Results from a High Frequency Cell Phone Survey November 19, 2014
Ebola has substantially impacted all sectors of employment in the Liberian economy, in both affected and non-affected counties, according to
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the most recent round of mobile phone surveys conducted by the World Bank Group in partnership with the Liberian Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services and the Gallup Organization. In all, nearly half of those working in Liberia when the Ebola outbreak began are no longer working as of early November 2014
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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 of major gaps in international financing f
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or 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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The Ministry of Health has developed the first version of the Service Standards and Service Delivery Standards for
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the health sector in Uganda. The main objective is to provide a common understanding of what is expected by the public, service users and service providers in ensuring provision of consistently high quality service delivery. These standards also provide a roadmap for improving the quality, safety and reliability of healthcare in Uganda.
The application of these standards is expected to improve transparency and accountability in service delivery; fairness and equity in service provision; building a culture of quality management; regulation, management and control of public and private providers; and management of expectations of service recipients.
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Climate change is already having severe impacts across our planet, bringing new and previously unimaginable challenges to the people least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
This report, the
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first we’ve released jointly in the history of our organizations, provides a sobering review of how just one of those challenges – the increase in deadly heat-waves – threatens to drive new emergency needs in the not-so-distant future.
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Irresponsible pharmaceutical companies fuel the proliferation of superbugs through supply chain pollution, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) reports.
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The advocacy group uncovered lapses such as dirty production and inadequate waste disposal in the production of antimicrobials in China and India, which supplies most of the antimicrobials consumed in Europe. In a briefing detailing the pollution, the EPHA urges major purchasers of antibiotics to blacklist irresponsible pharmaceutical companies, demand that the industry clean up its supply chain, introduce greater transparency on the origin of antibiotics, and review and revise procurement policies from an ethics perspective.
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From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic until August 2021, extreme weather events have affected at least 139.2 million people and killed at least 17,242 people in at least 433 unique events. These f
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igures are certainly an underestimate, as they do not include estimates of numbers of people affected by extreme temperatures, or mortality during drought events.
One dimension of the compound risk of COVID-19 and climate extremes was the additional challenge of preparing for and responding to disasters during the pandemic, such as the constraints of physical distancing during evacuations and response operations.
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The two-year impact report for the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator details impact, case studies and timelines of key milestones for the
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Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Vaccines pillars, as well as the Health Systems and Response Connector.
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Monitoring financial protection and utilization of health services in Mongolia 2009-2018 is based on national representative household socioeconomic surveys. The study finds that between 2009 and 2018, despite ambitious health reforms,
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the incidence of catastrophic health spending and impoverishing spending at the relative poverty line have increased. These increases were mainly driven by out-of-pocket spending on medicines and inpatient care. In the same period, inequity in access to and utilization of health services remained constant among population groups. Evidence suggests health financing policies need to be further strengthened to make progress towards universal health coverage. Continuous tracking of out-of-pocket payments and service utilization to inform policymaking is needed.
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Working Paper 589 July 2021T
National Guidelines for HIV & AIDS Care and Treatment (5th Edition)
Mortality statistics are fundamental to public health decision making. Mortality varies by time and location, and its measurement is affected by well known biases that have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This paper aims to estimate excess mortality from the COVID-19 pandemic in 191 countries and territories, and 252 subnational units for selected countries, from Jan 1, 2020, to Dec 31, 2021.
The Lancet. 10 March 2022. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02796-3.
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Background paper 8
The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response
May 2021
The Malawian government recently introduced cost-covering consultation fees for self-referral patients in tertiary public hospitals. Previously, patients received medicines free of charge in government-owned health facilities, but must pay elsewhere
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. Before the government implements a payment policy in other areas of health care, it is important to investigate the prices, affordability and availability of essential medicines in Malawi.
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The objectives of the meeting were to agree on coordinated and aligned support to the 3 countries’ national health recovery plans (Guinea, Liberi
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a, Sierra Leone); to identify cross-cutting areas and opportunities for integration; to identify ways to improve implementation modalities; and to identify actions including technical assistance needed to support the countries in the process of building resilient health systems.
The outcomes of the meeting consisted in proposed country action plans to move forward with the implementation of the recovery plans. The action plans includes:priorities and areas of work; activities needed to improve implementation modalities; technical assistance needs.
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One Earth Perspective. Cell Press
Most African Countries Avoid Major Economic Loss but Impact on Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone Remains Crippling
This document briefly describes the macroeconomic performance before the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), which is mainly characterized by sev
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ere economic depression, economic and financial sanctions by the Trump administration, and tight fiscal space that constrains to undertake additional measures. It estimates three economic scenarios based on different oil price assumptions for 2020. The negative effects of the quarantine on the economy are estimated using the two biggest shocks faced by Venezuela in its recent history. It emphasizes the relevance of foreign currency and external financing to mitigate the pandemic’s impact. Finally, this paper discusses the economic measures taken by the government.
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