Annex to Considerations in adjusting public health and social measures in the context of COVID-19
The documents focus on promoting healthier nutrition by addressing issues like sugar, salt, and fat intake, emphasizing their role in non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart diseases. They include educational tools for children and adults to support balanced diets and public h
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ealth strategies to reform food systems and improve dietary habits globally.
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This revision to the Disaster Management Team’s (DMT) multi-sector response plan for COVID-19 is meant to align the multi-sector plan with the Department of Health’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Plan issued on 24 April 2020.
Interim guidanceAnnex to: Policy considerations for implementing a risk-based approach to international travel in the context of COVID-19, 2 July 2021
Available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic and Portugues
Improvements in water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and wastewater management in all sectors are critical elements of preventing infections and reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
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as identified in the Global Action Plan to combat AMR. Yet, at present, WASH and wastewater management actors and improvement actions are under-represented in AMR multi-stakeholder platforms and national action plans (NAPs). This WHO/FAO/OIE technical brief on WASH and wastewater management to reduce the spread of AMR provides a summary of evidence and rationale for WASH and wastewater actions within AMR NAPs and sector specific policy to combat AMR. Evidence and actions are presented in the domains of; coordination and leadership, households and communities, health care facilities, animal and plant production, manufacturing of antimicrobials, and surveillance and research.
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Emergency Capacitiy Building Project agencies, led by CARE, have developed the Shelter Accountability Resources for project managers and decision-makers in humanitarian shelter programs.
As a guide it is also intended to be useful for Shelter Cluster coordinators, and other staff who would like t
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o monitor the accountability of particular projects and programs. The tools and examples included here should help humanitarians to plan, implement and monitor shelter projects and programs in a way that is accountable to disaster-affected populations.
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PLoS ONE 11(1): e0144662. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0144662
Compiled by Tin Geber for HIVOS. London, March 2018
In response to COVID-19, countries around the world have implemented several public health and social measures (PHSM), such as movement restrictions, closure of schools and businesses, and international travel restrictions.1 As the local epidemiolog
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y of the disease changes, countries will adjust (i.e. loosen or reinstate) these measures according to the intensity of transmission.
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Since the Alma Ata Declaration in 1978, community health volunteers (CHVs) have been at the forefront, providing health services, especially to underserved communities, in low-income countries. However, consolidation of CHVs position within formal h
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ealth systems has proved to be complex and continues to challenge countries, as they devise strategies to strengthen primary healthcare. Malawi’s community health strategy, launched in 2017, is a novel attempt to harmonise the multiple health
service structures at the community level and strengthen service delivery through a team-based approach. The core community health team (CHT) consists of health surveillance assistants (HSAs), clinicians, environmental health officers and CHVs. This paper reviews Malawi’s strategy, with particular focus on the interface between HSAs, volunteers in community-based programmes and
the community health team. Our analysis identified key challenges that may impede the strategy’s implementation:
(1) inadequate training, imbalance of skill sets within CHTs and unclear job descriptions for CHVs; (2) proposed community-level interventions require expansion of pre-existing roles for most CHT members; and (3) district authorities may face challenges meeting financial obligations and filling community-level positions. For effective implementation, attention and further deliberation is needed on the appropriate forms of CHV support, CHT composition with possibilities of co-opting trained CHVs
from existing volunteer programmes into CHTs, review of CHT competencies and workload, strengthening coordination and communication across all community actors, and financing mechanisms. Policy support through the development of an addendum to the strategy, outlining opportunities for task-shifting between CHT members, CHVs’ expected duties and interactions with paid CHT personnel is recommended.
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Rueda S, et al. BMJ Open 2016;6:e011453. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011453
Sustainability Science (2019) 14:1343–1354
An Economist Intelligence Unit briefing paper | The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) undertook a study aimed at assessing the degree of commitment of 15 countries within the AsiaPacific region to
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integrating those with mental illness into their communities. The research was commissioned and funded by Janssen Asia Pacific, a division of Johnson & Johnson Pte. Ltd. This report focuses on the results of this benchmarking study, called the Asia-Pacific Mental Health Integration Index. Drawing on lessons from the EIU’s 2014 European Mental Health Integration Index, this edition index compares the level of effort in each of the countries on indicators associated with integrating individuals suffering from mental illness into society. Data for the Index was collected between March and May 2016. The set of 18 indicators were grouped into four categories.
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The world has been turned on its head by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This has provided a stark wakeup call on the severe under-financing of health systems around the world. It has laid bare the inequalities and limitations in t
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he capacities of countries at all levels of development to prevent major health crises or respond to them. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
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Social network-based HIV testing is an approach for engaging sexual and drug injecting partners and social contacts of key population members with HIV and of those who are HIV-negative and at ongoin
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g risk in voluntary HTS.
By addressing people’s confidentiality concerns and broadening the reach to social contacts, social network-based HIV testing approaches can improve the acceptability of partner services among key populations and so reach more people who may not otherwise test for HIV. WHO now recommends that social network-based HIV testing approaches can be offered for key populations
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