AMR is a serious and growing global problem. A WHO report released in 2014 stated that this serious threat is no longer a prediction for the future it is happening now in every region of the world and has potential to affect anyone, of any age in any commu...nity – a real threat to the public health. The coming together of the various important stakeholders to develop this document is the testimony of their agreement of how serious is the issue at hand and their intentions to combat AMR is translated into an Action Plan. WHO also reported that there are about 2 million people in the US are infected with the AMR organism while 23,000 die annually from AMR infections. Fiji is just 10 hours journey away from the United States of America therefore Fiji must act now to keep our population safe from AMR organisms.
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Social distancing is an action taken to minimise contact with other individuals; social distancing measures comprise one category of non-pharmaceutical countermeasures (NPCs)1 aimed at reducing disease transmission and thereby also reducing pressure on health services.
This document builds upon exi...sting ECDC documents, including guidelines for the use of non-pharmaceutical measures to delay and mitigate the impact of 2019-nCoV, a rapid risk assessment: outbreak of novel coronavirus disease – 5th update, a technical report on the use of evidence in decision-making during public health emergencies, and a guidance document on community engagement for public health events caused by communicable disease threats in the EU/EEA.
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Stewardship is defined as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care”. It was originally applied in the health-care setting as a tool for optimizing antimicrobial use, termed “antimicrob...ial stewardship” (AMS). Stewardship has since been applied in the context of governance of the health sector as a whole, taking responsibility for the health and well-being of the population and guiding health systems at the national and global level.
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Barbados currently has a rudimentary framework and capacity to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance. There however needs to be coordination of efforts and improvement in areas where gaps have been identified.Actions required include improved antibiotic stewardship in healthcare ..."attribute-to-highlight medbox">settings, prevention of the spread of drug-resistant organisms//bacteria, elimination of the use of medically-important antibiotics for growth promotion in food animals, and expanded surveillance for drug-resistant bacteria in humans and animals.
The National Action Plan will provide the roadmap to guide Barbados in the effort to address the urgent and serious threat of AMR and will be organized around three goals for collaborative action.
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The role of environmental contamination in transmission of COVID-19 virus is currently not clear. This protocol has been designed to determine (viable) virus presence and persistence on fomites in various locations where a patient infected with COVID-19 is currently receiving care or being isolated,... and to understand how this may relate to COVID-19 transmission events in these settings. It is therefore important that it is done as part of a comprehensive outbreak investigation and that information obtained by environmental studies is combined with the results of epidemiological, laboratory and sequence data from COVID-19 patient investigations.
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The below guidance has been designed to ensure the care of children affected by COVID-19 due to either the child or caregiver requiring medical care in the home, community or health facility, it serves to
The global COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented levels of disruption to education, impacting over 90% of the world’s student population: 1.54 billion children, including 743 million girls. School closures and the wider socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on communities and society also disrup...t children’s and young people’s normal support systems, leaving them more vulnerable to illnesses and child protection risks such as physical and humiliating punishment, sexual and gender-based violence, child marriage, child labour, child trafficking and recruitment and use in armed conflict. Girls and other marginalised groups, particularly those in displaced settings, are particularly affected.
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his guidance details basic decontamination principles and procedures that should be followed to decontaminate the physical environment in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Surface contamination and transmission risk all differ by the type of ...ighlight medbox">setting and the volume of people that frequent each setting (e.g. healthcare facilities, public transport, and other busy facilities/workplaces), even though the principles of environmental decontamination remain the same.
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We will soon be piloting a project titled “Integrating Spirituality into Patient Care” that will form “spiritual care teams” to assess and address patients’ spiritual needs in physician outpatient practices within Adventist Health System, the largest Protestant healthcare system ... in the United States.This paper describes the goals, the rationale, and the structure of the spiritual care teams that will soon be implemented, and discusses the barriers to providing spiritual care that health professionals are likely to encounter.Spiritual care teams may operate in an outpatient or an inpatient setting, and their purpose is to provide health professionals with resources necessary to practice whole person healthcare that includes spiritual care.We believe that this project will serve as a model forfaith-based health systems seeking to visibly demonstrate their mission in a way that makes them unique and expresses their values.Not only does this model have the potential to be cost-effective, but also the capacity to increase the quality of patient care and the satisfaction that health professionals derive from providing care.If successful, this model could spread beyond faith-based systems to secular systems as well both in the U.S. and worldwide.
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This programmatic brief explores how to expand HIV and STI prevention and contraceptive method options in contraceptive services and, thus, to reduce HIV and STI incidence among adolescent girls and women. It focuses on settings with extremely high ...HIV prevalence and incidence. This brief complements existing guidance on HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), amplifies calls for action and outlines more comprehensive approaches to integration of SRHR and HIV services. It also emphasizes the importance of SRHR for women living with HIV. It aligns with updated WHO recommendations for contraceptive eligibility for women at high risk of HIV and other HIV guidance for adolescent girls and young women.
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In the time of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), sex and drug use will continue, regardless of physical distancing orders and policies. People who previously met in community gathering venues such as bars and clubs may now meet in different sites, one...s that are “hidden” or less accessible. This, in turn, may hinder efforts to reach them with prevention interventions, such as condoms, lubricants, and needle–syringe programmes. With the widespread loss of livelihood and fewer employment opportunities, transactional sex, sex work and sexual exploitation may increase. Anxiety about the pandemic and personal vulnerability also may lead to some disruption in community cohesion, and to changes in the social and sexual norms that influence behaviour.
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This publication marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. It is dedicated to the women leaders and allied community mobilizers who have devoted their lives to advancing the human rights and dignity of all people... affected by the HIV epidemic, and to opposing social injustice, gender inequality, stigma and discrimination, and violence. Unless otherwise indicated, the HIV-related statistics cited in this publication reflect the most recent UNAIDS data available.
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Policy brief, 24 July 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected older people disproportionately, especially those living in long-term care facilities. In many countries, evidence shows that more than 40% of COVID-19 related deaths have been linked to long-term care facilities, with figures being as h...igh as 80% in some high-income countries. Concerted action is needed to mitigate the impact across all aspects of long-term care, including home- and community-based care, given that most users and providers of care are those who are vulnerable to severe COVID-19.
This policy brief provides 11 policy objectives and key action points to prevent and manage COVID-19 across long-term care. Its intended audience is policy makers and authorities (national, subnational and local) involved in the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief builds on currently available evidence on the measures taken to prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID‑19 pandemic across long-term care services including care providers
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This brief provides a snapshot of child protection interventions by UNHCR and its partners during the pandemic, covering community engagement, case management, alternative care and capacity building. In addition to working with children and communit...ies, UNHCR also engages with authorities through policy advocacy in the context of COVID-19, such as to end immigration detention of children.
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The package provides practical, concise yet crucial information about the impact of COVID-19 on daily teaching practices as well as tips and suggestions to improve safety, well-being and learning, with students in face-to-face or remote settings.
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The package speaks directly to the teachers. It can be adapted to their context and can be completed at the teachers’ own pace. It includes quizzes and a self-evaluation and planning tool to help teachers reflect on what they learned and what they still need to learn, encouraging them to keep learning!
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Palliative care for children with life-limiting illness is the active total care of the child’s body, mind, and spirit. It begins at diagnosis and continues regardless of whether the child receives treatment directed at the disease. It seeks to control all forms of suffering related to the illness..., including pain. It involves social, psychological, spiritual, and legal support to siblings, parents, and other close family members. Effective palliative care for children requires health professionals trained to assess symptoms, care for children of different ages and developmental stages, and to provide medicines in pediatric formulations. Care may be provided in tertiary care facilities, community health centers, and at home. The child’s best interest must inform all aspects of the treatment andcare, and the child’s rights must be protected at all times.
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16 Dec. 2020
This document provides guidance to Ministries of Health (MOHs), laboratory personnel and implementing partners in African Union Member States on the application of rapid antigen tests to COVID-19 testing. The guidance serves as reference for policymakers, laboratory leads, implementing... partners, and experts on use case scenarios and associated testing algorithms for COVID-19 antigen tests. It recommends the use of antigen tests to increase access to testing and enable timely results for persons with or without symptoms in specific settings. The document will be reviewed and updated as more evidence becomes available regarding the use of rapid antigen tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from global studies and evaluation efforts.
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This joint ECDC-European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) document aims to support Member States in determining a coordinated approach to reduce the risks related to the movement of people by air within and between the EU/EEA countries and the UK in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting th...at the impact of quarantine and testing is likely to vary according to levels of ongoing community transmission, and in the context of ECDC’s current advice that non-essential travel should be avoided during the end-of year festive period
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8 January 2021
Sequencing enabled the world to rapidly identify SARS-CoV-2 and develop diagnostic tests and other tools for outbreak management. Continued genome sequencing supports the monitoring of the disease’s spread and evolution of the virus. Accelerated integration of genome sequencing int...o the practices of the global health community is required if we want to be better prepared for the future threats. This document provides guidance for laboratories on maximizing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing now and other emerging pathogens in the future.
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Calls for greater implementation research (IR) capacity came in the wake of compelling evidence that implementation strategies are critically important for the dissemination and facilitation of evidence-informed policies and interventions to tackle noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), thereby improving ...outcomes for both individuals and populations. However, at present, implementation of evidence-based interventions and policies is challenged by a gap in lack of academic research on how these cost–effective recommended interventions can be implemented in the context of local settings, especially those of low and middle-income.
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