Detecting breast cancer early improves survival, lowers morbidity and reduces the cost of care. Learn about the major breast cancer early detection strategies in this knowledge summary, including br
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east cancer education and awareness, and breast self-detection and clinical breast exams (CBE).
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Community health worker teams are potential game-changers in ensuring access to care in vulnerable communities. Who are they? What do they actually do? Can they help South Africa realize universal health coverage? As the proactive arm of the health
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services, community health workers teams provide household and community education, early screening, tracing and referrals for a range of health and social services. There is little local or global evidence on the household services provided by such teams, beyond specific disease-oriented activities such as for HIV and TB. This paper seeks to address this gap.
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The protection of children and educational facilities is particularly important. Precautions are necessary to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19 in school settings; however, care must also be
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taken to avoid stigmatizing students and staff who may have been exposed to the virus. It is important to remember that COVID-19 does not differentiate between borders, ethnicities, disability status, age or gender. Education settings should continue to be welcoming, respectful, inclusive, and supportive environments to all. Measures taken by schools can prevent the entry and spread of COVID-19 by students and staff who may have been exposed to the virus, while minimizing disruption and protecting students and staff from discrimination.
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This WHO Guidance Note advocates for a comprehensive approach to cervical cancer prevention and control and is aimed at senior policy makers and pr
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ogramme managers. It describes the need to deliver effective interventions across the female life course from childhood through to adulthood. These include community education, social mobilization, HPV vaccination, screening, treatment and palliative care. It outlines the complementary strategies for comprehensive cervical cancer prevention and control, and highlights collaboration across national health programmes (particularly immunization, reproductive health, cancer control and adolescent health), organizations and partners.
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This article looks at the Baseline Standards developed by the International Society for Paediatric
Oncology (SIOP) for paediatric oncology nursing care in low- and middle-income countries. The
Bas
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eline Standards lay the foundation for effective care and address barriers such as inadequate
staffing levels, lack of support, limited access to nurse education and unsafe nursing environments.
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A Students' Toolkit.
How does the digital transformation of health care change the daily routine of a healthcare professional? Which knowledge and skills will healthcare professionals need? Are uni
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versities in Europe preparing their students well enough to work within a digitised health system?
This toolkit prepared by the European Medical Students’ Association (EMSA) provides an insightful context, an introduction to the topic of digital health and a framework to encourage future healthcare professionals to start activities and discussions at their university.
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TB heroes
Hello, my name is Nurse X
My job is to promote integrated HIV and TB prevention, care, treatment and support. This ensures that we,
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and my team of health care service providers treat everyone who is living with HIV and TB to have all the antiretroviral therapy (ART) and HIV care services are provided with TB diagnosis and treatment at one facility. Services that we provide include * Infection control education * TB screening and diagnosis * HIV testing * Treatment for those who require it * Adherence support
Accessed November 2017
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Overuse of antimicrobial agents occurs globally in both community and hospital settings. Misuse of antibiotics can lead to a variety of adverse outcomes, including the development of antimicrobial resistanceand increased cost of hospitalization
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. This issuehas been particularly problematic in developing countries, where antibiotic-management programs rarely exist and where antibiotics can be purchased without aprescription. In Thailand, the rate of antibiotic resistance among gram-positive and gram-negative or-ganisms has increased significantly over the past decade. These findings provide compelling evidence ofthe need for more-rational use of antimicrobial agents in Thailand.
Clinical Infectious Diseases2006; 42:768–752006 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
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There are many calls for improved integration between
primary care and public health, but also sizeable obstacles to achieving
this, such as differences in the ways the two sectors are organised
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and
financed, as well as differences in education, culture and approach.
This article, based on a new Observatory policy brief, describes the
types of interventions that come into consideration, the principles
that should be followed, and the factors that can facilitate successful
collaboration. While there is no universal template that can be followed
by all countries, improved integration promises to yield substantial
benefits to patients and wider populations.
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Beat the heat: child health amid heatwaves in Europe and Central Asia finds that half of these children died from heat-related illnesses in their first year of life. Most children died during the summer months.
"Around half of children across Eur
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ope and Central Asia – or 92 million children – are already exposed to frequent heatwaves in a region where temperatures are rising at the fastest rate globally. The increasingly high temperatures can have serious health complications for children, especially the youngest children, even in a short space of time. Without care, these complications can be life-threatening,” said Regina De Dominicis UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.
Heat exposure has acute effects on children, even before they are born, and can result in pre-term births, low birth weight, stillbirth, and congenital anomalies. Heat stress is a direct cause of infant mortality, can affect infant growth and cause a range of paediatric diseases. The report also notes that extreme heat caused the loss of more than 32,000 years of healthy life among children and teenagers in the region.
As the temperatures continue to rise, UNICEF urges governments across Europe and Central Asia to:
- Integrate strategies to reduce the impact of heatwaves including through National Determined Contributions (NDC), National Adaptation Plans (NAP), and disaster risk reduction and disaster management policies with children at the centre of these plans
Invest in heat health action plans and primary health care to more adequately support heat-related illness among children
- Invest in early warning systems, including heat alert systems
- Adapt education facilities to reduce the temperatures in the areas children play in and equip teachers with skills to respond to heat stress
- Adapt urban design and infrastructure including ensuring buildings, particularly those housing the most vulnerable communities are equipped to minimize heat exposure
- Secure the provision of safe water, particularly in countries with deteriorating water quality and availability.
UNICEF works with governments, partners and communities across the region to build resilience against heatwaves. This includes equipping teachers, community health workers and families with the skills and knowledge to respond to heat stress.
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During the pandemic, Brazil has provided its citizens with support in the areas of long-term care and disability, the labor market, social assistance, edu
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cation, and pensions. This report focuses on two social policy areas, health-care and family benefits (including labor policies), as these were the most crucial social policies implemented in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of the resources allocated and the magnitude of social impact. Brazil’s relatively generous social policies were uncoordinated with public health interventions, which contributed to poor compliance with these public health interventions. This suggests that social policy initiatives alone are insufficient in mitigating the social consequences of the pandemic. They need to be accompanied by and coordinated with public health measures, including regulations on testing, social distancing and mask wearing.
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To survive and thrive, children and adolescents need good health, adequate nutrition, security, safety and a supportive clean environment, opportun
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ities for early learning and education, responsive relationships and connectedness, and opportunities for personal autonomy and self-realization. To promote 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
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The article discusses the education strategy of the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) for 2014–2020, focusing on building capacity to improve respiratory
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care globally. It highlights the significant burden of respiratory diseases and the role of primary care in addressing this issue. The IPCRG aims to enhance educational efforts, support healthcare professionals, and foster knowledge-sharing among its member countries. The strategy includes developing teaching programs, promoting leadership, and using innovative educational methods, such as distance learning and "teach the teacher" programs. The overall goal is to improve clinical practice and outcomes in managing respiratory conditions through targeted education and collaboration.
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It is now well known that there is a pandemic of Type 2 Diabetes in the world particularly in developing countries. This fact has several implications for the health care system in the developing countries because this condition is associated with m
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etabolic and vascular complications which in turn increases the mortality and health care costs and compromises the quality and life expectancy of the society.
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This is an e-learning module with the objective of providing education for health professionals and pregnant women using published results and stud
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ies based on COVID-19 surveillance data, which have indicated an increased risk among pregnant women of presenting with severe forms of COVID-19 and, therefore, of being hospitalized and admitted to intensive care units.
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We live in a world in which global warming, pollution, social
injustice, inequity and population health fundamentally influence each other. As a result, health and health
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care can no longer be thought of and practiced in an isolated manner.
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All health-care workers require clear and comprehensive training and education on the importance
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of hand hygiene, the "My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene" approach and the correct procedures for handrubbing and handwashing. The following tools and resources are meant to support bridging the knowledge gap and for you to adopt and adapt to support local improvement.
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Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death globally. India is home to the second-largest population suffering from diabetes. This underscores the need to build capacity of primary care physicians (PCPs) for better disease management. This narrat
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ive review article aims to describe the emergence of diabetes education and capacity-building programs for PCPs and its current situation in India. The review highlighted that major emphasis on diabetes was given only when the WHO estimated that morbidity and mortality due to diabetes would increase to 35% in India. As a result, National Diabetes Control Program was launched in 1987. Yet, very little attention was paid to diabetology in under-graduation. In the last decade, few public and private institutions have developed diabetes related capacity-building programs for PCPs independently or in collaborations. These programs include 16 fellowships, 4 diplomas, 12 certificate programs, and 6 other diabetes training programs, which have their own pros and cons. As medical science is changing rapidly, PCPs need to upgrade their skills and knowledge regularly to manage NCDs such as diabetes more effectively and efficiently. This can be possible only if scientific, evidence-based, and quality-oriented capacity-building programs are provided to the healthcare workforce.
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