The article "Asthma in South African adolescents: a time trend and risk factor analysis over two decades" investigates the prevalence and risk factors for asthma in Cape Town adolescents from 2002 t...o 2017. The study finds that while the overall prevalence of asthma remained similar, the severity of the condition increased significantly. Risk factors for asthma and severe cases include smoking, pet exposure, outdoor pollution, and living in informal housing. Despite these trends, underdiagnosis remains a concern, as only one-third of adolescents with current or severe asthma had been formally diagnosed. The article emphasizes the need for better public health strategies to address environmental exposures and improve asthma diagnosis and treatment.
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This report explores community-focused change initiatives in the financing, organization, and delivery of mental health services in Peru from 2013 to 2016. It examines ...light medbox">the national dimension of reforms but focuses above all on implementation and results in the economically fragile district of Carabayllo, in northern Lima.
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World Report 2021, Human Rights Watch’s 31st annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.
In his introductory essay, Exe...cutive Director Kenneth Roth calls on the incoming US administration to more deeply embed respect for human rights as an element of domestic and foreign policy to counter the “wild oscillations in human rights policy” that in recent decades have come with each new resident of the White House. Roth emphasizes that even as the Trump administration mostly abandoned the protection of human rights, joined by China, Russia and others, other governments—typically working in coalition and some new to the cause—stepped forward to champion rights. As it works to entrench rights protections, the Biden administration should seek to join, not supplant, this new collective effort.
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The environment in which young people live, learn and play significantly affects their decisions about whether to consume alcohol. Environmental factors are the main risk factors driving alcohol con...sumption and related harm among young people. Environments that normalize alcohol consumption – termed alcogenic environments – include contexts with unregulated advertising and marketing of alcoholic beverages, higher alcohol outlet density, products designed to facilitate affordability and low prices of alcoholic beverages. A recent body of research evidence has emerged related to the measurement, functional significance and consequences of living in alcogenic environments. This includes findings on the complex and bidirectional interactions among alcohol acceptability, availability and affordability and how they create and perpetuate alcogenic environments. Comprehensive and enforced alcohol control policies are effective at delaying the age of onset and lowering alcohol prevalence and frequency among young people. Evidence consistently confirms the effectiveness of designing and implementing alcohol control policies that regulate upstream the drivers of alcogenic environment, including alcohol availability, acceptability and affordability. These policies need to be multipronged and address the complex interactions between these drivers and the local alcohol culture
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In an ambitious new era for health development under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, WHO and
its partners have a solid foundation of success on which to build. Health plays a fundament...al role in development
and is the central focus of Sustainable Development Goal 3, “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all
at all ages”. It is also relevant to all the Sustainable Development Goals. Understanding the significance of the
role of health is a prerequisite for successful collective action on the social, economic and environmental
determinants of health
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This month 600 people reached Greece, mostly to Lesvos island. UNHCR with IOM and UNICEF welcomed the latest relocations of 49 unaccompanied children from Greece to Portugal and Finland and called f...or more. The need for such solutions is high as only one in four has a place in a shelter. The premature end of accommodation assistance may lead recognized refugees to become homeless.
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First and foremost, Ukraine’s priority is winning the war and ensuring the safety and security of its people. Ukraine is facing a harsh winter an...d needs urgent aid and solutions including power generators, heating, and temporary housing to withstand freezing temperatures, ice, and snow. In addition to emergency support, the prime focus of Ukraine’s Western partners needs to be on military and economic aid to ensure Ukraine’s victory against Russian aggression and to support its economy in a time of war.
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Specific action sheets offer useful guidance on mental health and psychosocial support and cover the following areas coordination assessment monitoring and evaluation protection and human rights standards human resources community mobilisation and s...upport health services education dissemination of information food security and nutrition shelter and site planning and water and sanitationthe guidelines include a matrix with guidance for emergency planning actions to be taken in the early stages of an emergency and comprehensive responses needed in the recovery and rehabilitation phases
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This special issue on Newborn Health in Global Health Action is being launched to share the experience of how to scale up a cost-effective package of...n> newborn care that involves families, community health workers and health facilities. The results of this community randomized trial, the Uganda Newborn Study (UNEST), show that home visits in pregnancy and soon after delivery resulted in improved breastfeeding practices, skin-to-skin care immediately after birth, delaying a baby’s first bath, and hygienic care of the baby’s umbilical cord among the poorest households with lowest access to care.
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Water, sanitation and hygiene education in schools – WASH in Schools – provides safe drinking water, improves sanitation facilities and promotes lifelong health. WASH in Schools enhances the well-being ...>of children and their families, and paves the way for new generations of healthy children.
from Schools offers a snapshot of WASH in Schools experiences across the globe. These stories have been gathered through a retrospective search of UNICEF’s global and country office websites. They represent a myriad of activities undertaken by UNICEF and partners in 2010 and 2011.
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A resource for pesticide registrars and regulators.
The WHO urged governments to restrict access to highly toxic pesticides used for self-poisoning . Other effective interventions include education, youth intervention programs and follow-up ...lass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">of people at risk—and better data. Only 80 out of 183 WHO member states reported high-quality vital registration data in 2016
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Ramped-up cancer services could save 7 million lives over the next decade—and addressing huge service gaps between rich and poor countries is key to success, according to this report.
In 2019, over 90% ...">of high-income countries reported that comprehensive cancer treatment services were available through the public health system, compared to fewer than 15% of low-income countries, according to WHO.
But poorer countries can make substantial strides with a universal health coverage approach and use of the latest science to meet their particular needs.
The report lays out proven ways to prevent new cancer cases without breaking the bank, including tobacco-control measures and vaccines that protect against common cancers.
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In India, in response to the above and guided by our counterparts in the government of India, the...> UN agencies have developed the Novel Coronavirus Disease Joint Health Response Plan by UN Agencies and Partners, led by WHO-India, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and with the support of other development partners. The UN in India is also preparing a COVID-19 Socio-economic Response and Recovery Plan, in partnership with the government.
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Communication to Healthcare Professionals Mar-2020
This guideline is intended to assist healthcare professionals in the participation of very important process ...edbox">of continuous surveillance of safety and efficacy of the health products which are used in their clinical practice. Continuous evaluation of medicines’ benefit and harm help to achieve the ultimate goal of safe and effective treatments available to patients.
The guideline is intended to assist healthcare professionals in the reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with the use of all registered health products, including medicines, old medicines, medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics (IVDs).
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Guidance module.
The QualityRights training and orientation modules have been developed to enhance the knowledge, skills and understanding of key... stakeholders on how to promote the rights of people with psychosocial, intellectual or cognitive disabilities, improve the quality of services and support provided in the field of mental health and related areas, in line with international human rights standards, in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the recovery approach.
mental health and related fields, in accordance with international human rights standards, in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the recovery approach.
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The document "Diabetes and Ramadan: Practical Guidelines 2021," published by Elsevier, provides updated guidance for managing diabetes during Ramadan fasting. Developed by the International Diabetes... Federation (IDF) and the Diabetes and Ramadan (DAR) International Alliance, the guidelines address key aspects for individuals with diabetes who choose to fast, including risk assessment, blood glucose monitoring, insulin and medication adjustments, and the management of special populations (such as pregnant women, the elderly, and those with chronic conditions). Emphasis is placed on individualized patient education before Ramadan to ensure safe fasting practices and minimize risks like hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.
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WHO Guideline. Since 2010, countries in the meningitis belt have started to introduce a new serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine conferring individual protection and herd immunity. Following the...an> successful roll-out of this vaccine, epidemics due to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A (NmA) are disappearing, but other serogroups (e.g. NmW, NmX and NmC) still cause epidemics, albeit at a lower frequency and of a smaller size. Due to these changes, WHO organized the review of the evidence to provide recommendations for epidemic control, related to operational thresholds for investigation and response to outbreaks, the use of rapid diagnostic tests, antibiotic regimens in epidemics, and prophylaxis for household contacts of cases
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In many humanitarian emergencies, there is a serious lack of access to even the most basic materials needed for managing the blood in addition to ...a lack of appropriate sanitation facilities (including water), which are critical for addressing menstrual hygiene. Privacy in emergencies is often scarce, and even if toilets are available they often lack locks, functioning doors, lighting and separation between genders. These barriers are often intensified by cultural beliefs and taboos surrounding menstruation which can restrict the movements and behaviors of girls and women
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Produced by Training and Research Support Centre for the Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET), March 20, 2020.
This brief summarises and provides links to official, scientific and other resources to support a...n understanding of and individual to regional level responses to the epidemic of ‘novel coronavirus’, also known as COVID-19.
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In Kenya, the bacterial infections that contribute most to human disease are often those in which re-‐sistance is most evident. Examples are multidrug-‐resistant enteric ... bacterial pathogens such as typhoid, diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli and invasive non-‐typhi salmonella, penicillin-‐resistant Streptococcus pneu-‐moniae, vancomycin-‐resistant enterococci, methicillin-‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multidrug-‐re-‐sistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Resistance to medicines commonly used to treat malaria is of particu-‐lar concern, as is the emerging resistance to anti-‐HIV drugs. Often, more expensive medicines are required to treat these infections, and this becomes a major challenge in resource-‐poor settings.
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