Results of rapid assessment
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide while the demand for mental health is increasing, according
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to a new WHO survey. The survey of 130 countries provides the first global data showing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on access to mental health services and underscores the urgent need for increased funding.
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The mhGAP community toolkit: field test version is an integral part of WHO's Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP), and aims at scaling up services for people with mental health conditions
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to achieve universal health coverage.
The toolkit provides guidance for programme managers on how to identify local mental health needs and tailor community services to match these needs. It offers practical information and necessary tools for community providers to promote mental health, prevent mental health conditions and expand access to mental health services.
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Preliminary overview of refugees and migrants self-reported impact of COVID-19
The study surveyed over 30,000 refugees and migrants living in 170 countries. Many of the respondents had fled war or dire economic conditions in their home country only to
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be faced with the additional challenges posed by COVID-19. Travel restrictions including border closures, suspension of resettlement travel, and last-minute deportation left many stranded or forced to stay in cramped, makeshift shelters or detention centers. Amid these uncertain, precarious conditions, many migrants described either a lack of access to health services or a fear of seeking them out — even if they were experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
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During the implementation of the National Strategic Plan 2009–2012 on HIV and AIDS, Rwanda has continued its progress towards universal access to HIV and AIDS services. The new HIV and AIDS Nation
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al Strategic Plan July 2013–June 2018 (thereafter referred to as ‘the NSP’) presented here is set on pursuing the same objective, with inspiration from the global targets of “zero new HIV infections, zero HIV-related deaths and zero stigma and discrimination due to HIV”.
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Large-Scale UN Response Needed to Address Health and Food Crises
This report is based on interviews with more than 150 health
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care professionals, Venezuelans seeking or in need of medical care who recently arrived in Colombia and Brazil, representatives from international and nongovernmental humanitarian organizations. In addition, researchers analyzed data on the situation inside Venezuela from official sources, hospitals, international and national organizations, and civil society organizations.
We found a health system in utter collapse with increased levels of maternal and infant mortality; the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles and diphtheria; and increases in numbers of infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis (TB). Although the government stopped publishing official data on nutrition in 2007, research by Venezuelan organizations and universities documents high levels of food insecurity and child malnutrition, and available data shows high hospital admissions of malnourished children.
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Health care waste management (HCWM) and infection prevention and control (IPC) represent serious concerns for HIV programs. Improperly handled infectious
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health care waste poses risks to health workers, their clients, the community, and the environment. Improper injection practices can lead to new HIV and other infections for health workers and clients. Beginning in 2015, AIDSFree continued the work started by the Government of Nigeria and USAID in 2004 to strengthen activities in IPC and HCWM. This report describes AIDSFree's results over 15 months of implementation of HCWM and IPC activities in seven Nigerian states prioritized by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
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There has been important progress for the rights of adolescent girls and women in recent decades, yet millions still struggle to
access the nutritious diets, essential nutrition services and nutrit
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ion and care practices they need to prevent malnutrition.
Undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and anaemia amplify gender inequalities by lowering learning potential, wages and life opportunities for adolescent girls and women, weakening their immunity to infections, and increasing their risk of lifethreatening complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
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At the forefront of DNDi’s efforts to develop new treatments is the need to understand the realities and treatment needs of patients and health
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care staff in the field. The ultimate goal for human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a truly simplified
treatment which can be orally administered, implemented at the primary health care level, and effective against both stages of the disease.
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Background Unrest in Chile over inequalities has underscored the need to improve public hospitals. Nursing has been overlooked as a solution to quality and
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access concerns, and nurse staffing is poor by international standards. Using Chile’s new diagnosis-related groups system and surveys of nurses and patients, we provide information to policy makers on feasibility, net costs, and estimated improved outcomes associated with increasing nursing resources in public hospitals.
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It is the policy of the GoR to ensure that children’s rights are met through the provision of basic needs and services for all children in the country, and protect them from abuse and exploitation. Children are defined as persons below the age of
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18 years and the ICRP covers children from the time before their birth until they complete the age of 18 years. The Integrated Child Rights Policy of Rwanda is based on seven key themes: Identity and Nationality; Family and Alternative Care; Survival, Health and Standards of Living; Education; Protection; Justice; and Child Participation.
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Globally, in low-income countries, the average newborn mortality rate is 27 deaths per 1,000 births, the report says. In high-income countries, that rate is 3 deaths per 1,000. Newborns from the riskiest places to give birth are up
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to 50 times more likely to die than those from the safest places.
The report also notes that 8 of the 10 most dangerous places to be born are in sub-Saharan Africa, where pregnant women are much less likely to receive assistance during delivery due to poverty, conflict and weak institutions. If every country brought its newborn mortality rate down to the high-income average by 2030, 16 million lives could be saved.
More than 80 per cent of newborn deaths are due to prematurity, complications during birth or infections such as pneumonia and sepsis, the report says. These deaths can be prevented with access to well-trained midwives, along with proven solutions like clean water, disinfectants, breastfeeding within the first hour, skin-to-skin contact and good nutrition.
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This report, written in partnership with various Royal Medical Colleges and Public Health England, sets out the essential actions to improve the physical
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health of adults with severe mental illness (SMI) across the NHS. The report makes practical recommendations for changes that will help adults with SMI to receive the same standards of physical healthcare as the general population and reduce the risk of premature death.
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Practical considerations
It provides more detailed and practical guidance for continuing services for each life stage across the life-course continuum. As such, both documents should be read and used together. The countries in South-East Asia and the Pacific regions would like
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to adapt the guidance within the national and sub-national continuity plans, based on the local situation of COVID-19 transmission, containment response and health system capacity.
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The report “Build back fairer: achieving health equity in the Eastern Mediterranean Region” provides ground breaking insights into the state of health inequities in the Region and urges countrie
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s to take action to address the social determinants of health to reverse the worsening trend of inequity – aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing conflict, mass movements of people, environmental challenges, gender inequities and unemployment.
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At a glance. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed structural weaknesses in health systems worldwide and underscored the importance of building stronger, more integrated health systems
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to help prevent, prepare for, and respond to health crises. The critical moment that will determine countries’ resilience against future shocks is now
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No Public Health without Refugee and Migrant health.
This report, the first of its kind, creates an evidence base with the aim of catalysing progress towards developing and promoting migrant-sensit
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ive health systems in the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region and beyond. This report seeks to illuminate the causes, conse-quences and responses to the health needs and challenges faced by refugees and migrants in the Region, while also providing a snapshot of the progress being made across the Region. Additionally, the report seeks to identify gaps that require further action through collaboration, to improve the collection and availability of high-quality data and to stimulate policy initiatives
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Mental health issues are usually given very low priority in health service policies. Although this is changing, African countries are still confronted with so many problems caused by communicable di
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seases and malnutrition that they have not woken up to the impact of mental disorders. Every country must formulate a mental health policy based on its own social and cultural realities. Such policies must take into account the scope of mental health problems, provide proven and affordable interventions, safeguard patients’ rights, and ensure equity.
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Access to medical personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential for routine healthcare delivery, and a critical tool for containing outbreaks, as well as preventing and responding
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to pandemics. It is one of our most effective tools against COVID-19, and an undervalued tool more generally in infection control.
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