Rutstein SE et al. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2017, 20:21579 http://www.jiasociety.org/index.php/jias/article/view/21579 | http://dx.doi.org/10.7448/IAS.20.1.21579
The Government of the Republic of Zambia has placed priority on ensuring that Zambians are healthy and productive as a catalyst to ...ribute-to-highlight medbox">the attainment of socioeconomic development . The Vision 2030 aims to transform Zambia into a prosperous middle-income country as articulated also in the 7th National Develop-ment Plan (7NDP) and National Health Strategic Plan 2017 – 2021 (NHSP 2017-2020). However, this aspiration is threatened by the double burden of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseas¬es. Zambia has been recording an increase in morbidity and mortality due to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as cancers, diabetes, chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. According to the 2016 WHO NCD country profiles, 29% of all deaths in Zambia are attributed to NCDs. This is unacceptably high, considering that most of these diseases can be reduced by modifying four main behavioural risk factors for NCDs which are tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity.
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Nurses are key players in health promotion and disease prevention and the backbone of health care systems worldwide. Nurses work on ...tribute-to-highlight medbox">the front lines of disease prevention, health promotion, and health management and are often the unsung heroes in health care facilities and emergency response. Despite the critical role they play in health care, there is a nursing shortage across the world that will affect the delivery of competent nursing care. This document highlights key action points for targeted investment in the nursing workforce and calls on Member States to strengthen nursing within the context of their own country efforts.
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The mhGAP community toolkit: field test version is an integral part of WHO's Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP), and aims at scaling up services for people with mental ...-to-highlight medbox">health conditions to achieve universal health coverage.
The toolkit provides guidance for programme managers on how to identify local mental health needs and tailor community services to match these needs. It offers practical information and necessary tools for community providers to promote mental health, prevent mental health conditions and expand access to mental health services.
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The prevalence, availability, and use of antimalarial medicines (AMLs) were studied in six Cambodian provinces along the Thai-Cambodian border. The... study was divided into two parts: the first looked at the quality of AMLs available in Pursat, Pailin, Battambang, Bantey Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey, and Preah Vihear and the second obtained information about the availability and use of AMLs.
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CHWs demonstrated social commitment and purpose in the short term observed. The evaluation of the training of CHWs revealed that most demonstrated ...the necessary skills for referrals to prevent complications, caring for newborns and their mothers at home immediately after discharge from health care centers. CHW upskilling training on maternal-newborn services should be prioritized in the most affected areas.
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Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) remain disproportionately affected by HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), with 26 per cent of new infections attributed to this population. AGYW face many personal, social and structural barriers to access, uptake and use of traditional HIV prevention me...thods. Oral Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is proven to be highly effective as an additional prevention choice for reducing the risk of HIV acquisition, including for AGYW. Successful uptake and adherence to PrEP is critical in its effectiveness as an HIV prevention method, however, the current demand for PrEP by AGYW is low with suboptimal adherence.
Within the ESA region, there is currently great impetus to address these challenges and scale up PrEP for AGYW. A critical aspect of this is to leverage the learnings and evidence from implementation of how to improve the demand and quality of PrEP programming for this population. Improving the Quality of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Implementation for Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Eastern and Southern Africa examines the current efforts in the region to accelerate and scale up evidence-based PrEP delivery platforms. The implementation brief provides current knowledge and builds on WHO guidance to provide key considerations for implementation, including driving demand and improving quality, as well as focus on wider combination prevention and integration agendas.
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Report of a global meeting on yaws eradication surveillance, monitoring and evaluation: Geneva, 29–30 January 2018. World Health Organization.
Epidemiology, Control, and Financing
This report aims to improve the assessment of mental health needs in the Americas by providing an updated and nuanced picture of: (a) ...attribute-to-highlight medbox">the disability resulting from mental, substance use, and specific neurological disorders, plus self-harm, alone and in combination with premature mortality; (b) the imbalance between mental health spending and its related disease burden; and (c) the inadequate allocation of the meager mental health spending by countries of the Region
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This booklet presents data on NCD mortality and prevalence of NCD risk factors, by country, for the Region of the Americas. The focus is on ...lass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">the 5 x 5 NCD agenda which includes the main NCDs (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases), and mental health (suicide); as well as the main NCD risk factors (tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet, insufficient physical activity), along with air pollution. It includes information on the number and percentage of deaths, age-standardized death rates, premature death from NCDs and the prevalence of NCD risk f actors.
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The new WHO recommendations for the treatment of isoniazid-resistant, rifampicin-susceptible TB are based upon a review of evidence from patients treated with such regimens by a Guideline Developmen...t Group in conformity with WHO requirements for evidence-based policies.
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Policy Research Working Paper 6100 | Impact Evaluation Series No. 60 | This study examines the effect of performance incentives for health care providers to provide more and higher quality care in R...wanda on child health outcomes. The authors find that the incentives had a large and significant effect on the weight-for-age of children 0–11 months and on the height-for-age of children 24–49 months. They attribute this improvement to increases in the use and quality of prenatal and postnatal care. Consistent with theory, They find larger effects of incentives on services where monetary rewards and the marginal return to effort are higher. The also find that incentives reduced the gap between provider knowledge and practice of appropriate clinical procedures by 20 percent, implying a large gain in efficiency. Finally, they find evidence of a strong complementarity between performance incentives and provider skill .
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The burden of diabetes is enormous, positioning it as one of the main challenges facing public health today. Currently, it is estimated that 62 mil...lion people are living with diabetes in the Region of the Americas and projections show its prevalence will continue rising over the following years. The Region shows the highest number of years of healthy life lost (through either disability or premature death) due to diabetes worldwide. The high costs associated with its treatment produce a heavy economic burden. Its complications can seriously affect the quality of life of people living with diabetes, their families, and society and overload health systems. This report shows the latest internationally comparable data on diabetes and its main risk factors by year, country, and sex.
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Policy and systems. Global Mental Health(2017),4, e7, page 1 of 6. doi:10.1017/gmh.2017.3
Regular physical activity is proven to help prevent and treat noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and breast and colon cancer. It also helps to prevent hypertension, overweight and obesity and can improve mental health...span>, quality of life
and well-being.
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