In 1989, the Republic of Benin was facing a great social and
economical crisis. Civil servants of all the sectors in public
administration were on strike. People did not know where to
go for thei...r health care. Salaries were not paid for more than
six months and life for the general population was very dificult.
The country was about to degenerate into civil war as a
result of the civil unrest in the country.
Thanks to the assistance from the French, and Canadian
and American Mennonite missionaries, the Bethesda Health
Centre was started in 1990 with US$ 1,000 granted by theses
partners. Today, the Health Centre of Bethesda has expanded
and has become a large Hospital in Cotonou. It hosts each
year about 100,000 patients and has developed the department
of paediatrics, ophthalmology, stomatology, cardiology,
obstetrical gynaecology, X-rays, etc. The Hospital has also
put in place an AIDS service which has been promoted by the
government to the status of an AIDS Treatment Centre.
In an integrated vision, Bethesda has established other departments.
In 1993, the Sanitation department was established
to implement sanitation and environmentally-friendly
projects aimed at reducing the high incidence of some diseases
frequently treated at the hospital. In 1996, the decision
was made to establish a micro-inance department called
PEBCo. This initiative, which currently has 10,000 clients,
uses community savings to promote income-generating activities.
Since many women were obliged to use the loans for
family needs (health care, children schooling, etc.), they were
unable to reimburse them as planned. Hence the Bethesda
non-government organization (NGO) recently began an initiative
to provide a community-based health insurance option
for the population in 2006. There are now 12,000 members.
This paper focuses on the presentation of Benin and the program,
but also describes how the project could be better improved
and what were its beneits and impacts.
Field Actions Science Reports
The journal of field actions
Vol. 4 | 2010
Vol. 4
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China is one of the major countries for the production and use of antibacterial agents. Antibacterial agents are widely used in healthcare and animal husbandry. It plays a significant role in treati...ng infections and saving patient lives, preventing and treating animal diseases, improving farming efficiency, and guaranteeing public health security. However, antimicrobial resistance has become increasingly prominent due to insufficient research and development capacity of new antimicrobials, sales of antimicrobials without prescriptions in pharmacies, irrational use of antibacterial agents in medical and food animal sectors, non-compliant waste emissions of pharmaceutical enterprises, as well as lack of public awareness toward rational use of antimicrobials. Bacterial resistance ultimately affects human health, but the cause of bacterial resistance and consequences are beyond the health sector. Antimicrobial resistance brings increasing biosecurity threats, worsens environmental pollution, constrains economic development and other adverse effects to human society, thus, there is an urgent need to strengthen multi-sectoral and multi-domain collaborative planning to jointly cope with this issue.
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Severe cases of COVID-19 are associated with rehabilitation needs related to the consequences of ventilatory support, and prolonged immobilization and bed rest. These may include: − Impaired lung ...function; − Physical deconditioning and muscle weakness; − Delirium and other cognitive impairments; − Impaired swallow and communication; and − Mental health disorders and psychosocial support needs. − Rehabilitation needs may be amplified by underlying health conditions and decrements in health associated with ageing, − Rehabilitation professionals play an important role in facilitating early discharge, which is especially critical in the context of hospital bed shortages. − Rehabilitation needs of people with severe COVID-19 exist during the acute, sub-acute and long-term phases of care; rehabilitation professionals should be positioned in ICUs, hospital wards, stepdown facilities and in the community. − Particularly in the acute phase, rehabilitation interventions for patients with severe COVID-19 requiring ventilatory support generally require a particular skill-set acquired through specialist training.
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This publication seeks to describe the best treatments and practices based on the scientific evidence available at the time of writing as evaluated by the authors and may change as a result of new r...esearch. Readers need to apply this knowledge to patients in accordance with the guidelines and laws of their country of practice. Some medications may not be available in some countries and readers should consult the specific drug information since not all the unwanted effects of medications are mentioned.
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This course describes the health effects of war, weapons and strategies of violent conflict. Beginning with weapons of mass destruction it then mov...es on to other weapons and strategies of war such as the use of landmines and mass rape. The course concludes with a number of lessons which give an historical and practical analysis of the response of health professional groups to war and militarisation.
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The new WHO recommendations for the treatment of isoniazid-resistant, rifampicin-susceptible TB are based upon a review of evidence from patients t...reated with such regimens by a Guideline Development Group in conformity with WHO requirements for evidence-based policies.
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Version 1.1 July 2016
The purpose of this document is to describe standard operating procedures for viral load monitoring, including the schedule for viral load testing when used for routine monitoring ...">of children, adolescents and adults on ART; interpretation of results; patient management; and specimen collection, preparation and transport. This template document to be adapted for use in various contexts and is one component of a viral load monitoring toolkit, to be used in conjunction with ICAP’s Viral Load Monitoring Flipchart and Enhanced Adherence Treatment Plan.
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In order to maintain daily operations and patient care services, health care facilities need to develop an Emergency Water Supply Plan (EWSP) to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a total or partial interruption ...light medbox">of the facilities’ normal water supply. Water supply interruption can be caused by several types of events such as natural disaster, a failure of the community water system, construction damage or even an act of terrorism.
The planning guide provides a four step process for the development of an EWSP:
1. Assemble the appropriate EWSP Team and the necessary background documents for your facility;
2. Understand your water usage by performing a water use audit;
3. Analyze your emergency water supply alternatives; and
4. Develop and exercise your EWSP
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People younger than 20 years comprise 35% of the global population and 40% of the global population of least-developed nations. The ...tribute-to-highlight medbox">number of children - neonates, infants, children, and adolescents up to 19 years of age - who need pediatric palliative care (PPC) each year may be as high as 21 million. Another study found that almost 2.5 million children die each year with serious health related suffering and that more than 98% of these children are in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (3). While estimates differ, there is no doubt that there is an enormous need for prevention and relief of suffering among children - for PPC.
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A stated objective of WHO’s European Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2020 is to ensure better information and knowledge for service planning, development, monitoring and evaluation, including requesting Member States to report on the indicato...rs in the Plan.
Progress towards achieving the internationally agreed mental health objectives and targets is monitored in the periodic WHO Mental Health Atlas, which collates global information on mental health policies, resources and services.
This booklet provides a snapshot of the situation in countries in the WHO European region with regard to a number of core mental health targets and indicators, derived from the WHO’s Mental Health Atlas 2017.
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Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a significant burden globally, with millions of patients affected each year. These infections affect both high- and limited-resource healthcare settings, b...ut in limited-resource settings, rates are approximately twice as high as high-resource settings (15 out of every 100 patients versus 7 out of every 100 patients). Furthermore, rates of infections within certain patient populations are significantly higher in limited-resource settings, including surgical patients, patients in intensive-care units (ICU) and neonatal units. It is well documented that environmental contamination plays a role in the transmission of HAIs in healthcare settings. Therefore, environmental cleaning is a fundamental intervention for infection prevention and control (IPC).It is a multifaceted intervention that involves cleaning and disinfection (when indicated) of the environment alongside other key program elements to support successful implementation (e.g., leadership support, training, monitoring, and feedback mechanisms). To be effective, environmental cleaning activities must be implemented within the framework of the facility IPC program, and not as a standalone intervention. It is also essential that IPC programs advocate for and work with facility administration and government officials to budget, operate and maintain adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure to ensure that environmental cleaning can be performed according to best practices.
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(15 April 2020, BST 17:00 hours)
Actions Taken from Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS):
9292 Number of staff and RCY/ CPP/ Camp/ Community volunteers being mobilized throughout the country....
10116 Set of PPE provided to individuals working on COVID-19 response.
130,851 Number of Total People Reached (average/day)
313 Religious /Community Leaders reached through Hygiene promotion initiatives.
1,000,000+ People received life-saving awareness messages through social media.
786,000 People reached through Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials across the country.
10179 Hand-washing station established throughout the country including camp settlements in Cox’s Bazar.
166601 Hygiene and Protecting gears distributed i.e Soap (91686), Hand sanitizer(36650), Mask (33445), Hand Gloves (1908), Eye Protector (2912).
2005 Hospitals/ Institutions/ places already covered through disinfectant spraying.
12181 Women reached through Dignity Kit Distribution
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The World Health Organization invites clinicians and patients to collect information on COVID-19 in a systematic way and contribute clinical data to the WHO Clinical Platform to expand our knowledge on Post-COVID-19 condition, and support ...s="attribute-to-highlight medbox">patient care and public health interventions.
WHO’s Post COVID case report form (CRF) has been designed to report standardized clinical data from individuals after hospital discharge or after the acute illness to examine the medium- and long-term consequences of COVID-19. The forms will be available in multiple languages.
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Interim rapid response guidance, 10 June 2022.
It includes considerations for certain populations such as patients with mild disease with considerations for community care, patients with moderate t...o severe disease, sexually active persons, pregnant or breastfeeding women, children and young persons. The guidance also addresses considerations for clinical management such as the use of therapeutics, nutritional support, mental health services, and post-infection follow-up.
The document provides guidance for clinicians, health facility managers, health workers and infection prevention and control practitioners including but not limited to those working in primary care clinics, sexual health clinics, emergency departments, infectious diseases clinics, genitourinary clinics, dermatology clinics, maternity services, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology and acute care facilities that provide care for patients with suspected or confirmed monkeypox
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Technical Note: Cholera treatment facilities provide inpatient care for cholera patients during outbreaks. Proper case management and isolation of cholera ...>patients is essential to prevent deaths and help control the spread of
the disease. Traditionally, these structures have been referred to as cholera treatment centres (CTCs) and
cholera treatment units (CTUs). CTCs are usually large structures set up at central level (e.g. urban areas),
while CTUs are smaller structures set up in the periphery (e.g. peri-urban or rural areas). CTCs/CTUs can
be set up as independent structures in tents or within existing buildings or wards of health structures.
Whatever the structure, the principles described in this document should be respected
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To support its R&D activities on Chagas disease, DNDi launched the Chagas Clinical Research Platform (CCRP). The platform brings together partners, experts, and stakeholders to provide support for evaluation and development of new treatments for Cha...gas disease. The patient-centred platform aims to facilitate clinical research, provide a forum for technical discussions, develop a critical mass of expertise, and strengthen institutional research capacities. In addition, it identifies and reviews priority needs, works towards standardization of methodology to assess drug efficacy and reviews alternatives for using current approved drugs (new schemes, doses, combination) and special scenarios (resistance).
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The toolkit offers advice on how national public health authorities could engage with primary care prescribers so as to promote appropriate and responsible use of antibiotics. The toolkit contains template materials and some suggest...ed key messages for health professionals, ideas for awareness raising activities, and suggested tactics for getting the messages across to both primary care providers and patients regarding prudent use of antibiotics.
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This study aimed to determine the drug resistance profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Mozambique and concludes that M. tuberculosis resistance to antituberculosis drugs is high in Mozambique, especially in previously treated ...ute-to-highlight medbox">patients. The frequency of M. tuberculosis strains that were resistant to isoniazid, rifampin, and streptomycin in combination was found to be high, particularly in samples from previously treated patients.
J Bras Pneumol. 2014;40(2):142-147
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This document provides interim recommendations for the surveillance of Zika virus infection, microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome, in four different contexts and describes reporting requirements to WHO. Transmission refers to vector-borne trans...mission, unless specified differently. Autochthonous infection is considered to be an infection acquired in-country, i.e. among patients with no history of travel during the incubation period or who have travelled exclusively to non-affected areas during the incubation period. This document does not provide guidance on laboratory investigation or vector surveillance.
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Online Course. Infection prevention and control (IPC) is an essential component of healthcare quality and patient safety. In this module you will learn how and why healthcare-associated infections (...HAIs) occur and how IPC reduces their risk and spread.
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