Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS) is a gynaecological disease caused by Schistosoma haematobium, a parasitic worm that is acquired by skin contact with freshwater contaminated by schistosome cerceriae. Communities in which the infection is most endemic have limited access to clean water and healt...hcare services. Up to 150 million adolescent girls and women are estimated to be at risk of FGS and about 16–56 milion womens are living with FGS, with the majority of these in sub-Saharan Africa. The variability of these estimates points to the fact that this neglected tropical disease is not well studied and frequently not prioritized by local, regional, and global health policy makers.
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To identify and to assess factors enhancing or hindering the delivery of breast and cervical cancer screening services in Malawi with regard to accessibility, uptake, acceptability and effectiveness.
Systematic review ...light medbox">of published scientific evidence. A search of six bibliographic databases and grey literature was executed to identify relevant studies conducted in Malawi in the English language, with no time or study design restrictions. Data extraction was conducted in Excel and evidence synthesis followed a thematic analysis approach to identify and compare emerging themes.
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Within an Australian context, the medium to long-term health impacts of climate change are likely to be wide, varied and amplify many existing disorders and health inequities. How the health system responds to these challenges will be best considere...d in the context of existing health facilities and services. This paper provides a snapshot of the understanding that Australian health planners have of the potential health impacts of climate change.
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Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) has been an alarming global public health issue. The disease affects mainly poor and marginalized people in low-resource settings and is caused by two subspecies of haemoflagellate parasite, Trypanosoma brucei and... transmitted by tsetse flies. Progress made in HAT control during the past decade has prompted increasing global dialogue on its elimination and eradication. The disease is targeted by the World Health Organization (WHO) for elimination as a public health problem by 2020 and to terminate its transmission globally by 2030, along-side other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD). Several methods have been used to control tsetse flies and the disease transmitted by them. Old and new tools to control the disease are available with constraints.
Currently, there are no vaccines available. Efforts towards intervention to control the disease over the past decade have seen considerable progress and remarkable success with incidence dropping progressively, reversing the upward trend of reported cases. This gives credence in a real progress in its elimination. This study reviews various control measures, progress and a highlight of control issues, vector and parasite barriers that may have been hindering progress towards its elimination.
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The WHO SAGE values framework for the allocation and prioritization of COVID-19 vaccination is intended to offer guidance on the prioritization of groups for vaccination when vaccine supply is limit...ed. It provides a values foundation for the objectives of COVID-19 vaccination programmes and links those to target groups for vaccination. This information is valuable to countries and globally while specific policies will be developed once vaccines become available.
This document it available in Arabic, Chinese English, French, Portugese and Russian,
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This document contains guidance for strengthening the disability inclusiveness of MHPSS responses and programmes in emergency settings. It is intended to supplement the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings ...(2007).
Overall Objective
To consider and address the mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) requirements of persons living in emergency settings with all types of disabilities on an equal basis to the MHPSS requirements of all persons, using a human rights-based approach and implementing social-ecological frameworks.
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Available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. You can download a summary of the main report and background documents!
The report demonstrates that the current system—at both national and international levels— was not adeq...uate to protect people from COVID-19. The time it took from the reporting of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown origin in mid-late December 2019 to a Public Health Emergency of International Concern being declared was too long. February 2020 was also a lost month when many more countries could have taken steps to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and forestall the global health, social, and economic catastrophe that continues its grip. The Panel finds that the system as it stands now is clearly unfit to prevent another novel and highly infectious pathogen, which could emerge at any time, from developing into a pandemic.
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Information for policy-makers and planners on conducting deworming as part of an integrated
school health program
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A v.110(21); 2013 May 21 PMC3666729 ;
A systematic review was conducted by a multidisciplinary team to analyze qualitatively best available scientific evidence on the effect of agricultural intensification and environmental ...changes on the risk of zoonoses for which there are epidemiological interactions between wildlife and livestock.
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Specific action sheets offer useful guidance on mental health and psychosocial support and cover the following areas coordination assessment monitoring and evaluation protection and human rights standards human resources community mobilisation and support health services education dissemination ...n class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">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
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Governments have dedicated a pivotal role to the private sector in the implementation and financing of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. This has pushed a turn towards the private sector, the promotion of...n> multi-stakeholder partnerships between public and private actors. However, far too often there is a considerable gap between the social and environmental commitments companies make publicly in political fora like the UN and the actual effects of their production patterns and investment strategies on people and the environment. A new working paper, published by Brot für die Welt, Global Policy Forum and MISEREOR provides an overview of the ways and means by which the UN involves business actors in the debates around the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It describes new initiatives and alliances of business actors around SDG implementation at the international level, and their main messages and policy proposals. With a few selected examples it contrasts the sustainability rhetoric of corporations with their business reality. And finally, the working paper draws conclusions and formulates recommendations for policymakers on how to increase the benefits of UN-business interactions in implementing the 2030 Agenda - and how to reduce associated risks and negative side effects.
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This is the first global report on epilepsy summarizing the available evidence on the burden of epilepsy and the public health response required at global, regional and national levels.
The reports highlights major gaps in awareness, diagnosis, t...reatment, and health policies through a series of appalling numbers. With around 50 million people affected worldwide, epilepsy is one of the most common and serious brain disorders. Nearly 80% of people with epilepsy live in low-income and middle-income countries
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Annual report on global preparednessfor health emergencies
The next pandemic is not a question of if, but when—and the world is woefully unprepared, according to the first annual report from the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board. The WHO and t...he World Bank convened the independent group after the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Global News reports. Within 36 hours, a contagion like the 1918 flu could sweep the globe and take 50 to 80 million lives while wreaking havoc on the global economy, the report warns. And that’s just one possibility.
What would it take to get prepared? An investment of $1-$2 per person per year could create “acceptable” level of preparedness.
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It‘s hard to feel positive when our kids or teenagers are driving us crazy. We often end up saying “Stop doing that!” But children are much more likely to do what we ask if we give them positive instructions and lots of praise for what they do... right.
Updated 8 June 2020
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The WHO Regional Office for Europe has established the Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative in more than half the countries in the Region for routine monitoring of the policy response to the emerging obesity epidemic. The aim ...bute-to-highlight medbox">of the Initiative is to measure trends in overweight and obesity in children aged 6.0–9.9 years to get a clear understanding of the epidemic and to allow inter-country comparisons. This document outlines the common protocol agreed for use in the Initiative.
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The primary audience for this guidance is persons
working directly in vector-borne disease prevention
and control, including programme managers,
researchers and field workers. A brief technical
background is provided for the benefit of persons
...without expertise in vector-borne diseases; readers
working in the field may wish to skip the background
section and begin with the discussion of ethical
issues and values in Chapter 3. The guidance cannot
offer universally applicable answers to the complex
ethical issues raised, nor can it provide a checklist of
issues that are necessarily relevant in all situations.
Rather, its goal is to help readers recognize aspects
of their work that raise significant ethical challenges
and to respond to these challenges in accordance
with internationally accepted values and norms.
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The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closures around the world, affecting almost 1.6 billion students. The effects of even short disruptions in a child’s schooling on their learning and well-being have been shown to be acute and long lasting. The c...apacities of education systems to respond to the crisis by delivering remote learning and support to children and families have been diverse yet uneven.
This report reviews the emerging evidence on remote learning throughout the global school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic to help guide decision-makers to build more effective, sustainable, and resilient education systems for current and future crises.
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PHARMA’S RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 VACCINES CRISIS. Update Feb., 14, 2022. In September 2021, Amnesty International published A Double Dose of Inequality, which assessed the extent to which the pharmaceutical industry was restricting access to Covi...d-19 vaccines. This report updates that assessment of five leading vaccine manufacturers, AstraZeneca plc, BioNTech SE, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna Inc., and Pfizer Inc. It also includes for the first time an assessment of the two largest Chinese vaccine producers, China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (Sinopharm) and Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (Sinovac).
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The COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErs Study (HEROES): Regional Report from the Americas is a multicenter prospective cohort study to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of hea...lth care workers in 26 countries on four continents and how it is affected by several factors at different interrelated levels: individual, family, occupational, and social. This brief report presents the evidence generated from the baseline survey of 11 participating countries in the Region of the Americas. Using validated scales, the findings show high rates of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and psychological distress in several countries of the Region. The spirit of the project is not only to generate quality scientific evidence on the mental health of health care workers, but also to help develop interventions (both individual and institutional) and policies to address the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health.
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It is estimated that around 2 billion people worldwide do not have access to essential medicines. Access to medicines in the Eastern Mediterranean Region varies among countries, depending on their income level and allocation of domestic resources to... medicine and vaccine procurement. Access to safe and effective antibiotics remains a major challenge, especially for low- and middleincome countries. Barriers to access include high prices for new products, weak regulatory systems, substandard and falsified antibiotics, shortages of essential antimicrobials and inefficient procurement and supply management systems.
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