COVID-19 disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable. Community health workers are poised to play a pivotal role in fighting the pandemic, especially in countries with less resilient health systems. Drawing from practitioner expertise across four WHO regions, this article outlines the targete
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d actions needed at different stages of the pandemic to achieve the following goals: (1) PROTECT healthcare workers, (2) INTERRUPT the virus, (3) MAINTAIN existing healthcare services while surging their capacity, and (4) SHIELD the most vulnerable from socioeconomic shocks. While decisive action must be taken now to blunt the impact of the pandemic in countries likely to be hit the hardest, many of the investments in the supply chain, compensation, dedicated supervision, continuous training and performance management necessary for rapid community response in a pandemic are the same as those required to achieve universal healthcare and prevent the next epidemic.
BMJ Global Health2020;5:e002550. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002550
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What measures can we take to overcome the corona crisis, limit its consequences or use scarce resources efficiently? Every day we experience uncertainties and contradictions on these questions among scientists, health experts, politicians and in society. We must all strive for a broad consensus to o
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vercome the global COVID-19 pandemic. With our publications IM FOKUS we want to stimulate discussion and promote opinion-forming: We write based on our experience of HIV work. We are not interested in COVID-19 to be equated with HIV, but to discuss which experiences from HIV work could be helpful in dealing with COVID-19. We do not intend to replace scientific papers, nor can we present the current state of knowledge comprehensively and conclusively.
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The WHF IASC Roadmap proposes strategies and evidence-based solutions for healthcare professionals, health authorities and governments to help overcome the barriers to comprehensive care for Chagas disease patients. This roadmap describes an ideal patient care pathway, and explores the roadblocks al
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ong the way, offering potential solutions based on available research and examples in practice. It represents a call to action to decision-makers and health care professionals to step up efforts to eradicate Chagas disease.
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Six months after its launch on 24 April, the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator has already delivered concrete results in speeding up the development of new therapeutics, diagnostics, and vaccines. Now mid-way through the scale-up phase, the tools we need to fundamentally change the course o
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f this pandemic are within reach. But to deliver the full impact of the ACT-Accelerator – and ultimately an exit to this global crisis – these tools need to be available everywhere. On behalf of the ACT-Accelerator Pillar lead agencies – CEPI, Gavi, the Global Fund, FIND, Unitaid, Wellcome Trust, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – I am pleased to share this document setting out the near-term priorities, deliverables and financing requirements of the ACT-Accelerator Pillars and Health Systems Connector. Urgent action to address these financing requirements will boost the impact of the ACTAccelerator achievements to date, fast-track the development and deployment of additional game-changing tools, and mitigate the risk of a widening gap in access to COVID-19 tools between low- and high-income countries. Delivering on this promise requires strong political leadership, financial investment, and incountry capacity building. COVID-19 cannot be beaten by any one country acting alone. We must ACT now, and ACT together to end the COVID-19 crisis.
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Cette ressource a été élaborée pour faciliter le développement de plans d’action nationaux stratégiques et bien coordonnés afin de contrer rapidement la désinformation sur les vaccins et d’encourager la demande de vaccination éclairée
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par l’écoute sociale.
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Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose a substantial threat to many health systems, especially in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) where they are already overstretched. In the past few decades, deaths from NCDs in LMICs have spiked, whereas numbers in high-income countries have stabilis
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ed. Worryingly, a large proportion of deaths from NCDs (29%) in LMICs occur among people younger than 60 years compared with the proportion in high-income countries (13%). This finding has been attributed to poor access to effective and equitable health-care services in most LMICs. The threat of NCDs in LMICs was recognised by the UN 2011 High-Level Meeting, and is now featured in Sustainable Development Goal 3 in the form of reducing premature mortality from NCDs by one-third before 2030. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of deaths from NCDs (ie, 48% of all NCDs deaths). Therefore, substantial reductions in CVDs will have a major impact on reducing the overall burden of NCDs globally. The good news is that most CVDs can be prevented by addressing the key underlying behavioural risk factors, such as physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, tobacco use, and harmful use of alcohol, through population-wide approaches. Among individuals with or at high risk of CVD, early detection and effective management with appropriate counselling and medicines can reduce cardiovascular deaths substantially.
The importance of effective treatment for CVD has been recognised in the Global NCD Action Plan 2013–20, for which one of the nine global targets is that at least 50% of eligible individuals should receive drug therapy and counselling to prevent heart attacks and strokes by 2025.5 Although admirable, this is a hard target to achieve given that secondary prevention strategies in LMICs are often unaffordable or unavailable.
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In September, 2018, the first international Medicine Quality and Public Health Conference was held at Oxford University, UK, to discuss opportunities and solutions to ensure that all people have access to affordable and quality-assured medical products. Delegates developed the short Oxford Statement
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, calling for investment, policy change, and action to eliminate substandard and falsified medical products. The statement was born out of discussion between governments, national and international agencies, non-governmental organisations, professional associations, and academic institutions who together examined the latest evidence on the epidemiology and public health implications of substandard and falsified medical products.
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The Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) 2011-2020, endorsed by Member States during the May 2012 World Health Assembly, has set ambitious targets to improve access to immunization and tackle vaccine-p
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reventable diseases. This responsibility has been translated into firm commitments in February 2016, through the signature of the Addis Declaration on Immunization (ADI) by African Ministers and subsequently endorsed by the Heads of States from across Africa at the 28th African Union Summit held in January 2017. This commitment from the highest level of government comes as a catalyst to immunization efforts on the continent to deliver on the promise of universal immunization
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The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth. Presentation
A all for global Action. The Oral Health Atlas. Second edition
The Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) calls for making AMR a core component of professional education and training. In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) published Competen
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cy framework for health workers’ education and training on AMR to ensure that academic institutions and regulatory agencies provided pre-service and in-service training to equip health workers with the adequate competencies to address AMR. This was followed by Health workers’ training and education on AMR: curricula guide, which outlines the learning objectives and expected outcomes of pre-service training of health workers to improve curricula. These tools were designed to strengthen the capacity of health workers in various settings to address the growing challenge of AMR.
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The "Global NCD action plan" provides a road map and a menu of policy options for countries to take in order to attain the 9 voluntary global targe
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ts, including that of a 25% relative reduction in premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases by 2025. The main focus of this action plan is on 4 types of NCDs (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes) which make the largest contribution to morbidity and mortality due to NCDs, and on 4 shared behavioural risk factors (tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol).
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This report is the first of its kind. It brings together various data sets to present the current status of hand hygiene, highlight lagging progress, and call governments and supporting agencies to action, offering numerous inspiring examples of cha
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nge.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hand hygiene received unprecedented attention and became a central pillar in national COVID prevention strategies. However, concern with hand hygiene should not only be as temporary public health measure in times of crisis, but as a vital everyday behaviour that contributes to health and economic resilience. Hand hygiene is a highly cost-effective investment, providing outsized health benefits for relatively little cost.
Despite efforts to promote hand hygiene, the rates of access to hand hygiene facilities remain stubbornly low. If current rates of progress continue, by the end of the SDG era in 2030, 1.9 billion people will still lack facilities to wash their hands at home.
This report presents a compelling case for investment in five key ‘accelerators’ as a pathway towards achieving hand hygiene for all – governance, financing, capacity development, data and information, and innovation. These accelerators are identified under the UN-Water SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework.
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A global call to action to protect the mental health of health and care workers
The integrated Global Action Plan for Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD)
Call to action by the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance on reducing antimicrobial discharges from food systems, manufacturing facilities and human health systems into the environment.
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Global Knowledge for Climate and Public Health. Informing action to protect populations from the health risks of climate change. It is in response to growing calls for actionable information to prot
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ect people from the health risks of climate change and other environmental hazards.
Climate and health are inextricably linked. Climate change, extreme weather events and environmental degradation have fundamental impact on human health and well-being. More people than ever before are exposed to increased climate-related health risks, from poor water and air quality to infectious diseases and heat stress.
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The IDF Diabetes Atlas is intended to support the diabetes community in advocating for more action to identify undiagnosed diabetes, prevent type 2 diabetes in people at risk, and improve care for all people with diabetes. It also aims to support th
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e development of high quality diabetes data in all countries and territories, in order to fill the gaps in knowledge that currently exist.
The 10th edition of the IDF Diabetes Atlas reports a continued global increase in diabetes prevalence, confirming diabetes as a significant global challenge to the health and well-being of individuals, families and societies.
The IDF Diabetes Atlas 10th Edition and other resources are available for download.
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Background: One of the objectives of the Global Action Plan by the World Health Organization (WHO) to contain antimicrobial resistance (AMR), is to improve
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global awareness through effective communication and education. Comprehensive information on the level of awareness of AMR among Nigerian public is deficient. This study was therefore designed to assess the current level of awareness and knowledge of the Nigerian public of AMR.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat that requires urgent collaborative action within and among countries. AMR makes standard treatments ineffective and facilitates the spread of antimi
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crobial resistant infections rendering communities vulnerable. The Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries & Blue Economy (MALF) recognized antimicrobial resistance as a priority following findings from status reports and studies from Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Stakeholders.
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