ECDC Technical Report, Fourth Update 3 July 2020
This guidance note identifies strategic action for policy-makers and managers at the national, subnational and facility level to address these different challenges.
This document aims to help EU/EEA public health authorities in the tracing and management of persons, including healthcare workers, who had contact with COVID-19 cases. It outlines the key steps of contact tracing, including contact identification, listing and follow-up, in the context of the COVID-...19 response.
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Pandemics and outbreaks have differential impacts on women and men. From risk of exposure and biological susceptibility to infection to the social and economic implications, individuals’ experiences are likely to vary according to their biological and gender characteristics and... their interaction with other social determinants. Because of this, global and national strategic plans for COVID-19 preparedness and response must be grounded in strong gender analysis and must ensure meaningful participation of affected groups, including women and girls, in decision-making and implementation.
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Improvements in water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and wastewater management in all sectors are critical elements of preventing infections and reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as identified in the Global Action Plan to combat AMR. Yet, at present, WASH and wastewater management... actors and improvement actions are under-represented in AMR multi-stakeholder platforms and national action plans (NAPs). This WHO/FAO/OIE technical brief on WASH and wastewater management to reduce the spread of AMR provides a summary of evidence and rationale for WASH and wastewater actions within AMR NAPs and sector specific policy to combat AMR. Evidence and actions are presented in the domains of; coordination and leadership, households and communities, health care facilities, animal and plant production, manufacturing of antimicrobials, and surveillance and research.
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The WHO Global Health Estimates show that nearly half a million deaths (493 471) occurred in the WHO European Region due to violence and injuries in 2016. This represents a decline of 29% from 2000. Injuries account for 5.3% of all deaths and 9.6 of all years of life lost. They are a leading cause o...f death in people aged 15–29 years and the second leading cause of death for young people aged 5–14. The three leading causes of injury deaths are self-directed violence (141 089), falls (83 325) and road-traffic injuries (78 198). Inequalities in injury deaths exist in the Region, with mortality rates 2.4 times higher in males than in females and 1.5 times higher in middle-income compared to high-income countries.
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This document provides a decision-making framework for implementation of mass treatment interventions, active case-finding campaigns and population-based surveys for neglected tropical diseases in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A two-step approach is proposed: a risk–benefit assessment, to ...decide if the planned activity should proceed; and an examination of a list of precautionary measures that should be applied with the aim of decreasing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 associated with the activity, and strengthening the capacity of the health system to manage any residual risk. This guidance note is intended to health authorities, NTD programme managers and their supporting partners.
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2020 was a year like no other. Amidst on-going humanitarian crises, largely fuelled by conflict and violence but also driven by the effects of climate change – such as the largest locust infestation in a generation – the world had to contend with a global pandemic. In less than one year (March-D...ecember 2020), more than 82 million COVID-19 cases and 1.8 million deaths were recorded. In that timeframe, out of the global COVID-19 totals, 30 per cent of COVID-19 cases and 39 per cent deaths were recorded in GHRP countries.
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The publication provides an overview and analysis of international instruments that set standards related to the use of antimicrobials across the human, animal and plant sectors, and their release into the environment. The purpose of the document is to identify existing instruments and standards in ...order to guide both their implementation and to inform discussions and direction for future international instruments related to antimicrobial use.
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“Preferred product characteristics” (PPCs) are key tools to incentivize and guide the development of urgently needed health products. Some of the vector control interventions deployed in complex emergencies and in response to natural disasters – namely insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoo...r residual spraying (IRS) – have already met identified public health needs in more stable settings; other tools such as insecticide-treated tarpaulins have been specifically designed for this use case. Given the diverse mix of existing and potential new interventions and the considerable gaps in the associated evidence base, this PPC aims to clearly articulate the unmet public health needs for tools designed to control malaria transmission in complex emergencies and in response to natural disasters.
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Health Evidence Network synthesis report 72
Technical Note
Recently, the approach to hazardous events has undergone a considerable shift, away from reactive activities focused on managing and responding to events and towards a more proactive process of emergency and disaster risk management (DRM). The ultimate goal of this shift in focus is ...to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks, a process known as disaster risk reduction (DRR), while strengthening individual, community, societal and global resilience.
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The 2019 ANA’s Principles for Nurse Staffing, Third Edition, identifies major elements needed to achieve appropriate nurse staffing, which enhances the delivery of safe, quality health care. These principles are grounded in the substantive and growing body of evidence that demonstrates the link be...tween appropriate nurse staffing and better patient outcomes and apply to all types of nurse staffing at every practice level in any healthcare delivery setting. Focused on addressing the complexities of appropriate nurse staffing decisions, the principles and supporting material in this publication will guide nurses and other decision-makers in identifying and developing processes and policies needed to improve nurse staffing.
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UNHCR’s Public Health Strategy 2021-2025 is based on the lessons learnt, and builds on the achievements, of the Global Strategy for Public Health 2014-2018.
Progress was made on policies favouring inclusion and integration into national systems3 with 92% of 48 operations surveyed reporting refuge...es having access to national primary health care facilities under the same conditions as nationals and 96% reporting refugees having access to all relevant vaccines under the same conditions as nationals. While many refugee hosting countries have policies that allow refugees to access national health services, many face partial access, prohibitive out-of-pocket expenditures and other barriers including distance to facilities, language and provider acceptance. Furthermore, more work is needed on strengthening these systems to be able to meet the needs of both host communities and refugees.
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The COVID-19 pandemic arrived in an evolving epidemiological context where some countries are experiencing a progressive decrease in HIV positivity in their testing programme as they are moving closer to the first 95 target. Distinguishing changes in HIV testing services due to the COVID-19 pandemic... from those resulting from evolving HIV testing strategies is crucial for adapting services and helping countries define their strategic mix of testing options moving forward. There is a need to focus, prioritize and plan for strategic efforts to prevent going further off the track toward achieving global targets and goals.
To support these efforts, WHO in partnership with ministries of health conducted an in-depth analysis of HIV testing services and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation prior to and during reported COVID-19 disruptions. Additional publicly available Global Fund and PEPFAR data was also reviewed and analysed. This analysis, and coordination with ministries of health, identified key service delivery adaptations utilized during COVID-19-related disruptions and formed the basis of this strategic guide.
This document focuses on current country needs, as well as plans for prioritization and potential surge support needs in the event of future disruptions. Although the data and implications are specific to sub-Saharan Africa, key principles and lessons can be applied elsewhere.
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COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is currently one of the main obstacles to worldwide herd immunity and socioeconomic recovery. Because vaccine coverage can vary between and within countries, it is important
to identify sources of variation so that policies can be tailored to different population groups. ...In this paper, we analyze the results from a survey designed and implemented in order to identify early adopters and
laggers in six big cities of Latin America. We find that trust in government and science, accurate knowledge about the value of vaccination and vaccine effects, perceived risk of getting sick, and being a student
increase the odds to get vaccinated. We also identify potential laggers as women and populations between 20 and 35 years old who are not students. We discuss specific strategies to promote vaccination among
these populations groups as well as more general strategies designed to gain trust. These findings are specific to the context of Latin America insofar as the underlying factors associated with the choice to be
vaccinated vary significantly by location and in relation to individual-level factors.
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English Analysis on World about Climate Change and Environment, Food and Nutrition and more; published on 07 Oct 2021 by IEP
Community health worker teams are potential game-changers in ensuring access to care in vulnerable communities. Who are they? What do they actually do? Can they help South Africa realize universal health coverage? As the proactive arm of the health services, community health workers teams provide ho...usehold and community education, early screening, tracing and referrals for a range of health and social services. There is little local or global evidence on the household services provided by such teams, beyond specific disease-oriented activities such as for HIV and TB. This paper seeks to address this gap.
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