This brief summarises key considerations about the social, political and economic context of Goma in relation to the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC as of March 2019. Goma is the administrative capital of North Kivu province and a major urban centre in the Great Lakes Region. The city is home to an est...imated 1.5 million people and serves as an important economic and transportation hub that links eastern Congo to the broader East African sub-region. The arrival of Ebola in Goma would substantially increase the at-risk population and heighten the potential for cross-border transmission to neighbouring countries, particularly Rwanda. This brief therefore focuses on local social and political structures that can be leveraged to promote preparedness and readiness actions.
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There is a broad consensus nowadays that the Earth is warming up as a result of greenhouse gas emissions caused by anthropogenic activities. It is also clear that current trends in the fields of energy, development and population growth will lead to continuous and ever more dramatic climate change. ...This is bound to affect the fundamental prerequisites for maintaining good health: clean air and water, sufficient food and adequate housing. The planet will warm up gradually, but the consequences of the extreme weather conditions such as frequent
storms, floods, droughts and heat-waves will have sudden onset and acute repercussions. It is widely accepted that climate change will have an impact on the spread of infectious diseases in Europe, which is likely to bring about new public health risks in the majority of cases. Transmission of infectious diseases depends on a number of factors, including climate and environmental elements. Foodborne and waterborne diseases, for instance, are associated with high temperatures. Disease-transmitting vectors (e.g. mosquitoes, sandflies and ticks) are highly sensitive to climate conditions, including temperature and humidity; their geographical distribution will widen as climate conditions change, potentially allowing them to spread into regions where they are not currently able to live.
The primary purpose of this manual on climate change and infectious diseases is to raise the awareness and the level of knowledge of health workers at national, regional and local levels in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the health risks associated with climate change and infectious diseases. This manual was devel-
oped as part of the WHO Regional Office for Europe project, Protecting health from climate change: a seven–country initiative, implemented with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
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This technical report presents the epidemiology of human and animal leishmaniases in the EU and its neighbouring countries and concludes that the disease remains widespread and underreported in many countries of southern Europe, northern Africa, and... the Middle East and that there is a need to improve leishmaniasis prevention and control based on robust surveillance in humans, animals, and vectors, and to increase public awareness following a one health approach.
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On Sunday 16th December 2018, some villages in the Province of Mai-Nambiar, Democratic Republic of Congo, neighboring the district of Makotimpoko in the Republic of Congo (CongoBrazzaville) were aff...ected by inter-ethnic conflict between the Banunu and the Batende. The fighting has resulted in 400 fatalities and the destruction of property. A large number of the population of the conflict affected areas were forced to cross the river Congo and find refuge in several localities in the Cuvette (Konda and Youmba) and Plateaux (Makotimpoko, Bouemba, Patrick) areas in Congo-Brazzaville.
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Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness, is an endemic disease in 36 sub-Saharan African countries, typically occurring in underdeveloped areas, where
health systems face signifi...cant difficulties of diverse natures.
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The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), in accordance with recommendations from various WHO committees, has developed three flagship initiatives to support Member States in the ...>African region to prepare for, detect and respond to public health emergencies. They are the result of extensive consultations with more than 30 African government ministers, technical actors, and partners across the continent as well as regional institutions such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), whose contributions have shaped the priority activities. This report provides the fourth quarterly summary of progress in implementing the flagship initiatives.
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The new five-year agenda of WHO in Africa, The Africa Health Transformation Programme, 2015–2020: a vision for universal health coverage, is the strategic framework that will guide WHO’s contrib...ution to the emerging sustainable development platform in Africa. It articulates a vision for health and development that aims to address the unacceptable inequalities and inequities that have kept our region lagging far behind others in terms of health indices and enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of life.
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Review
Journal of Virus Eradication 2016 Jul; 2(3): 156–161.
Published online 2016 Jul 1.
PMCID: PMC4967967
PMID: 27482455
This pan-African report describes and analyses the cultural, social, physical and other societal barriers preventing children with disabilities in Africa from realising their full human potential. I...t also describes the opportunities, initiatives and good practices that exist, that indicate the progress, albeit insufficient, that has been made towards realising the rights for children with disabilities in Africa. Recommendations and priorities for action are presented which promote inclusive and accessible laws, policies, and programmes for children with disabilities throughout Africa
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