1 June 2020
Countries around the world are facing the challenge of increased demand for care of people with COVID-19, compounded by fear, misinformation and limitations on movement that disrupt
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the delivery of health care for all conditions. Maintaining essential health services: operational guidance for the COVID-19 context recommends practical actions that countries can take at national, subregional and local levels to reorganize and safely maintain access to high-quality, essential health services in the pandemic context. It also outlines sample indicators for monitoring essential health services, and describes considerations on when to stop and restart services as COVID-19 transmission recedes and surges. This document expands on the content of pillar 9 of the COVID-19 strategic preparedness and response plan, supersedes the earlier Operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak, and complements the recently-released Community-based health care, including outreach and campaigns, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is intended for decision-makers and managers at the national and subnational levels.
This is an update to COVID-19: Operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak: Interim guidance, 25 March 2020
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Updated May 2021. Manual 3. The Practical Approach to Care Kit – PACK – is used by nurses, doctors and community health workers in their everyday work to care for patients at
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the clinic and in the community –PACK Adult, PACK Adolescent, PACK Child and PACK Community.PACK Home is designed for people seeking more information about how to care for their own health and the health of their family at home.Collect and read all the PACK Home volumes in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu or Sesotho
Download the different languages: https://knowledgetranslation.co.za/pack/pack-home/
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This guideline provides global, evidence-informed recommendations on the use of indicators for assessing a population’s
iron status and application of the use of ferritin concentrations for monit
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oring and evaluating iron interventions.
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Guide to national implementation of the Shanghai Declaration describes policy orientations and approaches that can unlock the transformative potential of health promotion for sustainable development
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. This guide was developed to support country level implementation of the commitments and recommendations in the Shanghai Declaration.
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The aim of the SATG was to produce a triage scale for use throughout South Africa. The group was multi-disciplinary and comprised doctors, nurses a
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nd paramedics. The result of the SATG’s activities is the South African Triage Scale (SATS), a physiology and symptom based scale which prioritises into one of four colours and can be used in hospital Emergency Centres as well as in the pre-hospital setting. The SATS has been validated in the public, private health care setting as well as pre-hospital.
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The sixteenth meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTD) was held as a hybrid meeting, 27–28 September 2022.
Dr Ren Minghui, Assistant Dire
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ctor-General, Universal Health Coverage/Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases, welcomed participants to the meeting. He said the World Health Organization’s Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (WHO/NTD) was in a state of transition. Following the death of the late esteemed Director Dr Mwelecele Ntuli Malecela earlier in the year, Dr Gautam Biswas had taken over as Acting Director but would soon retire; the appointment of a new Director was under way. Owing to rotation of STAG-NTD members, this would be the last meeting for some and the first meeting for several new participants. The work however would continue with the same commitment. Discussions over the next two days would focus on critical issues regarding recovery of NTD services following the disruptions caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which had impacted many health services worldwide. He looked forward to receiving the advice and guidance of STAG-N
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Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) has significantly helped in early diagnosis and commencement of specific interventions for diseases control. It also plays a critical role in understanding
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the disease epidemiology and unraveling the transmission dynamics of the disease. This manual intends to provide primary guidelines to assist health lab personnel in developing countries to establish a PCR diagnostic facility for efficient support to patient care as well as public health actions.
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The Global Status Report on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) 2014 by the World Health Organization outlines the global impact of NCDs, including car
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diovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, which are responsible for a significant portion of global mortality, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
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The Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global effort launched by WHO and UNICEF to implement practices that protect, promote and support breastfeeding. It was launched in 1991
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in response to the Innocenti Declaration. The global BFHI materials have been revised, updated and expanded for integrated care. The materials reflect new research and experience, reinforce the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, support mothers who are not breastfeeding, provide modules on HIV and infant feeding and mother-friendly care, and give more guidance for monitoring and reassessment.
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This guidebook for people in school settings is intended to offer strategies for use and adaptation with children and families to re-establish routines of hygiene with basic access to water and sanitation services through an approach that visibly sh
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ows that the school is WASHfriendly, inclusive - so that all children, including those with disabilities have "ownership of the information and activities", and sustainable, repeating messages "over time to encourage lasting behaviour change"
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Building on Nigeria’s Call to Action to Save Newborn Lives, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) has developed the National Strategy and Implementation Plan for Scale-up of Chlorhexidine.
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The Ministry incorporated existing maternal, newborn, and child health plans with additional comprehensive strategic planning and consultation to develop a comprehensive, five-year costed scale-up plan. The strategy and implementation plan is intended to guide programming, resource allocation, and commitments to achieve the national objective of Chlorhexidine uptake of 52% after the fifth year of national scaleup.
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Accessed: 02.05.2020
These consolidated guidelines provide recommendations for comprehensive prevention and case management strategies in Kenya
Scope of the Guidelines: Infection prevention and
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control Patient triage Emergency Medical Services Case management Laboratory testing algorithm
Target Audience: Health care workers taking care of patients suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19
These guidelines combine both preventive and clinical management of the disease in Kenyan context. The protocol borrows various international recommendations including the World Health Organization, from experience of other countries such as China that has struggled with the outbreak for a longer time and from principles of virology and infectious disease management.
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To survive and thrive, children and adolescents need good health, adequate nutrition, security, safety and a supportive clean environment, opportunities for early learning and education, responsive relationships and connectedness, and opportunities for personal autonomy and self-realization. To prom
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ote their health and wellbeing, children and adolescents need support from parents, families, communities, surrounding institutions, and an enabling environment. Scheduled well care visits provide a critical opportunity for support of individual children, adolescents, parents, caregivers and families promote health and wellbeing. This guidance on scheduled child and adolescent well-care visits is the first in a series of publications to support the operationalization of the comprehensive agenda for child and adolescent health and wellbeing. It provides guidance on what is required to strengthen health systems and services to ensure healthy growth and development of all children and adolescents, and to support their parents and caregivers.
The guidance focuses on scheduled routine contacts with providers to support children and adolescents in their growth and developmental trajectory, as well as their primary caregivers and families. It outlines the rationale and objectives of well care visits and proposes a minimum 17 scheduled visits; describes the expected tasks during a contact; provides age-specific content to be address during each contact; and proposes actions to build on and maximize existing opportunities and resources.
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Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), including mental disorders, currently pose one of the biggest threats to health and development globally, particularly in low and middle income countries2. It is pr
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edicted that unless proven interventions are rapidly implemented in countries, in the short to medium term, health care costs will increase exponentially and severe negative consequences will ensue not only to individuals and families but to whole societies and economies. NCDs are already a major burden in South Africa, but without added rigorous and timely action the health and development consequences may well become catastrophic. Immediate and additional, high quality, evidence based and focussed interventions are needed to promote health, prevent disease and provide more effective and equitable care and treatment for people living with NCDs at all levels of the health system. The problem is further compounded by the rising global prevalence of multi-morbidity (defined as the coexistence of two or more chronic diseases in one individual).
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This guide was developed by AACAP to give reliable information about medication
used to treat bipolar disorder in children and adolescents to parents whose children
have been diagnosed with the il
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lness.
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As a high-burden neglected tropical disease, soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections remain a major problem in the world, especially among children under five years of age. Since young children a
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re at high risk of being infected, STH infection can have a long-term negative impact on their life, including impaired growth and development. Stunting, a form of malnutrition in young children, has been long assumed as one of the risk factors in acquiring the STH infections. However, the studies on STH infection in children under five with stunting have been lacking, resulting in poor identification of the risk. Accordingly, we collected and reviewed existing related research articles to provide an overview of STH infection in a susceptible population of stunted children under five years of age in terms of prevalence and risk factors. There were 17 studies included in this review related to infection with Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, hookworm, and Strongyloides stercoralis from various countries. The prevalence of STH infection in stunted children ranged from 12.5% to 56.5%. Increased inflammatory markers and intestinal microbiota dysbiosis might have increased the intensity of STH infection in stunted children that caused impairment in the immune system. While the age from 2 to 5 years along with poor hygiene and sanitation has shown to be the most common risk factors of STH infections in stunted children; currently there are no studies that show direct results of stunting as a risk factor for STH infection. While stunting itself may affect the pathogenesis of STH infection, further research on stunting as a risk factor for STH infection is encouraged.
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Terminology used to describe the transmission of pathogens through the air varies across scientific disciplines, organizations and the general publ
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ic. While this has been the case for decades, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the terms ‘airborne’, ‘airborne transmission’ and ‘aerosol transmission’ were used in different ways by stakeholders in different scientific disciplines, which may have contributed to misleading information and confusion about how pathogens are transmitted in human populations.
This global technical consultation report brings together viewpoints from experts spanning a range of disciplines with the key objective of seeking consensus regarding the terminology used to describe the transmission of pathogens through the air that can potentially cause infection in humans.
This consultation aimed to identify terminology that could be understood and accepted by different technical disciplines. The agreed process was to develop a consensus document that could be endorsed by global agencies and entities. Despite the complex discussions and challenges, significant progress was made during the consultation process, particularly the consensus on a set of descriptors to describe how pathogens are transmitted through the air and the related modes of transmission. WHO recognizes the important areas where consensus was not achieved and will continue to address these areas in follow-up consultations.
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This article describes a Community-Based Participatory Approach (CBPA) for children with intellectual disability in Endosulfan affected areas of Kasaragod district in Kerala state of India.
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The CBPA strategy evolved from Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) and was led by Local Self-Government (LSG) members. It involves a four-pronged approach encompassing family, community, service centres and LSG, with a focus on income generation activities and creation of employment opportunities. The CBPA model considers the cultural
uniqueness and limited resources in areas where the unscientific and extensive use of pesticides has led to high prevalence of multiple deformities including intellectual disabilities.
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This guide is intended for shelter operators, planners, and staff, as well as emergency managers, public health professionals, and radiation protection professionals who participate in shelter planning and could be called upon to support shelter ope
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rations. This guide provides information on the incident-specific considerations that shelter operators will
need to take into account in a radiation emergency. Shelter operations include other mass care and emergency assistance activities that are required to support a sheltered population, such as feeding, providing essential supplies, and assisting with reunification of family and friends. Guidance to support such activities can be found in other planning resources. The information in this guide is intended to complement, not supplant, existing shelter protocols and responsibilities.
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Women and Health Initiative Working Paper No. 1. Women and Health Initiative
Improving maternal health in the context of the sub-Saharan African
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HIV epidemic requires greater understanding of the relationships between HIV disease and maternal morbidity and mortality, integrated and effective responses by the health system, and a social context which promotes quality care and encourages use of MCH and HIV services. Advancing the proposed research agenda will make an invaluable contribution by generating needed evidence for policy and practice that improves the maternal health of women who are living with HIV, as well as those who are not. Bringing together maternal health and HIV researchers, policy-makers and program implementers to reduce HIV-related maternal morbidity and mortality and improve the HIV response for women represents an opportunity and a challenge.
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