The 2023 update of the Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention incorporates new scientific information about asthma based on a review of recent scientific literature by an international panel of experts on the GINA Science Committee. Th...is comprehensive and practical resource about one of the most common chronic lung diseases worldwide contains extensive citations from the scientific literature and forms the basis for other GINA documents and programs.
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The reader acknowledges that this report is intended as an evidence-based asthma management strategy, for the use of health professionals and policy-makers. It is based, to the best of our knowledge, on current best evidence and medical knowledge an...d practice at the date of publication. When assessing and treating patients, health professionals are strongly advised to use their own professional judgment, and to take into account local and national regulations and guidelines. GINA cannot be held liable or responsible for inappropriate healthcare associated with the use of this document, including any use which is not in accordance with applicable local or national regulations or guidelines.
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Asthma is a serious global health problem affecting all age groups. Its prevalence is increasing in many countries, espacially among children. Although some countries have seen a decline in hospitalizations and deaths from asthma, asthma still imposes an unacceptable burden on health care systems, a...nd on society through loss of productivity in the workplace and, espacially for pediatric asthma, disruption to the family.
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Mpox is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the mpox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus closely related to the variola virus that causes smallpox. Mpox was first discovered in 1958 when outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in monkeys kept for research. The first human case was recorde...d in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox and since then the infection has been reported in a number of African countries. Mpox can spread in humans through close contact, usually skin-to-skin contact, including sexual contact, with an infected person or animal, as well as with materials contaminated with the virus such as clothing, beddings and towels, and respiratory droplets in prolonged face to face contact. People remain infectious from the onset of symptoms until all the lesions have scabbed and healed. The virus may spread from infected animals through handling infected meat or through bites or scratches. Diagnosis is confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of material from a lesion for the virus’s DNA. Two separate clades of the mpox virus are currently circulating in Africa: Clade I, which includes subclades Ia and Ib, and Clade II, comprising subclades IIa and IIb. Clade Ia and Clade Ib have been associated with ongoing human-to-human transmission and are presently responsible for outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while Clade Ib is also contributing to outbreaks in Burundi and other countries.
In 2022‒2023 mpox caused a global outbreak in over 110 countries, most of which had no previous history of the disease, primarily driven by human-to-human transmission of clade II through sexual contact. In just over a year, over 90,000 cases and 150 deaths were reported to the WHO. For the second time since 2022, mpox has been declared a global health emergency as the virus spreads rapidly across the African continent. On 13 Aug 2024, Africa CDC declared the ongoing mpox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS), marking the first such declaration by the agency since its inception in 2017.7 This declaration empowered the Africa CDC to lead and coordinate responses to the mpox outbreak across affected African countries. On August 14, 2024, the WHO declared the resurgence of mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) emphasizing the need for coordinated international response.
As of August 2024, Mpox has expanded beyond its traditional endemic regions, with new cases reported in countries including Sweden, Thailand, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Sweden has confirmed its first case of Clade 1 variant, which has been rapidly spreading in Africa, particularly in DRC. The emergence of this new variant raises concerns about its potential for higher lethality and transmission rates outside Africa.
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Enhancing Men’s Role in HIV Prevention
Grounded in the foundations of child centered community development, the success of this strategy will be measured by how individual countries contribute to their child protection systems and partner at various levels to combat violence against chil...dren. This strategy is a result of a highly consultative process that reached children and youth, Plan International staff, external specialists globally and the paper has been put in place with the joint efforts of the global child protection programming reference group.
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La troisième génération de la Stratégie de Coopération de l’OMS avec les Pays (SCP) concrétise le programme majeur de réforme adopté par l’Assemblée mondiale de la Santé pour renforcer... la capacité de l’OMS et faire en sorte que ses prestations répondent mieux aux besoins du pays. Elle reflète le douzième programme général de travail de l’OMS au niveau du pays, vise à assurer une pertinence accrue de la coopération technique de l’OMS avec les États Membres. Elle met l’accent sur l’identification des priorités et des mesures d’efficience pour la mise en œuvre des réformes de l’OMS et de l’agenda de transformation régional. L’agenda de transformation vise à faire de l’organisation sanitaire régionale une institution clairvoyante, proactive, capable de répondre aux attentes, axée sur les résultats, transparente et responsable. Cette génération de SCP tient compte du rôle des différents partenaires, y compris les acteurs non étatiques, dans la fourniture d’un appui aux gouvernements et aux communautés.
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Health is routinely considered in strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and environmental impact assessment (EIA), following requirements of European Union directives and the Protocol on Str...ategic Environmental Assessment to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention). Policy-makers and other sources report that these assessments mostly adopt a biophysical perspective and that few cases consider or define health in a manner which is consistent with the WHO Constitution, by considering the wider social, economic, behavioural and institutional aspects of health. This systematically conducted review of over 333 SEA and EIA cases in the WHO European Region shows that while about 80% of assessments pursue a narrow, biophysical interpretation of health, around 10% consider wider determinants when defining health, and another 10% consider wider determinants of health in the actual assessment. Twelve case studies are presented, literature is reviewed and implications for practice are considered.
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Globally, over two million women live with obstetric fistula with the majority of the cases
being from Africa. In low-resource settings such as Zambia, obstetric fistula (OF) is a visible indicator of
gaps in maternal health care resulting in failure to provide adequate, accessible and quality m...aternal health
care, including family planning, skilled birth attendance, basic and emergency obstetric and neonatal care,
and affordable treatment of fistula. OF is preventable and treatable, and no woman in Zambia should continue to endure the condition. It is therefore necessary that Zambia intensifies national scale up of OF management centers including
community based interventions, train more surgeons and other health workers to provide quality and
affordable care closer to the women who are silently suffering from obstetric fistula.
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his profile is part of a series of Climate Risk Country Profiles developed by the World Bank Group (WBG). The country profile
synthesizes most relevant data and information on climate change, disas...ter risk reduction, and adaptation actions and policies
at the country level. The country profile series are designed as a quick reference source for development practitioners to better
integrate climate resilience in development planning and policy making.
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The WHO Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)’s new Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan targets the end of all kinds of polioviruses by 2018, including the wild and rare vaccine-related strains which cause paralysis among thousands o...f children worldwide. The plan is focused on developing and deploying a shot version of the anti-polio vaccine to replace the current oral variant, which is known to occasionally cause the same disease that it is supposed to prevent. This document is intended for the use of individuals and organizations involved in polio eradication efforts
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