the aid library

LIST OPTIONS

Filter

8480

Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Treatment of Heart Failure in Diabetes

Park, J.J. Diabetes & Metabolism Journal (2021) CC

The cardiovascular disease continuum begins with risk factors such as diabetes mellitus (DM), progresses to vasculopathy and myocardial dysfunction, and finally ends with cardiovascular death. Diabetes is associated with a 2- to 4-fold increased risk for heart failure (HF). Moreover, HF patients wit... more

Loss of life expectancy from air pollution compared to other risk factors: a worldwide perspective

Lelieveld, J.; Pozzer, A.; Pöschl, U. et al. Cardiovascular Research (2020) CC

Long-term exposure of humans to air pollution enhances the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. A novel Global Exposure Mortality Model (GEMM) has been derived from many cohort studies, providing much-improved coverage of the exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5). We applied the GE... more

Lessons from the Baltic Alcohol Control Policy Project: policies that contribute to decreasing burden of mortality and disease

World Health Organisation (WHO) World Health Organization (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

This short brief describes the main findings and the key lessons learned from the research project "Evaluation of the impact of alcohol control policies on morbidity and mortality in Lithuania and other Baltic states", funded by the United States National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism fo... more

Guidelines for Addressing Disease Risks in Wildlife Trade

World Organisation for Animal Health WOAH (2024) CC

For thousands of years, humans have been using wildlife for commercial and subsistence purposes. Wildlife trade takes place at local, national and international levels, with different forms of wildlife, such as live animals, partly processed products and finished products. Wildlife is a vital source... more

Access to NCD medicines: emergent issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and key structural factors 2023

World Health Organization WHO (2023) C_WHO

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in the treatment and care of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This report examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to NCD medicines, and the policies and strategies implemented by countries and health sys... more

Chronic Respiratory Disease - Asbestosis

Hall A.G. Mediclinic Southern Africa (2008) CC2

The webpage provides detailed information about asbestosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. It outlines various asbestos-related diseases, including benign and malignant pleural conditions as well as lung cancer. Asbestosis is described as a diffuse fibrotic disease of lung tissue... more

Tobacco and asthma

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2024) C_WHO

This document is the ninth in a series of Tobacco Knowledge Summaries and is prepared with the objective to summarize the current evidence on the association between tobacco use and asthma. This is also intended as an advocacy tool to widely include health care professionals, in particular pulmonolo... more

Beat the heat: Child health amid heatwaves in Europe and Central Asia

UN Children's Fund UNICEF (2024) CC

Beat the heat: child health amid heatwaves in Europe and Central Asia finds that half of these children died from heat-related illnesses in their first year of life. Most children died during the summer months. "Around half of children across Europe and Central Asia – or 92 million children –... are already exposed to frequent heatwaves in a region where temperatures are rising at the fastest rate globally. The increasingly high temperatures can have serious health complications for children, especially the youngest children, even in a short space of time. Without care, these complications can be life-threatening,” said Regina De Dominicis UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia. Heat exposure has acute effects on children, even before they are born, and can result in pre-term births, low birth weight, stillbirth, and congenital anomalies. Heat stress is a direct cause of infant mortality, can affect infant growth and cause a range of paediatric diseases. The report also notes that extreme heat caused the loss of more than 32,000 years of healthy life among children and teenagers in the region. As the temperatures continue to rise, UNICEF urges governments across Europe and Central Asia to: - Integrate strategies to reduce the impact of heatwaves including through National Determined Contributions (NDC), National Adaptation Plans (NAP), and disaster risk reduction and disaster management policies with children at the centre of these plans Invest in heat health action plans and primary health care to more adequately support heat-related illness among children - Invest in early warning systems, including heat alert systems - Adapt education facilities to reduce the temperatures in the areas children play in and equip teachers with skills to respond to heat stress - Adapt urban design and infrastructure including ensuring buildings, particularly those housing the most vulnerable communities are equipped to minimize heat exposure - Secure the provision of safe water, particularly in countries with deteriorating water quality and availability. UNICEF works with governments, partners and communities across the region to build resilience against heatwaves. This includes equipping teachers, community health workers and families with the skills and knowledge to respond to heat stress. more

Победить жару: здоровье детей на фоне тепловых волн в Европе и Центральной Азии

UN Children's Fund UNICEF (2024) CC

Developing respiratory pathogen pandemic preparedness plans

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) (2024) C_WHO

Planning for public health emergencies should ensure that capabilities developed during previous emergencies are maintained, incorporated, and put into practice when a new event of public health concern arises. Investments in pandemic preparedness lead to more rapid detection and a stronger response... more

Worldwide trends in the burden of asthma symptoms in school-aged children: Global Asthma Network Phase I cross-sectional study

Asher, I.; Rutter, C.E.; Bissell, K. et al. The Lancet (2021) CC

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children globally. The Global Asthma Network (GAN) Phase I study aimed to determine if the worldwide burden of asthma symptoms is changing. This updated cross-sectional study used the same methods as the International study of Asthma and Allergies in Chi...ldhood (ISAAC) Phase III. Asthma symptoms were assessed from centres that completed GAN Phase I and ISAAC Phase I (1993–95), ISAAC Phase III (2001–03), or both. We included individuals from two age groups (children aged 6–7 years and adolescents aged 13–14 years) who self-completed written questionnaires at school. We estimated the 10-year rate of change in prevalence of current wheeze, severe asthma symptoms, ever having asthma, exercise wheeze, and night cough (defined by core questions in the questionnaire) for each centre, and we estimated trends across world regions and income levels using mixed-effects linear regression models with region and country income level as confounders. Overall, 119 795 participants from 27 centres in 14 countries were included: 74 361 adolescents (response rate 90%) and 45 434 children (response rate 79%). About one in ten individuals of both age groups had wheeze in the preceding year, of whom almost half had severe symptoms. Most centres showed a change in prevalence of 2 SE or more between ISAAC Phase III to GAN Phase I. Over the 27-year period (1993–2020), adolescents showed a significant decrease in percentage point prevalence per decade in severe asthma symptoms (–0·37, 95% CI –0·69 to –0·04) and an increase in ever having asthma (1·25, 0·67 to 1·83) and night cough (4·25, 3·06 to 5·44), which was also found in children (3·21, 1·80 to 4·62). The prevalence of current wheeze decreased in low-income countries (–1·37, –2·47 to –0·27], in children and –1·67, –2·70 to –0·64, in adolescents) and increased in lower-middle-income countries (1·99, 0·33 to 3·66, in children and 1·69, 0·13 to 3·25, in adolescents), but it was stable in upper-middle-income and high-income countries. Trends in prevalence and severity of asthma symptoms over the past three decades varied by age group, country income, region, and centre. The high worldwide burden of severe asthma symptoms would be mitigated by enabling access to effective therapies for asthma. more

2020 Brazilian Thoracic Association recommendations for the management of asthma

Menezes Pizzichini, M. M.; de Carvalho-Pinto, R. M.; Delfini Cançado, J. E.; et al. (2020) CC2

The pharmacological management of asthma has changed considerably in recent decades, as it has come to be understood that it is a complex, heterogeneous disease with different phenotypes and endotypes. It is now clear that the goal of asthma treatment should be to achieve and maintain control of the... more

Recomendações para o manejo da asma da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia – 2020

Menezes Pizzichini, M. M.; de Carvalho-Pinto, R. M.; Delfini Cançado, J. E.; et al. (2020) CC2

Download (233)

View PDF (519)

COLERA: INFORMAÇA O PARA PROMOTORES DE SAUDE ou ACTIVISTAS

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2019) C2

The PDF "COLERA: Informação para Promotores de Saúde" provides essential guidance for health promoters and activists on cholera. It explains that cholera is characterized by severe watery diarrhea, often resembling rice water, and sometimes vomiting. If not treated promptly, it can lead to death ... more

External Link

Stronger Together: Building Individual and Social Resilience to Cope with the Impacts of Natural Hazard Events

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) (2019) CC

Under the theme “Stronger Together”, the campaign aims to offer information and strategies to assist communities in the region in better coping with the psychological impact of adverse events before, during and after a disaster situation. It also aims to raise awareness to reduce the stigma abou... more

Download (123)

View PDF (148)

Covid-19 pandemic impact on maternal and child health services access in Nampula, Mozambique: a mixed methods research

das Neves Martins Pires P.H. , Macaringue C. , Abdirazak A. et al. BMC Health Services (2021) CC

The Covid-19 pandemic has so far infected more than 30 million people in the world, having major impact on global health with collateral damage. In Mozambique, a public state of emergency was declared at the end of March 2020. This has limited people's movements and reduced public services, leading ...to a decrease in the number of people accessing health care facilities. An implementation research project, The Alert Community for a Prepared Hospital, has been promoting access to maternal and child health care, in Natikiri, Nampula, for the last four years. Nampula has the second highest incidence of Covid-19. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of Covid-19 pandemic Government restrictions on access to maternal and child healthcare services. We compared health centres in Nampula city with healthcare centres in our research catchment area. We wanted to see if our previous research interventions have led to a more resilient response from the community. METHODS: Mixed-methods research, descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective, using a review of patient visit documentation. We compared maternal and child health care unit statistical indicators from March-May 2019 to the same time-period in 2020. We tested for significant changes in access to maternal and child health services, using KrushKall Wallis, One-way Anova and mean and standard deviation tests. We compared interviews with health professionals, traditional birth attendants and patients in the two areas. We gathered data from a comparable city health centre and the main city referral hospital. The Marrere health centre and Marrere General Hospital were the two Alert Community for a Prepared Hospital intervention sites. RESULTS: Comparing 2019 quantitative maternal health services access indicators with those from 2020, showed decreases in most important indicators: family planning visits and elective C-sections dropped 28%; first antenatal visit occurring in the first trimester dropped 26%; hospital deliveries dropped a statistically significant 4% (p = 0.046), while home deliveries rose 74%; children vaccinated down 20%. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated the negative collateral effects of Covid-19 pandemic Government restrictions, on access to maternal and child healthcare services, and highlighted the need to improve the health information system in Mozambique. more

External Link

Air Pollution - WHO

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2022) C_WHO

Accessed on 06.03.2022 Air pollution is contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. Household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities and forest fires are common sou... more

External Link

Comparison of the Influence of Different Nucleic Acid Extraction Assays on the Sensitivity of Trypanosoma cruzi-Specific Real-Time PCR

Kann, S.; Zabala-Monterroza, W.; García, C. et al. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute MDPI (2022) CC

For the molecular diagnosis of Chagas disease by real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction), optimization of diagnostic accuracy is desirable. The detection limit of real-time PCR assays for the diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi in human serum is affected by various influences including the choice of th... more

Download (169)

View PDF (217)

Tracking urban health policies

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

To enhance health co-benefits across urban policies which tackle air pollution and climate change, WHO, in cooperation with various international, national, and local partners, implemented the Urban Health Initiative (UHI) pilot project in Accra, Ghana. The Initiative prompted the health sector to u... more

Download (221)

View PDF (225)

OCHA Policy Brief on Gendered Drivers, Risks and Impacts of Food Insecurity in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2023) CC

It is widely understood that the food insecurity crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing and most neglected crises. It lacks sufficient global focus, resources and urgency. As in so many crises, women and girls are disproportionately affected and shoulder t...he consequences of protracted neglect, with unconscionable impacts on their safety, life chances and agency. Gaining a holistic view of the gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is difficult. This is due to a lack of data and prioritization, and the large geographical and socioeconomic terrain covered by both regions. However, what we do know about this crisis is more than enough to urgently address the needs of women and girls. An OCHA discussion paper on this topic (which will be published imminently, and from which this policy brief is drawn) found that there is: A strong risk of profound regression in gender equality gains made to date in the countries of concern, including on education, sexual and reproductive health, and the economic independence of women and girls (with knock-on effects on broader humanitarian and development outcomes). An increasing challenge to reverse what must be recognized as a protracted and growing gender-based violence (GBV) emergency in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. The food insecurity crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is protracted, multidimensional and highly gendered, with spiralling impacts on gender equality and food security outcomes. It is driven by interwoven and overlapping factors, including climate change, political instability, conflict, socioeconomic conditions, migration and displacement and, more recently, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. Interlinked with these factors are gendered structural drivers of food insecurity, including deeply entrenched gender inequalities and harmful social norms. Gendered risks and impacts of food insecurity include alarming limitations on access to education, sexual and reproductive health rights, women’s agency and participation, and dramatic increases in different existing forms of GBV and the emergence of new ones. Recognition of such gendered dimensions of food insecurity and of the need for a multisectoral approach in the response is key to addressing the crisis, along-side sustained commitment and adequate allocation of resources. This policy brief draws out key findings from the OCHA discussion paper on this topic, which includes a desk review of studies, assessments and reports, and interviews with local women’s organizations on the front lines of the food insecurity crisis in communities across both regions. Below are the most pressing gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity (not in order of priority), as well as key gaps in the current humanitarian response to food insecurity, and recommendations to take forward. more