Making the Case for Alcohol as a Public Health Threat in the Region. The purpose of this document is to explain the need for making alcohol a top public health priority in the region and the need for national and regional action. Current evidence-based research shows that alcohol consumption and dri...nking patterns in the Americas are at damaging levels, with the region surpassing global averages for many alcohol related problems.
more
People with mental disorders in low-income countries are at risk of being left behind during efforts to expand universal health coverage. Aim is to propose context-relevant strategies for moving towards universal health coverage for people with mental disorders in Ethiopia.
The global burden of disease (GBD) study provides information about fatal and non-fatal health outcomes around the world.
The objective of this work is to describe the burden of mental disorders among children aged 5–14 years in each of the six regions of the World Health Organisation. Data come ...from the GBD 2015 study. Outcomes: disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) are the main indicator of GBD studies and are built from years of life lost (YLLs) and years of life lived with disability (YLDs).
more
Accessed on 04.04.2023
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is an international
non-profit organization that discovers, develops, and delivers safe,
effective, and affordable treatments for the most neglected patients
In 2011, ICTC developed a Trachoma Action Plan (TAP) planning guide to support national health officials in endemic countries. This resource was developed to complement the 2020 INSight roadmap by helping countries create specific national plans detailing how they will reach elimination targets in t...heir own particular contexts.
more
In January 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a new road map to address the burden of disease and death imposed by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The end of the first year of the 2021-2030 NTD road map is an opportunity to take stock of where we stand and how we plan to move fo...rward.
Considerable progress has been made since 2012 when the first road map was adopted. As of 6 June 2022, forty-six countries have eliminated at least one NTD, while 600 million people no longer require treatment because they are no longer exposed to risks associated with the pathogens that previously harmed them. In some cases, diseases that have plagued humanity for centuries, such as sleeping sickness and Guinea worm disease, are at an all-time low. Less tangible, but also important, there has been significant progress in the way NTDs are viewed. Additionally, the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on NTD programmes is evident.
This brochure is the first in a series of advocacy briefs for the new NTD road map presenting highlights of success and challenges towards attaining the 2030 goals.
more
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.
more
Onchocerciasis used to be an important public health problem in Africa, with over 37 million people infected and millions suffering from debilitating skin disease, terrible itching, impaired vision and
blindness. But the epidemiological situation has improved dramatically over the last two decades.... Community directed treatment with ivermectin has effectively brought the disease under control in most endemic areas where onchocerciasis is no longer a public health risk.
more
Leishmaniasis is a spectrum of disease caused by the infection of protozoan parasite Leishmania mainly affecting the antigen presenting cell of the host. The disease is although considered as neglected tropical disease still it is not completely eradicated. Majority of the issues related to the ther...apeutic approach is due to increased cytotoxicity of the drugs, less effectiveness, high cost and occurrence of drug resistance. Therefore, recent advancement in the field of parasitology has taken into consideration of the specific arms of immunity which can be triggered with the help of natural products, synthetic molecules or parasite specific ligands which helps in the restoration of host protective immunity and recovery from the infection. Therefore, in this review, we have highlighted the recent advancement in the field of Leishmania research taken into consideration of the therapeutic perspective. We have shown that apart from therapeutic potential of the available drugs and vaccination approach, the immune-therapy are emerging as the modern regime of treatment where the effectiveness of the therapy is significantly increased and making it safer and promising.
more
The product of all this work is the Standard Treatment Guideline and Essential Medicines List of Common Medical Conditions in the Kingdom of Swaziland. These systematically developed statements are designed to assist practitioners in making decisions about appropriate treatment for specific clinical... conditions. They are meant to reflect expert consensus based on a review of current and published scientific evidence of acceptable approaches to diagnosis, man-agement, or prevention of specific conditions.It is enlightening to note that section A of the document contains the STG, and effort has been made to have the conditions commonly encountered in Swaziland classified according to systems. Written in simple, clear language, each section consists of a short definition followed by common symptoms and signs of the disease or condition and then management (pharmacological and nonpharmacological)
more
Antimicrobial agents play an indispensable role in animal health and welfare management. At the same time, the need for prudent use is obvious to ensure good food safety outcomes and to manage the potential risk of antimicrobial resistance. The emergence of multi-resistant bacteria is posing challen...ges to health professionals and communities around the world for both human and animal health. These bacteria are not destroyed by the common antimicrobial agents and so pose a risk to people, particularly children, the elderly and those with poorly functioning immune systems, as well as to animals.
Throughout the years, the dairy sector has been very much aware of the need for responsible use and has, in many countries, implemented adequate measures throughout the dairy supply chain.
more
A group of enzootic and zoonotic protozoan infections, the leishmaniases constitute among the most severely neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and are found in all continents except Oceania. Representing the most common infectious diseases, NTDs comprise an open-ended list of some 20 parasitic, bact...erial, viral, protozoan and helminthic infections. Called “diseases of the poor,” because of their characteristic prevalence in poor populations regardless of a country's income status, they infect over one billion people in over 140 countries, with about 90% of the global burden in Africa. While NTDs do not contribute significantly to global deaths, they are debilitating and remain the most common infections among the poor worldwide, preventing them from escaping poverty by impacting livelihoods such as agriculture and livestock, and affecting cognitive, developmental and education outcomes.
more
Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness (2). It is characterized by repeated
conjunctival infection with particular strains of Chlamydia trachomatis. This scars the conjunctivae and,
in some cases, leads to trichiasis with or without entropion. The abrasive action of eyelashes can
d...amage the cornea. In 2018, trachoma affected the poorest residents of the poorest communities of 43
countries
more
WASH in schools during a cholera response is important due to the strong correlation between WASH and IPC. Not only can it impact the health and well-being of students and staff but also facilitate the potential spread of the disease via the congregation of children and adults from multiple househol...ds. Hygiene can often be more difficult to control with young children and therefore efforts to put in place systems to encourage good practices are essential.
To prevent the spread of cholera in schools, it is important to have clean and safe water sources, proper sanitation facilities, and good hygiene practices in place. This includes providing clean drinking water, hand-washing stations with soap, and education on hygiene and sanitation practices and implement Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) including dissemination of Information, Education and Communication materials (IEC).
more