"Achieving, maintaining and improving accuracy, timeliness and reliability are major challenges for health laboratories. Countries worldwide committed themselves to build national capacities for the detection of, and response to, public health events of international concern when they decided to eng...age in the International Health Regulations implementation process. Only sound management of quality in health laboratories will enable countries to produce test results that the international community will trust in cases of international emergency. This handbook is intended to provide a comprehensive reference on Laboratory Quality Management System for all stakeholders in health laboratory processes, from management, to administration, to bench-work laboratorians. This handbook covers topics that are essential for quality management of a public health or clinical laboratory. They are based on both ISO 15189 and CLSI GP26-A3 documents"--Page 7.
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Les résultats des enquêtes réalisées en Afrique subsaharienne montrent que seulement 12 % des hommes et 10 % des femmes ont bénéficié d’un dépistage du VIH et en ont reçu le résultat. En RCA, selon le rapport de l’Accès Universel 2009, 4 % des personnes de plus de 15 ans ont fait un t...est de dépistage dans les 12 derniers mois dans le pays et qui sont revenus chercher leurs résultats.
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A person who lives in or has traveled in the previous 14 days to areas with dengue transmission, and presents with acute fever that has typically lasted 2 to 7 days, and two or more of the following clinical manifestations: nausea or vomiting, exanthema, headache or retro-orbital pain, myalgia or ar...thralgia, petechiae or positive tourniquet test (+), leukopenia, with or without any warning sign or sign of severity. A suspected case is also considered to be any child who resides in or has traveled in the previous 14 days to an area with dengue transmission that presents acute febrile symptoms, usually for 2 to 7 days, without an apparent focus.
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Little is known about foreign aid provided by private donors. This paper contributes to closing this research gap by comparing the allocation of private humanitarian aid to that of official humanitarian aid awarded to 140 recipient countries over the 2000-2016 period. We construct a new database tha...t offers information on the country in which the headquarters of private donors are located to test whether private donors follow the aid allocation pattern of their home country. Our empirical results confirm that private aid “follows the flag.” This finding is robust against the inclusion of various fixed effects, estimating instrumental variables models, and disaggregating private aid into corporate aid and NGO aid. Donor country-specific estimations reveal that private aid from China, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States “follow the flag.”
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The Transformation Agenda (TA) ushered in an ambitious reform process intended to transform the World Health Organization (WHO) into an organization that is proactive, results-driven, accountable and which meets stakeholder expectations, towards transforming and improving public health services in t...he African Region. It aimed to achieve a WHO that is pro-results, which optimally and creatively targets technical work as well as make operations more responsive, with greater effectiveness in both communications and partnerships. The Africa Region has been the epicentre of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic and it’s one of the leading causes of disease and death on the continent. The WHO, with partners, has worked tirelessly for many years to control the threat and reduce the negative impact of the disease. Since the early 2000s, significant progress has been made in the global fight against the scourge of HIV. However, the WCA subregion was falling concerningly behind ESA on several key indicators of progress. In 2016, the WHO joined UNAIDS, UNICEF and other partners in a call for a strong and urgent response to support WCA countries to develop catch-up plans to triple and fast-track ART coverage, to enable the region to catch up with ESA by the end of 2020. Implementation of a widespread test-and-treat strategy, coupled with the scale-up of differentiated service delivery (DSD) and mobilization of requisite funding, accelerated WCA’s progress towards this goal. The HIV treatment catch-up and fast-track plan has achieved its target of seeing the West and Central African region (WCA) catch up with the Eastern and Southern African region’s (ESA) antiretroviral coverage rate of 78% in 2021, albeit later than the 2020 target time frame. A 33% improvement was achieved in WCA, against 21% in ESA, between 2015–2020. WCA achieved a significant 42% increase, compared to ESA’s 23%, between 2015 and 2021, to see WCA draw level with ESA at 78%. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) alone, progress of up to 47% was observed between 2015 and 2020, for example. In addition, 1.6 million more People Living with HIV (PLHIV) were enrolled on antiretroviral treatment (ART) between 2015 and 2020.
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American cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a severely understudied and neglected“disease of poverty” widespread throughout Peru. Transmission dynamics of CL are complex, requiring sandfly vectors and mammalian reservoir hosts to maintain the pathogen in a local environment whereby incidental hosts... (people) can become infected. We employed a One-Health approach to understand CL transmission in rapidly changing region of northern Peru. We describe the characteristics of 529 CL positive patients from four participating clinics. Using conditional logistic regression, we assessed risk factors of CL for residents of small urban areas through a matched case-control study with 63 patients who had visited one of the same clinics for CL (cases) or other medical reasons (controls). We later enrolled 343 households as part of a community based study occurring in 15 urban and rural areas of Soritor. We
found 256 positive humans (n= 914) as tested via the Montenegro Skin Test; we found 11 positive dogs (n = 236) via an immunofluorescence antibody test. Our results suggest that most- if not all- of CL transmission is occurring in rural areas and that urban women and urban children engage in many high risk activities typically attributed to men. We find evidence that prevalence of past infection is highest among rural residents and men. We believe dogs are unlikely Leishmania reservoirs in either rural or urban settings. It remains unknown if the high number of MST positive children in rural areas is a result of peridomestic or intradomestic transmission.
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Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) affect 1.45 billion people worldwide, and high intensity infections are associated with anemia, undernutrition and impaired cognition, particularly among children. Mathematical models suggest it may be possible to interrupt the transmission of STH in a community by e...xpanding mass drug administration (MDA) from targeted high-risk groups (primarily school-aged children and women of child-bearing age) to all community members with high coverage. The DeWorm3 Project will test the feasibility of this approach to interrupting the transmission of STH using a series of cluster randomized trials in Benin, India and Malawi. Each study area (population 80,000) will be divided into 40 clusters and randomized to community-wide or standard-of-care targeted MDA for three years. Two years following the final round of MDA, prevalence of STH will be compared between arms and transmission interruption assessed in each cluster. The DeWorm3 trials will provide stakeholders with information regarding the potential to switch from STH control to a more ambitious and sustainable strategy.
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Yaws is a non-venereal endemic treponemal infection caused by Treponema pallidum sub-species pertenue, a bacterium closely related to Treponema pallidum ssp. pallidum, the agent of venereal syphilis. Yaws predominantly affects children living in tropical regions of the world. It causes lesions of th...e skin, mucous membranes and bones which, without treatment, can become chronic and destructive. There is no widely available test to distinguish yaws from syphilis. Thus, migration of people from yaws-endemic areas to developed countries may present clinicians with diagnostic dilemmas. The other endemic treponemal infections are bejel (endemic syphilis) caused by Treponema pallidum ssp. endemicum and pinta caused by Treponema carateum.
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Oxfam Water Supply Scheme for Emergencies. This manual is part of a series of guides devised by the Oxfam Public Health Engineering Team to help provide a reliable water supply for populations affected by conflict or natural disaster. Wherever possible, water supplies in emergency conditions should ...be obtained from underground sources by exploitation of springs, tubewells, or dug wells. No filtration will then be needed. However, if sources are not available or cannot be developed, the use of surface water from streams, rivers, lakes or ponds becomes necessary. Usually these surface sources are polluted. The level of faecal contamination can be measured by use of the Oxfam/Delagua Water Test Kit (see Section C). Where a serious level of faecal pollution exists, it is essential firstly to try to reduce the cause of contamination, and secondly to treat the water to make it suitable for human consumption. The Filtration equipment provides a simple, long-term physical and biological treatment system that requires no chemicals (except small amounts of chlorine required during filter cleaning) and needs only simple regular maintenance
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1.0 PURPOSE
To define the procedure for the conduct of in-person meetings in both healthcare and community settings in response to COVID-19 and with respect to Public Health and Social Measures (PHSMs) to reduce the risk of disease transmission. A general risk assessment must be conducted to inform... context specific recommendations.
2.0 SCOPE
The procedure in this document is applicable to all meetings that require convening people
together physically.
3.0 SAFETY AND HYGIENE PROCEDURE
Before entry into the meeting room/venue:
• Presentation of evidence for complete doses of COVID-19 vaccination (depending on COVID-19 vaccine taken) or negative COVID-19 PCR test done within the last 72 hours, or where applicable proof of daily negative RDT result. The Africa Union Trusted Travel platform, with technical support from the PanaBIOS Consortium has implemented an online system that allows Airlines and Port Health services to authenticate and verify traveler’s COVID-19 results certificates in line with international standards, across Africa and beyond.
• Hand hygiene stations should be available at the points of entry.
• All participants must wear a well fitted mask that covers the nose and mouth. Medical masks should be provided all meeting participants.
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This global guidance provided the framework for over 100 countries to develop their NDVPs. This updated (second) version supersedes the previous version published in 16 November 2020. New information has been added on the following areas:
the COVID-19 Partners Platform;
the use of COVID...-19 simulation exercises to test deployment strategies;
the indemnity agreement and no-fault compensation programme for vaccines secured through the COVAX Facility in the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) eligible economies;
the availability and use of the WHO-UNICEF COVID-19 Vaccine Introduction and deployment Costing (CVIC) tool;
the COVAX Facility’s humanitarian buffer that enables allocation of vaccine to cover high-risk populations in humanitarian settings;
recommendations for vaccination of pregnant and lactating women;
supplementary information on infection prevention and control (IPC) measures to be used to deliver COVID-19 vaccines safely;
the WHO licensed COVID-19 vaccines product-specific information;
use of geospatial data and digital micro plans for equitable access and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines;
lessons learned from the development of NDVPs and early experiences in COVID-19 vaccine deployment in countries; and
updated additional resources at the end of each chapter.
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23 March 2021
The meeting addressed the last key area, that is, determining the best method or combination of diagnostic methods for a control programme for S. stercoralis infections in humans.
Dr Montresor’s presentation highlighted that while there is currently no “gold standard” for the... diagnosis of S. stercoralis, there is a felt urgency to optimize diagnostic regimens that are currently available, and in the context of population-based testing (as opposed to individual focused diagnostics in clinical settings).
In other words, the diagnostic test(s) should have good accuracy, but we should remember that in public health we do not aim at individual diagnosis: rather, we need a tool that should help to estimate the prevalence in a population.
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LEARNING ELEMENTS of this unit: What is community transmission? Why washing hands and wearing a mask is necessary? How can we lower the reproductive number? How to create awareness in the community?
Jesuit Worldwide Learning invites you to learn facts and test your knowledge on the ongoing pandem...ic caused by Coronavirus (COVID 19) through a fun-interactive crash course! Access is free! You have only to sign up
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LEARNING ELEMENTS of this unit: How has the pandemic affected children? What barriers do children face in accessing education during COVID-19? How considering child rights can better the situation for children? What can be done for keeping children safe?
Jesuit Worldwide Learning invites you to l...earn facts and test your knowledge on the ongoing pandemic caused by Coronavirus (COVID 19) through a fun-interactive crash course! Access is free! You have only to sign up
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The COVID-19 pandemic has been a formative experience for all humanity and a health emergency of global proportions, presenting a huge challenge to national leaders, health systems, and citizens. The findings of a new report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) sho...ws that it has also been a test to our democracies and the respect for human rights to which countries across the OSCE committed many years ago.
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The coronavirus pandemic has deepened the plight of people fleeing war, conflict and persecution. As countries battle to protect their populations and economies, fundamental norms of refugee and human rights law are at risk.
“The core principles of refugee protection are being put to test – b...ut people who are forced to flee conflict and persecution should not be denied safety and protection on the pretext, or even as a side effect, of responding to the virus,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
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This summary assesses the current state of evidence on each approach in tabular form, providing: the definition and objectives; evidence of effectiveness; operational considerations (e.g., training, staffing, and logistics); cost considerations and evidence on cost-effectiveness; operational success...es and challenges; and areas for future research and learning. This document is not intended to endorse any particular approach. Rather, it aims to objectively present the state of the existing evidence on each approach, so as to inform decision-making among practitioners looking to further test, refine and implement such approaches.
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24 April 2020
Policy considerations
for the WHO European Region
This document provides key considerations for Member States to help them to decide on the modulation
of large-scale restrictive public health measures
(i.e. movement restrictions and large-scale physical distancing), while at the... same time strengthening core public health service capacities (to identify, isolate,
test and treat every patient and quarantine contacts) together with personal protective measures (hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette) and individual physical distancing (>1 metre distance). The transition should be informed by national, subnational or even community-level risk assessments as the transmission of COVID-19 is typically not homogeneous within a country.
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Venezuela’s government announced on 24 March that COVID-19 infections had reached 91... “The government says wear masks, wash your hands often, and stay inside,” Gomez said. “But we don’t have water, we often don’t have electricity, and there are no masks.”...
[President] Maduro den...ies there are shortages in Venezuela, insisting in a national broadcast on 16 March that hospitals have all the mandatory equipment.
There is no news about when health workers will receive biosecurity equipment, which Maduro said was being shipped by China along with thousands of test kits.
He also claimed the country’s collapsed pharmaceutical industry would be able to produce both a treatment and a cure for coronavirus – neither of which exist.
He recommended to the nation a homemade “cure” promoted by one Venezuelan, one “given to us by our ancestors: pepper, lemon grass, honey and ginger”.
Although the World Health Organisation advises that only people suffering respiratory problems should wear masks, Maduro decreed: “No one can walk the streets without a mask.”
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For the purposes of presenting the Guide as an e-course it has been divided into five parts. Each part of the course takes 30 to 45 minutes and must be completed in order. You can save and exit at any point throughout the course.
The five quiz sections presented at the end of each part of the cours...e are not part of the Basic Malaria Microscopy Learner’s Guide. They have been created by the Global Health Network to help you test your knowledge of the course and to gain a certificate to demonstrate that you have completed it
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