Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease caused by infection with a vector-borne protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania spp. The parasite is transmitted by the bite of an infected phlebotomine sand fly. Infection results in skin lesions which take a long time to heal and may leave per...manent, disfiguring scars (de Vries et al. 2015). CL is classified as a neglected tropical disease (NTD), and in common with several other NTDs, is associated with psychosocial effects including stigma, social exclusion, and declining mental health (Bailey et al. 2019; Bennis et al. 2018; Wenning et al. 2022). Emerging evidence suggests that people with CL are at a higher risk of experiencing anxiety, depression, decreased body satisfaction, loss of social status, and lower quality of life (Bennis et al. 2018; Yanik et al. 2004). The global mean age-standardised disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost by CL was 0.58 per 100,000 people (Karimkhani et al. 2016). Notably, this statistic only considers the physical effects of the lesions and does not account for the potentially considerable psychological and social effects of CL (Bailey et al. 2017; Bailey et al. 2019; Wenning et al. 2022).
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Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis on 24 February 2022, WHO has supported Government-led efforts and initiatives alongside key partners on the ground. Building on efforts to date, and working alongside Bulgaria’s health authorities to bring... added value to existing mechanisms, the WHO Country Office Bulgaria, the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the WHO Health and Migration Programme, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Bulgaria and key partners, undertook a joint review mission to support Bulgaria, with a focus on addressing the health system needs of refugees, migrants, asylum seekers and vulnerable host populations in Bulgaria.
The assessment team developed this report on the key findings and a package of potential interventions based on the opportunities identified and the need for technical support and assistance. The report summarizes concrete areas of work for which collaborations can be further strengthened. The joint review team identified key recommendations for consideration across 8 priority areas. The report and the outcomes of the review mission serve as a basis for future technical collaboration in the area of refugee health, to address the health needs of refugees and third-country nationals fleeing from Ukraine.
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Hand hygiene is vital for safe health care delivery, yet practices at the point of care remain suboptimal worldwide. A comprehensive research agenda is therefore necessary to improve our understanding of factors influencing hand hygiene behaviour an...d to strengthen appropriate interventions. This agenda will provide insightful ideas for researchers to focus their projects and funding proposals and will direct donors towards the areas of hand hygiene evidence that require urgent support and innovation. It will also guide decision-makers and stakeholders at the national and international level and support country efforts in updating and strengthening hand hygiene promotion programmes. Global collaboration and investment in hand hygiene research remain essential to promote safe and effective care worldwide.
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This topic brief highlights how nutrition and healthy diets support the achievement of education and learning objectives, and explains how intervention benefits can be amplified with a whole-school and systems approach. The recommended actions are i...nformed by the Global Standards for health-promoting schools. This evidence-informed resource is intended for national education, health and associated sectors to support the strengthening of national school health programmes.
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This topic brief highlights how nutrition and healthy diets support the achievement of education and learning objectives, and explains how intervention benefits can be amplified with a whole-school and systems approach. The recommended actions are i...nformed by the Global Standards for health-promoting schools. This evidence-informed resource is intended for national education, health and associated sectors to support the strengthening of national school health programmes.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented public health, economic, and social impacts on the international community, and prompted an unprecedented range and size of policy actions globally. Collective efforts, at national, regional, and global le...vels, were called for to contain and mitigate such impacts. The public health response measures alone proved to be insufficient, calling for additional socio-economic policy interventions such as ring-fencing economic activities to contain the spread of the virus. Faced with devastating socio-economic costs, all possible sources of financing, both public and private, have been explored.
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The document presents a systematic analysis of dietary risks and their health impacts in 195 countries from 1990 to 2017. It highlights that suboptimal diets, such as those high in sodium and low in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, significantl...y contribute to non-communicable diseases like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. The study emphasizes the urgent need for improved dietary habits and policy interventions to reduce diet-related mortality and morbidity globally.
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In this systematic review, we aimed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of social media interventions targeting physical activity and/or diet for people with NCDs, the effectiveness of improving exercise and diet behaviours, specific design... components used to promote user engagement and the effectiveness on other health outcomes.
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The primary goal of the guideline is to improve the quality of care and the outcome in people with type 2 diabetes in low-resource settings. It recommends a set of basic interventions to integrate management of diabetes into primary ...ribute-to-highlight medbox">health care. It will serve as basis for development of simple algorithms for use by health care staff in primary care in low-resource settings, to reduce the risk of acute and chronic complications of diabetes. The guideline was developed by a group of external and WHO experts, following the WHO process of guideline development. GRADE methodology was used to assess the quality of evidence and decide the strength of the recommendations.
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Common presentations of other significant mental health complaints include: depressed mood, irritability, anxiety, stress, extreme tiredness, unexplained physical complaints. Other significant mental healt...h complaints are frequently seen in non-specialized health settings, but are often treated inappropriately, with excess investigations and inappropriate medications.
OTH supporting material: Role plays, LIVES intervention, Case scenarios, Alternative relaxation exercises, Multiple choice questions, Video link
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An approach to emergency situations. Relief workers face rapidly changing and complex environments, new disease patterns, enormous humanitarian needs and relatively limited resources. The authors of this book use their experience in the area to produce an operational manual of the issues involved in... refugee health programs. This book is aimed at professionals involved in public health assistance to refugees and displaced persons. It deals with a variety of specific refugee health issues at the decisional level, and discusses the priorities of intervention during the different phases of a refugee crisis, from emergency to repatriation.
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A broad range of UNHCR’s key priorities overlap with MHPSS issues – for example, child protection and sexual and gender-based violence [SGBV] prevention and response.
Despite all these existent synergies, UNHCR’s current policies and guidelines do not sufficiently link with MHPSS principles.... For example, the Community Services section, which is closely aligned to the principles of MHPSS and could be well-positioned to guide the implementation of related programs, has not adopted the MHPSS language or approach.
There are opportunities for UNHCR to engage more strongly and clearly in this field. However, this requires a vision for how the organisation as a whole, and particular sectors within the organisation, will engage within the field of MHPSS activities. For a start, UNHCR can work to improve its understanding and framing of mental health and psychosocial issues, and how these issues fit within its broader mandate.
While the majority of MHPSS activities are delivered by implementing partners, UNHCR staff require familiarity with core principles in the field, such as the Intervention Pyramid contained in the IASC Guidelines, in order to support and monitor quality MHPSS activities.
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OpenWHO is WHO’s new interactive, web-based, knowledge-transfer platform offering online courses to improve the response to health emergencies. OpenWHO enables the Organization and its key partners to transfer life-saving knowledge to large number...s of frontline responders.
On this platform you find online courses on: Pandemic and epidemic-prone diseases; Incident Management System; MERS; Ebola; Public Health Interventions; Risk communication; Predeployment training GO; ZIKA; Influenza
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This research paper uses the Health Resources and services Availability Mapping System (HeRAMS) database to develop two composite indices – one for health centres and one for hospitals – ...in order to analyse and assess the health facilities’ performance across time and to evaluate the disparities among regions in the Syrian Arab Republic. The indices will provide an evidence-based tool for the main actors in the health sector to identify gaps, to intervene accordingly and to assess the impact of their interventions on the health system. The process of constructing the indices includes description and selection of variables, application of normalization techniques and weighting methods, and sensitivity analysis.
A literature review, analysis of the scope of the HeRAMS database, analysis of the crisis situation, data limitation and expert consultations were the main aspects of the construction process of the indices.
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As the culminating volume in the DCP3 series, volume 9 will provide an overview of DCP3 findings and methods, a summary of messages and substantive lessons to be taken from DCP3, and a further discussion of cross-cutting and synthesizing topics across the first eight volumes. The introductory chapte...rs (1-3) in this volume take as their starting point the elements of the Essential Packages presented in the overview chapters of each volume. First, the chapter on intersectoral policy priorities for health includes fiscal and intersectoral policies and assembles a subset of the population policies and applies strict criteria for a low-income setting in order to propose a "highest-priority" essential package. Second, the chapter on packages of care and delivery platforms for universal health coverage (UHC) includes health sector interventions, primarily clinical and public health services, and uses the same approach to propose a highest priority package of interventions and policies that meet similar criteria, provides cost estimates, and describes a pathway to UHC.
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1. MYTH: Sexual violence is just another stressor in populations exposed to extreme stress: there is no need to do anything special to address sexual violence | 2. MYTH: The most important consequence of sexual violence is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 3. MYTH. Concepts of mental disorders ...– such as depression and PTSD – and treatment for mental health problems have no relevance outside western cultures | 4. MYTH: All sexual violence survivors need help for mental health problems | 5. MYTH: Mental health and psychosocial supports should specifically target sexual violence survivors | 6. MYTH: Vertical (stand-alone) specialized services are a priority to meet the needs of sexual violence survivors | 7. MYTH: The most important support is specialized mental health care | 8. Only psychologists and psychiatrists can deliver services for sexual violence survivors | 9. MYTH: Any intervention is better than nothing | 10. MYTH: Only the victim/survivor suffers as a result of sexual violence
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MIHN is a community of mental health innovators - researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, service user advocates, and donors from around the world - sharing innovative resources and ideas to promote mental ...ox">health and improve the lives of people with mental, neurological and substance use disorders.
MHIN aims to facilitate the development and uptake of effective mental health interventions by: Enabling learning; Building partnerships; Synthesizing and disseminating knowledge; Leveraging resources
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Public Health is the science field dedicated to promoting health and well-being, and preventing disease within the human population to ultimately increase the quality of our livelihood and life span.... Public Health does not focus on individual patients or diseases, but rather a given population and health system. The discipline is community-centered in its interventions and seeks to improve the health status of whole populations...
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The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging health systems across the world. Rapidly increasing demand for care of people with COVID-19 is compounded by fear, misinformation and limitations on the movement of people and supplies that disrupt the delivery o...f frontline health care for all people...
This guidance addresses the specific role of community-based health care in the pandemic context and outlines the adaptations needed to keep people safe, maintain continuity of essential services and ensure an effective response to COVID-19. It is intended for decision-makers and managers at the national and subnational levels and complements a range of other guidance, including that on priority public health interventions, facility-based care, and risk communication and community engagement in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Community Health Systems (CHS) Catalog is a resource that provides information on community health program workers, and interventions for the ...25 countries deemed priority by USAID’s Of of Population and Reproductive Health. It comprises a compilation of 25 country profiles developed from a desk review of community health policies, strategies, a related documentation.
This document summarizes country trends drawn from the CHS Catalog and highlights interesting and relevant findings
about the global community health policy landscape.
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