MEDBOX Issue Brief no.23.
The intent of this Issue Brief is to raise awareness about heat waves as a result of climate change and its impact on
<...span class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">health. More information on the topic of climate change and planetary health you can find in our PLANETARY
HEALTH TOOLBOX www.planetaryhealthbox.org
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Conflict, climate crisis and COVID-19 pose great threats to the health of women and children.
A policy brief on the organization of prison health
his Inter Action Review report for the COVID-19 outbreak in Mauritius documents and assesses the country’s capacity to respond to the outbreak and...> identifies the best practices, strengths, gaps and challenges of the national response. Areas requiring improvements or sustained actions have been identified across the 9 strategic pillars of World Health Organization (WHO)’s COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan and an additional pillar for the country’s response beyond health. On an overall, the review aims to enhance and sustain the national response with a particular focus on strengthening the health systems.
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This National Food and Nutrition Policy developed in 2013 builds on several achievements that have improved the status of nutrition ...tribute-to-highlight medbox">and household food security in Rwanda during the past six years. The outlines ambitious but necessary strategies needed to solve serious and
persistent problems including the high prevalence of child stunting and high levels of anaemia in children and women. The NFNP also takes into account major differences in the economic development environment and the higher national and international priority placed on improving nutrition and related household food security problems in the second decade of the new millennium compared to 2007 when the country’s first National Nutrition Policy was adopted.
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Rabies is a global public health problem with important socioeconomic impacts. Human rabies is preventable; almost all cases are transmitted through the bite of a rabid dog. Elimination of ...ss="attribute-to-highlight medbox">human rabies is possible. Technical support and tools are available. This report covers:
- Why investment is needed: key rationale.
- Investment purpose: global elimination of rabies.
- Investment in action: four case examples in Philippines, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Bangladesh.
- Summary results of case examples: Programme similarities and differences, and Health impact success stories from case examples.
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Improvements in water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and wastewater management in all sectors are critical elements of preventing infections and red...ucing 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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Nepal has only recently started its journey on the path to an integrated response to the challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Despite this, it is notable that the Nepal ...e-to-highlight medbox">Health Sector Strategy Plan (HSSP)-2 mentions growing antibiotic resistanceas a public health challenge.
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The Government of India is embarking on a mammoth task to prevent COVID-19 spread among communities. The Rapid Evidence Synthesis team received a request to support the planning and development of <...span class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">resources for ensuring preparedness of FLHWs for COVID-19 . The rapid evidence synthesis was conducted in a period of three days.
The findings highlight what we can learn from recent pandemics such that we are prepared for potential scenarios and challenges due to COVID-19. Key issues which decision-makers need to consider, based on available evidence
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There has been no systematic comparison of how the policy response to past infectious disease outbreaks and epidemics was funded. This study aims t...o collate and analyse funding for the Ebola epidemic and Zika outbreak between 2014 and 2019 in order to understand the shortcomings in funding reporting and suggest improvements. Methods: Data were collected via a literature review and analysis of financial reporting databases, including both amounts donated and received. Funding information from three financial databases was analysed: Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Development Assistance for Health database, the Georgetown Infectious Disease Atlas and the United Nations Financial Tracking Service. A systematic literature search strategy was devised and applied to seven databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, HMIC, Global Health, Scopus, Web of Science and EconLit. Funding information was extracted from articles meeting the eligibility criteria and measures were taken to avoid double counting. Funding was collated, then amounts and purposes were compared within, and between, data sources.
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Guidelines
June 2017
HIV strategic information for impact
This document focuses on the management of patients affected by gambiense HAT and
constitutes an update to the WHO therapeutic guidance issued in 2013. The main changes in recommendations concern t...he criteria and methods for deciding the treatment among the new set of therapeutic options and the particular conditions that apply to treatment with fexinidazole, as outlined below. Because HAT is a serious, life-threatening disease and because the efficacy of fexinidazole depends on swallowing the medicine after an appropriate intake of food as well as on completing the full 10-day
treatment schedule, the recommendations regarding fexinidazole administration are considered key elements that must be carefully followed. When the conditions listed in these guidelines are not met for any individual patient, the alternative available treatments should be prescribed.
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Guidelines for national programmes and other stakeholders, for annexes see http://www.who.int/tb/publications/2012/tb_hiv_...-highlight medbox">policy_9789241503006/en/
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National emergency medical teams are the best option for providing immediate and appropriate surge response ...box">for emergencies directly affecting populations, while international teams may help relieve overwhelmed health systems. The efficiency and effectiveness of countries and local authorities in mobilizing existing resources is only as good as the quality of care they are able to provide. This publication serves as a practical guide for teams and aims to compliment emergency response systems, fostering seamless collaboration with all emergency response actors and networks
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Guidelines for national programmes and other stakeholders
Annexes for webposting and CD-Rom dis...tribution with the policy guidelines
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People affected by impairments and disabilities associated with TB are even more likely to belong to marginalized segments of society and are more likely to have their ...light medbox">human rights unprotected. The challenges faced by people affected by TB include the consequences of impairment and disability associated with the disease, its treatment as well as with the stigma and discrimination applied to people affected by TB. There is now compelling evidence that the disease and its treatment affect quality of life and life expectancy even after successful treatment.
The WHO Global Tuberculosis Programme has produced the first policy brief on TB-associated disability, building on the increasing evidence in recent years on the unaddressed needs of people with TB who experience impairment and disability while on TB treatment and after completing TB treatment.
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February 2021.
Improving our response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Africa requires regularly updated information, constant innovation, and considerable support towards research ...attribute-to-highlight medbox">and development (R&D) for priorities that respond to the African realities. Shaping the research agenda and stimulating the generation, translation, and dissemination of valuable knowledge is one of the core functions of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), African Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC), and WHO-AFRO. We need answers to a list of critical research questions that respond to the current realities on the African continent to guide the COVID-19 outbreak control efforts
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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 ...ibute-to-highlight medbox">on older persons both globally and in the African region. Although overall the region’s population is younger relative to 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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Monitoring of implementation of collaborative TB/HIV activities and evaluation of impact is critically important. This requires efficient monitoring and...span> evaluation system so as to establish accountability mechanisms between programmes, the population they serve, and donors. The Guide to monitoring and evaluation for collaborative TB/HIV activities will facilitate this process. The first version of the guide was developed in 2004 placing collaborative TB/HIV activities as integral part of national TB/HIV response. It was revised in 2009 to harmonize the approaches and indicators for monitoring and evaluation across key stakeholders. The current revision builds upon remarkable progress in implementation of collaborative TB/HIV activities and aims to strengthen the implementation further through improved quality of data.
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