This report explores the reasons why global health is critical to medicine and what this means for medical education. It argues that an understanding of g...lobal health is important for all students and practicing doctors, rather than being an ‘add-on’ or ‘option’ for specialization.
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The seventh WHO Report on the global tobacco epidemic analyses national efforts to implement the most effective measures from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) that are proven to reduce demand for tobacco.
The report show...ed that while only 23 countries have implemented cessation support policies at the highest level, 116 more provide fully or partially cost-covered services in some or most health facilities, and another 32 offer services but do not cost-cover them, demonstrating a high level of public demand for support to quit.
Tobacco use has also declined proportionately in most countries, but population growth means the total number of people using tobacco has remained stubbornly high. Currently, there are an estimated 1.1 billion smokers, around 80% of whom live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
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One of the many gender inequities in the health and care workforce that COVID-19 has exposed is around the fit and design of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The rapid onset and scale of COVID-19 led to shortages of PPE in most countries, causin...g preventable infection and mortality among healthcare workers and others on the front lines. Even though most health workers are women, manufacturing specifications for medical PPE are usually drawn up based on the male body and there have been many reports of PPE not designed for women's bodies.
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Background: Mental health has recently gained increasing attention on global health and development agendas, including calls for an increase in int...ernational funding. Few studies have previously characterized official development assistance for mental health (DAMH) in a nuanced and differentiated manner in order to support future funding efforts. Methods: Data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Creditor Reporting System were obtained through keyword searches. Projects were manually reviewed and categorized into projects dedicated entirely to mental health and projects that mention mental health (as one of many aims). Analysis of donor, recipient, and sector characteristics within and between categories was undertaken cumulatively and yearly.
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The Committee examined the clinical development of Ebola virus vaccines and conducted an inventory of available data on their safety. It also reviewed 3 generic issues: updating a global strategy on vaccine saf...ety, use of a network of distributed data to monitor the safety of vaccines and case studies of communication about the safety of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.
Weekly epidemiological record/Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire 12 JULY 2019, 94th YEAR / 12 JUILLET 2019, 94e ANNÉENo 28, 2019, 94, 309–316
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Cholera is a major health risk in many parts of the world, affecting millions of people every year. Since mid-2021, the world has been facing an acute upsurge of the 7th cholera pandemic, which is characterized by the number, size and concurrence of... multiple outbreaks, the spread to areas that had been free of cholera for decades and alarmingly high mortality rates. The mortality associated with these outbreaks is of particular concern as many countries have reported higher case fatality ratios (CFR) than in previous years
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The report provides a global knowledge base on suicide and suicide attempts as well as actionable steps for countries based on their current resources and context to move forward in suicide prevention.
The "Global NCD action plan" provides a road map and a menu of policy options for countries to take in order to attain the 9 voluntary global targets, including that of a 25% relative reduction in p...remature mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases by 2025. The main focus of this action plan is on 4 types of NCDs (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes) which make the largest contribution to morbidity and mortality due to NCDs, and on 4 shared behavioural risk factors (tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol).
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Psoriasis, which can involve the skin, nails and joints, is a chronic, painful, disfiguring and disabling noncommunicable disease (NCD) for which there is no cure. It negatively impacts on quality of life. Some of those who suffer from the disease develop chronic, inflammatory arthritis (psoriatic a...rthritis) that leads to joint deformations and disability. People with psoriasis are also reported to be at increased risk of developing other serious clinical conditions such as cardiovascular and other NCDs
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The goal of the draft global action plan is to ensure, for as long as possible, continuity of successful treatment and prevention of infectious diseases with effective and safe medicines that are quality-assured, used in a responsible way, and acces...sible to all who need them.
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These WHO guidelines which were updated in 2018, are valid for any country and suitable to local adaptations, and take account of the strength of available scientific evidence, the cost and resource implications, and patient values and preferences.
The 2018 edition of the guidelines includes the re...vision of the recommendation regarding the use of 80% fraction of inspired oxygen (high FiO2) in surgical patients under general anaesthesia with tracheal intubation and the update of the section on implementation. Between 2017 and 2018, WHO re-assessed the evidence on the use of high FiO2 by updating the systematic review related to the effectiveness of this intervention to reduce SSI and commissioning an independent systematic review on adverse events potentially associated with it. Based on the updated evidence, the GDG decided to revise the strength of the recommendation from strong to conditional.
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The Global vector control response 2017–2030 (GVCR) provides a new strategy to strengthen vector control worldwide through increased capacity, improved surveillance, better coordination and integrated action across sectors and diseases.
In Ma...y 2017, the World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA 70.16, which calls on Member States to develop or adapt national vector control strategies and operational plans to align with this strategy.
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This ten year global plan for measles and rubella outlines the strategy that needs to be fully implemented to achieve the measles and rubella goals endorsed by the World Health Assembly. The plan se...ts out the: vision, goals and targets for the 2011-2020 period, recommended strategies, guiding principles, priorities, costing of reaching the targets, and the challenges as well as ways to overcome them.
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Tackling COVID-19 misinformation. Ensuring communities have access to lifesaving public health information from trusted sources and are not misled by misinformation is essential to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an effort to empower doctors an...d nurses – some of the most effective and trusted messengers of public health information – to actively address COVID-19 misinformation and build vaccine confidence globally, the WHO welcomes this social media toolkit for healthcare practitioners, developed by the Government of the United Kingdom.
This toolkit aims to provide healthcare workers with the tools, skills and content needed to effectively share authentic and reliable information online. Centered around three core vaccine confidence messages, Vaccine Safety, Vaccine Development and Vaccine Reducing Risk of Sickness; this toolkit sets out three approaches: creating your own posts, posting the images and videos provided in the toolkit, or resharing vaccine information from trusted sources.
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