The Global Campaign Against Epilepsy “Out of the Shadows”
Conflicts and disasters, including pandemics, affect women and men in all their diversity differently, and women and girls often suffer the most. Crisis-related hardships combine and compound pre-existing disadvantages,
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for example, they often cause women’s working conditions to worsen while increasing their overall workload and care responsibilities. At the same time, crises can give rise to changes that enable women to take up roles that were previously available only to men, and crises can open opportunities to address existing gender-based discrimination and violations of rights.
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The review’s objectives are to review progress in TB control with emphasis on DOTS strategy implementation, summarize the experience, lessons lea
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rnt and methods of work and to make recommendations for international donors, technical agencies and the Ministry of Health.
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7 Febr. 2021
As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc in countries – decimating people’s livelihoods, and leaving health systems struggling to provide healthcare and vaccines
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for the entire population - governments and donors should look to the Church as a partner. The essential Church networks, trusted and rooted in local communities, can reach the most vulnerable people and remote places where governments often struggle to reach. DR Congo is among several countries where the Catholic Church is the main provider of community health services, particularly in more remote areas.
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The occurrence of a case of wild polio in a previously polio free area as presently in Syria, whether through importation, laboratory accident, or mutation of vaccine virus (VDPV), should be considered a public health emergency, that requires a rapi
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d and high quality response as utmost priority
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Infectious diseases like COVID-19 can disrupt the environments in which children grow and develop. Disruptions to families, friendships, daily routines and
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the wider community can have negative consequences for children’s well-being, development and protection. In addition, measures used to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 can expose children to protection risks. Home-based, facility-based and zonal-based quarantine and isolation measures can all negatively impact children and their families.
The aim of this brief is to support child protection practitioners to better respond to the child protection risks during a COVID-19 pandemic. Part 1 presents the potential child protection risks COVID-19 can pose to children. Part 2 presents programmatic options in line with the 2019 Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) and the Guidance Note: Protection of Children During Infectious Disease Outbreaks.
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Forests, trees and green spaces, hereinafter ‘forests and trees’ for short, provide multiple goods and services that contribute to human health. These include medicines, nutritious foods and oth
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er non-wood forest products (NWFPs). Globally, at least 3.5 billion people use NWFPs, including medicinal plants, which are particularly important for vulnerable groups and Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs).
During periods of crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for forest products typically increases amongst these groups. Forests and trees also contribute to better health by playing a role in climate change
mitigation and adaptation, contributing to regulating the carbon cycle, but also moderating the micro-climate, filtering pollutants from the air and protecting settlements against the effects of extreme events such as droughts and flash floods.
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his Inter Action Review report for the COVID-19 outbreak in Mauritius documents and assesses the country’s capacity
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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 booklet presents key messages for action, summarized from a set of chapters on different environmental health issues, available at www.who.int/ ceh/publications/healthyenvironmentsforhealthychildren.
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The work is a result of an on-going partnership between WHO, UNEP and UNICEF in the area of children’s environmental health, and seeks to update the 2002 joint publication “Children in the New Millennium: Environmental Impact on Health.”
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This report aims to provide Syrian children with a platform to make their voices heard. Their stories highlight the urgent need
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to address the psychosocial well-being of children affected by the Syrian civil war, and in all emergencies
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For close to 15 years, the Monitor has tracked the impact of victim assis
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tance on the lives of victims of landmines, cluster munitions,
and other explosive remnants of war (hereafter “mine/ERW victims”). Over this time, the international community has strengthened its resolve to promote the rights and address the needs of victims through programs and services that are accessible and adequate in quantity, quality, availability, and consistent with the high standards set by human rights as well as other international humanitarian law.
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The use of explosive weapons, such as bombs, rockets, and mortar and
artillery shells, in cities, towns and villages and in other populated areas
has devastating humanitarian consequences. Explosive weapons act mainly
t
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hrough the projection of blast and fragmentation within an area. Their use,
in populated areas, causes severe suffering to civilians, both in terms of
death and serious injury resulting directly from the explosion, and in terms
of damage to property and public infrastructure, which can indirectly affect
civilian well-being and survival, sometimes for many years after a conflict
has ended. Explosive weapons also leave behind explosive remnants that
pose a threat to populations until those remnants are removed. [...] The study finds that the regulation of explosive weapons under international
law and policy is fragmentary and incoherent.
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Overview.
The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest crisis facing the world, but unless humans release their grip on nature, it won’t be
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the last, according to a new report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which includes a new experimental index on human progress that takes into account countries’ carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint.
The report lays out a stark choice for world leaders - take bold steps to reduce the immense pressure that is being exerted on the environment and the natural world, or humanity’s progress will stall.
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This guidelines is aimed at humanitarian and human rights actors engaged in protection work, and is intended to act as an easy reference to the min
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imum standards to be met and the recommended guidelines to be followed in such work.
The 45 standards and 15 guidelines are reproduced in full, together with a short explanation in each case of the main challenges they are designed to address
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The Infection prevention and control in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a living guideline consolidates technical guidance developed and published during
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the COVID-19 pandemic into evidence-informed recommendations for infection prevention and control (IPC). This living guideline is available both online and PDF.
**This version of the living guideline (version 5.0) **includes the following seven revised statements for the prevention, identification and management of SARS-CoV-2 infections among health and care workers:
a good practice statement on national and subnational testing strategies;
a good practice statement on passive syndromic surveillance of health and care workers;
a good practice statement on prioritizing health and care workers for SARS-CoV-2 testing;
a good practice statement on protocols for reporting and managing health and care worker exposures;
a good practice statement to limit in-person work of health and care workers with active SARS-CoV-2 infections;
a statement on high-risk exposures and quarantine; and,
a conditional recommendation on the duration of isolation for health and care workers.
Understanding the updated section
Prevention of infections in the health care setting includes a multi-pronged and multi-factorial approach that includes IPC and occupational health and safety measures and adherence to Public Health and Social Measures in the community by the health workforce. The underlying infection prevention and control strategy of this section is the notion that early identification of symptomatic cases, testing and quarantining/isolating health and care workers decreases the risk of nosocomial infection to patients and to other health and care workers.
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Fully functioning water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and health care waste management services are a critical aspect of infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, and ensuring patient safety and quality of care. Such services are also essential for
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creating an environment that supports the dignity and human rights of all care seekers, especially mothers, newborns, children and care providers.
WASH and waste services are also critical for preventing and effectively responding to disease outbreaks. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in these basic services (Box 1). These gaps threaten the safety of patients and caregivers, and have environmental consequences, especially as a result of large increases in plastic health care waste. In short, WASH is a critical foundation for improving quality across the health system (1).
Many facilities lack plans and budgets for WASH, which has impacts on IPC. This lack of services, and of systems to improve them, compromises the ability to provide safe and quality care, and places health care providers and those seeking care at substantial risk of infection and loss of dignity. Unhygienic health care facilities without drinking water or functional toilets are also a disincentive to seeking care and undermine staff morale – these factors can have a critical impact on controlling infectious disease outbreaks.
Climate change and its impacts on WASH and health services, gender-specific needs, and equity in service provision and management all require rigorous attention, adaptable tools and regular monitoring.
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With its expert practical advice on security in situations of armed conflict, this updated set of guidelines will prove invaluable to humanitarian personnel working at the operational level. Followi
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ng on from the success of the first edition, published in 1999, it addresses new and developing threats such as chemical, biological and nuclear hazards and includes new chapters on, among others, first aid, staying healthy on mission and how international humanitarian law protects humanitarian workers.
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This gender analysis was conducted to understand the different risks and vulnerabilities but also opportunities and skills for Rohingya and host co
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mmunity women, men, boys and girls. Data collection was conducted over three weeks from 8 April to 29 April 2018. The work aimed to identify the different needs, concerns, risks and vulnerabilities of women, girls, boys and men in both Rohingya refugee communities and host communities in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh. The analysis shows various gaps in the humanitarian response for both communities, especially in terms of accountability, communication with affected communities and disaster preparedness, but also in equitable access to services, in particular for women and girls, and especially for the Rohingya community. The key findings are presented below, along with recommendations for action.
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Specific measures are being taken within the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) to address the MDR TB problem through appropriate manage
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ment of patients and strategies to prevent the propagation and dissemination of MDR TB.
The term "Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant TB" (PMDT) refers to programme based MDR TB diagnosis, management and treatment. This guideline promotes full integration of basic TB control and PMDT activities under the NTP, so that patients with TB are evaluated for drug resistance and are placed on the appropriate treatment regimen and properly managed from the outset of treatment, or as early as possible. The guidelines also integrate the identification and treatment of more severe forms of drug resistance, such as extensively drug resistant TB (XDR TB).
At the end, the guideline introduces new standards for registering, monitoring and reporting outcomes of multidrug resistant TB cases.
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