Overview: Risk communication and community engagement are essential for any disease outbreak response. This is particularly critical during outbreaks of Ebola which may create fear in the public and... frontline responders alike due to severe presentation of symptoms, misunderstanding of the causes of illness and high fatality rates. This document outlines some of the key considerations for risk communication and community engagement response to Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ebola outbreaks have been associated with misinformation and false rumours. In the context of RCCE, rumours refer to unsubstantiated information, claims or beliefs about what is causing the disease or how it can be treated/cured. If not proactively addressed in culturally appropriate ways, misinformation and rumours can lead to the further rapid spread of the disease and unnecessary deaths, severe disease, suffering, and societal and economic loss.
The publication includes a 'Rumour Tracking Tool' (Annex II).
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The 2020 recommendations for the programmatic management of TB preventive treatment are the first to be released under the rubric of WHO consolidated TB guidelines (Module 1 – Prevention). The WHO consolidated TB guidelines will gradually group al...l TB recommendations and will be complemented by matching modules of a consolidated operational handbook. [1] The handbook will provide practical advice on how to put in place the recommendations at the scale needed to achieve national and global impact. The first handbook module in the series will be on the programmatic management of TB preventive treatment and will accompany the 2020 guidelines.
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Safe sanitation is essential for health, from preventing infections to improving and maintaining mental and social
well-being. Lack of adequate sanitation contributes to diarrhoeal diseases, parasi...tic infections, and undernutrition, as
well as posing significant risks and causing anxiety, especially for women and girls. Achieving universal access to safe
sanitation, which protects health, privacy, and dignity, is a global development goal and a recognized basic human right.
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Asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease among school-going adolescents worldwide. However, the burden of severe asthma is highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to explore teachers’ perceptions of asthma care across six Afri...can countries. We conducted focus group discussions (FGDs) using a semi-structured interview guide. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. FGDs were conducted in Kumasi(Ghana), Blantyre (Malawi), Lagos (Nigeria), Durban (South Africa), Kampala (Uganda), and Harare (Zimbabwe) between 01 November 2020 and 30 June 2021. We identified two key themes related to asthma care; barriers to asthma care and suggestions to improve the care of adolescents with asthma. Barriers reported by teachers included a lack of knowledge and skills among themselves, adolescents, and caregivers. In addition, some traditional beliefs of teachers on asthma exacerbated challenges with asthma care in schools. Regarding suggestions, most teachers identified a need for all-inclusive asthma training programmes for teachers, adolescents and caregivers, focusing on acute episodes and mitigating triggers. Utilising teachers with personal experiences with asthma to advocate and support these initiatives was suggested. Further suggestions included the need for annual screening to enable early identification of adolescents with asthma and clarify restrictions on teachers administering asthma medications. Teachers across African schools identify multiple barriers to asthma care. Structured school education programs and annual asthma screening are key to addressing some barriers to care.
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The Health Sector Policy gives general orientations for the sector which are further developed in the various sub-sector policies guiding key health programs and departments. All health sub-sector policies will be updated in line with this new polic...y. The Health Sector Policy is the basis of national health planning and the first point of reference for all actors working in the health sector. The overall aim of this policy is to ensure universal accessibility (in geographical and financial terms) of equitable and affordable quality health services (preventative, curative, rehabilitative and promotional services) for all Rwandans. It sets the health sector’s objectives, identifies the priority health interventions for meeting these objectives, outlines the role of each level in the health system, and provides guidelines for improved planning and evaluation of activities in the health sector. A companion Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) elaborates the strategic directions defined in the Health Sector Policy in order to support and achieve the implementation of the policy, and more detailed annual operational plans describe the activities under each strategy.
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The burden of diabetes is enormous, positioning it as one of the main challenges facing public health today. Currently, it is estimated that 62 million people are living with diabetes in the Region of the Americas and projections show its prevalence will continue rising over the following years. The... Region shows the highest number of years of healthy life lost (through either disability or premature death) due to diabetes worldwide. The high costs associated with its treatment produce a heavy economic burden. Its complications can seriously affect the quality of life of people living with diabetes, their families, and society and overload health systems. This report shows the latest internationally comparable data on diabetes and its main risk factors by year, country, and sex. It also includes a summary of the countries health systems’ response to diabetes, including national plans, targets, surveillance, guidelines, and access to essential drugs and technologies, and synthesizes information about diabetes-related complications and the close relationship between diabetes and other pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, tuberculosis, and COVID-19. The data presented here reveal that, despite advances in national responses, diabetes continues to expand, and our response remains insufficient. This report aims to draw attention to the urgent need to strengthen efforts to prevent, diagnose, and control diabetes in the Region of the Americas.
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The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), in accordance with recommendations from various WHO committees, has developed three flagship programmes to support Member States in the African region to prepare ...bute-to-highlight medbox">for, detect and respond to public health emergencies. They are the result of extensive consultations with more than 30 African government ministers, technical actors, partners across the continent as well as regional institutions such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), whose contributions have shaped the priority activities. This report provides the second quarterly summary of progress in implementing the flagship programmes.
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This guide includes information relevant for tuberculosis (TB) program and laboratory managers, as well as Ministry of Health officials across disease programs interested in establishing integrated ...solutions for specimen referral. Though TB-focused in name, it offers integration-oriented assessment, design, and monitoring guidance related to improving coordination and efficiency, and is relevant for other programs as well. Country case studies include viral load and early infant diagnosis (EID) in Uganda and EID in Ethiopia.
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A toolkit for pharmacists.
Emerging data show that medication errors and adverse events cause significant harm to patients’ health and
well-being. It is estimated that the burden of adverse events due to medicines is now comparable to that of
w...idespread diseases, such as malaria or tuberculosis.1 The impacts of medication errors also represent a
burden for health systems, with the annual cost associated with medication errors estimated at USD 42 billion
worldwideharm
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Technical report
This manual aims to provide information about the methods for investigating outbreaks of hepatitis E, and measures for their prevention and control. In addition, the manual giv...es information about the causative agent – known as the hepatitis E virus (HEV) – its epidemiology, clinical manifestations of the disease and diagnosis.
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Mental disorders impose an enormous burden on society, accounting for almost one in three years lived with disability globally. •In addition to their health impact, mental disorders cause a significant economic burden due to lost economic output a...nd the link between mental disorders and costly, potentially fatal conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV, and obesity.•80% of the people likely to experience an episode of a mental disorder in their lifetime come from low- and middle-income countries.• Two of the most common forms of mental disorders, anxiety and depression, are prevalent, disabling, and respond to a range of treatments that are safe and effective. Yet, owing to stigma and inadequate funding, these disorders are not being treated in most primary care and community settings.
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- Module 1: Understanding modelling approaches for sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, and nutrition
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a wide range of docume...nted effects. It directly causes death and disability for some people infected. However, disruption to essential health services, resources allocated to mitigation and therefore away from essential health service delivery, and the overall impact on the economy and society must also be considered within the response to COVID-19. Understanding the magnitude of all of these effects is an essential part of developing mitigation polices.
Several epidemiological models have been created to assess the potential impact of disruptions to essential health services caused by COVID-19 on morbidity and mortality from conditions other than COVID-19 illness. This guide presents models that have been used to assess these indirect impacts. The effects have been studied in various settings, using a variety of models.
The guide is intended for people who need to understand what the models say, their construction and their underlying assumptions, or need to use models and their outcomes for planning and programme development and to support policy decisions for a country or region.
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In many countries neonatal tetanus is responsible for half of all neonatal deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases and for almost 14% of al¡ in...fant deaths. It is estimated that in the 1970s more than 10,000 newborns died annually from neonatal tetanus in the Americas. Neonatal tetanus is prevented by immunization and/or assuring clean delivery and post-delivery practices.
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1st edition
This resource provides practical guidance for front line health workers responsible for the diagnosis, management and care of patients with these two ... medbox">diseases. Published in collaboration with the World Diabetes Foundation
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his guidance provides interim guidance for the integration of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virologic and genomic surveillance, from sentinel site case enrolment and sampling to the eventual sharing of the virus sequence data, a process known as end-to-e...nd surveillance. This guidance builds on experiences and lessons learned as countries adapted their influenza surveillance systems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and reviews new evidence to provide guidance on end-to-end surveillance. The guidance includes new algorithms and strategies to adapt sentinel systems to make them resilient and agile for addressing global and national surveillance needs for influenza and COVID-19.covid-
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This document builds on the Background document prepared for the September 4-5, 2014 Consultation. It includes proposed elements to consider during the development of a framework to assist decision-making at global and ...hlight medbox">national level.
The aim of the document is to assist Member States and relevant partners in their discussions to identify the best approaches to ensure the accelerated evaluation and use of available or near-term therapies and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of EVD. The document calls for a coordinated effort by the international community to remove unnecessary obstacles towards this goal.
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This guide is intended to support national governments developing their national deployment and vaccination plans (NDVPs) for COVID-19 vaccines by ...outlining the roles, needs and opportunities for community health workers (CHWs) to contribute. This note builds on and is structured to align with the Guidance on developing a national deployment and vaccination plan for COVID-19 vaccines. By providing CHW-relevant considerations for the VIRAT Tool, this document aims to support national governments in developing robust NDVPs for introducing COVID-19 vaccine(s) that leverage all the community-based deployment, implementation and monitoring tools at their disposal.
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an operational guide to support all those responsible for planning and implementing the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine to refugees and migrants at national and local levels, 14 March 2022
The World Heart Federation (WHF) commenced a Roadmap initiative in 2015 to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease and resultant burgeoning of healthcare costs. Roadmaps provide a blueprint for<.../span> implementation of priority solutions for the principal cardiovascular diseases leading to death and disability. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of these conditions and is an increasing problem due to ageing of the world’s population and an increase in cardiovascular risk factors that predispose to AF. The goal of the AF roadmap was to provide guidance on priority interventions that are feasible in multiple countries, and to identify roadblocks and potential strategies to overcome them.
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Despite the significant role of vector control in national leishmaniasis control programmes, the programmatic community perceives vector control as the weakest component of leishmaniasis control strategies in terms of resources, scientific evidence ...of the usefulness of interventions and capacity for quality-assured implementation. Therefore, the main objective of this manual is to provide practical tools, techniques and procedures to strengthen sand fly control and surveillance in order to improve implementation of leishmaniasis control programmes. The manual provides a rationale for programme managers in different geographical regions on the types of vector control interventions to be used in different epidemiological and environmental settings and also how to measure their impact.
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