This report identifies and analyses policies and laws which currently include of Persons with disabilities in social protection specifically the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme and considers some of
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the gaps in the VUP norms which prevent the successful inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.
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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 bluepri
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nt for 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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The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, known more commonly as ICF, provides a standard language and framework for the description
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of health and health-related states. Like the first version published by the World Health Organization for trial purposes in 1980, ICF is a multipurpose classification intended for a wide range of uses in different sectors. It is a classification of health and health-related domains -- domains that help us to describe changes in body function and structure, what a person with a health condition can do in a standard environment (their level of capacity), as well as what they actually do in their usual environment (their level of performance).
These domains are classified from body, individual and societal perspectives by means of two lists: a list of body functions and structure, and a list of domains of activity and participation. In ICF, the term functioning refers to all body functions, activities and participation, while disability is similarly an umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions. ICF also lists environmental factors that interact with all these components.
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This publication seeks to describe the best treatments and practices based on the scientific evidence available at the time of writing as evaluated by the authors and may change as a result of new r
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esearch. Readers need to apply this knowledge to patients in accordance with the guidelines and laws of their country of practice. Some medications may not be available in some countries and readers should consult the specific drug information since not all the unwanted effects of medications are mentioned.
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Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease (CD), considered one of the most important parasitic infections in Latin America. Between 25 and 90 million humans are at infection risk
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via at least one of multiple infection mechanisms. Under natural conditions, the principal transmission modes are transplacental or via one of more than 140 hematophagous triatomine bugs (Reduviidae: Triatominae). Triatomines acquire the parasite from mammal reservoirs due to their obligate blood-feeding (albeit triatomines can also feed on non-reservoir vertebrates such as birds and reptiles). The disease burden for CD in the Latin America and Caribbean region, based on disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), is at least five times greater than that of malaria, and is approximately one-fifth that of HIV/AIDS. In recent decades, CD has extended to other continents outside natural reservoir or vector distributions due to human migration, with a minimum estimated 10 million individuals infected worldwide.
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BioMed Central DOI 10.1186/s12963-016-0096-y
Many groups in sub-Saharan Africa have historically linked persons with disabilities with witchcraft as a component of a wider link between accusations of witchcraft and socially marginalized popula
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tions. It is commonly assumed that traditional prejudices towards persons with disabilities are receding in light of urbanization, education, mass media and efforts to confront such prejudice and stigma by governments,
disability advocates and civil society. Ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by many African countries is considered an additional impetus for change.
Working Paper Series: No. 30
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People with disabilities experience significant health inequalities. In Malawi, where most individuals live in low-income rural settings, many of these inequalities are exacerbated by restricted access to health care services. This qualitative study
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explores the barriers to health care access experienced by individuals with a mobility or sensory impairment, or both, living in rural villages in Dowa district, central Malawi. In addition, the impact of a chronic lung condition, alongside a mobility or sensory impairment, on health care accessibility is explored.
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Comprehensive Primary Health Care has an important role in the primary and secondary prevention of several disease conditions, including non-communicable diseases which today contribute to over 60%
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of the mortality in India. The provision of Comprehensive primary health care reduces morbidity, disability and mortality at much lower costs and significantly reduces the need for secondary and tertiary care. Estimates suggest that almost 52% of all conditions can be managed at the
primary care level.
In order to ensure comprehensive primary health care, close to where people live, Sub- Centres should be strengthened as Health and Wellness Centres (H&WC), staffed by appropriately trained primary health care team. The Medical officer of the Primary Health Centre would oversee the functioning of the SC/HWC that falls in that area.
Services include those that (i) can be delivered at the level of the household and outreach sites in the community by suitably trained frontline workers, (ii) those that are delivered by a team headed by a mid-level health provider, at the level of the Sub-Centre/Health and Wellness Centre and (iii) the referral support and continuity of care within the district health system in rural and urban areas. The package of services is in Box. States would need to either phase in these services or add on additional services based on state specific and local context.
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From 2011 until 2016, a multi-actor programme was run in five countries to improve the life chances and living conditions of people experiencing exclusion and marginalisation
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of various kinds. This programme worked with local leaders, organisations and movements as well as various institutions and authorities
focusing on older people, those with mental health issues, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, people displaced by war and youth at risk. Many initiatives were developed that had lasting effects on the ways in which these groups valued themselves and in which they are valued by society.
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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
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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.
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Cardiovascular diseases, principally ischemic heart disease (IHD), are the most important cause of death and disability in the majority of low- and
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lower-middle-income countries (LLMICs). In these countries, IHD mortality rates are significantly greater in individuals of a low socioeconomic status (SES).
Three important focus areas for decreasing IHD mortality among those of low SES in LLMICs are (1) acute coronary care; (2) cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention; and (3) primary prevention. Greater mortality in low SES patients with acute coronary syndrome is due to lack of awareness of symptoms in patients and primary care physicians, delay in reaching healthcare facilities, non-availability of thrombolysis and coronary revascularization, and the non-affordability of expensive medicines (statins, dual anti-platelets, renin-angiotensin system blockers). Facilities for rapid diagnosis and accessible and affordable long-term care at secondary and tertiary care hospitals for IHD care are needed. A strong focus on the social determinants of health (low education, poverty, working and living conditions), greater healthcare financing, and efficient primary care is required. The quality of primary prevention needs to be improved with initiatives to eliminate tobacco and trans-fats and to reduce the consumption of alcohol, refined carbohydrates, and salt along with the promotion of healthy foods and physical activity. Efficient primary care with a focus on management of blood pressure, lipids and diabetes is needed. Task sharing with community health workers, electronic decision support systems, and use of fixed-dose combinations of blood pressure-lowering drugs and statins can substantially reduce risk factors and potentially lead to large reductions in IHD. Finally, training of physicians, nurses, and health workers in IHD prevention should be strengthened.
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The Global Status Report on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) 2014 by the World Health Organization outlines the global impact of NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic
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respiratory diseases, which are responsible for a significant portion of global mortality, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
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Mainstreaming Persons with Disabilities into Society
Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD), mainly heart attack and stroke, is the
leading cause of premature mortality in low and middle income countries (LMICs).
Identifying and managing individuals at high risk
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of CVD is an important strategy to prevent and control CVD, in addition to multisectoral population-based interventions to reduce CVD risk factors in the entire population.
Methods: We describe key public health considerations in identifying and managing individuals at high risk of CVD in LMICs.
Results: A main objective of any strategy to identify individuals at high CVD risk is to maximize the number of CVD events averted while minimizing the numbers of
individuals needing treatment. Scores estimating the total risk of CVD (e.g. ten-year risk of fatal and non-fatal CVD) are available for LMICs, and are based on the main CVD risk factors (history of CVD, age, sex, tobacco use, blood pressure, blood cholesterol and diabetes status). Opportunistic screening of CVD risk factors enables identification of persons with high CVD risk, but this strategy can be widely applied in low resource settings only if cost effective interventions are used (e.g. the WHO Package of Essential NCD interventions for primary health care in low resource settings package) and if treatment (generally for years) can be sustained, including continued availability ofaffordable medications and funding mechanisms that allow people to purchase medications without impoverishing them (e.g. universal access to health care). Thisalso emphasises the need to re-orient health systems in LMICs towards chronic diseases management.
Conclusion: The large burden of CVD in LMICs and the fact that persons with high
CVD can be identified and managed along cost-effective interventions mean that
health systems need to be structured in a way that encourages patient registration, opportunistic screening of CVD risk factors, efficient procedures for the management of chronic conditions (e.g. task sharing) and provision of affordable treatment for those with high CVD risk. The focus needs to be in primary care because that is where most of the population can access health care and because CVD programmes can be run effectively at this level.
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BioMed Central; BMC International Health and Human Rights (2016) 16:20; DOI 10.1186/s12914-016-0094-y
Asthma prevalence is increasing worldwide and surveys indicate that the majority of patients in developed and developing countries do not receive optimal care and are therefore not well controlled. The aim
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of these guidelines is to promote a better standard of treatment based on advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology and pharmacotherapy of asthma and to encourage uniformity in the management of asthma.
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