Primary health care offers a cost–effective route to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). However, primary health-care systems are weak in many low- and middle-income countries and often fail to provide comprehensive, people-centred, integrated care. We analysed the primar...y health-care systems in 20 low- and middle-income countries using a semi-grounded approach. Options for strengthening primary health-care systems were identified by thematic content analysis. We found that: (i)despite the growing burden of noncommunicable disease, many low- and middle-income countries lacked funds for preventive services; (ii)community health workers were often under-resourced, poorly supported and lacked training; (iii)out-of-pocket expenditure exceeded 40% of total health expenditure in half the countries studied, which affected equity; and (iv)health insurance schemes were hampered by the fragmentation of public and private systems, underfunding, corruption and poor engagement of informal workers. In 14 countries, the private sector was largely unregulated. Moreover, community engagement in primary health care was weak in countries where services were largely privatized. In some countries, decentralization led to the fragmentation of primary health care. Performance improved when financial incentives were linked to regulation and quality improvement, and community involvement was strong. Policy-making should be supported by adequate resources for primary health-care implementation and government spending on primary health care should be increased by at least 1% of gross domestic product. Devising equity-enhancing financing schemes and improving the accountability of primary health-care management is also needed. Support from primary health-care systems is critical for progress towards UHC in the decade to 2030.
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This is a guidance document for countries and implementing partners on the technical requirements for developing digital information systems for issuing standards-based interoperable digital certificates for COVID-19 vaccination status, and considerations for implementation of such systems, for the ...purposes of continuity of care, and proof of vaccination.
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Nature Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01283-z
Orientations provisoires 19 juillet 2021
interim guidance, 19 July 2021 (arabic version)
Esta primeira versão de Medicamentos para prevenção da COVID-19: Orientação dinâmica da OMS aborda o uso de hidroxicloroquina para prevenção da COVID-19. Segue-se a publicação de uma análise sistemática e NMA que reuniu dados de seis estudos com 6.059 participantes que não tinham COVID-...19 e receberam hidroxicloroquina. Três estudos envolveram participantes que tiveram uma exposição conhecida a uma pessoa com infecção por SARS-CoV-2. Em resposta à divulgação dos dados de estudos, o GDG da OMS desenvolveu recomendações sobre a hidroxicloroquina, um agente anti-inflamatório que atua por meio do bloqueio dos receptores Toll-like, reduzindo a ativação das células dendríticas. É usada para tratar a artrite reumatoide e o lúpus eritematoso sistêmico. Tem um efeito antiviral contra muitos vírus in vitro, inclusive o SARS-CoV-2, mas não foi demonstrado um efeito antiviral clinicamente útil para nenhuma infecção viral.
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English Analysis on World and 3 other countries about Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Drought, Flood and more; published on 22 Oct 2021 by Action Against Hunger
Version corregida. En la actualidad, las guías basadas en la evidencia constituyen una de las herramientas más útiles para mejorar la salud pública y la práctica clínica. Su finalidad es formular intervenciones con sólidas pruebas de eficacia, evitar riesgos innecesarios, utilizar los recurso...s de forma eficiente, disminuir la variabilidad clínica y, en esencia, mejorar la salud y garantizar una atención de calidad, razón de ser de los sistemas y servicios de salud.
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Available in English, French, Spanish and Russian from the website https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/344562
1.1 Why this course is needed
The first few hours and days of a newborn baby’s life are a critical window for establishing breastfeeding and for providing mothers with the support they need to breastfeed successfully. Since 1991, the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) has helped to motivate... facilities providing maternity and newborn baby services worldwide to better support breastfeeding. It has been adopted by many countries and organizations. The BFHI aims to provide a health-care environment that supports mothers to acquire the skills necessary to exclusively breastfeed for six months, and to continue breastfeeding for two years or beyond.
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WHO recently conducted a survey to assess the availability and cost of a national tracer list of essential medicines in the outpatient sector in Ukraine using a new collection tool – the WHO Essential Medicines and Health Products Price and Availability Monitoring Mobile Application. This tool fac...ilitates rapid and inexpensive data collection at the facility level.
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Children without access to safe water are more likely to die in infancy -- and throughout childhood -- from diseases caused by
water-borne bacteria, to which their small bodies are more vulnerable.
BMJ Global Health 2022;7:e008007. doi:10.1136/ bmjgh-2021-00800
nt. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(12), 13097-13116; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph111213097
Climate change will increase the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events and create risks that will impact health care facilities. Health care facilities will need to assess climate chang...e risks and adopt adaptive management strategies to be resilient, but guidance tools are lacking. In this study, a toolkit was developed for health care facility officials to assess the resiliency of their facility to climate change impacts. A mixed methods approach was used to develop climate change resiliency indicators to inform the development of the toolkit. The toolkit consists of a checklist for officials who work in areas of emergency management, facilities management and health care services and supply chain management, a facilitator’s guide for administering the checklist, and a resource guidebook to inform adaptation. Six health care facilities representing three provinces in Canada piloted the checklist. Senior level officials with expertise in the aforementioned areas were invited to review the checklist, provide feedback during qualitative interviews and review the final toolkit at a stakeholder workshop. The toolkit helps health care facility officials identify gaps in climate change preparedness, direct allocation of adaptation resources and inform strategic planning to increase resiliency to climate change.
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Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Nursing Science in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University.
The mobile clinic health care services fulfil an essential role in delivering primary health care to the dwellers in the rural commun...ities of the Western Cape. However, occupational health and safety, as well as quality assurance are issues that need to be addressed urgently. It is thus recommended that policy makers take cognizance of the specific needs of every individual mobile clinic team.
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Fact Sheet Global Atlas of medical devices
The objective of Health in the Americas: Overview of the Region of the Americas in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic is to respond to the need to address important public health issues in an increasingly timely manner, while serving as a platform with a close focus on specific issues of regional ...importance. This 2022 edition is the second in its new format, providing an overview of the analysis, as well as an in-depth description of the key issues related to COVID-19 in the Region of the Americas. This overview is supported by the Health in the Americas+ virtual platform, which offers interactive resources for data analysis and allows for the comparison of information disaggregated by subregions and countries.
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To improve the quality of care during labour and childbirth, facilitate effective implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations: Intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience, published in 2018, and promote a shift towards improving the experience of childbirth, WHO d...eveloped the WHO Labour Care Guide (LCG) and an accompanying WHO labour care guide: user's manual. The WHO LCG is a tool to facilitate implementation of quality, evidence-based, woman-centred care for a positive childbirth experience within the context of a broader, rights-based approach.
The goal of this policy brief is to provide maternal and newborn health stakeholders and decision-makers with an overview of the WHO LCG and its guiding principles, key advantages of making the shift from the WHO partograph to the WHO LCG, and what is required to ensure an enabling environment that will facilitate a sustainable introduction of the WHO LCG.
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This brief advocacy document highlights the burden, risks and prevention of injuries and violence, which took the lives of 4.4 million people in 2019 and constitute 8% of all deaths. Among the injury-related causes of death include road traffic crashes, drowning, falls, burns, poisoning and violence... against oneself or others. For people age 5-29 years, three of the top five causes of death are injury-related, including road traffic injuries, homicide, and suicide. Injuries and violence are not evenly distributed across or within countries – some people are more vulnerable than others depending on the conditions in which they are born, grow, work, live and age; in general, being young, male and of low socioeconomic status all increase the risk of injury. This document, aimed at public health professionals; injury prevention researchers, practitioners and advocates; and donors, draws attention to specific strategies based on sound scientific evidence that are effective and cost-effective at preventing injuries and violence; it is critical that these strategies are more widely implemented.
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