Cascading risks from rising prices and supply disruptions, April 2022.
Global resource markets are still reeling from the impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the two countries are major suppliers of energy, food
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and fertilizers. Supply disruption and the sudden imposition, in response to the crisis, of unprecedented economic sanctions, trade restrictions and policy interventions have caused prices of commodities to skyrocket.
Before the conflict, demand for global resources already exceeded supply and drove up prices as economies rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic. This gave rise to a global cost-of-living crisis, characterized by increasing levels of energy and food poverty. This situation is likely to become much worse as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, and poses a threat to human security, particularly among low-income and vulnerable populations.
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The Interim Guidance for Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) outlines recommendations, considerations and methods to raise awareness, manage risk perception, maintain trust
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and proactively support people at risk to make informed decisions to protect themselves and others from monkeypox. The guidance includes recommendations on identifying and communicating with affected populations and key audiences and avoiding stigma in communications outreach. It also includes key messages about symptoms of monkeypox, transmission, prevention measures, and communicating about uncertainty. This document also provides RCCE guidance for managers and planners of gatherings and events, where close physical contact may create an environment conducive for the transmission of monkeypox. Additionally, this document includes a compendium of recommendations for RCCE methods and resources to support the monkeypox response.
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Lancet Planet Health 2022;6: e760–68
The emergence of COVID-19 has drawn the attention of health researchers sharply back to the role that food systems can play in generating human disease burden. But emerging pandemic threats are just one dimension of the complex relationship between agriculture
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and infectious disease, which is evolving rapidly, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) that are undergoing rapid food system transformation. This changing relationship is examined through four current disease issues.
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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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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
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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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This fourth WHO report on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) reviews the progress made towards achieving the Roadmap targets for 2020, noting the remaining challenges, then looks beyond 2020 to evaluate the changing global health and development lan
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dscape, considering the implications of integrating these diseases into the broader 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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Vaccines are powerful weapons in the fight against pandemic viruses as shown by responses to both the 2009 H1N1 influenza and the COVID-19 pandemics. However, planning for accessing, allocating and
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deploying vaccines in a pandemic situation is a complex endeavour, beset with multiple challenges at all levels – local, regional and global. The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners have prepared this revised guidance document to assist countries update their national deployment and vaccination plans (NDVPs) by leveraging global learnings from past pandemic responses, including the recent COVID-19 vaccination effort. The development and testing of a NDVP would not only advance pandemic preparedness efforts but would also have benefits in terms of increasing national capabilities to manage other health emergencies which require emergency vaccination campaigns.
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This document highlights landmarks and key milestones in the development and implementation of the global agenda for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) over the last two decades. It summarizes where th
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e world was in 2000, where it is in 2022, and where the world wants to be in terms of NCD prevention and control by 2030. It recalls the commitments made by heads of state and governments, and outlines the technical guidance provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) in support of national efforts to achieve the internationally agreed NCD targets for 2025 and 2030.
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Good practice guide
Supporting community action on HIV, health and rights to end AIDS
Country Progress Report January 2008 - December 2009
November 3, 2009https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000176
PLoS Med 6(11): e1000176. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000176
In South Africa, young women and girls are exposed to extremely high levels of gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV infection. Given the links between the two epidemics, it is important that HIV prev
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ention programmes also address violence against women and children. The Global Fund’s Young Women and Girls (YWG) programme is a multi-pronged HIV prevention programme targeting young women and girls and was implemented in 10 districts in South Africa from April 2016 to March 2019. This briefing paper reports on the lessons learnt from a process evaluation of the child protection component of the programme
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Child friendly spaces (CFS) are safe spaces where
communities create nurturing environments in which
children can access free and structured play and
learning activities. CFS, also commonly refer
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red to
as Child Centred Spaces or Safe Spaces for Children,
may provide educational and psychosocial support
and other activities that restore a sense of normality
and continuity for children whose lives have been
disrupted by war, natural disaster or other emergency
situations.
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