The country profiles incorporate facts indicating the national status of medical devices in areas such as: medical device policies, regulations, incorporation, lists, inventories, nomenclature, health technology assessment, management, and biomedi
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cal engineering resources. This publication is intended for use as a reference by decision-makers in Ministries of Health, nongovernmental organizations and academic institutions involved in health technology at the district, national, regional, or global levels.
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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
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health policies. Latin American countries 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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Making the Case for Alcohol as a Public Health Threat in the Region. The purpose of this document is to explain the need for making alcohol a top public h
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ealth priority in the region and the need for national and regional action. Current evidence-based research shows that alcohol consumption and drinking patterns in the Americas are at damaging levels, with the region surpassing global averages for many alcohol related problems.
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Progress towards targets of the Global action plan on dementia
The GHS Index is intended to be a key resource in the face of increasing risks of high-consequence and globally catastrophic biological events and in light
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of major gaps in international financing for preparedness. These risks are magnified by a rapidly changing and interconnected world; increasing political instability; urbanization; climate change; and rapid technology advances that make it easier, cheaper, and faster to create and engineer pathogens.
Key findings from the study of 195 countries:
• Out of a possible 100 points, the average GHS Index score across 195 countries was 40.2.
• The majority of high- and middle-income countries do not score above 50.
• Action is urgently needed to improve countries’ readiness for high-consequence infectious disease outbreaks.
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This report presents the most current data on four specific forms of violence – violent discipline and exposure to domestic abuse during early childhood; violence at school; violent deaths among adolescents; and sexual violence in childhood and ad
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olescence. The statistics reveal that children experience violence across all stages of childhood, in diverse settings, and often at the hands of the trusted individuals with whom they interact daily. The report concludes with specific national actions and strategies that UNICEF has embraced to prevent and respond to violence against children.
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As a public good, antimicrobial medicines require rational use if their effectiveness is to be preserved. However, up to 50% of antibiotic use is inappropriate, adding considerable costs to patient care, and increasing morbidity and mortality. In ad
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dition, there is compelling evidence that antimicrobial resistance is driven by the volume of antimicrobial agents used. High rates of antimicrobial resistance to common treatments are currently reported all over the world, both in health care settings and in the community. For over two decades, the Region of the Americas has been a pioneer in confronting antimicrobial resistance from a public health perspective. However, those efforts need to be stepped up if we are to have an impact on antimicrobial resistance and want to quantify said impact.
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This third edition of the landscape analysis provides regional and country-specific data. This report illustrates the complexities in surveillance of influenza and other respiratory viruses and high
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lights differences in the countries’ preparedness capacities through charts, infographics, tables, and brief narratives.
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The purpose of this document is to present and promote the minimum requirements for IPC programmes at the national and health care facility level, identified by expert consensus according to availab
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le evidence and in the context of the WHO core components.
The minimum requirements are defined as: IPC standards that should be in place at the national and facility level to provide minimum protection and safety to patients, HCWs and visitors, based on the WHO core components for IPC programmes.
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The goal of this Global Action Plan is to articulate synergistic actions that will be required to prevent HIVDR from undermining efforts to achieve global targets on health and HIV, and to provide t
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he most effective treatment to all people living with HIV including adults, key populations, pregnant and breastfeeding women, children and adolescents. The Global Action Plan has five strategic objectives: 1) prevention and response; 2) monitoring and surveillance; 3) research and innovation; 4) laboratory capacity; and 5) governance and enabling mechanisms.
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The Resolution Population and Individual Approaches to the Prevention and Management of Diabetes and Obesity was approved by the 48th Directing Council of the Pan American
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Health Organization, September 29- October 3, 2008, in response to the epidemic of obesity and diabetes currently affecting the countries of the Americas. Its main goal is to call on Member States to prioritize the prevention of obesity and diabetes and their common risk factors by establishing and/or strengthening policies and programs, integrating them into public and private health systems and working to ensure adequate allocation of resources to carry out such policies and programs.
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A survey was conducted in countries in all six WHO regions and focused on the building blocks that are considered prerequisites to combat antimicrobial resistance: a comprehensive national plan, laboratory capacity to undertake surveillance for resistant microorganisms, access to safe, effective ant
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imicrobial medicines, control of the misuse of these medicines, awareness and understanding among the general public and effective infection prevention and control programmes.
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Obesity and diabetes are affecting the peoples of the Americas at high and increasing rates. National surveys demonstrate that obesity is increasing in prevalence among all age groups; 7% to 12% of
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children under 5 years old and
one-fi fth of adolescents are obese, while rates of overweight and obesity among adults approach 60%. Obesity is the major modifi able risk factor for diabetes.
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This report presents country, regional and global estimates of low birth weight for 2000, together with a detailed description of the methods used in calculating the estimates. Some limited data on
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trends are also included. The limitations of low-birth-weight data are described and recommendations are made for further improvements in the data for this important indicator of health.
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Global asymmetries influence policies for recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nearly 30 years after the Earth Summit and the global adoption of an international development agenda, in practical terms the environmental pillar
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of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has not been taken into consideration in recovery policies in the region. This has created major problems in terms of the medium- and long-term direction of regional economies.
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This report presents data and outlines best practices and policies that can put governments on the path to providing every child with the best start in life. It outlines the neuroscience of early childhood development (ECD), including the importance
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of nutrition, protection and stimulation in the early years. And it makes the case for scaling up investment, evaluation and monitoring in ECD programmes. The report concludes with a six-point call to action for governments and their partners to help maximize the potential of the children who will build the future – by making the most of the unparalleled opportunities offered by the early moments in life.
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A practical guide for hospital administrators, health disaster coordinators, health facility designers, engineers and maintenance staff to achieve Smart H
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ealth Facilities by conserving resources, cutting costs, increasing efficiency in operations and reducing carbon emissions
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance plays an important role in the early detection of resistant strains of public health importance and pro
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mpt response to outbreaks in hospitals and the community. Surveillance findings are needed to inform medical practice, antibiotic stewardship, and policy and interventions to combat AMR. Appropriate use of antimicrobials, informed by surveillance, improves patients’ treatment outcomes and reduces the emergence and spread of AMR. This protocol describes the steps and procedures to establish/enhance AMR surveillance in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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The State of the World’s Children 2013: Children with Disabilities examines the barriers – from inaccessible buildings to dismissive attitudes, from invisibility in official statistics to vicious discrimination – that deprive children with dis
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abilities of their rights and keep them from participating fully in society. The report also lays out some of the key elements of inclusive societies that respect and protect the rights of all children, regardless of disability, and progress in helping all children to flourish and make their contribution to the world.
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