Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a growing public health problem in Ghana and other African countries. Strokes and other CVDs have become a leading cause of death due to increasing risk factors su...ch as hypertension. According to the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD), ischaemic heart disease was the fourth leading cause of death in Ghana in 2016. The prevalence of hyper-
tension, a major risk factor for CVDs, is increasing rapidly and ranges from 19% to 48%, according to the Ghana Health Service Annual Report, 2017, due to rising life expectancy and the increasing prevalence of contributing factors such as overweight/obesity. Early diagnosis and adequate management of the risk factors can reduce the fatal consequences of CVDs.
At the heart of improving risk assessment and management of CVDs are nationally approved guidelines, which facilitate standardisation of care approaches.
These guidelines developed by experts from all levels of health care and stakeholders capture all recommended approaches and necessary information for clinicians and other healthcare workers on CVDs. They also serve as a practical guide for assessing and managing the most important CVDs prevalent in Ghana and can be used at all levels of care namely health facilities without a doctor; with a general practitioner and with a physician specialist.
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Results of rapid assessment
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide while the demand for mental health is increasing, according to a new WHO survey. The survey of 130 countries pro...vides the first global data showing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on access to mental health services and underscores the urgent need for increased funding.
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This policy will serve as a cornerstone from which to address the accessibility of Family Planning services and to encourage its integration with services for HIV/AIDS, maternal health, child health, and other development initiatives. This policy is... timely, as Rwanda is embarking on the introduction of community-based provision of Family Planning through community health workers. In addition, the expansion of adolescent sexual and reproductive health programs is a pillar of this policy that will help attract and retain the next generation of Family Planning users. These efforts are anticipated to trigger a paradigm change in the way Family Planning services are provided and accessed in order to contribute towards a healthy and productive Rwanda for all.
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Manual for use in primary care.
This manual explains the theoretical basis and evidence for the effectiveness of brief interventions and assists primary health care workers in conducting a simple brief intervention for clients whose substance use i...s putting them at risk.
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This publication’s primary purpose is to provide a compilation of actions to address malnutrition in all its forms, in a concise and user-friendly format to help in decision-making processes for i...ntegration of nutrition interventions in national health policies, strategies, and plans based on country-specific needs and global priorities.
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This third booklet of the World Drug Report 2022 has a dual focus: opioids and cannabis.
The first chapter of the booklet provides an overview of opioids as a group of substances and their patterns... of non-medical use at the global level. It also reviews the latest trends in the global supply of opiates and synthetic opioids and the availability of pharmaceutical opioids for medical consumption. Issues specific to regional patterns and trends in opioid markets are also analysed, including the opioid crisis in North America and in Africa and the Middle East. The chapter also includes a discussion of the potential impact, in the region and worldwide, of changes in opium poppy cultivation and opium production in Afghanistan. reireg
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a universal antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all HIVinfected children before the age of two since 2010, but this implies an early identification of these infants. We described the Prevention of Mot...her-to-Child HIV Transmission (PMTCT) cascade, the staffing and the quality of infrastructures in pediatric HIV care facilities, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
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The equation is simple: we cannot effectively respond to a global pandemic when millions of people are still caught in warzones. We cannot treat sick people when hospitals are being bombed, or prevent the spread of coronavirus when tens of millions ...are forced to flee from violence. We must have a global ceasefire, and we must put our collective resources behind making that ceasefire a reality.
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Se espera que el Panorama 2020 ayude a visibilizar los desafíos de los territorios con peores indicadores en términos de alimentación y nutrición, y que sirva para movilizar el compromiso político y la atención pública en los lugares que sufr...en mayores rezagos respecto a los promedios nacionales. Al igual que en ediciones anteriores, también se proporciona información sobre las políticas y los programas que los países están desarrollando para enfrentar todas las formas de malnutrición.
El año 2020 se recordará durante muchas décadas por la pandemia provocada por la COVID-19. Los indicadores de la Agenda 2030 que se utilizan en esta publicación aún no recogen los distintos impactos del nuevo coronavirus. Pero en cada uno de los capítulos y secciones que siguen se hace referencia a algunas de las posibles implicaciones de la pandemia para el futuro.
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УСПЕХИ В РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ ПОЛИТИКИ В ОТНОШЕНИИ КОНТРОЛЯ НАД АЛКОГОЛЬНОЙ ПРОДУКЦИЕЙ, 2010–2019 ГГ
A detailed overview is provided of the implementation of alcohol policies described ...in the 10 action areas of the European Action Plan to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol 2012–2020 (EAPA), including the current status of implementation of the five action areas of the WHO-led SAFER initiative:
Strengthen restrictions on alcohol availability;
Advance and enforce drink–driving countermeasures;
Facilitate access to screening, brief interventions and treatment;
Enforce bans or comprehensive restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship and promotion; and
Raise prices on alcohol through excise taxes and pricing policies.
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The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closures around the world, affecting almost 1.6 billion students. The effects of even short disruptions in a child’s schooling on their learning and well-being have been shown to be acute and long lasting. The c...apacities of education systems to respond to the crisis by delivering remote learning and support to children and families have been diverse yet uneven.
This report reviews the emerging evidence on remote learning throughout the global school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic to help guide decision-makers to build more effective, sustainable, and resilient education systems for current and future crises.
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The 2021 WHO health and climate change global survey report provides a valuable snapshot of the overall progress governments have made in addressing the health risks of climate change. The findings on key health and climate change indicators aim to ...empower policy makers to: make informed decisions on the implementation of policies and plans; identify evidence gaps; and better understand the barriers to achieving adaptation and resilience priorities in the health sector while maximizing the health benefits of sector-wide climate mitigation efforts.
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This is the first part of a five-part package that provides guidance on caregiver skills training for families of children aged 2–9 years with developmental delays or disabilities.
The Caregiver skills training for families of children with dev...elopmental delays or disabilities (CST) aims to provide caregivers with skills that they can use at home to improve their child’s engagement in activities and communication, and to promote positive behaviour and skills for daily living.
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This adaptation and implementation guide is part of a five-part Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities (CST) package providing guidance on caregiver skills training for families of children aged ...2–9 years with developmental delays or disabilities.
This adaptation and implementation guide provides information on how to adapt caregiver skills training materials and delivery strategies to the local context. It includes guidance on development and implementation of contextual and cultural adaptation plans.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) convened a meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Buruli ulcer at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on 25 to 27 March 2019
The desired impact of the OH JPA is a world better able to prevent, predict, detect and
respond to health threats and improve the health of humans, animals, plants and the
environment while contributing to sustainable development. The OH JPA aims ...to work
towards this vision in the following way:
• Provide a framework for action and propose a set of activities the four organizations
can offer together to advance and sustainably scale up One Health.
• Provide upstream policy and legislative advice and technical assistance, to help
set national targets and priorities across the sectors for the development and
implementation of One Health legislation, initiatives and programmes.
• Take stock of existing cross-sectoral global and regional initiatives around One
Health, identify and advise on synergies and overlaps, and support coordination.
• Mobilize and make better use of resources across sectors, disciplines and
stakeholders.
• The OH JPA is guided by a theory of change and makes use of One Health principles
to strengthen collaboration, communication, capacity building and coordination
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Hepatitis B (HBV) infection is a major public health problem and cause of chronic liver disease.
The 2024 HBV guidelines provide updated evidence-informed recommendations on key priority topics. These include expanded and simplified treatment cri...teria for adults but now also for adolescents; expanded eligibility for antiviral prophylaxis for pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HBV; improving HBV diagnostics through use of point-of-care HBV DNA viral load and reflex approaches to HBV DNA testing; who to test and how to test for HDV infection; and approaches to promote delivery of high-quality HBV services, including strategies to promote adherence to long-term antiviral therapy and retention in care.
The 2024 guidelines include 11 updated chapters with new recommendations and also update existing chapters without new recommendations, such as those on treatment monitoring and surveillance for liver cancer.
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Chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kill more than
four million people every year and affect hundreds
of millions more. These diseases erode the health
and well-being of the patients and have a... negative
impact on families and societies. Women and
children are particularly vulnerable, especially those
in low and middle income countries, where they are
exposed on a daily basis to indoor air pollution from
solid fuels for cooking and heating. In high income
countries, tobacco is the most important risk factor
for chronic respiratory diseases, and in some of
these countries, tobacco use among women and
young people is still increasing.
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The objective of this book is to provide health workers with easily accessible information on important aspects of the medicines commonly used at primary care level in Zimbabwe. Medicines are a crucial part of the management of most of our patients,... yet many medicines are potentially dangerous if not used correctly (by either prescriber or patient). It is important to have up-to-date information not only on the indications for, and the dose of a particular medicine, but also the contra-indications and reasons for special care, possible side effects and interactions with other medicine or medicines. The patient must also have information on how to use the preparation, what side effects may occur, and when to return for help.
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This special issue on Newborn Health in Global Health Action is being launched to share the experience of how to scale up a cost-effective package of newborn care that involves families, community health workers and health facilities. The results of... this community randomized trial, the Uganda Newborn Study (UNEST), show that home visits in pregnancy and soon after delivery resulted in improved breastfeeding practices, skin-to-skin care immediately after birth, delaying a baby’s first bath, and hygienic care of the baby’s umbilical cord among the poorest households with lowest access to care.
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