This bi-weekly brief details the latest developments in scientific knowledge and public health policy from around the world as well as updates to the COVID-19-related guidance from Africa CDC, WHO
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and other public health agencies.
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Guiding the work of medica mondiale is an attitude of sensitivity towards both trauma and stress.
This stress- and trauma-sensitive approach has a strengthening
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and relieving effect on the affected
people and also the activists, specialist staff and working groups. For medica mondiale, trauma as a
consequence of violence is not to be found exclusively in the area of (individual) psychology, but also
very significantly at the level of society and politics. For this reason, even a multi-sectoral approach
to supporting those affected by violence cannot stand alone: it must go hand in hand with measures
to bring about change in general political conditions, societal structures and public awareness.
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Mental health problem is one of the growing major public health issues in the Asia Pacific region. It contributes to the high number of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), morbidity
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and mortality in the region. It is expected that leading mental health problems will occur in the low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) and majority of the countries which comes under this category are in the Asia Pacific region. In addition, mental health problem hamper the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly MDG 1, MDG 4 and MDG 5. The most common mental health problems in the region are depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, suicidal behaviour and substance abuse disorder. Several modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors were identified for the cause of these major mental health issues. Interventions, programmes and policies need to be designed in order to curb mental health problems at all levels.
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For the past years, Haiti has been engulfed in a socioeconomic, political, and humanitarian crisis that has reached critical levels since mid-September 2022 with the intensification of gang violence
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and social unrest. The widespread insecurity and
political instability have drastically affected the country’s access to essential goods and services, including food, water, and health. The current fuel supply crisis has affected the water and electricity supply to the population, health centers, and hospitals. Due to problems of insecurity and violence, patients and health personnel have difficulty accessing hospitals and health services.
In parallel, the public health system and international partners face limited response capacity due to reduced international personnel in Haiti, logistics issues, and difficulties in importing supplies. Indeed insecurity, roadblocks, and lockdowns are affecting the importation of internationally procured goods, which may slow the arrival of essential lifesaving supplies to support cholera response efforts. This scenario is particularly problematic, as cholera recently resurfaced in early October.
Armed gangs now control over 60% of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, affecting at least 1.5 million people, and have expanded their influence outside of the capital city, interrupting vital humanitarian programs in most of the national territory,
including COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.
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There are many calls for improved integration between
primary care and public health, but also sizeable obstacles to achieving
this, such as differences in the ways the two sectors are organised
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and
financed, as well as differences in education, culture and approach.
This article, based on a new Observatory policy brief, describes the
types of interventions that come into consideration, the principles
that should be followed, and the factors that can facilitate successful
collaboration. While there is no universal template that can be followed
by all countries, improved integration promises to yield substantial
benefits to patients and wider populations.
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Ethiopia has seen high economic growth over the last decade, but remains a poor country with a high burden of disease. It has made considerable health gains in recent years, mainly by having health policies that focus on extending primary healthcare, using health extension workers. It
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has made good use of existing resources,but has a low health expenditure (of around US$21 per capita, and totalling 4per centof GDP). It has a federal system with devolved healthcare financing, whereby block grants are allocated to sectors at regional and woreda(district) level. The challenge now,with the epidemiological transition (and a sense that the ‘low-hanging fruits’have already been gathered in relation to public health), is how Ethiopia, still poor, continuesto invest in health improvements?Human resources for health (HRH) are a critical pillar within any health system –the health staff combine inputs to provide the services, thus affecting how all other resources are used, and they make frontline (and back-office) decisions thatare importantdeterminants of servicequality,effectiveness and equity. HRH is usually the most resource-intensive element within the health system –commonly absorbing 50–70per centof public expenditure onhealth, although the proportions are very varied by individual countries and across regions. As they are commonly part of the public administration, reforms to HRH are also part of a complex political economy in most countries.Assessing value for money (VfM) in relation to HRH is correspondingly complex;across the value chain, manyfactors influence the conversion of inputs into outputs and outcomes (see Figure 1).A more detailed description of the HRH value chain can be found in Annex1.
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BMJ 2019;365:l1807 doi: 10.1136/bmj.l1807 (Published 8 May 2019)
Practice paper in Brief 24
Containment strategies for Ebola rupture fundamental features of social, political and religious life. Control efforts
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that involve local people and appreciate their perspectives, social structures and institutions are therefore vital
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Vatican lays out 20 points for a universal and fair destination of vaccines, for a fairer and healthier world
An historic opportunity to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and launch a new era of sustainability
A decade of progress has inspired the once unthinkable—that the AIDS epidemic can
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be ended as a public health threat. The global community has embraced the bold idea to end the AIDS epidemic as a target of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Governments from around the world have committed to a Fast-Track agenda and a set of ambitious but attainable milestones to be achieved by 2020 in order to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, as set out in the United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on Ending AIDS. Regular reporting through UNAIDS reinforces accountability for results.
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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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Civil disorder, authority credibility and public health: Chile’s unique sociopolitical
context in dealing with COVID-19.
Immunization is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions to date, saving an estimated 2 to 3 million lives each year. As a direct result of immunization, the world is closer than ever to eradicating polio,
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and deaths from measles – a major child killer – have declined by 73 per cent worldwide between 2000 and 2018, saving an estimated 23.2 million children’s lives. The emergence of COVID-19, however, threatens to reverse this progress by severely limiting access to life-saving vaccines.
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Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.
Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
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other international human rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations.
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We need to understand the constitutional determinants of planetary health. A constitution denotes one, or in a minority of countries, several, legal documents that contain basic rules and principles about how
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political power should be exercised and how public goods should to be provided.
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Health is essential in order to be able to lead a fulfilled and happy life. Health is not only a fundamental human right and one of the most valuab
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le possessions any individual can have, it is also an essential prerequisite for social, economic and political development and stability. Health can only be ensured and improved throughout the world through joint global action.
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