Mental health problems represent the greatest global burden of disease among children and adolescents. There is, however, lack of policy development and implementation for child
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and adolescent mental health (CAMH), particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where children and adolescents represent up to 50% of populations. South Africa, an upper-middle income country is often regarded as advanced in health and social policy-making and implementation in comparison to other LMICs. It is, however, not clear whether this is the case for CAMH.
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This is a report from a National, representative household survey carried out in Botswana in 2012 – 2014. The study was carried out on behalf of the Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled Persons (FFO), Southern Africa Federation of the
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Disabled (SASFOD) and Botswana Federation of Disabled People (BOFOD). The study was led by Professor Tlamelo Mmatli of the University of Botswana, in collaboration with SINTEF Technology and Society. The study would not have been possible without a strong commitment from the Office of the President of Botswana and support from the Central Statistical Office. The study presents a broad picture of the situation among individuals with disability and households with disabled members in Botswana. It offers comparison with individuals without disability and households without disabled members, between provinces and between genders and locations (urban/rural). The study reveals that households with disabled members and individuals with disability score lower on a range on indicators on level of living.
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The refugee exodus from South Sudan continues at an alarming rate, even as the crisis is entering its fifth year. Close to 2.4 million South Sudanese have fled to neighbouring countries mostly to Uganda—the largest host country in sub-Saharan Africa
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—followed by Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR).
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Proper and dignified management of the dead in disasters is one of the three key pillars of humanitarian response and a fundamental factor in facilitating identification of the deceased
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and helping families discover the fate of their loved ones. This second and updated edition of this hugely successful manual provides practical and easy-to-follow guidelines on the recovery, documentation and storage of the remains of individuals who have died in disasters, helping first responders ensure that the dead are treated with respect and that information crucial for their subsequent identification is recorded. This revised edition incorporates experience gained in recent catastrophes, such as the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the 2014/15 Ebola epidemic in West Africa and the 2015 earthquake in Nepal.
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- Conference summary report
Cystic fibrosis (CF) was earlier thought to be a disease prevalent in the West among Caucasians. However, quite a number of recent studies have uncovered CF cases outside of this region, and report
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ed hundreds of unique and novel variant forms of CFTR. Here, we discuss the evidence of CF in parts of the world earlier considered to be rare; Africa, and Asia. This review also highlighted the CFTR mutation variations and new mutations discovered in these regions. This discovery implies that the CF data from these regions were earlier underestimated. The inadequate awareness of the disease in these regions might have contributed towards the poor diagnostic facilities, under-diagnosis or/and under-reporting, and the lack of CF associated health policies. Overall, these regions have a high rate of infant, childhood and early adulthood mortality due to CF. Therefore, there is a need for a thorough investigation of CF prevalence and to identify unique and novel variant mutations within these regions in order to formulate intervention plans, create awareness, develop mutation specific screening kits and therapies to keep CF mortality at bay.
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of highly contagious viruses (of the Ebola or Marburg type) in the context of an epidemic outbreak in West Africa
Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease of global medical and veterinary importance. As efforts to eliminate schistosomiasis as a public health problem and interrupt transmission gather mome
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ntum, the potential zoonotic risk posed by livestock Schistosoma species via viable hybridisation in sub-Saharan Africa have been largely overlooked. We aimed to investigate the prevalence, distribution, and multi-host, multiparasite transmission cycle of Haematobium group schistosomiasis in Senegal, West Africa.
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dos Santos et al. BMC Public Health 2014, 14:80 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/14/80
MMC Briefing Paper, February 2021
The Lab identifies, develops, and launches sustainable finance
instruments that can drive billions to a low-carbon economy. The
2019 Global Lab Cycle targets four specific sectors across
mitigation and
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adaptation: blue carbon in marine & coastal
ecosystems; sustainable agriculture for smallholders in West and
Central Africa; sustainable energy access; and sustainable cities
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Smallpox eradication was certified in 1980. Mpox has been endemic in Central and West African countries since it was first detected in 1958 . It is
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a zoonosis; cases are often found close to tropical rainforests where various animals carry the orthopoxvirus that causes the disease. In endemic countries, most mpox infections in humans result from a primary animal-to-human transmission. Human-to-human transmission can result from close contact with respiratory secretions, skin lesions of an infected person, or recently contaminated objects. Transmission can also occur via the placenta from mother to fetus or through close contact during and after birth.
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Monkeypox is an emerging viral zoonosis with symptoms similar to those observed in smallpox patients, although less severe. Since the global eradication of smallpox in 1980, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus in humans. The Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research (ACVVR)
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which meets annually to oversee smallpox research has highlighted the importance of diagnostics that could distinguish between variola and other strains of orthopoxviruses, including monkeypox virus. The ACVVR encourages the positive effects of current smallpox research on all orthopoxviruses, specifically monkeypox, such as the development of diagnostic tools.
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BMJ Glob Health 2019;4:e001272. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001272
Trust is an essential component of successful cooperative endeavours. The global health response to the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola o
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utbreak confronted historically tenuous regional relationships of trust. Challenging sociopolitical contexts and initially inappropriate communication strategies impeded trustworthy relationships between communities and responders during the epidemic. Social scientists affiliated with the Ebola 100-Institut Pasteur project interviewed approximately 160 local, national and international responders holding a wide variety of roles during the epidemic
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Taking the whole of Africa approach to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to require coordinated efforts from multiple stakeholders from across the continent.
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Africa CDC would like to acknowledge the deep partnership and continued support of AUDA-NEPAD, AVAREF, WHO AFRO, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Mastercard Foundation. These partners have helped to shape and drive the continent’s strategic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and have offered support to ensure the continent receives a fair and equitable share of the COVID-19 vaccine without delay.
We look forward to continuing and deepening our partnership for the benefit of the public health of Africa.
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his sequel to the Groundswell report includes projections and analysis of internal climate migration for three new regions: East Asia and the Pacific, North
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Africa, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Qualitative analyses of climate-related mobility in countries of the Mashreq and in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are also provided. This new report builds on the scenario-based modeling approach of the previous Groundswell report from 2018, which covered Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. The two reports’ combined findings provide, for the first time, a global picture of the potential scale of internal climate migration across the six regions, allowing for a better understanding of how slow-onset climate change impacts, population dynamics, and development contexts shape mobility trends.
Available in English, French, Arabic, Spanish
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Clinical management standard operating procedures.
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a life-threatening multisystem illness associated with fever and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms that frequently leads to hypovolaemia, metabolic acidosis, hypoglycaemia
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, and multi-organ failure. The prolonged 2013–2016 EVD outbreak in West Africa allowed for an evolution of care such that by outbreak end many patients received individualized and optimized supportive care (oSoC), including volume resuscitation, symptom control, laboratory and bedside monitoring of glucose, electrolyte levels and organ dysfunction, as well as rapid detection and treatment of co-infections, potentially contributing to the downward trend in the case fatality rate (CFR).
This guidance should serve as a foundation for oSoC that should be followed to ensure both the best possible chance for survival and allow for reliable comparison of investigational therapeutic interventions as part of a randomized controlled trial. This guideline provides recommendations for the management of adults and children.
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Report of Meeting: 4 November 2014, Roma