Poverty, HIV and other disease burdens, coupled with common mental disorders including alcohol and other substance use disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, clinical ...ghlight medbox">and postnatal depression, distress, and anxiety, impact how caregivers meet the needs of children. When mental health is not considered or addressed, there can be a significant impact on an individual, their family and the community.
more
Guidance for General Medical and Specialised Mental Health Care Settings
Chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kill more than
four million people every year and affect hundreds
...x">of millions more. These diseases erode the health
and well-being of the patients and have a negative
impact on families and societies. Women and
children are particularly vulnerable, especially those
in low and middle income countries, where they are
exposed on a daily basis to indoor air pollution from
solid fuels for cooking and heating. In high income
countries, tobacco is the most important risk factor
for chronic respiratory diseases, and in some of
these countries, tobacco use among women and
young people is still increasing.
more
Loss and damage is an urgent concern, driven by the increasingly harmful effects of climate change. Communities are experiencing new types and form...s of climate impact, of higher frequency and intensity, which they are not equipped to handle. These impacts compel vulnerable communities to migrate to find alternative livelihoods and ways to survive. But migration generates grave socioeconomic consequences. Through case study analysis from 12 regions in Asia, Africa and the Pacific, this paper explores how climate change-induced migration is creating physical health, mental health and wellbeing issues — both for migrants and the families they leave behind. It then provides recommendations to policymakers on how to strengthen policy, planning and response frameworks to support communities manage health and wellbeing risks created by climate impacts.
more
Further analysis of the 1996, 2001, and 2006 Demographic and Health Surveys Data
EU Compass for Action on Mental Health and Well-being
Specific action sheets offer useful guidance on mental health and psychosocial support and cover the following areas coordination assessment monito...ring and evaluation protection and human rights standards human resources community mobilisation and support health services education dissemination of information food security and nutrition shelter and site planning and water and sanitationthe guidelines include a matrix with guidance for emergency planning actions to be taken in the early stages of an emergency and comprehensive responses needed in the recovery and rehabilitation phases
more
Human schistosomiasis, a parasitic and often chronic illness, is one of the major neglected tropical diseases worldwide. It is estimated that 240 m...illion people suffer from schistosomiasis, with more than 200000 fatalities recorded each year. Schistosomiasis is caused by an infection of the blood fluke Schistosoma and is transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected water.
more
The intended purpose of this compendium is to provide program managers, organizations, and policy makers with a menu ...light medbox">of indicators to better “know their HIV epidemic/know their response” from a gender perspective. The indicators in the compendium are all either part of existing indicators used in studies or by countries or have been adapted from existing indicators to address the intersection of gender and HIV. The indicators can be measured through existing data collection and information systems (e.g. routine program monitoring, surveys) in most country contexts, though some may require special studies or research.
more
The State of the World’s Children 2013: Children with Disabilities examines the barriers – from inaccessible buildings to dismissive attitudes, from invisibility in official statistics to viciou...s discrimination – that deprive children with disabilities of their rights and keep them from participating fully in society. The report also lays out some of the key elements of inclusive societies that respect and protect the rights of all children, regardless of disability, and progress in helping all children to flourish and make their contribution to the world.
more
The main objective of this guidance is to provide scientific advice, based on an evidence-based assessment of targeted public health interventions,... to facilitate effective screening and vaccination for priority infectious diseases among newly arrived migrant populations to the EU/EEA. It is intended to support EU/EEA Member States to develop national strategies to strengthen infectious disease prevention and control among migrants and meet the health needs of these populations.
more
This study, and similar studies in Kenya, Mozambique, Swaziland, Uganda, and Zambia is the outcome of close collaborative by a team in Swaziland, w...ith technical and financial support from the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa, UNAIDS Geneva, and the World Bank's Global HIV/AIDS Program (Global AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Team). The study entailed using existing data and collecting new data to better know the country's HIV epidemic, know the country HIV response and how funding was allocated, so as to improve the HIV response and strengthen prevention based on evidence on what works to prevent new infections.
more
Objectives: This paper reviews the mental health policies that have been implemented in Chile in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the international context ...edbox">of countries' responses. Even before the start of the pandemic, there were significant barriers to access mental health services in Chile, coupled with a scenario of nationwide social unrest and protests that questioned the legitimacy of public institutions; now the rapidly worsening outbreaks of COVID-19 are exacerbating the pre-existing mental health crisis.
Methods: We conducted a bibliometric and content analysis of the Chilean mental health public policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and then compared these policies with international experiences and emerging scientific evidence on the mental health impact of pandemics.
Results: Our analysis of the policies identifies five crucial points of action developed in Chile: (i) an established framework to address mental health in emergency and disaster situations; (ii) a timely COVID-19 Mental Health Action Plan; (iii) inclusion of mental health in the public health agenda; (iv) development of a presidential strategy during the pandemic for comprehensive mental health and well-being; and (v) emerging research assessing the mental health implications of COVID-19.
Conclusions: In Chile, the public policy responses to address the mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been characterized by the coordinated implementation of mental health plans, ranging from a health sectoral initiative to inter-agency and intersectoral efforts. However, it is imperative that increased funding is allocated to mental health, and efforts should be made to promote the participation of people with lived experiences and communities in the design and implementation of the proposed actions. This aspect could be of key importance to social peace and community recovery after the pandemic.
more
The purpose of the situation assessment was to execute a situation analysis for Autism and Neurodevelopment Disorder (NDD) in Bangladesh. The situation assessment covers the following areas: a revie...w of the scale and prevalence of NDD with trends of the disorder in the recent past in Bangladesh (see page 17); estimation of likely disease burden in the near future (see page 27); assessment of the social response to NDD in Bangladesh (see page 67); overview of the support and services required by persons with NDD (see page 79); an inventory of service providers working with NDD in Bangladesh (see page 85); an assessment of the adequacy of the existing services and support available for addressing NDD in country (see page 97); an overview of the role and preparedness of MOHFW and other stakeholders in addressing NDD in Bangladesh (see page 108); recommendations for monitoring, supervision and reporting mechanisms for NDD services at the national level (see page 167); and recommended key activities that should be undertaken by the Health and other relevant ministries in the short and medium term (see page 167).
more
The evidence base for differentiated care for stable patients has grown in recent years. There has been less attention, however, to developing differentiated models of care for patients with advanced or unstable HIV disease. Current clinical guideli...nes and policies regarding optimal packages of care for high-risk patients give few or no recommendations about how, by whom, or where they should be delivered for optimal impact.
more
Downloaded from https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/guidelines on 10/19/2019
Recommendations from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control a...nd Prevention, the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
(This guideline was simultaneously published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal on November 6, 2013.)
more
This external performance evaluation of the Malawi Girls’ Empowerment through Education and Health Activity (ASPIRE), conducted 2.5 years after A...SPIRE began, establishes the activity’s progress against its objectives, proposes adaptations for the final year, and captures lessons for application in future girls’ empowerment, health, and education programming in Malawi.
more
For the primary health worker in a low/middle-income country (LMIC) setting, delivering quality primary care is challenging. This is often complicated by clinical guidance that is out of date, incon...sistent and informed by evidence from high-income countries that ignores LMIC resource constraints and burden of disease. The Knowledge Translation Unit (KTU) of the University of Cape Town Lung Institute has developed, implemented and evaluated a health systems intervention in South Africa, and localised it to Botswana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Brazil, that simplifies and standardises the care delivered by primary health workers while strengthening the system in which they work. At the core of this intervention, called Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK), is a clinical decision support tool, the PACK guide. This paper describes the development of the guide over an 18-year period and explains the design features that have addressed what the patient, the clinician and the health system need from clinical guidance, and have made it, in the words of a South African primary care nurse, ‘A tool for every day for every patient’. It describes the lessons learnt during the development process that the KTU now applies to further development, maintenance and in-country localisation of the guide: develop clinical decision support in context first, involve local stakeholders in all stages, leverage others’ evidence databases to remain up to date and ensure content development, updating and localisation articulate with implementation.
more
The objectives of this guidance document are to:
1. Strengthen the capacity of country teams to effectively scale up and manage programmes to ...address severe acute malnutrition
2. Extend the geographic reach of quality treatment for SAM to all vulnerable communities in need
3. Maximize access to appropriate and quality treatment for SAM among all eligible children in the community at all times
4. Aid the formulation and implementation of national policies and strategies that support objectives 1 to 3
5. Aid the creation of an enabling environment that supports objectives 1 to 3 through advocacy, documentation of successful practices, support for operational research, mobilization of resources and collaboration with partners
more
Background
Asthma remains highly prevalent, with more severe symptoms in low-income to middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with high-income countries. Identifying risk factors for severe asthma symptoms can assist with improving outcomes. We aimed to determine the prevalence, severity ...lass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">and risk factors for asthma in adolescents in an LMIC.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey using the Global Asthma Network written and video questionnaires was conducted in adolescents aged 13 and 14 from randomly selected schools in Durban, South Africa, between May 2019 and June 2021.
Results
A total of 3957 adolescents (51.9% female) were included. The prevalence of lifetime, current and severe asthma was 24.6%, 13.7% and 9.1%, respectively. Of those with current and severe asthma symptoms; 38.9% (n=211/543) and 40.7% (n=147/361) had doctor-diagnosed asthma; of these, 72.0% (n=152/211) and 70.7% (n=104/147), respectively, reported using inhaled medication in the last 12 months. Short-acting beta agonists (80.4%) were more commonly used than inhaled corticosteroids (13.7%). Severe asthma was associated with: fee-paying school quintile (adjusted OR (CI)): 1.78 (1.27 to 2.48), overweight (1.60 (1.15 to 2.22)), exposure to traffic pollution (1.42 (1.11 to 1.82)), tobacco smoking (2.06 (1.15 to 3.68)), rhinoconjunctivitis (3.62 (2.80 to 4.67)) and eczema (2.24 (1.59 to 3.14)), all p<0.01.
Conclusion
Asthma prevalence in this population (13.7%) is higher than the global average (10.4%). Although common, severe asthma symptoms are underdiagnosed and associated with atopy, environmental and lifestyle factors. Equitable access to affordable essential controller inhaled medicines addressing the disproportionate burden of asthma is needed in this setting.
more