Chagas disease (CD) is endemic in the Americas, being present in 21 countries, where it affects about 6 million
people.(1) With such relevant numbers of people affected and disability adjusted life
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years lost, CD is a poverty-related
and poverty-promoting disease.
Although data describe a relevant ongoing public health problem for the American continent, significant results
in the interruption of transmission has been achieved by coordinated multi-country programs. In particular, the
Southern Cone Initiative (SCI), officially formalised in November 1991 by the Ministers of Health of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, has shown how a well-designed control program can significantly reduce
CD transmission.(2) Before this initiative, in these countries, there were 11 million infected persons and 50 million at
risk, 62% of the infected individuals of the whole continent.
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The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Biosafety
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and Biosecurity Initiative was launched by the Africa CDC in April 2019 with the aim of strengthening the African Union (AU) Member States’ biosafety and biosecurity systems and enabling them to comply with national and international requirements for biosafety and biosecurity including the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), and United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 and the multi-country Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). The World Health Organization (WHO) Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and the Global Health Security Index report confirmed the known capacity gaps in biosafety and biosecurity among Africa Union Member (AU).
The regional consultations by Africa CDC conducted between 2019-2021 highlighted the deficiency or limited availability of standardized and regionally recognized training programs in the continent, limiting biosafety and biosecurity capacity building efforts in the region. In response, Africa CDC working with AU Member States developed a home grown, implementable and accessible professional training and certification program that is both recognized and endorsed by AU Member States. The Regional Training and Certification Program for Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals, for African Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals (RTCP-BBP) has four (4) areas of specialization, namely
Selection, Installation, Maintenance and Certification of Biological Safety Cabinets
Biorisk Management
Design and Maintenance of Facilities Handling High Risk Pathogens (Biocontainment Engineering)
Biological Waste management
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The following checklist can help hospitals assess and improve their preparedness for responding to a community-wide outbreak of COVID-19. Each hospital will need to adapt this checklist to meet its unique needs
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and circumstances. This checklist should be used as one of several tools for evaluating current plans or in developing a comprehensive COVID-19 preparedness plan.
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This Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package was completed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent
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ion (CDC) in collaboration with the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) with the purpose of helping cardiac rehabilitation programs, hospital quality improvement teams, and public health professionals who partner with these groups to implement systems and strategies that improve care for patients who are eligible for cardiac rehabilitation. AACVPR is a multidisciplinary professional association comprised of health professionals who serve in the field of cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation.
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February 2021.
Improving our response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Africa requires regularly updated information, constant innovation, and considerable support towards research and developme
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nt (R&D) for priorities that respond to the African realities. Shaping the research agenda and stimulating the generation, translation, and dissemination of valuable knowledge is one of the core functions of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), African Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC), and WHO-AFRO. We need answers to a list of critical research questions that respond to the current realities on the African continent to guide the COVID-19 outbreak control efforts
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Key findings from a February 2021 survey from the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (PERC)
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Biosafety
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and Biosecurity Initiative was launched by the Africa CDC in April 2019 with the aim of strengthening the African Union (AU) Member States’ biosafety and biosecurity systems and enabling them to comply with national and international requirements for biosafety and biosecurity including the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), and United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 and the multi-country Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). The World Health Organization (WHO) Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and the Global Health Security Index report confirmed the known capacity gaps in biosafety and biosecurity among Africa Union Member (AU).
The regional consultations by Africa CDC conducted between 2019-2021 highlighted the deficiency or limited availability of standardized and regionally recognized training programs in the continent, limiting biosafety and biosecurity capacity building efforts in the region. In response, Africa CDC working with AU Member States developed a home grown, implementable and accessible professional training and certification program that is both recognized and endorsed by AU Member States. The Regional Training and Certification Program for Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals, for African Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals (RTCP-BBP) has four (4) areas of specialization, namely
- Selection, Installation, Maintenance and Certification of Biological Safety Cabinets
- Biorisk Management
- Design and Maintenance of Facilities Handling High Risk Pathogens (Biocontainment Engineering)
- Biological Waste management
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For over 23 years, CDC has collaborated in Malawi with local and international partners to strengthen health systems. The office works to prevent, detect and respond to diseases. Efforts include bui
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lding healthcare workforce capacity, strengthening laboratory systems, and increasing the capacity of surveillance and health information systems. CDC also implements high-impact HIV and tuberculosis programs through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and supports malaria control activities under the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative.
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A growing body of evidence demonstrates that hospital based programs dedicated to improving antibiotic use, commonly referred to as “Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (ASPs),” can both optimize th
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e treatment of infections and reduce adverse events associated with antibiotic use. This document summarizes core elements of successful hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs. It complements existing guidelines on ASPs from different American organizations.
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This policy brief draws from the latest evidence on the impact of vaccination program start date and vaccine rollout rates on health benefits. The objective is to support policymakers on decisions to procure COVID-19 vaccines
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and roll out vaccination programmes in countries, especially those
where large proportions of the population remain unvaccinated.
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Ethiopia GATS was implemented by Ethiopia Public Health Institute (EPHI) in collaboration with the Ethiopian Food, Medicine, Health Care Administration and Control Auth
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ority (FMHACA), CSA, FMOH and the World Health Organization (WHO)country office. Technical assistance for the implementation of the survey was provided by the WHO, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and RTI International. Program support was provided by the CDC Foundation.Financial support for Ethiopia GATS was provided by the CDC Foundation with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.GATS enhances countries’ capacity to design, implement and evaluate tobacco control programs. It also assistscountries to fulfill their obligations under the WHO FCTC to generate comparable data within and across countries. In addition,it allows countries to implement the WHO MPOWER policy package. WHO MPOWERisa technical packagedevelopedtoassist countries in implementing selected demand reduction measures contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control(FCTC)(5).The six MPOWER evidence-based measures contained in the FCTC;
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A concept (leaflet)
This document outlines the concept of a stimulus package for rabies elimination. The aim of a stimulus package is to catalyse rabies control by starting community projects, building local capacity
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and using success to generate momentum for growth. Governments could apply for a package, which would provide technical and material support to run small, successful rabies control projects. These in turn build evidence for the feasibility of larger scale elimination, generate enthusiasm foaction and promote investment for sustainability and up scaling. Data reporting in return for the packages would allow the documentation of successes and lessons learnt to benefit global elimination efforts more broadly.
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The following checklist is a companion to Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs. This checklist should be used to systematically assess key elements and actions to ensure optimal
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antibiotic prescribing and limit overuse and misuse of antibiotics in hospitals. CDC recommends that all hospitals implement an Antibiotic Stewardship Program.
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Each year, rabies causes approximately 59,000 deaths worldwide. Despite evidence that control of dog rabies through animal vaccination programs and
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elimination of stray dogs can reduce the incidence of human rabies, dog rabies remains common in many countries and exposure to rabid dogs is still the cause of over 90% of human exposures to rabies and of 99% of human rabies deaths worldwide. CDC experts in the Poxvirus and Rabies Branch conduct an annual assessment of individual countries’ rabies status worldwide which considers the presence of wildlife rabies, canine rabies variant (dog rabies), and non-rabies lyssaviruses.
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The following checklist is a companion to Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs. This checklist should be used to systematically assess key elements and actions to ensure optimal
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antibiotic prescribing and limit overuse and misuse of antibiotics in hospitals. CDC recommends that all hospitals implement an Antibiotic Stewardship Program.
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CDC’s Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs suggests that pharmacists review antibiotic therapy that is unnecessarily duplicative, including the use of agents with overlapping spectra. The combination of two agents with anaerob
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ic activity is unnecessary in most cases. Exceptions may include Clostridioides difficile infection, necrotizing fasciitis, and certain biliary infections.
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Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the commonest chronic diseases worldwide. Self-Management Education (SME) is regarded as a critical element of treatment for all people with diabetes, as well as those at risk of developing the condition. While a great variety of diabetes self-management education (D
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SME) interventions are available in high-income countries, limited information exists on educational programs for the prevention and management of diabetes complications in Africa. This study, therefore, aimed at synthesizing information in the literature to describe the state of the science of DSME interventions in the WHO African Region.
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