Some observers have described the coronavirus pandemic as an 'Anthropocene disease,' thereby highlighting its connection with this new ecological era that is characterised by the considerable pressure human activities are exerting on ecosystems and the consequences on public health, society and the ...environment. This article focuses on the recent emergence of the 'Planetary Health' paradigm. Launched by the Rockefeller Foundation and the medical journal The Lancet, Planetary Health is one of the most ambitious attempts in recent years to systematize global health in the Anthropocene. While recognising the interest and necessity of reflecting on human health and the health of the planet, this article aims to show, however, that the Planetary Health paradigm is problematic and aporetic for two reasons. First, because it is based on a scientistic and depoliticised conception of the Anthropocene, which obscures capitalism's responsibility for the contemporary global and, especially, ecological crisis. Second, because this conception leads to a promotion of solutions that are essentially based on the financialization and technoscientific management of the living world - precisely the underlying cause of the degradation of ecosystems and living conditions that created the Anthropocene in the first place. A different kind of 'planetary health' remains possible and desirable.
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Interim guidance for entomologists.
This document describes selected sampling methods that can be used to conduct surveillance of Aedes mosquitoes, pupae and oviposition. It is intended for qualified entomologists at national and sub-national level... who are responsible for the surveillance of local Aedes populations.
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The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) is a generic assessment instrument developed by WHO to provide a standardized method for measuring health and disability across cultures. It was developed from a comprehensive... set of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) items that are sufficiently reliable and sensitive to measure the difference made by a given intervention.
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Staying safe in spite of a disaster. What can you do for your safety in the event of a disaster?
In spring 2013, after weeks of rain, whole areas of southern, eastern and northern Germany were beset by catastrophic floods. Settlements vanished in th...e floods up to the roofs of the houses, tens of thousands of emergency personnel and volunteers struggled against the water with sandbags. Villages and parts of towns had to be evacuated, and the citizens were only able to take the essentials with them.
Disasters are part of life. Almost every day, we can read about disasters and largescale emergencies in a variety of media and see the images of destruction and suffering. These are not just major disasters which affect large areas for a long time. Local torrential rain, a severe storm, an electric power breakdown resulting from such a storm, or a house fire can trigger a very personal disaster for each individual, each family, which has to be overcome. Take the time to contemplate your personal emergency planning.
This brochure aims to help you to develop your personal preparedness plan.
The brochure is also available in different languages: https://www.bbk.bund.de/DE/Service/Publikationen/Broschürenfaltblätter/Ratgeber_node.html
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In December 2019 a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was identified as the causative agent of a severe acute respiratory illness among people exposed in a seafood market in Wuhan, China; • Human-to-human transmission has been documented, including in ...healthcare workers, and aerosol-generating procedures (AGP)† may play a role in the spread of the disease; • There are uncertainties in the natural history of the 2019-nCoV, including source(s), transmissibility mechanisms, viral shedding, and persistence of the virus in the environment and on fomites; • As of 6 February 2020, the following precautions are recommended for the care of patients with suspected or confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV: o For any suspected or confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV: standard + contact + droplet precautions o For any suspected or confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV and AGP: standard + contact + airborne precautions • The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by healthcare workers requires an evaluation of the risk related to healthcare-related activities;
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The semi-structured guided interviewing on ICU nurses in a medical center of southern Taiwan wasapproved by the IRB at the research department of the hospital and data collection was carried out from January toJune 2012. The investigator repeatedly read the transcribed text, and found statements rel...evant to the themes in thetranscriptions to form significant statements as the basis of data analysis. To ensure the rigor of this study, theinvestigator adopted the approach of trustworthiness of qualitative research proposed by Lincoln and Gu.
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This article provides an overview of the current and projected climate change risks and impacts to mental health and provides recommendations for priority actions to address the mental health conseq...uences of climate change.
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Mosquito-borne diseases are expanding their range, and re-emerging in areas where they had subsided for decades. The extent to which climate change influences the transmission suitability and population at risk of mosquito-borne diseases across diff...erent altitudes and population densities has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to quantify the extent to which climate change will influence the length of the transmission season and estimate the population at risk of mosquito-borne diseases in the future, given different population densities across an altitudinal gradient.
The Lancet Planetary Health Volume 5, ISSUE 7, e404-e414, July 01, 2021
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Sleeping sickness is controlled by case detection and treatment but this often only reaches less than 75% of the population. Vector control is capable of completely interrupting HAT transmission but is not used because of expense. We conducted a full scale field trial of a refined vector control tec...hnology. From preliminary trials we determined the number of insecticidal tiny targets required to control tsetse populations by more than 90%. We then carried out a full scale, 500 km2 field trial covering two HAT foci in Northern Uganda (overall target density 5.7/km2). In 12 months tsetse populations declined by more than 90%. A mathematical model suggested that a 72% reduction in tsetse population is required to stop transmission in those settings. The Ugandan census suggests population density in the HAT foci is approximately 500 per km2. The estimated cost for a single round of active case detection (excluding treatment), covering 80% of the population, is US$433,333 (WHO figures). One year of vector control organised within country, which can completely stop HAT transmission, would cost US$42,700. The case for adding this new method of vector control to case detection and treatment is strong. We outline how such a component could be organised.
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Mycetoma is a chronic infectious disease of the subcutaneous tissue with a high morbidity. This disease has been reported from countries between 30°N and 15°S since 1840 but the exact burden of disease is not known. It is currently unknown what the incidence, prevalence and the number of reported ...cases per year per country is. In order to estimate what the global burden of mycetoma is, a meta-analysis was performed. In total 50 studies were included, which resulted in a total of 8763 mycetoma cases. Most cases were found in men between 11 and 40 years of age. The foot was most commonly affected.
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Background: COVID-19 is a global public health crisis that affects all sectors; studying the impact of this pandemic on the delivery of cardiology services in Africa is crucial as COVID-19-related cardiovascular complications may worsen the CVD burden in this already highly affected and resource-lim...ited continent
Methods: This was a cross-sectional e-survey study conducted amongst cardiologists in African countries. The primary outcome was the change in service delivery in African cardiology units during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The secondary outcomes were the satisfaction of cardiologists with regards to the workload and factors associated with this satisfaction.
Results: There was a significant reduction in working time and the number of patients consulted by week during this pandemic (p<0.001). In general, there was a decrease in the overall activities in cardiovascular care delivery. The majority of cardiology services (76.5%) and consulting programs (85%) were adjusted to the pandemic. Only half of the participants were satisfied with their workload. Reconfiguration of the consultation schedule was associated with a reduced satisfaction of participants (p=0.02).
Conclusions: COVID-19 is associated with an overall reduction in cardiology services rendered in Africa. Since the cardiovascular burdens continue to increase in this part of the World and the risk of cardiovascular complications linked to SARS COV2 remains unchanged cardiology, departments in Africa should anticipate a significant surge of cardiology services demanded by patients after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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There is increasing interest in understanding the role of air pollution as one of the greatest threats to human health worldwide. Nine of 10 individuals breathe air with polluted compounds that have a great impact on lung tissue. The nature of the r...elationship is complex, and new or updated data are constantly being reported in the literature. The goal of our review was to summarize the most important air pollutants and their impact on the main respiratory diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, lung cancer, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, respiratory infections, bronchiectasis, tuberculosis) to reduce both short- and the long-term exposure consequences. We considered the most important air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, ozone, particulate matter and biomass smoke, and observed their impact on pulmonary pathologies. We focused on respiratory pathologies, because air pollution potentiates the increase in respiratory diseases, and the evidence that air pollutants have a detrimental effect is growing. It is imperative to constantly improve policy initiatives on air quality in both high- and low-income countries.
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This study compared clinical and autopsy findings for three asbestos-related diseases (asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer) in former asbestos mineworkers, and explored factors that influenced agreement between clinical and autopsy findings using data from two compensation systems. In South Afr...ica, statutory compensation for occupational lung diseases in mineworkers makes provisions for autopsy examinations of the cardio-respiratory organs at the National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH) in Johannesburg. In addition, the Johannesburg-based Asbestos Relief Trust and Kgalagadi Relief Trust (the “Trusts”) compensate individuals with defined asbestos-related diseases who worked in or lived near qualifying asbestos mining or processing operations. The Trusts also compensate dependents of deceased qualifying mineworkers and therefore encourage statutory autopsies for the detection of previously undiagnosed asbestos-related disease or disease that may have progressed to higher compensation grades.
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Dolutegravir HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) data from Africa remain sparse. We reviewed HIVDR results of Malawians on
dolutegravir-based antiretroviral therapy (November 2020– September 2021). Of 6462 eligible clients, 33 samples were submitted to S...outh Africa, 27 were sequenced successfully, and 8 (30%) had dolutegravir HIVDR. Malawi urgently requires adequate HIVDR testing capacity.
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This new edition and fully updated publication replaces the 2012 UCG and is being circulated free of charge to all public and private sector prescribers, pharmacists, and regulatory authorities in the country
This regional advocacy strategy on HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infetions (STIs) is intended for use by Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States at a national level. This is an overall advocacy strategy highlighting the most important issues relating ...pan class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">to HIV and AIDS, TB and STIs in the Southern African region. It provides a broad advocacy framework for each of the issues identied, along with key targets, messages, and interventions
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Disease Control Priorities –3rdEdition, Volume 2.
This book focuses on maternal conditions, childhood illness, and malnutrition. Specifically, the chapters address acute illness and undernutrition in children, principally under age 5. It also covers maternal mortality, morbidity, stillbirth, and ...influences to pregnancy and pre-pregnancy. It also includes the transition to older childhood, in particular, the overlap and commonality with the child development volume
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2016-2018 Early implementation,
This report presents 2015 data on the consumption of systemic antibiotics from 65 countries and areas, contributing to our understanding of how antibiotics are used in these countries. In addition, the report documen...ts early efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) and participating countries to monitor antimicrobial consumption, describes the WHO global methodology for data collection, and highlights the challenges and future steps in monitoring antimicrobial consumption.
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Of the 50 antibiotics in the pipeline, 32 target WHO priority pathogens but the majority have only limited benefits when compared to existing antibiotics. Two of these are active against the multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria, which are spr...eading rapidly and require urgent solutions.
Gram-negative bacteria, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli, can cause severe and often deadly infections that pose a particular threat for people with weak or not yet fully developed immune systems, including newborns, ageing populations, people undergoing surgery and cancer treatment.
The report highlights a worrying gap in activity against the highly resistant NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1), with only three antibiotics in the pipeline. NDM-1 makes bacteria resistant to a broad range of antibiotics, including those from the carbapenem family, which today are the last line of defence against antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
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The GAP articulates five objectives for tackling AMR, and sets out the tasks required to achieve them, highlighting
roles and responsibilities for country governments, the One Health Tripartite organizations (FAO, OIE and WHO) and other national an...d international partners. To ensure that all stakeholders assume their roles and responsibilities, and to assess whether they are collectively effecting the necessary change in AMR, the implementation of the GAP needs to be routinely monitored and evaluated. To that end, the Tripartite organizations co-developed a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for the GAP, as outlined in this document
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