Beat the heat: child health amid heatwaves in Europe and Central Asia finds that half of these children died from heat-related illnesses in their first year of life. Most children died during the summer months.
"Around half of children across Europe and Central Asia – or 92 million children –... are already exposed to frequent heatwaves in a region where temperatures are rising at the fastest rate globally. The increasingly high temperatures can have serious health complications for children, especially the youngest children, even in a short space of time. Without care, these complications can be life-threatening,” said Regina De Dominicis UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.
Heat exposure has acute effects on children, even before they are born, and can result in pre-term births, low birth weight, stillbirth, and congenital anomalies. Heat stress is a direct cause of infant mortality, can affect infant growth and cause a range of paediatric diseases. The report also notes that extreme heat caused the loss of more than 32,000 years of healthy life among children and teenagers in the region.
As the temperatures continue to rise, UNICEF urges governments across Europe and Central Asia to:
- Integrate strategies to reduce the impact of heatwaves including through National Determined Contributions (NDC), National Adaptation Plans (NAP), and disaster risk reduction and disaster management policies with children at the centre of these plans
Invest in heat health action plans and primary health care to more adequately support heat-related illness among children
- Invest in early warning systems, including heat alert systems
- Adapt education facilities to reduce the temperatures in the areas children play in and equip teachers with skills to respond to heat stress
- Adapt urban design and infrastructure including ensuring buildings, particularly those housing the most vulnerable communities are equipped to minimize heat exposure
- Secure the provision of safe water, particularly in countries with deteriorating water quality and availability.
UNICEF works with governments, partners and communities across the region to build resilience against heatwaves. This includes equipping teachers, community health workers and families with the skills and knowledge to respond to heat stress.
more
Data on asthma aetiology in Africa are scarce. We investigated the risk factors for asthma among schoolchildren (5–17 years) in urban Uganda. We conducted a case-control study, among 555 cases and 1115 controls. Asthma was diagnosed by study clinicians. The main risk factors for asthma were tertia...ry education for fathers (adjusted OR (95% CI); 2.32 (1.71–3.16)) and mothers (1.85 (1.38–2.48)); area of residence at birth, with children born in a small town or in the city having an increased asthma risk compared to schoolchildren born in rural areas (2.16 (1.60–2.92)) and (2.79 (1.79–4.35)), respectively; father’s and mother’s history of asthma; children’s own allergic conditions; atopy; and cooking on gas/electricity. In conclusion, asthma was associated with a strong rural-town-city risk gradient, higher parental socio-economic status and urbanicity. This work provides the basis for future studies to identify specific environmental/lifestyle factors responsible for increasing asthma risk among children in urban areas in LMICs.
more
Asthma is the most common noncommunicable disease in children, and among the most common in adults. According to the most recent estimates from the Global Asthma Network Phase I study, around one in 10 children and adults have symptoms of asthma and one in 20 school-aged children have severe asthma ...symptoms, with marked variations in prevalence and in prevalence trends between countries and regions of the world. The Global Burden of Disease Study estimated that asthma caused the loss of 21.6 million healthy years of life (disability-adjusted life years) and 461 069 deaths in 2019. Approximately 90% of the asthma burden of disease is borne by people living low and middle income countries (LMICs). Some countries report very high (up to 90%) rates of uncontrolled asthma. While the prevalence of asthma is highest in countries with a high Socio-Demographic Index (SDI), death rates from asthma are highest in countries with low and lower middle incomes.
more
This Birth Defect Surveillance facilitator (train-the-trainer) guide 2nd edition covers foundational skills needed to begin the development, implementation and ongoing improvement of a congenital anomaly surveillance programme, whether population-based or hospital-based, in particular for countries ...with limited resources.
more
Lignes directrices provisoires, 13 août 2020
L’OMS a établi cette brève note d’information pour répondre au besoin de recommandations sur la prestation sûre de soins à domicile aux patients présumés atteints de l’infection par le nouveau coronavirus (2019-nCoV) présentant des symptô...mes bénins, et sur les mesures de santé publique liées à la prise en charge des contacts asymptomatiques.
more
Nature Sustainability | VOL 2 | APRIL 2019 | 267–273 | www.nature.com/natsustain
Six maladies évitables par la vaccination ont été incluses dès le
début dans le PEV : la diphtérie, la rougeole, la coqueluche, la
poliomyélite, le tétanos et la tuberculose.
This Tuberculosis guide has been developed jointly by Médecins Sans Frontières and Partners In Health. It aims at providing useful information to the clinicians and health staff for the comprehensive management of tuberculosis. Forms of susceptible and resistant tuberculosis, tuberculosis in child...ren, and HIV co-infection are all fully addressed.
more
Alto a la Tuberculosis.
Enfermedades Transmisibles.
As detailed in MSF’s report Confronting the mental health emergency on Samos and Lesbos, the scale of the needs for mental healthcare and the severity of patients’ conditions have overwhelmed the capacity of mental health services on the islands.
Los datos incluidos en este informe demuestran que en la Región de las Américas existe un desarrollo progresivo en relación con las políticas, leyes, programas y servicios de salud mental. Sin embargo, se necesitan aun grandes esfuerzos, compromisos y recursos para alcanzar los objetivos regiona...les. Los resultados del Atlas 2017 confirman una tendencia ya percibida en ediciones anteriores: los Recursos siguen siendo insuficientes para satisfacer la creciente carga de la enfermedad mental, y su distribución es heterogénea. Además, los servicios existentes requieren una transformación que permita mejorar la cobertura y el acceso a la atención en salud mental, asegurando que salud mental sea a todos los efectos parte de las políticas nacionales de cobertura universal en salud.
more
Reseña normativa
24 de Julio de 2020
La pandemia de COVID-19 ha afectado de manera desproporcionada a las personas de edad y especialmente a aquellas que viven
en los centros de atención de larga estancia. En muchos países, los datos demuestran que más del 40% de las muertes relacionadas
con... la COVID-19 se hallaban vinculadas a los centros de atención de larga estancia, con cifras de hasta el 80% en algunos países
de ingresos altos.
more
La nueva hoja de ruta para poner fin a la TB en la población infantil y adolescente tiene un amplio público destinatario y alentamos a los países a que la adapten en función de su contexto nacional. Se prevé que utilicen la hoja de ruta los encargados de formular políticas a nivel nacional, re...gional y mundial; los programas nacionales relacionados con la TB, la salud maternoinfantil, la infección por el VIH y otros programas de atención primaria de salud que formulan estrategias y planes sobre los servicios de salud. También será útil para los profesionales de salud en los servicios públicos y privados, las organizaciones de la sociedad civil y los organismos técnicos que participa
more