Interim Guidance 7 March 2020
This document provides technical guidance for government authorities, health workers, and other key stakeholders to guide response to community spread. It will be updated as new information or technical guidance become available. For countries that are already preparin...g or responding, this document can also serve as a checklist to identify any remaining gaps.
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The global impact of COVID-19 has been profound, and the public health threat it represents is the most serious seen in a respiratory virus since the 1918 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Here we present the results of epidemiological modelling which has informed policymaking in the UK and other countries i...n recent weeks.
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General Objectives
1. Share information on practices on IPC for endemic colonization in a tertiary facility and how those precautions could evolve based on the progress of the event, then further integrating response capabilities, plans and procedures to triage and implement source control measure...s for case of COVID-19 in your facility.
2. Identify challenges in bed occupancy and staff management between different departments.
3. Conduct gap analysis through reflection on how the scenario could play out in your countries.
4. Identify areas for action in your facilities based on the issues explored in the scenario.
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SuperCourse(SC) is a repository of lectures and research methods materials on global health and other areas of science designed to improve the teaching of prevention and increase number of scientific publications. Supercourse has a network of about 2 million scientists in 174 countries (together wit...h BA African Networks) who are sharing for free a library of more than 203,000 lectures in 38 languages (together with Science Supercourse).
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Using the WHO model list of essential medicines to update a national essential medicines list
Since 1977, WHO has been working with countries to design the package of essential medicines as an integral component of treatment within the continuum of care, developing and disseminating the Model List ...of Essential Medicines (Model List). WHO is committed to supporting Member States in sharing best practices in selecting
essential medicines, and in developing processes for the selection of medicines for national essential medicines lists (national EMLs, or NEMLs) consistent with the evidence-based methods used for updating the WHO Model List.
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A new respiratory infectious disease, COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, emerged in early December 2019. Since then, the virus has spread to India and 106 other countries in Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, and Oceania. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) decl...ared the outbreak a pandemic, which has since rapidly evolved. As an economic hub with substantial global connectivity and movement of people and goods, India is directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it is too early to gauge the full spectrum of the outbreak’s social and economic impacts, COVID-19 has already caused lockdowns in China, Korea, and in many countries in Europe, and in some states of India, suspension of schools and universities, disruption of food systems and other supply chains, as well as a slowdown in trade between India and rest of the world.
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In view of the evolving situation of COVID-19 across the world and in India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued travel advisories from time to time. The issued travel advisories are consolidated as under:
Indian citizens are advised to refrain from travel to China, Iran, Republic of ...Korea, Italy & Japan and advised to avoid non-essential travel to other COVID-19 affected countries.
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On 31st December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. On 7th January 2020, Chinese authorities identified a new strain of Coronavirus as the causative age...nt for the disease. The virus has been renamed by WHO as SARS-CoV-2 and the disease caused by it as COVID-19. The disease since its first detection in China has now spread to over 200 countries/territories, with reports of local transmission happening in more than 160 of these countries/territories. As per WHO (as of 1st April, 2020), there has been a total of 823626 confirmed cases and 40598 deaths due to COVID-19 worldwide.
In India, as on 2nd April, 2020, 1965 confirmed cases (including 51 foreign nationals) and 50 deaths reported from 29 States/UTs. Large number of cases has been reported from Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
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Horizon Medical Education produce cpd courses for primary care health workers, mainly aimed at LMI's. They have users in Zambia and other countries in the region. The courses are downloadable audio modules supported by written resources and online testing.
In response to the pandemic they are pro...ducing free modules about coronavirus, these include what we currently know, how to treat, some public health messages and myth-busting.
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4 April 2020
This interim guidance on oxygen sources and distribution strategies for COVID-19 treatment has been adapted from WHO and UNICEF’s technical specifications and guidance for oxygen therapy devices, which is part of the WHO medical device technical series. This guidance is intended for ...health facility administrators, clinical decision-makers, procurement officers, planning officers, biomedical engineers, infrastructure engineers and policy-makers. It describes how to quantify oxygen demand, identify oxygen sources that are available, and select appropriate surge sources to best respond to COVID-19 patients’ needs, especially in low-and-middle income countries.
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COVID-19 pandemic has become one of the biggest hindering threats to education service delivery worldwide which requires innovative solutions to overcome this situation and deliver education services to children. This pandemic has put the country in an emergency state compiled with the ongoing confl...icts and return of refugees from neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Iran whom are suffering from this pandemic in great numbers and its estimated that many returning Afghan refugees will be affected by this virus that requires immediate attention.
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Briefing note | 16 March 2020
Do no harm, equality, transparency, humanity: values should guide the criminal justice sector’s response to coronavirus
At the time of publishing there were more than 164,000* confirmed cases of COVID- 19, the novel form of Coronavirus, affecting 110 countries wit...h more than 6,470 deaths. In this briefing we assess the current situation of COVID-19 outbreaks and prevention measures in prisons** and wider impacts of responses to governments on people in criminal justice systems. This briefing note argues for action to be taken now and immediately, given the risk people in prison are exposed to, including prison staff.
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Accessed: 27.04.2020
United Nations Coordinated Appeal, April - December 2020
At the time of writing, many priority countries are working on or just issuing their revised plans for the COVID-19 response. Funding requirements have not yet been estimated for a number of countries. For this reaso...n, individual country requirements will be provided in the next update of the Global Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).
The COVID-19 Global HRP is a joint effort by members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), including UN, other international organizations and NGOs with a humanitarian mandate, to analyse and respond to the direct public health and indirect immediate humanitarian consequences of the pandemic, particularly on people in countries already facing other crises.
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Community feedback considered in this report was collected through information received from Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) focal points,as well as through primary data collection,in 10 African countries.Red Cross and Red Crescent National Society CEA focal points were asked to share ...the main rumours, observation, beliefs, questions or suggestions they are hearing in their countries andto grade them according to their frequency. Focal points from the following countries provided information this way: Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Niger, South Africa.
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19 April 2020
To contain the spread of COVID-19 and to keep infections at a manageable level, many countries have instituted lockdowns and social distancing. In India, a nationwide 21-day lockdown was announced with effect from 25 March 2020. This lockdown is expected to avert a sudden and large in...crease in the number of infections in the short term. Additionally, interventions such as social distancing and isolation of infected individuals over several months could reduce peak infections. Interventions such as frequent handwashing, reduced mass gatherings, contact tracing, and quarantines could slow transmission and reduce overall infections.
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In April 2020, the UN launched a coordinated global humanitarian response plan (GHRP) to fight COVID-19 in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries and address the needs of the most vulnerable people. This tips sheet provides practical tips to strengthen disability inclusion within the new up...date of COVID-19 Global HRP. The sheet was developed by the Disability Advisory Group for the DFID-UN SBC.
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This document has been developed for the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean to establish a regional plan of action to support the countries of the Region to rapidly accelerate the scaling up of their capacities for the prevention and early detection of, and ... rapid response to, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as required under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). The regional plan is aligned with the WHO global 2019 novel coronavirus strategic preparedness and response plan, but tailored to the regional context.
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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presents an exceptional and unprecedented challenge for competent authoritiesa with responsibilities for national food safety control systemsb to continue conducting routine functions and activities in accordance with national regulations... and international recommendations. In many countries, competent authority staff are largely working from home, teleworking being the normal practice, and all face-to-face meetings cancelled or rescheduled as teleconferences. It is challenging to maintain, without interruption, routine activities such as the inspection of food business operations, certifying exports, control of imported foods, monitoring and surveillance of the safety of the food supply chain, sampling and analysis of food, managing food incidents, providing advice on food safety and food regulations for the food industry, and communicating on food safety issues with the public.
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While much progress has been achieved over the past year, the Region of the Americas has stubbornly remained the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. PAHO is launching its 2021 COVID-19 Response Strategy and Donor Appeal to continue supporting Latin American and Caribbean countries and territories i...n their fight against COVID-19. This document outlines PAHO’s regional strategy for the year 2021 to sustain and scale-up the response to COVID‑19 pandemic in the Americas, suppress the community transmission of the virus and mitigate the longer-term health impact of the pandemic.
US$ 239 million is needed to support critical response efforts in the Americas between 1 January and 31 December 2021
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Female genital mutilation (FGM), a violation of girls’ and women’s human rights, is becoming less common, and opposition to the practice is growing — in the last two decades, the proportion of girls and women who want the practice to stop has doubled.
However, progress is not universal. In s...ome countries, FGM is as common today as it was three decades ago. Even in places where the practice is on the decline, progress would need to be at least 10 times faster to meet the 2030 target for elimination. Additionally, an alarming trend is emerging: around 1 in 4 girls and women who have undergone FGM, or 52 million worldwide, were cut by health personnel. This proportion is twice as high among adolescents, indicating growth in the medicalization of the practice.
This brochure explores the global FGM trends — progress made in the past three decades, shifts in attitudes, and changes in the circumstances surrounding the practice.
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