varying results. The certainty of the evidence was mostly very low, due to study designs included and inconsistent findings between studies. Despite this drawback, the evidence indicates that providing access to physical activity facilities may be beneficial; however this finding is based on only one study. Implementation of these interventions requires full consideration of contextual factors, especially in low resource settings. more

Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: Guidelines for assessment and management of cardiovascular risk

World Health Organization WHO (2007) C_WHO

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of disability and premature death throughout the world, and contributes substantially to the escalating costs of health care. The underlying pathology is atherosclerosis, which develops over many years and is ... more

Paradise Lost: The Neurobiological and Clinical Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect

Charles B. Nemeroff Neuron Review (2016) CC

This Review summarizes many of the persistent biological alterations associated with childhood maltreatment including changes in neuroendocrine and neurotransmitter systems and pro-inflammatory cytokines in addition to specific alterations in brain ... more

Guidelines for Prevention and Management of Stroke

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare India Government of India (2019) CC

troke, a major Non-Communicable Disease (NCD), is responsible for 3.5% of disabilityadjusted life year (DALY) in India.Apart from risk factors like hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases and positive family history, other lifestyle related factors s... more

COVID-19 for professionals
recommended

Wood, D.; A. Dramowski and R. Turner (2021) C1

This module is updated as new research and best practice becomes available. We recommend checking back regularly. Major changes will be listed

The Impacts of Dietary Change on Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Land Use, Water Use, and Health: A Systematic Review

Aleksandrowicz L., Green R., Joy E., et al. (2016) CC

PlosOne https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165797; Food production is a major driver of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water and land use, and dietary risk factors are contributors to non-communicable diseases. Shifts in dietary patterns can the... more

Rwanda: FAMILY PLANNING STRATEGIC PLAN 2012–2016

Ministry of Health, Rwanda (2012) C2

In recent years, Rwanda has been on the fast track to achieve major health improvements for its entire population. With the support of government agencies and various non-governmental partners, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has endeavored to decentra... more

Covid-19 pandemic impact on maternal and child health services access in Nampula, Mozambique: a mixed methods research

das Neves Martins Pires P.H. , Macaringue C. , Abdirazak A. et al. BMC Health Services (2021) CC

The Covid-19 pandemic has so far infected more than 30 million people in the world, having major impact on global health with collateral damage. In Mozambique, a public state of emergency was declared at the end of March 2020. This has limited peopl...e's movements and reduced public services, leading to a decrease in the number of people accessing health care facilities. An implementation research project, The Alert Community for a Prepared Hospital, has been promoting access to maternal and child health care, in Natikiri, Nampula, for the last four years. Nampula has the second highest incidence of Covid-19. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of Covid-19 pandemic Government restrictions on access to maternal and child healthcare services. We compared health centres in Nampula city with healthcare centres in our research catchment area. We wanted to see if our previous research interventions have led to a more resilient response from the community. METHODS: Mixed-methods research, descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective, using a review of patient visit documentation. We compared maternal and child health care unit statistical indicators from March-May 2019 to the same time-period in 2020. We tested for significant changes in access to maternal and child health services, using KrushKall Wallis, One-way Anova and mean and standard deviation tests. We compared interviews with health professionals, traditional birth attendants and patients in the two areas. We gathered data from a comparable city health centre and the main city referral hospital. The Marrere health centre and Marrere General Hospital were the two Alert Community for a Prepared Hospital intervention sites. RESULTS: Comparing 2019 quantitative maternal health services access indicators with those from 2020, showed decreases in most important indicators: family planning visits and elective C-sections dropped 28%; first antenatal visit occurring in the first trimester dropped 26%; hospital deliveries dropped a statistically significant 4% (p = 0.046), while home deliveries rose 74%; children vaccinated down 20%. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated the negative collateral effects of Covid-19 pandemic Government restrictions, on access to maternal and child healthcare services, and highlighted the need to improve the health information system in Mozambique. more

2nd International Conference on Re-emerging Infectious Diseases: Scientific Report

African Union; Africa CDC Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Africa CDC (2019) C_CDC

In 2007, WHO warned that infectious diseases are emerging and re-emerging at a rate that has not been seen before. The potential for infectious diseases to spread rapidly results in high morbidity and mortality, causing a potential global public health treat of ... concern. Several factors are contributing to the (re)emergence of infectious diseases such as population growth, living in close contact with animals, frequent travelling, poverty, destructive ecological changes due to economic development and land use and climate change result in global warming. Especially Africa is at a threat for (re)emerging infectious diseases due to the huge population growth (expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050) with rapid urbanisation. Additionally, people across and beyond the continent are excessively mobile which is combined with a weak health system. Moreover, the risk of (re)emerging infectious disease is further heightened by three newly adopted continental initiatives: African Continental Free Trade Area, Free Movement of Persons and African Passport and Single African Air Transport Market. more

Development assistance for neglected tropical diseases: progress since 2009

Bernhard H. Liese, Natalia Houghton and Lyubov Teplitskaya International Health (2014) C1

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is an umbrella term for a diverse group of debilitating infections that represent the most common afflictions for 2.7 billion people living on less than US$2 per day. Major efforts have recently re-focused attentio... more

The State and Direction of Treatment of Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction in Papua New Guinea

Kawa, L.B. Journal of Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology (2023) CC

The pharmacological treatment of heart failure has evolved over the last three decades since the demonstration of the effect of angiotensinconverting enzyme inhibitors on major cardiovascular events in patients with heart failure with reduced ejecti... more

Fact Sheet Hypertension

World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Organization (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

The World Health Organization's fact sheet on hypertension provides a comprehensive overview of high blood pressure, highlighting its prevalence, risk factors, and health implications. It emphasizes that hypertension is a major cause of premature de... more

Communication Risk in Public Health Emergencies
recommended

World Health Organization (WHO) (2018) C_WHO

A WHO Guideline for Emergency Risk Communication (ERC) policy and practice. Recent public health emergencies, such as the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa (2014–2015), the emergence of the Zika virus syndrome in 2015–2016 and multi-country yellow fever outbreaks in Africa in 2016, h... more

Peru − Progress in health and sciences in 200 years of independence

Carrillo-Larco; R.M.; Guzman-Vilca, W. C.; Leon-Velarde, F.; et al. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas (2021) CC

Peru celebrates 200 years of independence in 2021. Over this period of independent life, and despite the turbulent socio-political scenarios, from internal armed conflict to economic crisis to political instability over the last 40 years, Peru has experienced ... changes on its epidemiological and population health profile. Major advancements in maternal and child health as well as in communicable diseases have been achieved in recent decades, and today Peru faces an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases including mental health conditions. In terms of the configuration of the public health system, Peru has also strived to secure country-wide optimal health care, struggling in particular to improve primary health care and intercultural services. more