Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) are public health measures that aim to prevent and/or control SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the community. As long as there is no effective and safe vaccine to protect those at risk of severe COVID-19, NPI are the... most effective public health interventions against COVID-19. These ECDC guidelines detail available options for NPI in various epidemiologic scenarios, assess the evidence for their effectiveness and address implementation issues, including potential barriers and facilitators.
more
Testing men for HIV during their partner’s pregnancy can guide couples-based HIV prevention and treatment, but testing rates remain low. We investigated a combination approach, using evidence-based strategies, to increase HIV testing in male partners ...ht medbox">of HIV-positive and HIV-negative pregnant women.
more
The new review paper, The Impacts of Climate Change on Health, identifies the extent to which increasing emissions, extreme weather and temperatures elevate health risks, from infectious disease to malnutrition, and assesses the associated health bu...rden. It concludes that the health burden will exceed the level of demand that health systems are prepared for.
more
The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Syria officially declared a cholera outbreak on 10 September 2022, with the majority of cases reported from Aleppo,... Deir-ez-Zor and Al-Hasakeh governorates. Since the situation report issued on 26 September 2022, the number of confirmed and suspected cases continues to rise. A total of 13 of 14 governorates are now affected, compared with 10 during the last reporting period.
more
Declarations of interests were collected from all external contributors and assessed for any conflicts of interest. Summaries of the reported inter...ests can be found on the SAGE meeting website and SAGE Covid-19 Working Group webpage. This guidance should be considered along with the broader COVID-19 policy advice to WHO member states and in particular the advice on how to reach the COVID-19 vaccination targets.
more
Outbreaks of mpox in newly affected countries have mostly been identified in communities of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men who have had recent sexual contact with a new partner or... partners. Communities of trans and gender diverse people linked to the same sexual networks have also been affected.
This document (updated in March 2023) is intended for use by individuals, community leaders, influencers, health workers and others affected by or working on the mpox outbreak. It contains information to help people reduce their risk of mpox and to help slow the spread of the virus. This is the third version of this publication – it has been updated based on current public health advice.
more
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children, imposing a consistent burden on health system. In recent years, prevalence of asthma symptoms became globally increased in children and adolescents, particularly in Low-Middle Income Countries (...LMICs). Host (genetics, atopy) and environmental factors (microbial exposure, exposure to passive smoking and air pollution), seemed to contribute to this trend. The increased prevalence observed in metropolitan areas with respect to rural ones and, overall, in industrialized countries, highlighted the role of air pollution in asthma inception. Asthma accounts for 1.1% of the overall global estimate of “Disability-adjusted life years” (DALYs)/100,000 for all causes. Mortality in children is low and it decreased across Europe over recent years. Children from LMICs particularly suffer a disproportionately higher burden in terms of morbidity and mortality. Global asthma-related costs are high and are usually are classified into direct, indirect and intangible costs. Direct costs account for 50–80% of the total costs. Asthma is one of the main causes of hospitalization which are particularly common in children aged < 5 years with a prevalence that has been increased during the last two decades, mostly in LMICs. Indirect costs are usually higher than in older patients, including both school and work-related losses. Intangible costs are unquantifiable, since they are related to impairment of quality of life, limitation of physical activities and study performance. The implementation of strategies aimed at early detect asthma thus providing access to the proper treatment has been shown to effectively reduce the burden of the disease.
more
The present report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2164 (2014), by which the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and requested me to report to it... every three months on the implementation of the resolution and the progress on the implementation of the Mission’s mandate. The present report covers the period from 17 December 2014 to 19 March 2015.
more
To understand the patterns of Rwanda’s achievements in health development, it is important to explore how Rwanda addresses the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) particularly those related to rou...tine conditions in which people are born, live and work. It is in this particular context that a case study on Rwanda’s Performance in Addressing Social Determinants of Health was conducted by the Rwanda Ministry of Health, with technical and financial support from the World Health Organization (WHO). The overall goal of the exercise was to document Rwanda's recent initiatives that contribute to the advancements of the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health.
more
Submitted to the US Agency for International Development by the Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program. Arlington, VA: Management Sciences for Health. Submitted to the United Nations Children’s Fund by JSI, Arlington, VA: JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc....
This guide will assist program managers, service providers, and technical experts when conducting a quantification of commodity needs for the 13 reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health commodities prioritized by the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children. This quantification supplement should be used with the main guide—Quantification of Health Commodities: A Guide to Forecasting and Supply Planning for Procurement. * This supplement describes the steps in forecasting consumption of these supplies when consumption and service data are not available; after which, to complete the quantification, the users should refer to the main quantification guide for the supply planning step.
more
UNICEF’s 2013 flagship report, The State of the World’s Children, focuses on Children with Disabilities. The report covers a range of thematic areas and attempts to contribute to the global disc...ussion on and draw greater attention to disability rights for children. This thematic note presents excerpts from the report related to Nutrition. All references and original sources can be found in the full report.
more
Standard Treatment Guidelines
High levels of storage iron may increase malaria susceptibility. This risk has not been investigated in semi-immune adolescents. We investigated whether baseline iron status of nonpregnant adolescen...t girls living in a high malaria transmission area in Burkina Faso affected malaria risk during the following rainy season. For this prospective study, we analysed data from an interim safety survey, conducted six months into a randomised iron supplementation trial. We used logistic regression to model the risk of P. falciparum infection prevalence by microscopy, the pre-specified interim safety outcome, in relation to iron status, nutritional indicators and menarche assessed at recruitment.
more