This document describes the essential interventions in mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) that should be developed on an intersectoral basis in countries and communities. Its frame of reference is the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) intervention pyramid for MHPSS services. The pyr...amid shows different levels of support, ranging from social considerations, safety, and basic needs, to the provision of specialized services for the management of more severe conditions, as well as the probable volume of demand at each established level.
Available in Spanisch, Portuguese and English
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This operation update provides a summary of key results achieved against the IFRC Syria Complex Emergency Plan of Action covering 13-month period, from 1 June 2019 to 30 June 2020.
The World Health Organization organized a Consultation of National Leprosy Programme managers, partners and affected persons to discuss the draft Global Leprosy Strategy, 2021--2030. This virtual event took place from 26 ...ghlight medbox">to 30 October 2020. It was attended by more than 450 stakeholders. Contributions were shared through 70 presentations made by stake holders from all Regions. The presentations covered the key strategic approaches: global context, challenges in countries, contact tracing and post exposure prophylaxis, disability care, interruption of transmission and elimination of disease, stigma and d iscrimination, research. In addition to numerous comments received through the chat box and by email, the conclusions and recommendations of this Consultation will guide finalizing the post 2020 Global Leprosy Strategy.
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22 December 2020
The COVID-19 vaccine safety guidance manual has been developed upon recommendation and guidance of GACVS members, as well as by experts incorporating current and available information critical to all stakeholders when COVID-19 vac...cines will be introduced.
For ease of use, the manual is available in a compiled form and in several separate modules that can be consulted individually. For each module, specific training material is also available to facilitate implementation.
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A module from the suite of health service capacity assessments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemicINTERIM GUIDANCE5 February2021
The Community needs, perceptions and demand: community assessment toolcan be used by countries to conduct a rapid p...ulse survey of community health needs and perceptions around effective use of essential health services during the COVID-19 outbreak. The assessment helps to establish an early warning system on the need to implement coping strategies to continue to respond to communities’ health needs throughout the course of the pandemic. This assessment tool is informed by WHO and partner tools and guidance on community health needs, continuity of essential health services and readiness planning for COVID-19
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Interim guidance2 November 2020
This interim guidance, originally entitled “Harmonized health service capacity assessments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic”, is an update to the earlier version published on 31 ...May 2020 as “Harmonized modules for health facility assessment modules in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic”. In this update, module content has been further refined and developed
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Summary of the main report: Direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 pandemic and response in South Asia .
It uses a series of exercises based on actual observed changes in services and intervention coverage to model impacts on mortality, hospita...lizations, and ICU admissions due to COVID-19. It also models the impact of nationwide stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of COVID-19 on maternal and child mortality, educational attainment of children, and the region’s economy. The study focuses on South Asia’s six most populous countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and makes the case for interventions and strategies to minimise these indirect consequences.
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Interim Guidance October 2022. This addendum addresses some of the methodological aspects of VE evaluations that have been learned during the past year, as well as those that have become relevant in the current epidemiological setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some of the COVID-19 vaccine method...ology issues there are still insufficient data to make a recommendation, in which case different options for approaching VE evaluations are presented.
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Refugees and migrants face unacceptable and extreme forms of violence on mixed migration routes from East and West Africa to and through North Africa. This report provides clear and strong findings based on almost 16,000 interviews with refugees and... migrants all along the migration routes. It provides clear data on the extent to which refugees and migrants face various violations of their rights, and identifies who are generally reported to be responsible and should thus be held accountable.
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Sudan has a long history of hosting refugees and asylum seekers with 991,787 individuals, 51 per cent female and 53 per cent children, expected to live in Sudan by the end of 2020.
COVID-19 Vaccines: 1 Safety Surveillance 2 Manual
While there is no indication that pregnant women have an increased susceptibility to infection with SARS-CoV-2, there is evidence that pregnancy may increase the risk of severe illness and mortality... from COVID-19 disease in comparison with non-pregnant women of reproductive age. As seen with non-pregnant women, a high proportion of pregnant women have asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe disease is associated with recognized medical (e.g., high body-mass index (BMI), diabetes, pre-existing pulmonary or cardiac conditions) and social (e.g., social deprivation, ethnicity) risk factors. Pregnant women with symptomatic COVID-19 appear to have an increased risk of intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation and death in comparison with non-pregnant women of reproductive age, although the absolute risks remain low. COVID-19 may increase the risk of preterm birth, compared with pregnant women without COVID-19, although the evidence is inconclusive.
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The document is structured into five sections. The first presents the key experiences and challenges that justify a renewal of the EPHFs. The second section updates the groundwork for the exercise of public health and provides a framework to inform ...the exercise of the new essential functions. The third section proposes a new integrated approach for implementing the EPHFs. The fourth section presents a new list of 11 EPHFs related to each stage of this integrated approach. Finally, in the last section, considerations are put forth to guide EPHF implementation as a means of strengthening the health sector.
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The COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) 2021 Monitoring and Evaluation Framework tracks global progress against the COVID-19 SPRP 2021 for the ten pillars of the public health response. The operational intelligence complements the epidemiologic information used ...ibute-to-highlight medbox">to drive a global dynamic system of support and response. Monitoring SPRP 2021 implementation will support countries, partners and WHO in strategic thinking, operational tracking and course correction based on evidence and transparency to strengthen the response to COVID-19.
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Since the emergence of COVID 19 in December 2019, various public health responses measures have been implemented to control the pandemic. Among measures taken by the Africa CDC was the launch of PACT initiative ...dbox">to accelerate COVID 19 testing. Key to the initiative is the engagement of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in risk communication and community engagement (RCCE), surveillance activities for early case identification, contacts tracing and in facilitating referrals for testing and continuum of care.
As of 31 May 2021, Through PACT support, over 17154 CHWs have been trained and locally deployed in 24 AU Member states. The PACT supported CHWs visited more than 2,568,654 households for community engagement activities, active case search and contact tracing, identified 1,618,601 Contacts, 710,167 COVID 19 suspect cases based on the standard case definition and facilitated referrals for 553053 (78%) suspect cases for testing. These efforts were crucial for early identification and isolation of cases in limiting further transmission.
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This quick guide offers basic information about COVID-19, the Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine and what to
expect following vaccination: ...
Brazilian media and science communicators must understand the main characteristics of misinformation in social media about COVID-19, so that they can develop attractive, up-to-date and evidence-based content that helps ...light medbox">to increase health literacy and counteract the spread of false information.
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The 2021 COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for AFR serves as a regional guide for a holistic public health response to COVID‑19 at regional, national and sub-national levels. The 2021
SPRP:
1. Builds upon the lessons learn...t from the implementation of the 2020 SPRP and outlines a regional preparedness, response and recovery strategy for COVID‑19.
2. Has been adapted to reflect the Regional context including COVID-19 vaccination. It also considers epidemiological changes and recommen-dations emerging from the evaluation report of the 2020 SPRP4.
3. Highlights to Member States strategic preparedness and response actions to be sustained at national and sub-national levels, as well as the critical inter-agency and partner support required.
4. provides the indicative resource requirements to reinforce WHO planned interventions in the African Region to enhance countries’ capacities to suppress transmission, save lives and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on people and health systems.
5. Provides a road map for mitigating potential resurgence in the Region as economies reopen and ensure country level continuity of other essential health services.
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A study conducted by the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on older persons both globally and in the African region. Although overall the region’s population is younger relative to...pan> many other world regions, the WHO AFRO region has a population just over 62 million older people and is ageing rapidly, with the number of older people expected to triple in the next three decades (Aboderin et al., 2020).
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The humanitarian-development-peace nexus (HDPNX) is a new way of working that offers a framework for coherent joined-up planning and implementation of shared priorities between humanitarian development and peacebuilding actors in emergency settings. ...To advance the HDPNx in a given country a shared foundational understanding of the current situation is needed. However it can be challenging to find such a resource perpetuating poor understanding planning and operationalization. This is one of a series of country profiles that have been developed by WHO to address that need. Each profile provides an overview of health-related nexus efforts in the country and will be updated regularly.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat that requires urgent
collaborative action within and among countries. As a result of the worldwide reports of the increasing rates of AMR to hospital and community-acquired infections and in the agr...icultural sector, the Global Action Plan on AMR was adopted in 2015. T
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