This report compiles data for the first time on the far-reaching consequences of uncontrolled hypertension, including heart attacks, strokes and premature death, along with substantial economic losses for communities and countries. It also contains information on the global, regional and country-lev...el burden of hypertension and progress of control efforts.
more
The "Primary Healthcare Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines List" by the South African National Department of Health provides evidence-based guidelines for diagnosing and managing common medical conditions at the primary healthcare level. This document includes treatment protocols ...for various health issues, such as infections, chronic diseases, maternal and child health, mental health, and emergency care. It aims to standardize care, promote rational medicine use, and ensure equitable access to essential medications across South Africa. The guidelines emphasize prevention, accurate diagnosis, and efficient treatment strategies to improve patient outcomes.
more
Uganda is Africa's largest refugee-hosting country and ranks fifth globally. Over the decades, Uganda has hosted refugees from nations including South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Burundi, and Rwanda. As of early 2024, it hosts 1 600 000 refugees, primarily in re...fugee settlements in northern and southwestern Uganda, and in Kampala City. Thirteen districts accommodate 94% of these refugees.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and Uganda’s Ministry of Health conducted a joint review mission to provide a comprehensive overview of the health system's response. The aim was to understand service delivery challenges and identify opportunities to further support Uganda in strengthening health system capacity and ensuring continued access to health services for refugees, migrants and host communities.
more
As our world changes, so too does the burden of disease. Globalisation, evolving trade and consumption patterns, and increased access to life-saving medical care are just some of the factors that have transformed the global health landscape.
Antimicrobials are medicines, including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics, that are used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals, and plants. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) arises when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to these medicines, ren...dering them ineffective and making infections more difficult to treat. This resistance increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability, and death. Although AMR is a natural phenomenon driven by genetic
changes in pathogens, it is significantly accelerated by human activities such as the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in healthcare, agriculture, and animal husbandry.
more
The Kenya Essential Medicines List 2019 is an indispensable guide to the medicines recommended for the management of common conditions in Kenya. It is primarily directed at health care providers and medicines supply managers in the public and non-public health sectors. It should be used together wit...h the current versions of updated national clinical guidelines for those conditions for which such guidelines exist
more
1st edition
This resource provides practical guidance for front line health workers responsible for the diagnosis, management and care of patients with these two diseases. Published in collaboration with the World Diabetes Foundation
This paper was developed to support AMR coordination committees and others tasked with addressing AMR at country level to do just that. Drawing on the published literature and the operational experience and expertise of different LMICs, the paper points to six key strategies for success and offers a... series of practical tips and suggestions on how to implement each one.
more
Overcoming barriers in low- and middle-income countries
For the first time, this year’s report includes information on hepatitis C diagnostics. With a focus on selected countries with diverse HCV epidemics, the report provides updates on the various dimensions of access to HCV diagnostics and pha...rmaceutical products, including product pricing, the regulatory environment and patent status, which together shape the national hepatitis response in different settings. It highlights key areas for action by ministries of health and other government decision-makers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and technical partners.
more
This new plan has been developed to build on successes made and lessons learnt from implementation of the two initial plans and to provide a short to medium term strategic anchor against which preparedness and response plans to the corona virus disease COVID-19 epidemic in the country should focus o...n for the period June 2021 to June 2022.
more
The WHO Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Clinical management: living guidance contains the Organization’s most up-to-date recommendations for the clinical management of people with EVD. Providing guidance that is comprehensive and holistic for the optimal care of patients with EVD throughout their il...lness is important.
The living guidance is available in both pdf format (via the ‘Download’ button) and via an online platform in both French and English, and is updated regularly as new evidence emerges.
This first version of the Clinical management for EVD living guidance contains four new recommendations regarding use of therapeutics for EVD, this includes two strong recommendations for the use of monoclonal antibody therapies. This new living guideline is written to accompany the optimized supportive care (oSoC) for EVD standard operating procedures (5, 6). The living guideline aims to summarize high quality evidence for EVD therapeutics and make recommendations for their use.
more
Trachoma causes more vision loss and blindness than any other infection in the world. This disease is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria. Other variants or strains of these bacteria can cause a sexually transmitted infection (chlamydia) and disease in lymph nodes.
This is photomicrograph ...of a conjunctival smear that revealed the presence of what are known as, intracytoplasmic inclusions Trachoma is easily spread through direct personal contact such as from fingers, through shared towels and clothes, and through flies that have been in contact with the eyes or nose of an infected person. When left untreated, repeated Chlamydia trachomatis infections in the eye can cause severe scarring on the inside of the eyelid. This can cause the eyelashes to scratch the cornea (trichiasis). In addition to causing pain, trichiasis permanently damages the cornea and can lead to irreversible blindness.
Chlamydia trachomatis infections spread in areas that lack access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation systems. Trachoma affects the most resource-limited communities in the world. Globally, almost 1.9 million people have vision loss because of trachoma, and it causes 1.4% of all blindness worldwide.1 In 2021, 136 million people lived in trachoma-endemic areas and were at risk of trachoma blindness.
more
The World Heart Federation (WHF) Roadmap series covers a large range of cardiovascular conditions. These Roadmaps identify potential roadblocks and their solutions to improve the prevention, detection and management of cardiovascular diseases and provide a generic global framework available for loca...l adaptation. A first Roadmap on raised blood pressure was published in 2015. Since then, advances in hypertension have included the publication of new clinical guidelines (AHA/ACC; ESC; ESH/ISH); the launch of the WHO Global HEARTS Initiative in 2016 and the associated Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) initiative in 2017; the inclusion of single-pill combinations on the WHO Essential
Medicines’ list as well as various advances in technology, in particular telemedicine and mobile health. Given the substantial benefit accrued from effective interventions in the management of hypertension and their potential for scalability in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), the WHF has now revisited and updated the ‘Roadmap for raised BP’ as ‘Roadmap for hypertension’
by incorporating new developments in science and policy. Even though cost-effective lifestyle and medical interventions to prevent and manage hypertension exist, uptake is still low, particularly in resource-poor areas. This Roadmap examined the roadblocks pertaining to both the demand side (demographic and socio-economic factors, knowledge and beliefs, social relations, norms, and
traditions) and the supply side (health systems resources and processes) along the patient pathway to propose a range of possible solutions to overcoming them. Those include the development of population-wide prevention and control programmes; the implementation of opportunistic screening and of out-of-office blood pressure measurements; the strengthening of primary care and a greater focus on task sharing and team-based care; the delivery of people-centred care and stronger patient and carer education; and the facilitation of adherence to treatment. All of the above are dependent upon the availability and effective distribution of good quality, evidencebased, inexpensive BP-lowering agents.
more
Manual for Early Implementation
While epidemiological data for type 1 diabetes (T1D) in low/middle-income countries, and particularly low-income countries (LICs) including Liberia is lacking, prevalence in LICs is thought to be increasing. T1D care in LICs is often impacted by challenges in diagnosis and management. These challeng...es, including misdiagnosis and access to insulin, can affect T1D outcomes and frequency of severe complications. Despite the severe nature of T1D and growing burden in subSaharan Africa, little is currently known about the impact of T1D on patients and caregivers in the region. Methods We conducted a qualitative study consisting of interviews with patients with T1D, caregivers, providers, civil society members and a policy-maker in Liberia to better understand the psychosocial and economic impact of living with T1D, knowledge of T1D and selfmanagement, and barriers and facilitators for accessing T1D care.
more