It is too early to know the full impact of COVID-19 on Africa. To date the experience has been varied. There are causes for concern, but also reaso
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ns for hope. Early estimates were pessimistic regarding the pandemic’s impact on the continent. But the relatively low numbers of COVID-19 cases reported thus far have raised hopes that African countries may be spared the worst of the pandemic. While the virus is present in all African countries, most countries have recorded fewer than 1,000 cases. The African Union acted swiftly, endorsing a joint continental strategy in February, and complementing efforts by Member States and Regional Economic Communities by providing a public health platform.
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The Fifty-first World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA51.11 in 1998, which targets the
global elimination of trachoma as a public health pro
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blem by 2020 (1). The strategy recommended
to achieve that goal is encapsulated by the acronym “SAFE”, which represents: Surgery for
individuals with trachomatous trichiasis (TT; the late blinding stage of trachoma); and Antibiotics,
Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvement (2). The A, F and E interventions are delivered to
entire districts in which active (inflammatory) trachoma is common in order to treat ocular infection
with Chlamydia trachomatis, the causative organism of trachoma, and sustainably reduce its
transmission.
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DHS Further Analysis Reports No. 111
This study is a theory-driven analysis of the socio-demographic determinants of maternal care seeking in
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Kenya. Specifically, it examines predisposing, enabling, and need factors potentially associated with use of antenatal care (ANC), health facility delivery, and timely postnatal care (PNC).
This study uses data from the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) conducted among women age 15-49 with a live birth in the five years preceding the survey. It includes data from all 47 counties of Kenya, grouped contiguously into 12 regions. We apply Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use to examine socio-demographic predictors of health service use. We estimate logistic regression models for adequate use of ANC (defined as attending at least four ANC visits, starting in the first three months of pregnancy), delivery in a health facility, and PNC within 48 hours of delivery.
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Pharmaceutical regulators are at the forefront of ensuring that only safe and effective medicines are authorized and available in the market. This
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document builds on the recommendations in the above publication and has been prepared to specifically assist national medicines regulatory authorities to understand the nature and extent of oxytocin quality issues and to provide key technical information and quality requirements for oxytocin products in dossier assessments. Furthermore, this document also presents recommendations on other regulatory actions needed to ensure that only quality-assured oxytocin products are authorized and made available to women.
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abridged version, March 2021
he study highlights the impacts of COVID-19 on women and men as gleaned from research conducted during 2020, as well as the
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Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviews (CATI) Rapid Gender Assessments (RGAs) executed by UN Women, UNFPA and partners in seven countries in the East and Southern Africa region.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a universal antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all HIVinfected children before the age of two sin
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ce 2010, but this implies an early identification of these infants. We described the Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission (PMTCT) cascade, the staffing and the quality of infrastructures in pediatric HIV care facilities, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
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Inferences through Machine Learning.Background Report.
What are the major origins and drivers of different types of conflict? Sorting out
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the main
causes of conflict and war is difficult and often shaped by ideological believes. Even today,
historians and political scientists have discussions on the primary causes of the First World
War. There are several types of conflict, ranging from international and civil wars to local
conflicts, riots and revolution. And there are many theories that explain these different types
of conflict, which mostly focus on economic conditions and a range of factors that can foster
grievances and greed, creating incentives to initiate or join a conflict
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To better adapt current case management practices and address excess mortality in otherwise treatable
cases will require better knowledge of the demographic characteristics
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of the patients and comorbidities
which can make severe dehydration harder to tolerate physiologically. With this in mind, a scoping review
was undertaken, to explore the literature and summarise the existing evidence on cholera mortality and
reported risk factors.
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Creating a common approach ro regulation, educational preparation and practice: future direction for nursing & midwifery development in the African Region
Prompt, effective antimalarial treatment, and supportive care can substantially reduce the rate of mortality from severe malaria. However, many children in malaria-endemic countries do not have acce
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ss to health facilities or a qualified health care provider and do not receive the necessary care in a timely fashion. Without rapid detection of danger signs and access to effective treatment, including pre-referral treatment that can be administered in the community level, many of these children with severe malaria die.
In situations where there is no immediate access to a health care facility, WHO recommends the administration of a standard dose of an effective antimalarial medicine as pre-referral treatment before referral to a facility at which complete treatment can be administered.
Rectal artesunate is the WHO-recommended pre-referral intervention in situations where artesunate injection are not feasible for children under the age of 6 years with suspected severe malaria. The intervention reduces the risk of death or permanent disability by up to 50% provided the child is referred to a health facility at which complete treatment can be administered.
This field guide is aimed at supporting the effective deployment of RAS as pre-referral treatment of suspected severe malaria in line with the WHO malaria guidelines.
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Onchocerciasis used to be an important public health problem in Africa, with over 37 million people infected and millions suffering from debilitating skin disease, terrible itching, impaired vision and
blindness. But the epidemiological situation h
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as improved dramatically over the last two decades. Community directed treatment with ivermectin has effectively brought the disease under control in most endemic areas where onchocerciasis is no longer a public health risk.
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Malaria Journal (2018) 17:460 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2606-9
In malaria endemic countries, asymptomatic cases constitute an important reservoir of infections sustaining transmission. Estimating
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the burden of the asymptomatic population and identifying areas with elevated risk is important for malaria control in Burkina Faso.
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n 2015, Member States of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its accompanying Sustainable Development Goals
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(SDGs), with the third goal of the agenda focusing on health – good health and well-being. This has the attainment of universal health coverage (UHC) as its umbrella target. Since then, the WHO Regional Office for Africa has been supporting countries plan, and monitor progress towards this goal. This report represents an analysis of the evidence so far countries are making towards this goal, and includes the effect COVID-19 has had on its attainment so far. It also makes recommendations on how countries can prioritize their health actions post COVID-19, in a manner that allows acceleration of progress towards UHC.
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This report’s central premise is that diagnostics and therapeutics, and associated test to treat strategies, are fundamental components of the pandemic response, both for COVID-19 and for future h
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ealth threats. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, this report reflects on the main challenges and key solutions on the road to equitable access to diagnostics and therapeutics.
This report draws from experience gained through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Diagnostics and Therapeutics pillars, and includes the perspectives of collaborating stakeholders (countries, civil society representatives and the private sector). Building on these findings, this report proposes sixteen recommended actions to address what have been identified as key structural challenges and specifies a potential owner for each action.
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Many groups in sub-Saharan Africa have historically linked persons with disabilities with witchcraft as a component of a wider link between accusations of witchcraft and socially marginalized popula
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tions. It is commonly assumed that traditional prejudices towards persons with disabilities are receding in light of urbanization, education, mass media and efforts to confront such prejudice and stigma by governments,
disability advocates and civil society. Ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by many African countries is considered an additional impetus for change.
Working Paper Series: No. 30
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Good mental health is integral to human health and well being. A person’s mental health and many common mental disorders are shaped by various social, economic, and physical environments operating at different stages of life. Risk factors for many
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common mental disorders are heavily associated with social inequalities, whereby the greater the inequality the higher the inequality in risk.
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Environment International Volume 86, January 2016, Pages 14-23
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in weather conditions and patterns of extreme weather events. It may lead to changes in health threat to human beings, multiplying existing hea
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lth problems. This review examines the scientific evidences on the impact of climate change on human infectious diseases. It identifies research progress and gaps on how human society may respond to, adapt to, and prepare for the related changes. Based on a survey of related publications between 1990 and 2015, the terms used for literature selection reflect three aspects — the components of infectious diseases, climate variables, and selected infectious diseases. Humans' vulnerability to the potential health impacts by climate change is evident in literature. As an active agent, human beings may control the related health effects that may be effectively controlled through adopting proactive measures, including better understanding of the climate change patterns and of the compound disease-specific health effects, and effective allocation of technologies and resources to promote healthy lifestyles and public awareness. The following adaptation measures are recommended: 1) to go beyond empirical observations of the association between climate change and infectious diseases and develop more scientific explanations, 2) to improve the prediction of spatial–temporal process of climate change and the associated shifts in infectious diseases at various spatial and temporal scales, and 3) to establish locally effective early warning systems for the health effects of predicated climate change.
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The 2021 COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for AFR serves as a regional guide for a holistic public health response to COVID‑19 at regional, national and sub-national levels. The
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2021
SPRP:
1. Builds upon the lessons learnt from the implementation of the 2020 SPRP and outlines a regional preparedness, response and recovery strategy for COVID‑19.
2. Has been adapted to reflect the Regional context including COVID-19 vaccination. It also considers epidemiological changes and recommen-dations emerging from the evaluation report of the 2020 SPRP4.
3. Highlights to Member States strategic preparedness and response actions to be sustained at national and sub-national levels, as well as the critical inter-agency and partner support required.
4. provides the indicative resource requirements to reinforce WHO planned interventions in the African Region to enhance countries’ capacities to suppress transmission, save lives and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on people and health systems.
5. Provides a road map for mitigating potential resurgence in the Region as economies reopen and ensure country level continuity of other essential health services.
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