The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 118 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover the following events:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Togo
Measles in Chad
Ebola virus disease (EVD) in É...quateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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By providing free mobility-enhancing treatment and equipment, U.S., U.K., and Swiss charity StandProud improves the dignity and social integration of impoverished children and youth with motor disabilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Con...go) .
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For decades, pollution and its harmful effects on people’s health, the environment, and the planet have been neglected both by Governments and the international development agenda. Yet, pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and d...eath in the world today, responsible for an estimated 9 million premature deaths.
The Lancet Commission on pollution and health addresses the full health and economic costs of air, water, and soil pollution. Through analyses of existing and emerging data, the Commission reveals pollution’s severe and underreported contribution to the Global Burden of Disease. It uncovers the economic costs of pollution to low-income and middle-income countries. The Commission will inform key decision makers around the world about the burden that pollution places on health and economic development, and about available cost-effective pollution control solutions and strategies.
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Le présent Plan National de Développement Sanitaire (PNDS) couvre la période 2009-2018. Il s’inscrit dans la perspective de l’accélération de la mise en œuvre des différents programmes de prévention et d’offres de services de santé. S...on objectif est de contribuer à l’atteinte des objectifs du Document de Stratégie de Réduction de la Pauvreté et des Objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement.
Le PNDS 2009-2018 est le document de référence pour l’ensemble des acteurs du secteur de la santé. Je les engage donc, ainsi que tous les partenaires à se l’approprier et à contribuer à sa mise en œuvre performante.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to human and animal health and refers to the ability of microorganisms to defy the medicines prescribed. For instance when antibiotics are used improperly, such as an incorrect dose, insufficient duration or wrong frequency, resistance is heightened. The mi...suse of antimicrobials affects their efficacy, and increasingly more infections and diseases become untreatable. Many gains made in modern medicine throughout the 20th century will be lost, making AMR a global public and animal health issue that requires concerted action. AMR and the use of antimicrobials (AMU) affect food safety and security, people’s livelihoods, as well as economic and agricultural development.
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Introduction: Premier niveau de référence de la pyramide sanitaire du Bénin, les hôpitaux de zone sanitaire s’acquittent de leurs missions dans un contexte difficile. L’objectif de la présente étude a été d’évaluer la performance de l...’hôpital de la zone sanitaire de Comè en 2013.
Pan African Medical Journal. 2014; 18:63 doi:10.11604/pamj.2014.18.63.3465
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The Ministry of Public Health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reported the country’s first case of COVID-19. Health authorities said tests found that a Congolese national, who had recently returned to Kinshasa from his residence ...in France had tested positive for the virus.
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According to the National Institute of Statistics and Demography (NSID) 168,094 persons out of Burkina Faso’s 14,017,262 inhabitants are living with a physical, sensory or mental disability. The numbers are questioned as the effort to collect in-d...epth statistics has not been great. Furthermore, much of the statistics is only collected in more densely populated provinces and towns and not in smaller rural communities. Handicap International (HI) estimates that the number is as high as 7 per cent.
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Personne ne se rend dans un établissement de soins de santé pour tomber malade. On s’y rend pour aller mieux, pour accoucher, pour se faire vacciner. Cependant, des centaines de millions de gens sont confrontés à un risque accru d’infection ...quand ils se font soigner dans des établissements de santé où les services de première nécessité font défaut, y compris les services d’approvisionnement en eau, d’assainissement et d’hygiène (WASH) et les services de gestion des déchets médicaux. Non seulement l’absence de services WASH dans les établissements de santé compromet la sécurité sanitaire des patients et leur dignité, mais il peut éventuellement exacerber la propagation d’infections résistant aux antimicrobiens et compromettre les efforts faits en vue de l’amélioration de la santé maternelle et infantile.
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Au Burkina Faso, les personnes vivant avec le VIH (PvVIH) ont régulièrement recours à des substances naturelles pour traiter certaines infections opportunistes. C’est ainsi que le suc des feuilles fraîches de Mitracarpus scaber Zucc. ex Schult. & Schult. f. (Rubiaceae) et de Senna alata (L.) R...oxb. (Fabaceae) sont utilisés comme antimycosiques. En ce qui concerne le zona et les poussées herpétiques, les feuilles fraîches de Phyllanthus amarus Schumach. & Thonn. (Euphorbiaceae), la sève de Mangifera indica L. (Anacardiaceae), le gel de Aloe buettneri Berger (Liliaceae) et la galle de Guiera senegalensis J.F. Gmel. (Combretaceae), sont les drogues végétales les plus utilisées. Des substances naturelles sont également recommandées par les tradipraticiens de santé pour la récupération immunologique et nutritionnelle, le traitement précoce de l’infection à VIH et la réduction des effets secondaires des traitements ARV (antirétroviral). Il s’agit respectivement pour les plus importantes d’entre elles, des feuilles de Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae), de la pulpe du fruit de Detarium microcarpum Guill. & Perr. (Fabaceae), de la spiruline et du pollen issu de la ruche.
Les substances naturelles pouvant avoir une interaction avec les traitements conventionnels et plus particulièrement avec les médicaments ARV, les plantes contenant des tanins catéchiques, des dérivés 1,8 hydroxyanthracéniques laxatifs et des molécules hépatotropes ou inductrices enzymatiques, sont classées à risque, et leur utilisation par les PvVIH est étroitement surveillée.
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Written by international experts in the fields of infection control and hospital epidemiology, the ISID’s Guide to Infection Control in the Healthcare Setting brings together the most up-to-date principles and interventions that can reduce the rat...e of infection and the impact of associated consequences for patients, their families, and healthcare systems including: lengthier hospital stays; long-term disability; increased anti-microbial resistance; higher financial costs; and unnecessary deaths.
As the field of infection prevention grows in importance and the science supporting it continues to evolve, the Guide’s objectives are to facilitate the implementation of effective prevention and control measures across different resource levels to improve quality of care; minimize risk; save lives; reduce costs; and limit the use of antibiotics to fight these often preventable infections around the world.
The chapters herein are intended to facilitate the implementation of effective infection prevention and control measures across different resource levels, improve quality of care, minimize risk, save lives, and reduce costs.
To explore the Guide click on the sections below to view the chapters. Chapters have been divided into four parts
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In response to the global crisis the WCEA is now distributing Coronavirus courses from some of the world’s leading education providers . The content is being provided free of charge to all registered healthcare professionals.
To access the cour...ses please register for an account. This will be emailed to you.
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Horizon Medical Education produce cpd courses for primary care health workers, mainly aimed at LMI's. They have users in Zambia and other countries in the region. The courses are downloadable audio modules supported by written resources and online t...esting.
In response to the pandemic they are producing free modules about coronavirus, these include what we currently know, how to treat, some public health messages and myth-busting.
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4 April 2020
This interim guidance on oxygen sources and distribution strategies for COVID-19 treatment has been adapted from WHO and UNICEF’s technical specifications and guidance for oxygen therapy devices, which is part of the WHO medical devi...ce technical series. This guidance is intended for health facility administrators, clinical decision-makers, procurement officers, planning officers, biomedical engineers, infrastructure engineers and policy-makers. It describes how to quantify oxygen demand, identify oxygen sources that are available, and select appropriate surge sources to best respond to COVID-19 patients’ needs, especially in low-and-middle income countries.
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30 January 2020
This document outlines the standard operating procedures for detection and response to case/s of suspected novel coronavirus disease (2019-nCoV) in South Africa. The content of this document should inform provincial preparedness p...lans.
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This fact sheet developed by CAWST describes the history of soap, how it’s made, and the two processes for making soap. This fact sheet is available in English, Spanish, and French.
Many children will not be ‘safe to learn at home’: As of April 2020, 91 percent of the world’s students have been affected by school closures due to COVID-19. While schools are often places where violence occurs, they also offer a comparativel...y protective and nurturing space for many children. Especially for the most vulnerable learners -the poorest and most left behind- that rely on school not only for learning and development, but also for food, trusted and accurate information on important issues such as hygiene, and their overall physical and mental health.
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This What Matters? edition focuses on Covid-19 rumours circulating in the Rohingya camps of Cox’s Bazar. It explores some of the more common rumours, discusses sources and formats of information, presents community perspectives about rumours and c...ommunication, and suggests approaches to communicating with the Rohingya community about Covid-19.
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Le développement des peuples, tout particulièrement de ceux qui s'efforcent d'échapper à la faim, a la misère, auxmaladie endémiques, à l'ignorance; qui cherchent une participation plus large aux fruits de la civilisation, une mise envaleur p...lus active de leurs qualités humaines; qui s'orientent avec décision vers leur plein épanouissement, est considéréavec attention par l'Eglise. Au lendemain du deuxième Concile œcuménique du Vatican, une prise de consciencerenouvelée des exigences du message évangélique lui fait un devoir de se mettre au service des hommes pour les aiderà saisir toutes les dimensions de ce grave problème et pour les convaincre de l'urgence d'une action solidaire en cetournant décisif de l'histoire de l'humanité.
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In the USA, Catholic Social Teaching is commonly called “the church’s best keptsecret”. And, indeed, did the church’s Social Teaching on the other side of the Atlantic never enjoy the politi...cal and societal importance attributed to it in many European countries for such a long time including, and above all, Germany. Entire generations of Catholic politicians, social scientists, trade unionists andentrepreneurs were shaped by the Social Teachings of their Church in thesecountries, and this moulding has influenced their way of acting to a great extent. This influence can be clearly traced in the socio-economic realm where Catholic SocialTeaching has contributed fundamentally to the rise of what we today – in a cleardividing line to the boundless capitalism of the Anglo-American brand – call theSocial Market Economy.
accessed July 2020
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