This field study to measure access to and use of medicines was undertaken in GHANA in May-June 2008. The study assessed information on the socio-economic level of households, and access to and use of medicines for acute and chronic conditions as well as opinions and perceptio...ns about medicines. The survey was conducted in six regions. In each region, six reference public heath care facilities were selected among those participating in the Level II Facility Survey that was carried out in parallel. Within defined distances from each reference public health care facility, households were selected by purposive cluster sampling. A total of 1065 household respondents were interviewed by means of a structured paper questionnaire
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Global UNIDO Project: Strengthening the local production of essential generic drugs in the least developed and developing countries
Division of Noncommunicable Diseases | draft guidelines on diagnosis and management of a chronic immune-mediated enteropathy called celiac disease. This disease is caused is mainly caused in genetically susceptible individuals by ingestion of gluten proteins that are present in wheat, barley and oat...s.
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These guidelines are applicable to all biomedical, social and behavioural science research for health conducted in India involving human participants, their biological material and data.
The purpose of such research should be: i. directed towards enhancing knowledge about the human condition while ...maintaining sensitivity to the Indian cultural, social and natural environment; ii. conducted under conditions such that no person or persons become mere means for the betterment of others and that human beings who are participating in any biomedical and/or health research or scientific experimentation are dealt with in a manner conducive to and consistent with their dignity and well-being, under conditions of professional fair treatment and transparency; and iii. subjected to a regime of evaluation at all stages of the research, such as design, conduct and reporting of the results thereof.
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Original text from 2008, updated in 2012. This document marks the beginning of a structured approach to safety assessment of GE foods, which are yet to be approved in our country. It is understood that many changes will become necessary and will be incorporated as we progress. This document will ho...wever, remain an important milestone in the process towards safety evaluation of food derived from GE plants in India.
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The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, a collaborative endeavour of the World
Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank and the Harvard School of Public Health,
drew the attention of the international health community to the burden of neurological
disorders and many other chronic conditions. T...his study found that the burden of neurological
disorders was seriously underestimated by traditional epidemiological and health
statistical methods that take into account only mortality rates but not disability rates. The
GBD study showed that over the years the global health impact of neurological disorders
had been underestimated.
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J Mov Disord > Volume 11(2); 2018 > Article
Review Article
J Mov Disord 2018; 11(2): 53-64.
Published online: May 30, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14802/jmd.17028
The purpose of this manual is to define a limited number of indicators that will objectively describe the management and use of antimicrobials in hospitals and to provide tools and step-by-step instructions for designing and carrying out an assessment of antibiotic use and management in hospitals. T...he indicators in this manual will complement the existing WHO (1993) indicators of outpatient antimicrobial use suggested in How to Investigate Drug Use in Health Facilities (including percentage of encounters in which an antibiotic was prescribed and percentage of medicine costs spent on antibiotics) and will address the need for antimicrobial indicators for inpatient conditions.
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In recent years, high prices of pharmaceutical products have posed challenges in high- and low-income countries alike. In many instances, high prices of pharmaceutical products have led to significant financial hardship for individuals and negatively impacted on healthcare systems’ ability to prov...ide population-wide access to essential medicines.
Pharmaceutical pricing policies need to be carefully planned, carried out, and regularly checked and revised according to changing conditions. Strong, well-thought-out policies can guide well-informed and balanced decisions to achieve affordable access to essential health products.
This guideline replaces the 2015 WHO guideline on country pharmaceutical pricing policies, revised to reflect the growing body of literature since the last evidence review in 2010. This update also recognizes country experiences in managing the prices of pharmaceutical products.
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This report provides an update on the key facets of HIV treatment access, including the latest HIV treatment guidelines from World Health Organization (WHO), an overview on pricing for first-line, second-line, and salvage regimens, and a summary of the opportunities for – and threats to – expand...ing access to affordable antiretroviral therapy (ART).
The report is supplemented by 11 drug profiles that contain more detailed information on pricing trends and patent barriers for key antiretroviral drugs and fixed-dose combinations. Also included is an annex of conditions that define eligibility for reduced prices from 15 pharmaceutical companies.
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Healthy people, healthy animals and a healthy environment worldwide with the One Health approach.
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically demonstrated just how close the link is between humans, animals, and the environment, and has highlighted and aggravated existing challenges. The destruction of na...tural habitats and displacement of species, trade in wild animals, resource-intensive lifestyles and conditions, non-sustainable food systems and, in particular, industrial agriculture and intensive livestock farming are the causes of the emergence of zoonoses as well as numerous other communicable and non-communicable, chronic diseases.
The One Health approach focuses precisely on such interaction between humans, animals, and the environment.
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Some observers have described the coronavirus pandemic as an 'Anthropocene disease,' thereby highlighting its connection with this new ecological era that is characterised by the considerable pressure human activities are exerting on ecosystems and the consequences on public health, society and the ...environment. This article focuses on the recent emergence of the 'Planetary Health' paradigm. Launched by the Rockefeller Foundation and the medical journal The Lancet, Planetary Health is one of the most ambitious attempts in recent years to systematize global health in the Anthropocene. While recognising the interest and necessity of reflecting on human health and the health of the planet, this article aims to show, however, that the Planetary Health paradigm is problematic and aporetic for two reasons. First, because it is based on a scientistic and depoliticised conception of the Anthropocene, which obscures capitalism's responsibility for the contemporary global and, especially, ecological crisis. Second, because this conception leads to a promotion of solutions that are essentially based on the financialization and technoscientific management of the living world - precisely the underlying cause of the degradation of ecosystems and living conditions that created the Anthropocene in the first place. A different kind of 'planetary health' remains possible and desirable.
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This Pharmaceutical Country Profile for Kenya (2010) has been developed by the Ministry of Medical Services with support of the World Health Organization. The Profile contains information on existing socio-economic and health-related conditions, resources, regulatory structures and processes and out...comes relating to the pharmaceutical sector in Kenya.
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In 2015, 5.9 million children under age five died (1). The major causes of child deaths globally are pneumonia, prematurity, intrapartum-related complications, neonatal sepsis, congenital anomalies, diarrhoea, injuries and malaria (2). Most of these diseases and conditions are at least partially cau...sed by the environment. It was estimated in 2012 that 26% of childhood deaths and 25% of the total disease burden in children under five could be prevented through the reduction of environmental risks such as air pollution, unsafe water, sanitation and inadequate hygiene or chemicals.
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Cities are uniquely positioned to understand local needs and respond rapidly to changing conditions to safeguard health. These changes require strong city leadership to implement multisectoral, health-relevant policies and public services that engage communities. The response to malaria must be an i...ntegral part of such policies and processes.
This framework supports the control and elimination of malaria in urban environments. It provides guidance for city leaders, health programmes and urban planners as they respond to the challenges of rapid urbanization in a targeted way. For each urban context, the strategic use of data can inform effective, tailored responses and help build resilience against the threat of malaria and other vector-borne diseases.
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Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease (CD), considered one of the most important parasitic infections in Latin America. Between 25 and 90 million humans are at infection risk via at least one of multiple infection mechanisms. Under natural conditions, the principal transmissio...n modes are transplacental or via one of more than 140 hematophagous triatomine bugs (Reduviidae: Triatominae). Triatomines acquire the parasite from mammal reservoirs due to their obligate blood-feeding (albeit triatomines can also feed on non-reservoir vertebrates such as birds and reptiles). The disease burden for CD in the Latin America and Caribbean region, based on disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), is at least five times greater than that of malaria, and is approximately one-fifth that of HIV/AIDS. In recent decades, CD has extended to other continents outside natural reservoir or vector distributions due to human migration, with a minimum estimated 10 million individuals infected worldwide.
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The publication of the of the Antimicrobial Treatment Guidelines represents the
culmination of the efforts of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program of ICMR to publish treatment guidelines for common syndromes in India. These guidelines are targeted for the health care settings. It aims to rationali...ze the usage of antibiotics on our Essential Medicines Formulary (EMF) and to establish consistency in the treatment of various infectious conditions.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing the second edition of its Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents (AA-HA!) guidance. The document aims to equip governments to respond to the health and well-being challenges, opportunities and needs of adolescents.
The guidance pro...vides the latest available data on adolescent health and well-being. It also outlines an updated list of core indicators that data should be collected on. Globally, road injury was the top cause of death for adolescent males in 2019. Among female adolescents, the leading causes of death were diarrhoeal diseases among the younger group (10-14 years) and tuberculosis (TB) in the older group (15-19 years).
Over the last 20 years, mortality rates have declined among adolescents globally, with the largest decline in older (15–19 years) adolescent girls. For non-fatal diseases, the burden has not improved over the past two decades, with the main causes of ill health in this category being: mental health conditions (depressive and anxiety disorders, childhood behavioural disorders), iron deficiency anaemia, skin diseases and migraine.
Adolescent well-being depends on a range of factors, including healthy food, education, life skills and employability, connectedness, feeling valued by society, safe and supportive environments, resilience, and the freedom to make choices. To take an appropriately holistic approach, the guidance outlines how to take crosscutting action to support adolescent health and well-being, with mutually reinforcing interventions across sectors, such as health, education, social protection, and telecommunications. Targeted efforts are also required to engage adolescents, as they trust health systems less than adults do and are especially vulnerable to modern-day trends, like online bullying and gaming.
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Mental health problems are common and cause great suffering to individuals and communities around the world. They have a significant impact not only on the physical and mental health of those affected but also on their families and the communities they live in. At the same time, all communities have... their own traditional mechanisms for support and contain a range wide of resources that can be helpful in preventing mental health conditions from developing, promoting positive mental health and supporting the recovery of people that are struggling with a mental health condition.
In the wider context, people living with a mental health condition are often excluded from their communities and experience various violations to their basic human rights (discrimination, violence, exclusion from employment opportunities). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the mean prevalence of global mental health disorders is 10.8% while the prevalence in emergency settings is 22.1% in any conflict-affected population.
During emergencies and crisis, the stigma, exclusion and discrimination towards people living with mental health conditions is often higher, which can cause isolation and protection issues. Communities can play a crucial role in promoting mental health as well as enhancing primary care and access. Their role is to help reduce mental health inequalities by providing community resources that connect people to community-based resources and by providing mental health education. This also helps to reduce the massive mental health treatment gap.
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