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
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and medicines supply managers in the public and non-public health sectors. It should be used together with the current versions of updated national clinical guidelines for those conditions for which such guidelines exist
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Community pharmacists are the health professionals most accessible to the public and are a cornerstone of primary health care. The role of community pharmacists is expanding globally. This report provides an overview of existing components
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and provisions of the legal and regulatory framework for community pharmacies and their activities in Europe. It presents the diverse approaches to community pharmacy licenses and to establishment of new pharmacies and their ownership. It also details the framework for community pharmacy operating requirements (including opening hours, workforce, premises and equipment, services provided and identification of a community pharmacy) and the types of activity undertaken. Provisions associated with possible alternative forms of dispensing medicines (over-the-counter medicines, prescription-only medicines, dispensing by medical doctors and online medicine sales) are also described
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This guideline is intended to provide recommendations to applicants wishing to submit applications for the registration of medicines. It represents the Medicines Control Council’s current thinking
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on the safety, quality and efficacy of medicines.
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9 June 2021
Since its launch, GLASS has expanded in scope and coverage and as of May 2021, 109 countries and territories worldwide have enrolled i
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n GLASS. A key new component in GLASS is the inclusion of antimicrobial consumption (AMC) surveillance at the national level highlighted in this fourth GLASS report.
The fourth GLASS report summarizes the 2019 data reported to WHO in 2020. It includes data on AMC surveillance from 15 countries and AMR data on 3 106 602 laboratory-confirmed infections reported by 24 803 surveillance sites in 70 countries, compared to the 507 923 infections and 729 surveillance sites reporting to the first data call in 2017.
The report also describes developments over the past years of GLASS and other AMR surveillance programmes led by WHO, including resistance to anti-human immunodeficiency virus and anti-tuberculosis medicines, antimalarial drug efficacy.
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The survey aimed at evaluating the quality of selected antimalarials in six countries of sub-Saharan Africa (Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and the United Republic of Tanzania). These countries have been support
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ed by WHO to strengthen their regulatory controls over antimalarial products. The survey was organized independently of manufacturers of antimalarial medicines.
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Millennium Development Goal 8E aims for affordable access to essential medicines. Essential medicines, as defined by WHO, are those that “satisfy the health-care needs of the majority of the popul
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ation” and that should therefore “be available at all times in adequate amounts”. However, there is a category of medicines that faces a unique challenge in terms of availability. These are the medicines governed by the international conventions on narcotic and psychotropic substances. “Controlled medicines” is the common definition for pharmaceuticals whose active principles are listed under the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, such as morphine and methadone; the 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances, such as diazepam and buprenorphine; and the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, such as ergometrine and ephedrine. The conventions list substances in “Schedules” according to their different levels of potential for abuse and harm, and the commensurate severity of control measures to be applied by countries.
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Mpox is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the mpox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus closely related to the variola virus that causes smallpox. Mpox was first discovered in 1958 when outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in monkeys
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kept for research. The first human case was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox and since then the infection has been reported in a number of African countries. Mpox can spread in humans through close contact, usually skin-to-skin contact, including sexual contact, with an infected person or animal, as well as with materials contaminated with the virus such as clothing, beddings and towels, and respiratory droplets in prolonged face to face contact. People remain infectious from the onset of symptoms until all the lesions have scabbed and healed. The virus may spread from infected animals through handling infected meat or through bites or scratches. Diagnosis is confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of material from a lesion for the virus’s DNA. Two separate clades of the mpox virus are currently circulating in Africa: Clade I, which includes subclades Ia and Ib, and Clade II, comprising subclades IIa and IIb. Clade Ia and Clade Ib have been associated with ongoing human-to-human transmission and are presently responsible for outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while Clade Ib is also contributing to outbreaks in Burundi and other countries.
In 2022‒2023 mpox caused a global outbreak in over 110 countries, most of which had no previous history of the disease, primarily driven by human-to-human transmission of clade II through sexual contact. In just over a year, over 90,000 cases and 150 deaths were reported to the WHO. For the second time since 2022, mpox has been declared a global health emergency as the virus spreads rapidly across the African continent. On 13 Aug 2024, Africa CDC declared the ongoing mpox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS), marking the first such declaration by the agency since its inception in 2017.7 This declaration empowered the Africa CDC to lead and coordinate responses to the mpox outbreak across affected African countries. On August 14, 2024, the WHO declared the resurgence of mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) emphasizing the need for coordinated international response.
As of August 2024, Mpox has expanded beyond its traditional endemic regions, with new cases reported in countries including Sweden, Thailand, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Sweden has confirmed its first case of Clade 1 variant, which has been rapidly spreading in Africa, particularly in DRC. The emergence of this new variant raises concerns about its potential for higher lethality and transmission rates outside Africa.
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This open access book not only describes the challenges of climate disruption, but also presents solutions. The challenges described include air pollution, climate change, extreme weather, and related
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health impacts that range from heat stress, vector-borne diseases, food and water insecurity and chronic diseases to malnutrition and mental well-being.
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Review over the work and challenges of the Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in combatting counterfeit
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ing of medicines in Nigeria.
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An Act to provide for the efficient and comprehensive regulation and control of food, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, herbal drugs and poisons
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and to repeal the Food
(Control of Quality) Act, 1978, the Pharmaceuticals and Poisons Act, 1978 and to provide for related matters.
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The aim of these Guidelines is to provide a framework for the conservation and sustainable use of plants in medicine. To do this, the Guidelines describe the various tasks that should be carried out to ensure that where medicinal plants are taken fr
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om the wild, they are taken on a basis that is sustainable.
The Guidelines conform to the principles of Caring for the Earth, prepared in partnership by IUCN, UNEP and WWF. Caring for the Earth extends the message and scope of the World Conservation Strategy to an ethic of sustainable living, and explains how to integrate conservation with development. Its message is particularly relevant to the issue of medicinal plants, which in many parts of the world are being seriously depleted due to over-exploitation and loss of habitats, resulting in a lack of essential medicines and so reducing options for the future.
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This report reviews and analyses the Affordable Medicines Programme, which was introduced in Ukraine in April 2017 to provide patients with improved access to 23 outpatient
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medicines for the treatment of chronic noncommunicable diseases. The evaluation combines both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The findings confirm that the Programme has contributed to a significant increase in access to needed outpatient medicines in Ukraine. Further, while implementation was successful overall, uptake across regions was uneven. The report concludes by listing a number of policy options to support the sustainability and expansion of the Affordable Medicines Programme.
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The "Primary Healthcare Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines List" by the South African National Department of Health provides evidence-based guidelines for diagnosing
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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.
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The Healthy Living Toolkit is developed to educate refugees, immigrants, resettlement agencies, clinics, community based organizations, and other service providers on refugee health issues. The toolkit presents material in a culturally appropriate m
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anner and is intended to help health care-related professionals more effectively assist refugees and immigrants and reduce health disparities among these populations. The toolkit is available in multiple languages: Amharic; Arabic; Farsi; English; French; Russian, etc.
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The PHC STGs and EML should be used by healthcare workers providing care at clinics, community health centres, and gateway clinics at hospitals.
Pharmaceutical
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and Therapeutics Committees (PTCs) are responsible for ensuring the availability of medicines listed in the PHC EML at those facilities, as well as at higher levels of care.
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Access to controlled medicines. 3rd edition