With some 134,073,166 people living in endemic communities at risk of infection, Nigeria is the most endemic country in Africa and requires preventive chemotherapy (PC) for a total of 26.3 million persons. The National Schistosomiasis Elimination Programme (NSCHEP), with the support of international... partners, has been implementing PC in Nigeria since 2009 and most recently will need to revise its current strategy (Additional file 1). For example, the new World Health Organization (WHO) guideline has six key recommendations that will dramatically change the implementation of schistosomiasis elimination in endemic countries [3]. However, its impact and programmatic implications will vary from country to country, hence the need for a country-specific analysis. This article discusses these recommendations with specific reference to the challenges and opportunities in Nigeria. We summarise the key pointers in Additional file 1: Box 1 against the six recommendations of the WHO 2022 guideline.
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In our fourth year of producing The State of Open Humanitarian Data, we can report the highest levels yet for data availability across priority humanitarian operations. These gains can be attributed to the commitment of organizations to sharing and maintaining their data publicly. There was also str...ong demand for data about the world's largest humanitarian crises, from the war in Ukraine to drought and food insecurity in the Horn of Africa.
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People with Guinea worm disease (GWD) have no symptoms for about 1 year. Then, the person begins to feel ill. Symptoms can include the following:
Slight fever
Itchy rash
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Dizziness
A blister then develops. This blister can form anywhere on the skin. However, the blis...ter forms on the lower body parts in 80%–90% of cases. This blister gets bigger over several days and causes a burning pain. The blister eventually ruptures, exposing the worm. The infected person may put the affected body part in cool water to ease the symptoms or may enter water to perform daily tasks, such as fetching drinking water. On contact with water, the worm discharges hundreds of thousands of larvae into the water.
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Data from 22 countries across the region featured in the study shows children are bearing the heaviest burden of the economic crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. While children make up 25 per cent of the population, they account for nearly 40 per cent of the additional 10.4 million people experienc...ing poverty this year.
The Russian Federation has experienced the most significant increase in the number of children living in poverty, with an additional 2.8 million children now living in households below the poverty line, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the total increase across the region. Ukraine is home to half a million additional children living in poverty, the second largest share. It is important to note that this is a conservative estimate which uses a GDP drop of 10 per cent.
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Ce guide a pour objectif de fournir des conseils pratiques à destination du personnel de santé entreprenant des activités de préparation et de réponse aux maladies infectieuses afin de maintenir l’accès à des Soins d’Avortement sans Risque (SAR) durant une épidémie de maladie infectieus...e. Il s’agit d’un guide pratique destiné à aider les acteurs du secteur de la santé à garantir le maintien des services de Soins d’Avortement sans Risque (SAR) pendant les épidémies et à veiller à ce que les considérations nécessaires en matière de Soins d’Avortement sans Risque soient intégrées à la riposte à l’épidémie; il ne s’agit pas d’un guide clinique. Ce document se concentre sur les situations de crise humanitaire et les contextes fragiles, toutefois les recommandations peuvent s’appliquer aux épidémies de maladies infectieuses auprès des populations à faibles ressources. Ce guide est prévu en complément du document: Santé et droits en matière de sexualité et de procréation durant les épidémies de maladies infectieuses: orientations de mise en oeuvre pour les situations de crise humanitaire et les contextes fragiles.
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WASH in schools during a cholera response is important due to the strong correlation between WASH and IPC. Not only can it impact the health and well-being of students and staff but also facilitate the potential spread of the disease via the congregation of children and adults from multiple househol...ds. Hygiene can often be more difficult to control with young children and therefore efforts to put in place systems to encourage good practices are essential.
To prevent the spread of cholera in schools, it is important to have clean and safe water sources, proper sanitation facilities, and good hygiene practices in place. This includes providing clean drinking water, hand-washing stations with soap, and education on hygiene and sanitation practices and implement Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) including dissemination of Information, Education and Communication materials (IEC).
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Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a painful disease that exerts a serious toll on societies around the world that are afflicted by it. Although not life-threatening, the skin ulcers and scars it causes can lead to isolation and psychosocial pathologies due to social stigma, and its occurrence is often... associated with regional conflicts. The Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Research Meeting was held on December 7, 2020, with participation by basic researchers, clinical researchers, and drug discovery experts involved in research and development related to CL under the auspices of the Joint Usage/Research Center on Tropical Disease, Institute of Tropical Medicine. In addition, the CL Webinar was held on March 5, 2021, hosted by the Graduate School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, co-hosted by the Institute of Tropical Medicine, and supported by Médecins Sans Frontières and DNDi.
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Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a parasitic disease that is a major cause of chronic disability in the developing world. According to the 2021–2030 road map for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) published by the World Health Organization (WHO), the global goal for LF is elimination as a public healt...h problem by 2030 through repeated rounds of mass drug administration (MDA). Critical components of any elimination program are monitoring and surveillance. Appropriate assessment tools and methods are needed for each stage of an elimination program; mapping to identify which areas require intervention, monitoring to assess the impact of interventions, and post-intervention surveillance to validate elimination or detect recrudescence.
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Forests, trees and green spaces, hereinafter ‘forests and trees’ for short, provide multiple goods and services that contribute to human health. These include medicines, nutritious foods and other non-wood forest products (NWFPs). Globally, at least 3.5 billion people use NWFPs, including medici...nal plants, which are particularly important for vulnerable groups and Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs).
During periods of crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for forest products typically increases amongst these groups. Forests and trees also contribute to better health by playing a role in climate change
mitigation and adaptation, contributing to regulating the carbon cycle, but also moderating the micro-climate, filtering pollutants from the air and protecting settlements against the effects of extreme events such as droughts and flash floods.
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Background: The human helminth infections include ascariasis, trichuriasis, hookworm infections, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis (LF) and onchocerciasis. It is estimated that almost 2 billion people worldwide are infected with helminths. Whilst the WHO treatment guidelines for helminth infecti...ons are mostly aimed at controlling morbidity, there has been a recent shift with some countries moving towards goals of disease elimination through mass drug administration, especially for LF and onchocerciasis. However, as prevalence is driven lower, treating entire populations may no longer be the most efficient or cost-effective strategy. Instead, it may be beneficial to identify individuals or demographic groups who are persistently infected, often termed as being “predisposed” to infection, and target treatment at them.
Methods: The authors searched Embase, MEDLINE, Global Health, and Web of Science for all English language, humanbased papers investigating predisposition to helminth infections published up to October 31st, 2017. The varying definitions used to describe predisposition, and the statistical tests used to determine its presence, are summarised. Evidence for predisposition is presented, stratified by helminth species, and risk factors for predisposition to infection are identified and discussed.
Results: In total, 43 papers were identified, summarising results from 34 different studies in 23 countries. Consistent evidence of predisposition to infection with certain species of human helminth was identified. Children were regularly found to experience greater predisposition to Ascaris lumbricoides, Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium than adults. Females were found to be more predisposed to A. lumbricoides infection than were males. Household clustering of infection was identified for A. lumbricoides, T. trichiura and S. japonicum. Ascaris lumbricoides and T. trichiura also showed evidence of familial predisposition. Whilst strong evidence for predisposition to hookworm infection was identified, findings with regards to which groups were affected were considerably more varied than for other helminth species.
Conclusion: This review has found consistent evidence of predisposition to heavy (and light) infection for certain human helminth species. However, further research is needed to identify reasons for the reported differences between demographic groups. Molecular epidemiological methods associated with whole genome sequencing to determine ‘who infects whom’ may shed more light on the factors generating predisposition.
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This volume contains monographs prepared at the ninety-first meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which met virtually online from 1 to 12 February 2021.
The detailed monographs in this volume summarize data on specific contaminants in food. Individual monographs ...present the assessment of exposure to cadmium from all food sources, the technical, analytical, dietary exposure and toxicological data on ergot alkaloids, an assessment of five substances that may occur as previous cargoes, and a revision of the specifications for steviol glycosides. This volume and others in the WHO Food Additives series contain information that is useful to those who produce and use food additives and veterinary drugs and those involved with controlling contaminants in food, government and food regulatory officers, industrial testing laboratories, toxicological laboratories and universities.
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Il s’agit du premier rapport d’une collection de l’OMS intitulée De l’intention à l’action, qui vise à renforcer la base de données probantes sur l’impact de la participation significative et à combler le manque d’approches normalisées pour permettre la participation significativ...e fonctionnelle. À cette fin, la collection De l’intention à l’action a été pensée comme plateforme pour que les personnes avec une expérience vécue ainsi que les organisations et institutions à la pointe sur ces questions puissent échanger sur les solutions, les difficultés et les pratiques prometteuses relatives à cet objectif transversal. Elle vise également à fournir des récits et des modèles puissants, ainsi que des données probantes dans la perspective de la quatrième réunion publique de haut niveau des Nations Unies sur les MNT, qui devrait se tenir en 2025, et en vue d’atteindre les objectifs de développement durable (ODD) à l’horizon 2030.
À cette fin, le présent rapport comprend six études de cas impliquant douze personnes avec une expérience vécue d’affections diverses. Ces études de cas analysent les dynamiques de pouvoir et la réorientation des pouvoirs en faveur des individus avec une expérience vécue, la prise de décision éclairée et les connaissances en matière de santé, la participation communautaire à l’échelle des réseaux et des systèmes de santé globaux, l’expérience vécue comme donnée probante et expertise, l’exclusion et l’importance de la participation des groupes qui sont marginalisés, ainsi que la défense d’une cause et les droits humains.
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There is an expanding market of no- and low-alcohol beverages (NoLos). However, their effects on global ethanol consumption and public health are still questioned. Policies and regulations about NoLos’ availability, acceptability and affordability are lacking and evidence about their benefits is l...imited. Concerns have been raised about the impact of NoLos in reducing alcohol consumption and its associated harm and the possible drawbacks and implications, such as misleading minors, pregnant women, abstainers or those seeking to stop drinking about their actual ethanol content. Further, there are concerns about the implications of NoLo branded products being displayed close to the brand’s main alcoholic beverages and their potential to subtly lead to new occasions of drinking. There is a need to monitor their consumption and impact on aggregated alcohol consumption to understand the public health implications of NoLos. The alcohol by volume content of NoLos must be defined, harmonised and clearly labelled. NoLo marketing needs to be regulated to protect children, pregnant women and those seeking to stop drinking. Fiscal and pricing policies to reduce the affordability of products with higher strengths of ethanol may favour a shift towards lower alcohol strength beverages.
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Despite pandemic-related disruptions, a total of 76.9 million people received treatment for schistosomiasis in 2020, representing a global coverage of 31.9%, compared with 105 million treated in 2019 (coverage of 44.8%).
The latest data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) show that 2...8.6 million fewer people were treated for schistosomiasis (bilharzia) in 2020 than in 2019. This 27% drop in the number of treatments delivered is largely due to the implementation of COVID-19 measures, including school closures.
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The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) was established in 2017, after the west Africa Ebola virus disease outbreak. Upon creation, the
role of Africa CDC was to mandate strengthening of the capacity of public health institutions in Africa to prevent, detect, and respond ...to disease threats, based on science, policy, and data-driven interventions and programmes, as envisaged by the Abuja Declaration. The inaugural strategic plan was focused on building health systems for emergency preparedness and response. However, from its inception, the organisation recognised the concomitant need to comprehensively strengthen systems to prevent and manage noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries, and to face the neglected issue of mental health disorders. The division dedicated to these issues was conceptualised, but operationalisation was deferred to a future date.
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2nd edition. This toolkit provides step-by-step guidance to NTD programme managers and partners on how to engage and work collaboratively with the WASH community to improve delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene services to underserved population affected by many neglected tropical diseases. The ...toolkit draws on tools and practices used in the delivery of coordinated and integrated programmes for control, elimination and eradication of NTDs. This second edition include revisions and new tools based on experiences of using the toolkit in more than 20 countries.
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The recurrence of severe climate events combined with economic, social, and institutional fragilities leave El Salvador in an utterly critical humanitarian situation and highly vulnerable. Located in a disaster-prone subregion, El Salvador is among the 20 countries at the highest risk of disasters w...orldwide. The successive hydrometeorological hazards that impacted El Salvador over the past two years include tropical storms Amanda and Cristóbal and hurricanes Eta, Iota, and,
more recently, Julia. These storms profoundly affected the lives and livelihoods of almost 900 000 people and significantly disrupted health services, especially at the first level of care. In addition, the country’s exposure to earthquakes, floods, and droughts is also constant. Infrastructural and institutional limitations to deal with emergencies and
low capacity to respond to adverse events are an additional challenge, which leaves the population—particularly the most vulnerable—at even higher risk.
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Integrating neglected tropical diseases into global health and development: fourth WHO report on neglected tropical diseases evaluates the changing global public health landscape; assesses progress towards the 2020 targets; and considers the possible core elements of a strategic vision to integratin...g neglected tropical diseases into the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Advances have been made through expanded interventions delivered through five public health approaches: innovative and intensified disease management; preventive chemotherapy; vector ecology and management; veterinary public health services; and the provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene. In 2015 alone nearly one billion people were treated for at least one disease and significant gains were achieved in relieving the symptoms and consequences of diseases for which effective tools are scarce; important reductions were achieved in the number of new cases of sleeping sickness, of visceral leishmaniasis in South-East Asia and also of Buruli ulcer.
The report also considers vector control strategies and discusses the importance of the draft WHO Global Vector Control Response 2017–2030. It argues that veterinary public health requires a multifaceted approach across the human–animal interface as well as a multisectoral programme of work to protect and improve the physical, mental and social well-being of humans, including veterinary, water, sanitation and hygiene.
Integration of activities and interventions into broader health systems is crucial, and despite challenges, has the potential to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage while advancing the 2030 Agenda.
In short, this report drives the message home that “no one must be left behind”.
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The report aims to capture lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and to highlight the opportunity for more ambitious global action: expanding sustainable access to vaccines for all towards the Immunization Agenda 2030 and pandemic prevention, preparedness and response efforts. The report is organized i...n two sections: the first section provides WHO insights on global vaccine market dynamics, drawing from data provided by Member States, which are, in turn, analysed and displayed in the second section.
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This report aims to outline the current available knowledge on the health and wellbeing of older persons in the Region of the Americas during the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030). It also seeks to guide political actions towards ensuring the human rights of older persons, and desc...ribes the negotiation and drafting process behind the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons. It reports on the doctrinal and legal developments that led the Region of the Americas to draft the Convention and describes its action areas and guaranteed rights, as well as the obligations assumed by the States Parties. The Convention is an essential tool to advance the strategies of the Decade of Healthy Ageing. This publication reflects on the importance of having a major legal instrument for this purpose at the international level. The demographic transition in Latin America and the Caribbean will continue to shape the ability of countries and health systems to respond to the needs of the population. Given this reality, international instruments will be needed to guarantee the full enjoyment of the human rights of older persons. In order to design inclusive and sustainable systems, accurate, updated, and effective information is required. The Decade of Healthy Ageing––the initiative that constitutes the framework for this document––is a strategic period in which to focus on data generation and monitoring.
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