This progress report reflects achievements made during the first year of implementation (through December 2016), as countries have taken actions in line with new or existing national strategies. The most recent data on country progress in 2016 are b...ased on country-reported data and country-developed models using Spectrum software that were reported to UNAIDS in 2017.
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ECDC launched the HEPSA (Health Emergency Preparedness Self-Assessment) tool, in order to support countries in improving their level of public health emergency preparedness. The tool is worksheet-based and is targeted at professionals in public heal...th organisations responsible for emergency planning and event management. It consists of seven domains that define the process of public health emergency preparedness and response: 1) Pre-event preparations and governance; 2) Resources: Trained workforce; 3) Support capacity: Surveillance; 4) Support capacity: Risk assessment; 5) Event response management; 6) Post-event review; 7) Implementation of lessons learned.
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A new formulation of a drug to prevent excessive bleeding following childbirth could save thousands of women’s lives in low- and lower-middle-income countries, according to a study led by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with M...SD for Mothers and Ferring Pharmaceuticals.
Currently WHO recommends oxytocin as the first-choice drug for preventing excessive bleeding after childbirth. Oxytocin, however, must be stored and transported at 2–8 degrees Celsius, which is hard to do, in many countries, depriving many women of access to this lifesaving drug. When they can obtain it, the drug may be less effective because of heat exposure.
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Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) programs targeted at children aged 6–59 months are implemented in many countries. By improving immune function, vitamin A (VA) reduces mortality associated with measles, diarrhea, and other illnesses. There is curre...ntly a debate regarding the relevance of VAS, but amidst the debate, researchers acknowledge that the majority of nationally-representative data on VA status is outdated. To address this data gap and contribute to the debate, we examined data from 82 countries implementing VAS programs, identified other VA programs, and assessed the recentness of national VA deficiency (VAD) data.
Article published in: Nutrients, 2017, 9, 190
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9030190
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This publication outlines public health aspects of alcohol use and harm in WHO South East Asia Region Countries. It summarizes Global Regional and country specific data and also discusses aspects of alcohol control that are important in the context ...of the Region. The possible future trend of alcohol use in the Region is also analysed and current and future barriers to effective alcohol control in countries of the Region are discussed.
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When setting national drinking-water quality regulations and standards, many countries consider the WHO Guidelines for drinking-water quality (GDWQ). To better understand the extent to which the GDWQ are used and reflected in these standards,... this global review summarizes information from 104 countries and territories on values specified in national drinking-water quality standards for aesthetic, chemical, microbiological and radiological parameters.
The information provided will support regulatory agencies and other key stakeholders to access and compare data when setting or revising national drinking-water quality regulations and standards.
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The World Health Organization's Model Disability Survey (MDS) Manual is a tool to help implement the MDS in countries and to improve the quality of the interview process. This manual is intended to provide practical information about the survey inst...ruments and their use during interviews. This manual is to be used as a training tool for interviewers when administering the questionnaire.
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A review of proactive risk assessment and risk management practices to ensure the safety of drinking-water
Based on information gathered from 118 countries representing every region of the globe, this report provides a picture of WSP uptake wor...ldwide. It presents information on WSP implementation and the integration of WSPs into the policy environment. It also explores WSP benefits, challenges and future priorities.
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2016-2018 Early implementation,
This report presents 2015 data on the consumption of systemic antibiotics from 65 countries and areas, contributing to our understanding of how antibiotics are used in these ...">countries. In addition, the report documents early efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) and participating countries to monitor antimicrobial consumption, describes the WHO global methodology for data collection, and highlights the challenges and future steps in monitoring antimicrobial consumption.
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An in-depth analysis of the health-seeking behaviour of patients and health system response in seven countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region
Over 22,000 medical professionals fled Venezuela from 2012-2017 and sought jobs in other Latin American countries.
The influx of specialists in places like Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Peru has helped address critical gaps in care—patients in ...poorer or rural communities wait months for specialty care and surgeries have years-long waiting lists. But a talent inflow isn’t a quick fix for stressed systems. Nations must construct reasonable credentialing procedures—a process that can take years—and match specialists with jobs where they’re most needed.
Venezuela’s uncertain future also means questioning how countries will cope if doctors decide to return home
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NEUROLOGY ATLAS presents for the first time, the most
comprehensive collection and compilation of information on
neurological resources across 109 countries. The results confirm
that the available resources including services for neurological
di...sorders are markedly insufficient; in addition, there are large
inequities across regions and income groups of countries.
Urgent action is required to enhance the resources available
to address the increasing burden of neurological disorders.
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Faced with the largest population outflow in Latin America of recent years, 95 organizations covering 16 countries have been working together to establish a comprehensive response to the urgent needs of millions of refugees and migrants from Venezue...la, and host communities.
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The Japan Committee for UNICEF (JCU) has for years endeavored to disseminate important information about children in developing countries and UNICEF’s various assistance programmes there, as well as to fundraise to support those programmes. Unprec...edented damage caused by the East Japan Earthquake, however, forced us to ask ourselves what we could do to help, and we wasted no time in contacting UNICEF Headquarters in New York.
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Prioritise education in conflict-affected areas:
Across the world 28 million1 primary school-age children living in conflict-affected countries are
out-of-school, and they form half of the world’s total out-of-school population. During conflict,...
infrastructure assets such as schools are damaged or completely destroyed during fighting. Children
may choose to stay away from school due to their and their family’s safety fears in the midst of
conflict, or the need to supplement their family’s income amidst conflict-related financial loss.
Children who are internally displaced by conflict face a particularly challenging task accessing
education due to the specific conditions created by their displacement, such as loss of livelihoods
making school fees hard to find, and discrimination from host communities. Children caught in
conflict are being deprived of their right to education2 and denied the opportunity to benefit from the
protective and life-sustaining mechanisms of education.
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Q6: What is the added advantage of doing neuroimaging in people with convulsive epilepsy in non-specialist settings in low and middle income countries?
Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response.
One of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, Bangladesh each year experiences a high degree of seasonal variety, including southwest monsoon and two cyclone seasons. With its long c...oastline on the Bay of Bengal and with a landscape consisting of flat deltaic plains and sandy hills, Cox´s Bazaar is highly exposed to natural hazards and extreme weather, including cyclones, torrential rain, landslides, flash floods, storm surges and extreme temperatures.
The 2018 Cyclone Preparedness Lessons Learnt Exercise aims to capture and analyse knowledge acquired by humanitarian actors during their cyclone preparedness efforts and operations in the Rohingya refugee camps during the 2018 cyclone seasons. The purpose is to provide a reference document for planning for future cyclone seasons, support evidence-based advocacy, and identify gaps in preparedness which need to be addressed in advance of the 2019 cyclone seasons. The report focuses on lessons learnt in the refugee camps, not host communities
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New assessment guidelines for measuring the overall impact of mental health problems in Latin America have served as a catalyst for countries to review their mental health policies. Latin American countrie...s have taken various steps to address long-standing problems such as structural difficulties, scarce financial and human resources, and social, political, and cultural obstacles in the implementation of mental health policies and legislation. These policy developments, however, have had uneven results. Policies must reflect the desire, determination, and commitment of policy-makers to take mental health seriously and look after people’s mental health needs. This paper describes the development of mental health policies in Latin American countries, focusing on published data in peer-reviewed journals, and legislative change and its implementation. It presents a brief history of mental health policy developments, and analyzes the basis and practicalities of current practice.
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Overview
Learning objectives
• Understand the mental health treatment gap in low-, middle- and high-income countries.
• Understand the principles and aims of the Mental Health Gap Action Programme.
• Acquire an introduction to mhGAP Interv...ention Guide (mhGAP-IG).
• Learn about mhGAP ToHP training methodology and what to expect from mhGAP ToHP
training.
• Prepare group training ground rules.
• Know the common presentations of mental, neurological and substance abuse (MNS)
conditions.
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In an environment of stagnant donor funding and increasing private sector investment in low- and middle-income countries, actors in both the public and private sectors are increasingly interested in using blended finance approaches to catalyze new f...unding for global health and achieve health outcomes. As USAID moves towards greater engagement with the private sector, blended finance will be an important component to help achieve development objectives.
Accessed 19th May 2019.
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