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 is putting them at risk.
This is the fifteenth edition of the lecture notes. They were first published in 1987 as a summary of the material used in the biannual epilepsy teaching weekend organised under the auspices of the UK Chapter of the International League against Epilepsy.
(Lecture series consist of a total of 59 cha...pters. Section one - introduction (chapter 1-2). Section two - basic science (chapters 3-5). Section (chapters 6-16). Section four - differential diagnosis (chapter 17-19). Section five - investigations (chapter 20-24). Section six - medical treatment of epilepsy (chapters 25-35). Section seven - outcome (chapters 36-40). Section eight - special groups (chapters 41-44). Section nine - surgical treatment of epilepsy (chapters 45-49). Section ten - social aspects (chapters 50-56). Section eleven - provision of care (chapters 57-59). All chapters available at: https://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/lecture-notes-0#.Wq-cn8NubIU)
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Purpose of these Guidelines
These guidelines are designed to help members of the public to provide first aid to someone who is at risk of suicide. The role of the first aider is to assist the person until appropriate professional help is received or the crisis resolves.
Development of these Guidel...ines
The following guidelines are based on the expert opinions of a panel of mental health professionals from Japan about how to help someone who may be at risk of suicide.
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Q11: 11a). In women with epilepsy, should antiepileptic therapy be prescribed as monotherapy or polytherapy to decrease the risk of fetal malformations?
11b). Does the use of folic acid preconceptually decrease the risk of foetal malformations in women with epilepsy?
11c). Do phenytoin, phenobarbi...tal, valproic acid or carbamazepine enter breast milk in quantities which are clinically significant to the baby?
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25 Nov 2022
The WHO Guidelines for malaria bring together the Organization’s most up-to-date recommendations for malaria in one user-friendly and easy-to-navigate online platform.
The WHO Guidelines for malaria supersedes 2 previous WHO publications: the Guidelines for the treatment of mala...ria, third edition and the Guidelines for malaria vector control. Recommendations on malaria will continue to be reviewed and, where appropriate, updated based on the latest available evidence. Any updated recommendations will always display the date of the most recent revision in the MAGICapp platform. With each update, a new PDF version of the consolidated guidelines will also be available for download on the WHO website.
This version of the Guidelines includes updates to the case management of malaria, specifically the addition of new molecules for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria and optimization of the dosage regimen for anti-relapse treatment, along with updates on the use of antimalarial medicines in special risk populations including pregnant women.
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The National Strategy for Natural Disaster, Prevention, Response and Mitigation to 2020, which outlines Vietnam’s main disaster risk management objectives and the National Target Program (NTP) form the overarching policy framework for disaster risk management and climate change adaption activities.... The CCFSC’s main mandate is to translate this strategy into action. Other decrees and laws are also complementary. The Government of Vietnam has prioritized disaster preparedness, recognizing that the most cost-effective measures to mitigate flood related disasters are often non-structural. These measures include flood mapping, river flood warning systems, television-based disaster information and warning systems, training at all government and grassroots levels on disaster preparedness, and reforestation of certain areas. Land use and development have also been addressed through government regulations.
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WASH Training for Hygiene Promotion Staff.
This manual has been designed to train NRC hygiene promotion incentive staff on ... concept and importance of hygiene, diseases that are present or a risk in Kakuma Refugee. Camp and how to prevent them; monitoring WASH activities and prevention, managemen...t & control of diarrheal and vector-borne diseases.
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Good mental health is integral to human health and well being. A person’s mental health and many common mental disorders are shaped by various social, economic, and physical environments operating at different stages of life. Risk factors for many common mental disorders are heavily associated wit...h social inequalities, whereby the greater the inequality the higher the inequality in risk.
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This study aims to analyze national and international stakeholders and their initiatives in Early Warning Systems in Myanmar, to identify priority gaps that need to be addressed by all stakeholders. It is presented as a first step towards supporting GoUM in information-gathering under the Myanmar Ac...tion Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction (MAPDRR), in particular under Components (2) Risk Assessment, (3) Multi-hazard Early Warning System and (4) Preparedness at all levels, and especially in implementing Sub-Component (3.4) Enhanced Flood Monitoring and Forecasting Capacities at Township Levels.
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Vitamin D deficiency is thought to be common among pregnant women, particularly during the winter months, and has been found to be associated with an increased risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm birth, and other tissue-specific conditions.
This guideline is intended for ...a wide audience including policy-makers, their expert advisers, and technical and programme staff at organizations involved in the design, implementation and scaling-up of nutrition actions for public health.
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AWaRe – a new WHO tool to help countries improve antibiotic treatment, increase access and reduce resistance. We can reduce or even reverse antibiotic resistance by using antibiotics more responsibly. But how do we do that and still ensure that patients are treated effectively?WHO has developed a ...tool to help global, regional and national decision-making on which antibiotics to use when. The tool indexes the most effective antibiotics into three groups – ACCESS, WATCH, RESERVE (AWaRe for short). Evidence shows that to optimize use of antibiotics and reduce resistance, countries should increase the proportion of ACCESS antibiotics to correspond to at least 60% of total national consumption.
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When situations occur in which unwanted events are rightly or wrongly connected with vaccination, they may erode confidence in vaccines and the authorities delivering them. This document presents the scientific evidence behind WHO’s recommendations on building and restoring confidence in vaccines ...and vaccination, both in ongoing work and during crises. The evidence draws on a vast reserve of laboratory research and fieldwork within psychology and communication. It examines how people make decisions about vaccination; why some people are hesitant about vaccination; and the factors that drive a crisis, covering how building trust, listening to and understanding people, building relations, communicating risk and shaping messages to the audiences may mitigate crises. This document provides a knowledge base for stakeholders who develop communication strategies or facilitate workshops on communication and trust-building activities in relation to vaccines and immunization, such as immunization programme units, ministries of health, public relations and health promotion units, vaccine safety communication trainers and immunization advisory bodies.
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From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic until August 2021, extreme weather events have affected at least 139.2 million people and killed at least 17,242 people in at least 433 unique events. These figures are certainly an underestimate, as they do not include estimates of numbers of people affected ...by extreme temperatures, or mortality during drought events.
One dimension of the compound risk of COVID-19 and climate extremes was the additional challenge of preparing for and responding to disasters during the pandemic, such as the constraints of physical distancing during evacuations and response operations.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on the mental health of populations in the Americas. Studies
show high rates of depression and anxiety, among other psychological symptoms, particularly among women, young
people, those with pre-existing mental health conditions, health workers, and p...ersons living in vulnerable condi-
tions. Mental health systems and services have also been severely disrupted. A lack of financial and human resource
investments in mental health services, limited implementation of the decentralized community-based care approach
and policies to address the mental health gap prior to the pandemic, have all contributed to the current crisis. Coun-
tries must urgently strengthen their mental health responses to COVID-19 by taking actions to scale up mental
health and psychosocial support services for all, reach marginalized and at-risk populations, and build back better
mental health systems and services for the future.
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Tuberculosis continues to represent a severe public health problem in the Region of the Americas, even more so in the case of indigenous peoples, whose TB incidence is much higher than that of the general population. To achieve tuberculosis control in these communities, it is necessary to respond t...o communities’ diverse needs from an intercultural perspective that allows the application of a holistic approach—from a standpoint of equality and mutual respect—and considers the value of their cultural practices. In the Region of the Americas, although there has been progress toward recognizing the need for an intercultural approach to health services, obstacles rooted in discrimination, racism, and the exclusion of indigenous peoples and other ethnic groups persist. To respond to this situation, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) prepared this guidance which––based on an intercultural approach in accordance with the priority lines of the current PAHO Policy on Ethnicity and Health and its practical development in the Region’s indigenous populations––represent a support tool for implementing the End TB Strategy. This publication integrates PAHO’s accumulated experience and best practices developed by its Member States in recent years, including discussions and experiences shared in regional meetings on the issue, and emphasizes innovation and social inclusion. This requires an urgent shift away from traditional paradigms, taking specific actions that gradually reduce TB incidence and moving toward effective multisectoral actions that have proven effective in quickly containing the epidemic. This publication integrates PAHO’s accumulated experience and best practices developed by its Member States in recent years, including discussions and experiences shared in regional meetings on the issue, and emphasizes innovation and social inclusion. This requires an urgent shift away from traditional paradigms, taking specific actions that gradually reduce TB incidence and moving toward effective multisectoral actions that have proven effective in quickly containing the epidemic.
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A new survey on the impact of the floods in Pakistan on older people reveals that hundreds of lives are needlessly being put at risk due to the decimation of health services and the rise of diseases like malaria and diarrhoea, which can be killers to older people with weaker immune systems.
The position papers are intended for use by national public health officials and managers of immunization programmes. They may also be of interest to international funding agencies, vaccine advisory groups, vaccine manufacturers, health professionals, researchers, the scientific media and the genera...l public.
Les notes de synthèse s’adressent aux responsables nationaux de la santé publique et aux administrateurs des programmes de vaccination, mais elles peuvent également présenter un intérêt pour les organismes internationaux de financement, les groupes consultatifs sur la vaccination, les fabricants de vaccins, les professionnels de la santé, les chercheurs, les médias scientifiques et le grand public.
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Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonotic disease of worldwide importance, though relatively neglected in many African countries including sub Saharan Africa that is among areas with high burden of this disease. The disease is often mistaken for other febrile illnesses such as dengue, malaria, rickettsi...oses and enteric fever. Leptospirosis is an occupational disease likely to affect people working in environments prone to infestation with rodents which are the primary reservoir hosts of this disease. Some of the populations at risk include: sugarcane plantation workers, wetland farmers, fishermen and abattoir workers. In this study we investigated the prevalence of antibodies against Leptospira among sugarcane plantation and factory workers, fishing communities as well as among rodents and shrews in domestic and peridomestic environments within the study areas.
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It is widely understood that the food insecurity crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing and most neglected crises. It lacks sufficient global focus, resources and urgency. As in so many crises, women and girls are disproportionately affected and shoulder t...he consequences of protracted neglect, with unconscionable impacts on their safety, life chances and agency.
Gaining a holistic view of the gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is difficult. This is due to a lack of data and prioritization, and the large geographical and socioeconomic terrain covered by both regions. However, what we do know about this crisis is more than enough to urgently address the needs of women and girls.
An OCHA discussion paper on this topic (which will be published imminently, and from which this policy brief is drawn) found that there is:
A strong risk of profound regression in gender equality gains made to date in the countries of concern, including on education, sexual and reproductive health, and the economic independence of women and girls (with knock-on effects on broader humanitarian and development outcomes).
An increasing challenge to reverse what must be recognized as a protracted and growing gender-based violence (GBV) emergency in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.
The food insecurity crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is protracted, multidimensional and highly gendered, with spiralling impacts on gender equality and food security outcomes. It is driven by interwoven and overlapping factors, including climate change, political instability, conflict, socioeconomic conditions, migration and displacement and, more recently, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. Interlinked with these factors are gendered structural drivers of food insecurity, including deeply entrenched gender inequalities and harmful social norms. Gendered risks and impacts of food insecurity include alarming limitations on access to education, sexual and reproductive health rights, women’s agency and participation, and dramatic increases in different existing forms of GBV and the emergence of new ones. Recognition of such gendered dimensions of food insecurity and of the need for a multisectoral approach in the response is key to addressing the crisis, along-side sustained commitment and adequate allocation of resources. This policy brief draws out key findings from the OCHA discussion paper on this topic, which includes a desk review of studies, assessments and reports, and interviews with local women’s organizations on the front lines of the food insecurity crisis in communities across both regions.
Below are the most pressing gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity (not in order of priority), as well as key gaps in the current humanitarian response to food insecurity, and recommendations to take forward.
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WHO has updated its guidelines for COVID-19 therapeutics, with revised recommendations for patients with non-severe COVID-19. This is the 13th update to these guidelines.
Updated risk rates for hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19
The guidance includes updated risk rates for... hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19.
The current COVID-19 virus variants tend to cause less severe disease while immunity levels are higher due to vaccination, leading to lower risks of severe illness and death for most patients.
This update includes new baseline risk estimates for hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19. The new ‘moderate risk’ category now includes people previously considered to be high risk including older people and/or those with chronic conditions, disabilities, and comorbidities of chronic disease. The updated risk estimates will assist healthcare professionals to identify individuals at high, moderate or low risk of hospital admission, and to tailor treatment according to WHO guidelines:
**High: **People who are immunosuppressed remain at higher risk if they contract COVID-19, with an estimated hospitalization rate of 6%.
**Moderate: **People over 65 years old, those with conditions like obesity, diabetes and/or chronic conditions including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney or liver disease, cancer, people with disabilities and those with comorbidities of chronic disease are at moderate risk, with an estimated hospitalization rate of 3%.
Low: Those who are not in the high or moderate risk categories are at low risk of hospitalization (0.5%). Most people are low risk.
Review of COVID-19 treatments for people with non-severe COVID-19
WHO continues to strongly recommend nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (also known by its brand name ‘Paxlovid’) for people at high-risk and moderate risk of hospitalization. The recommendations state that nirmatrelvir-ritonavir is considered the best choice for most eligible patients, given its therapeutic benefits, ease of administration and fewer concerns about potential harms. Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir was first recommended by WHO in April 2022.
If nirmatrelvir-ritonavir is not available to patients at high-risk of hospitalization, WHO suggests the use of molnupiravir or remdesivir instead.
WHO suggests against the use of molnupiravir and remdesivir for patients at moderate risk, judging the potential harms to outweigh the limited benefits in patients at moderate risk of hospital admission.
For people at low risk of hospitalization, WHO does not recommend any antiviral therapy. Symptoms like fever and pain can continue to be managed with analgesics like paracetamol.
WHO also recommends against use of a new antiviral (VV116) for patients, except in clinical trials.
The update also includes a strong recommendation against the use of ivermectin for patients with non-severe COVID-19. WHO continues to advise that in patients with severe or critical COVID-19, ivermectin should only be used in clinical trials.
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