South Africa has faced many challenges over the past two decades, accomplishing profound positive changes in the social structure and government of the nation. This has not yet fully translated into better health for the population, however, particularly the poorest segment. In fact, the p...opulation has lost ground since the 1990s in virtually all important health indicators, leaving South Africa with a high burden of infectious disease.
August 2011, Vol. 101, No. 8 SAMJ
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Antibiotic resistance is no longer a concern for the distant future but is a pressing issue, both globally and in Nepal. As part of global effort to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics, the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP)-Nepal was established to doc...ument the current state of antibiotic access, use and resistance in the country, and to identify policies and actions that could set a course for antibiotic sustainability.
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A new respiratory infectious disease, COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, emerged in early December 2019. Since then, the virus has spread to India and 106 other countries in Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, and Oceania. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) decl...ared the outbreak a pandemic, which has since rapidly evolved. As an economic hub with substantial global connectivity and movement of people and goods, India is directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it is too early to gauge the full spectrum of the outbreak’s social and economic impacts, COVID-19 has already caused lockdowns in China, Korea, and in many countries in Europe, and in some states of India, suspension of schools and universities, disruption of food systems and other supply chains, as well as a slowdown in trade between India and rest of the world.
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Last update: 2 April 2020
Interium guidance, 25 June 2021Timely and accurate diagnostic testing is an essential tool in preventing and controlling the spread of COVID-19. This document describes recommendations for national testing strategies and the use of PCR and rapid antigen tests in different transmission scenarios of t...he COVID-19 outbreak, including how testing might be rationalized in low resource settings. All testing should be followed by a strong public health response including isolating those who test positive and providing them care, contact tracing and quarantine of contacts.
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23 December 2020 This document summarizes WHO recommendations for the rational use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in health care settings and temporary strategies during acute supply shortages. This document also contains 2 Annex sections describing updated PPE use recommendations for health... workers based on the transmission scenario, setting, and activity in the context of COVID-19 (Annex 1), and updated considerations for the decontamination or reprocessing of PPE (Annex 2). This guidance is intended for public health authorities, organizations, and focal persons involved in decisions regarding PPE distribution, management, and use by health workers.
Available in Arabic, French, English, Spanish and Russian
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Un enfoque práctico para elaborar políticas y estrategias destinadas a mejorar la calidad de la atención
La elaboración, mejora y ejecución de las políticas y estrategias nacionales de calidad son una prioridad para los países que se esfuerzan por mejorar el desempeño de sus sistemas de sal...ud. El creciente impulso hacia la cobertura universal de salud se acompaña de la correspondiente conciencia de que un mejor acceso requiere esfuerzos orientados a mejorar la calidad de los servicios de salud para lograr las mejoras deseadas en los resultados en materia de salud. Los países están solicitando asesoramiento para orientar sus esfuerzos en relación con las políticas y estrategias nacionales de calidad. Están adoptando diversos enfoques con múltiples puntos de entrada para mejorar la calidad, y muchos de ellos también están centrando su atención en el nivel subnacional como un ámbito de acción. Sin embargo, el objetivo sigue siendo el mismo: aumentar la calidad de la atención de salud como un punto de entrada crucial para el fortalecimiento de los sistemas de salud, y en último término lograr mejorar la salud de la población.
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Date issued: 14 April 2020
The Global Fund is committed to ensuring that input from those closest to and living with HIV, tuberculosis and malaria are included in every funding request to the Global Fund. Their input is critical to ensuring that programs are effective and designed to help those m...ost impacted.
Inclusive country dialogue and the engagement of civil society, communities, and key and vulnerable populations in the development of funding requests remains a requirement for receiving financing from the Global Fund.
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The guide seeks to address questions about how we can face local communication challenges presented by the pandemic, and how communicators respond effectively to the situation through supporting our communities to cope and to protect themselves. This guide aims to provide insights for a wide range o...f local communicators on the community level. It covers the need for knowing and communicating the facts coronavirus, understanding the pandemics’ timeline and accompanying communication phases, and accessing resources and materials; it also contains information about what needs communicating and key messages, and consideration about communication design options for appropriate communication routes and methods and essential communication planning
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27 March 2020
Countrys: World and Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia
The restrictions on movement imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic constitute one of the largest single global challenges that the humanitarian community has ever encountered. Maintaining continuity and quality in the delivery of e...ssential assistance and services, including protection services, in the face of these restrictions requires operations to quickly innovate, leveraging fully the rich capacities and established networks within both communities of persons of concern, as well as host communities.
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Accessed: 01.05.2020
El 11 de marzo de 2020 la OMS (Organización Mundial de la salud) ha declarado el CORONAVIRUS - COVID 19 como una pandemia mundial después que el número de afectados fuera de China se haya multiplicado por 13 en dos semanas y el de los demás países se haya triplicado en e...ste mismo periodo
El 26/02/2020 se ha identificado el primer caso de coronavirus en Colombia de una paciente de 19 años proveniente de Milán, Italia y desde la fecha hasta hoy el número de casos se ha multiplicado exponencialmente en el país.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging health systems across the world. Rapidly increasing demand for care of people with COVID-19 is compounded by fear, misinformation and limitations on the movement of people and supplies that disrupt the delivery of frontline health care for all people...
This g...uidance addresses the specific role of community-based health care in the pandemic context and outlines the adaptations needed to keep people safe, maintain continuity of essential services and ensure an effective response to COVID-19. It is intended for decision-makers and managers at the national and subnational levels and complements a range of other guidance, including that on priority public health interventions, facility-based care, and risk communication and community engagement in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This brief considers the rationale for shielding individuals at high risk of severe disease or death from COVID-19 in low- and middleincome countries. It provides an overview of proposed approaches to shielding, discusses the categories of individuals who may be identified for shielding, and outline...s the likely difficulties of these measures and ways to mitigate them.
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How should humanitarian organisations prepare and respond to COVID-19 in humanitarian settings in low- and middle-income countries?
This Rapid Learning Review outlines 14 actions, insights and ideas for humanitarian actors to consider in their COVID-19 responses. It summarises and synthesises the... best available knowledge and guidance for developing a health response to COVID-19 in low- and middle-income settings as at April 2020
The paper, supported by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock, will be updated throughout 2020 to reflect emerging knowledge and evidence on the most effective approaches to respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
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his revision to the Disaster Management Team’s (DMT) multi-sector response plan for COVID-19 is meant to align the multi-sector plan with the Department of Health’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Plan issued on 24 April 2020. Additionally, at the time of this version, the Department of Education an...d Department for Community Development and Religion have also issued their own national COVID-19 response and recovery plans.
The Government’s plan maintains a health sector focus and plans for a ‘worst case’ scenario, articulating the process of progressing into containment and subsequently mitigation of community transmission and on to recovery. It presents an opportunity to improve the core capacities of the whole of government, to see where both health and non-health sectors fit in and respond in the immediate and medium terms, and to adapt to the ‘new normal’ that this coronavirus has inevitably presented
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a systematic review and meta-analysis Derek K Chu et al. on behalf of the COVID-19 Systematic Urgent Review Group Effort (SURGE) study authors.
Published: The Lancet June 01, 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016S0140-6736(20)31142-9
'We did a systematic review of 172 observational studies in health-...care and non-health-care settings across 16 countries and six continents... Physical distancing of 1 m or more was associated with a much lower risk of infection, as was use of face masks (including N95 respirators or similar and surgical or similar masks [eg, 12–16-layer cotton or gauze masks]) and eye protection (eg, goggles or face shields)...'
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This document presents a brief overview of how UNHCR adapts its activities for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) to the changing context of the pandemic. Staff of UNHCR and partners, in country offices in all regions of the world, have developed innovative field practices to continue pr...oviding essential MHPSS services to refugees. The examples in this document are testimony to the commitment and creativity of our staff and can serve as inspiration and encouragement for others to continue integrating MHPSS in the humanitarian work during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Physical distancing measures are important to reduce COVID-19 transmission. However, when stringently applied, they can result in negative health and socio-economic impacts. This report draws on a rapid review of available literature, case studies from across Africa and expert knowledge to make reco...mmendations on adapting classic physical distancing measures to the contextual realities in Africa and on mitigating potential negative impacts.
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This revision to the Disaster Management Team’s (DMT) multi-sector response plan for COVID-19 is meant to align the multi-sector plan with the Department of Health’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Plan issued on 24 April 2020.