Countries around the world are facing the challenge of increased demand for care of people with COVID-19, compounded by fear, misinformation and li
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mitations on movement that disrupt the delivery of health care for all conditions. Maintaining essential health services: operational guidance for the COVID-19 context recommends practical actions that countries can take at national, subregional and local levels to reorganize and safely maintain access to high-quality, essential health services in the pandemic context. It also outlines sample indicators for monitoring essential health services, and describes considerations on when to stop and restart services as COVID-19 transmission recedes and surges.
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The Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) 2011-2020, endorsed by Member States during the May 2012 World Health Assembly, has set ambitious targets to improve access to immunization
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and tackle vaccine-preventable diseases. This responsibility has been translated into firm commitments in February 2016, through the signature of the Addis Declaration on Immunization (ADI) by African Ministers and subsequently endorsed by the Heads of States from across Africa at the 28th African Union Summit held in January 2017. This commitment from the highest level of government comes as a catalyst to immunization efforts on the continent to deliver on the promise of universal immunization
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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.
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It is presented as a first step towards supporting GoUM in information-gathering under the Myanmar Action 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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This primer aims to guide health professionals on engaging with WASH-related issues. It gives an overview of WASH interventions and the status of WASH services globally
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and outlines key linkages with health. It provides examples of key actions that health actors can take to ensure WASH efforts effectively protect public health and highlights World Health Organization (WHO) activities to support those actions.
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El Niño conditions persisting during the 2015/16 planting season have caused the worst drought in 35 years in Southern Africa, resulting in a second consecutive failed harvest. This has created sev
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ere food shortages and compounded existing vulnerabilities. Since July 2016, Namibia and Botswana have declared national drought emergencies, in addition to the declarations made earlier by Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Madagascar issued a letter of solidarity with the SADC Appeal, and Mozambique has maintained a red alert in affected areas.
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Gender-based violence is a life-threatening, global health and human rights issue that violates international human rights law and principles of gender equality. It is also a threat to lasting peace
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and an affront to our common humanity. United Nations Member States have called for urgent action to end GBV in emergencies, recognizing that in crises, the risk of GBV is heightened, particularly for women and adolescent girls.
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mnesty International’s annual report on the state of the world’s human rights in 2021, published in March 2022, shows that promises to “build back better” after
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the Covid-19 pandemic were little more than lip service. Hopes of global cooperation withered in the face of vaccine hoarding and corporate greed.
Governments suppressed independent and critical voices, with some even using the pandemic as a pretext to shrink further the civic space. New and unresolved conflicts erupted or persisted. Those forced to flee were subjected to a litany of abuses, including pushbacks by countries in the Global North. But hopes for a better post-pandemic world were kept alive by courageous individuals, social movements and civil society organizations.
The report is available in different languages
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Download (7.4 MB)
Overview
Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders globally. The WHO epilepsy technical brief aims to strengthen action for epilepsy
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and complements the Intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders 2022–2031.
The technical brief presents the key information on epilepsy and recommends actions to policy makers and other stakeholders. Using the concept of levers for change introduced by the Operational Framework for Primary Health Care, it identifies actions on the policy and operational levels that stakeholders should take to strengthen services for people with epilepsy using a person-centered approach based on human rights and universal health coverage.
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Case study
An emergency WASH gap exists – there is little disagreement on this point within the humanitarian sector. There is a paucity of emergency WASH capacity, but a surplus of complacency. This report provides an overview of both historical
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trends and current challenges in emergency WASH programming.
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Nepal has made substantial progress in reducing under-five mortality and is on track to achieve Millennium Development Goal 4, but advances in neonatal health are less encouraging. The objectives of
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this study were to assess relative and absolute inequalities in neonatal mortality over time, and to review experience with major programs to promote neonatal health.
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This paper aims to provide aid agencies with initial analysis and guidance to inform the design, implementation and adaptation of conflict-sensitiv
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e humanitarian and development responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. It presents a series of overarching considerations to take into account when determining how to build a conflict-sensitive approach into COVID-19 response activities, before outlining some initial, sector-specific considerations. Recommendations are presented throughout.
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Commissioned by Plan International the report draws on data from research conducted in Bangladesh in April 2018. It explores how adolescent girls within two age brackets (10-14 and 15-19) understand
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the unique impact the crisis has upon them, and how they have responded to the challenges they face.
Despite the numbers of adolescent girls affected so profoundly by the ongoing Rohingya crisis, and of course, by many crises around the world, it is rare that either their own communities or the humanitarian sector at large pay much attention to them. This research is an attempt to rectify that: to acknowledge that girls and young women do have rights and that their ideas are worth listening to and acting upon.
Among the many learnings, we discovered that girls feel isolated. They have settled among strangers, and parents worry about their safety, keeping them even more trapped inside their new, makeshift homes.
75% of girls interviewed said they have no ability to make decisions about their own lives.
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1 June 2020
Countries around the world are facing the challenge of increased demand for care of people with COVID-19, compounded by fear, misinformation
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and limitations on movement that disrupt the delivery of health care for all conditions. Maintaining essential health services: operational guidance for the COVID-19 context recommends practical actions that countries can take at national, subregional and local levels to reorganize and safely maintain access to high-quality, essential health services in the pandemic context. It also outlines sample indicators for monitoring essential health services, and describes considerations on when to stop and restart services as COVID-19 transmission recedes and surges. This document expands on the content of pillar 9 of the COVID-19 strategic preparedness and response plan, supersedes the earlier Operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak, and complements the recently-released Community-based health care, including outreach and campaigns, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is intended for decision-makers and managers at the national and subnational levels.
This is an update to COVID-19: Operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak: Interim guidance, 25 March 2020
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Since December 2010, Malaria Consortium has been implementing an innovative approach to community management of severe acute malnutrition, together with an existing integrated community case management (ICCM) programme in South Sudan. This learning paper considers Malaria Consortiums experience of t
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his combined approach in a highly complex context and shows whether the management of severe acute malnutrition is an effective, acceptable and feasible component of ICCM programming
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Summary of lessons learned
Self-imposed quarantine has proved less problematic.
The timely and reliable delivery of resources (e.g. food/water)
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and expertise (e.g. contact tracing/safe and dignified burials) is essential to ensure cooperation and deter quarantine violation.
The communities’ understanding of the benefits of quarantine and its role in stopping the outbreak is essential.
Coercion is counterproductive.
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On 30thJanuary 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the People’s Republic of
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China to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under the international Health Regulations. The following day, the Italian Government declared a state of emergency, stopping all flights to and from Chinese airports. 1.2On 7th April the foreign, interior, transport and health ministers signed a decree under theInternational Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue stating that Italian ports could no longer be classified as places of safety for foreign naval units, including NGO-run migrantrescue ships, operating outside the Italian Search and Rescue (SAR) area. Despite the national lockdown and the closure of ports to international rescue vessels in the Mediterranean Sea, small ships departing from Libya and Tunisia have continued to sail towards the Italian coastline. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), during the period 1stJanuary –12thApril, 2020 there were an estimated 3,229 sea arrivals in Italy
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Frontline health workers (FHWs) provide services directly to communities where they are most needed, especially in remote and rural areas. Many are community health workers and midwives, though they
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can also include local emergency responders/paramedics, pharmacists, nurses, and doctors who serve in community clinics.
The growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on low- and middle-income countries threatens many health systems that are already weakened. In many countries, health systems—and health workers—are not prepared to address the complex nature of NCDs. Health systems are often fragmented, and designed to respond to single episodes of care or long-term prevention and control of infectious diseases.1 Many countries also continue to face shortages and distribution challenges of trained and supported health workers. As most NCDs are multifactorial in origin and are detected later in their evolution, health systems face significant challenges to provide early detection as well as affordable, effective, and timely treatment, particularly in underserved communities.
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This sourcebook aims to detail why health needs to be part of urban and territorial planning and how to make this happen. It brings together two vital elements we need to build habitable cities on a
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habitable planet: 1) Processes to guide the development of human settlements – in this document referred to as “urban and territorial planning (UTP)”; and 2) concern for human health, well-being and health equity at all levels – from local to global, and from human to planetary health.
This sourcebook identifies a comprehensive selection of existing resources and tools to support the incorporation of health into UTP, including advocacy frameworks, entry points and guidance, as well as tools and illustrative case studies. It does not provide prescriptions for specific scenarios – these should be determined by context, people and available resources.
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This Commission report aims to contribute to a new era of multilateral cooperation based on strong UN institutions to reduce the dangers of COVID-19, forestall the next pandemic,
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and enable the world to achieve the agreed goals of sustainable development, human rights, and peace that governments are committed to pursue as members of the UN. We address this Commission report to the UN member states, the UN agencies and multilateral institutions, and multilateral processes such as the G20 and the G7.
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The Capacity Project used the Learning for Performance (LFP) approach to develop the family planning (FP), HIV/AIDS
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and gender components included in the competency-based A1 nursing and midwifery pre-service curricula. LFP was also used to adapt the Rwanda national FP curriculum to an on-the-job training approach. This study documents the implementation of the and the lessons learned from its application in preservice education and in-service training in Rwanda.
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