The World Health Organization (WHO) and the global community of countries, partners, donors, technical experts, scientists and field implementation teams continue to work towards ...ute-to-highlight medbox">the ultimate goal of a world free of the burden of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
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A lot has happened this year. While we continued to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, we were hit by disease outbreaks and
humanitarian crises. Yet, despite these challenges, we marched on, resolute in resolving critical health systems issues to increa...se
access to quality healthcare services. To further our vision and bring concrete actions to reality, under
the leadership of the Government of South Sudan, we developed the Health Sector Strategic Plan to define the strategic
approaches, key interventions, mapping resource needs, and the implementation framework to strengthen the health system
to deliver essential quality health services equitably for 2023 to 2027. For WHO, this Plan will usher in a new reality -- access
to lifesaving or health-promoting interventions is doable and possible, making the health sector fairer, especially for those
unable to pay
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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for major societal transformations that will require significant fiscal outlays as well as private investments. The fiscal outlays cover public investme...nts, the public provision of social services, and social protection for vulnerable populations. The key message of this paper, building on recent reports by the IMF and SDSN (IMF, 2019b; SDSN, 2018) is that the governments of Low-Income Developing Countries (LIDCs) will require a substantial increase in fiscal (budget) revenues, far beyond what they can achieve by their own fiscal reforms. For this reason, SDG financing will require substantial international cooperation to enable the LIDCs to finance their SDG fiscal outlays. One important source of increased revenues should be the globally coordinated taxation of ultra-high-net worth assets. Today’s ultra-rich should help to pay for the survival and basic needs of the world’s poorest people.
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The Mapping Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use Partnership (MAAP) project has conducted a multi-year, multi-country study that provides stark insights on the under-reported depth of ...n class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis across Africa and lays out urgent policy recommendations to address the emergency.
MAAP reviewed 819,584 AMR records from 2016-2019, from 205 laboratories across Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. MAAP also reviewed data from 327 hospital and community pharmacies and 16 national-level AMC datasets.
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The World Heart Federation (WHF) is a leading global advocate for stronger legislation and policies regarding cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors, including raised cholesterol. The pre...sent Cholesterol Advocacy Toolkit 2022 provides WHF member organizations with information as well as practical tools to
support cholesterol advocacy at the local and regional levels.
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The World Heart Federation (WHF) Roadmap series covers a large range of cardiovascular conditions. These Roadmaps identify potential roadblocks and their solutions to improve the prevention, detecti...on and management of cardiovascular diseases and provide a generic global framework available for local adaptation. A first Roadmap on raised blood pressure was published in 2015. Since then, advances in hypertension have included the publication of new clinical guidelines (AHA/ACC; ESC; ESH/ISH); the launch of the WHO Global HEARTS Initiative in 2016 and the associated Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) initiative in 2017; the inclusion of single-pill combinations on the WHO Essential
Medicines’ list as well as various advances in technology, in particular telemedicine and mobile health. Given the substantial benefit accrued from effective interventions in the management of hypertension and their potential for scalability in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), the WHF has now revisited and updated the ‘Roadmap for raised BP’ as ‘Roadmap for hypertension’
by incorporating new developments in science and policy. Even though cost-effective lifestyle and medical interventions to prevent and manage hypertension exist, uptake is still low, particularly in resource-poor areas. This Roadmap examined the roadblocks pertaining to both the demand side (demographic and socio-economic factors, knowledge and beliefs, social relations, norms, and
traditions) and the supply side (health systems resources and processes) along the patient pathway to propose a range of possible solutions to overcoming them. Those include the development of population-wide prevention and control programmes; the implementation of opportunistic screening and of out-of-office blood pressure measurements; the strengthening of primary care and a greater focus on task sharing and team-based care; the delivery of people-centred care and stronger patient and carer education; and the facilitation of adherence to treatment. All of the above are dependent upon the availability and effective distribution of good quality, evidencebased, inexpensive BP-lowering agents.
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The document provides detailed clinical guidelines for the therapy of Type 1 Diabetes as developed by the German Diabetes Association (DDG). It foc...uses on individualized insulin therapy, structured patient training, and monitoring of blood glucose levels. The guidelines emphasize preventing complications like ketoacidosis and hypoglycemia while improving patients' quality of life through education and tailored medical care. Recommendations include the use of both basal and bolus insulin, continuous glucose monitoring, and integrating psychosocial support into treatment plans. The document serves as a comprehensive resource for healthcare professionals managing Type 1 Diabetes.
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The document "Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus" provides comprehensive guidelines for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults. It emphasizes ...e-to-highlight medbox">the importance of individualized glycemic targets, lifestyle interventions like diet and exercise, and the use of medications such as metformin, SGLT2 inhibitors, and GLP1 receptor agonists to manage blood sugar levels and reduce long-term complications. The document also discusses the screening and management of comorbidities such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetic complications like retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy. It highlights the role of diabetes self-management education and support in improving adherence to treatment and patient outcomes. The guidelines are evidence-based and aim to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with type 2 diabetes.
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The “ActiveAge Handbook” is an outcome of the “ActiveAge Project, which was carried out from January 2013 until June 2014 in the frame of “...2012 Preparatory Actions in the Field of Sport” of the European Commission Directory General Education and Cul-
ture (DG EAC) in cooperation with 13 European partners under the leadership of the German Gymnastic Federation (DTB). “ActiveAge” was set up as a transnational project that fosters the exchange of knowledge and experience to counteract the physical inactivity of elderly people through capacity building for physical activities and sport programs of aging people in well-
structured and wide-spread settings, with the starting point in sport-organizations.
The handbook is intended to be used as a guideline for further activities of the “European Platform Active Aging in Sport” (EPAAS), which will continue the mission of the ActiveAge Project. Furthermore the handbook should serve as well for any other stakeholder interested to promote physical activities and sport for elderly people.
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The "WHO Package of Essential Noncommunicable (PEN) Disease Interventions for Primary Health Care" provides a set of cost-effective, evidence-based interventions to address noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, c...hronic respiratory diseases, and cancers. Designed for implementation in primary healthcare settings, especially in low-resource environments, the package includes protocols for screening, diagnosis, treatment, and management of these diseases. The document emphasizes an integrated approach, supporting universal health coverage by empowering healthcare workers with practical tools to improve NCD care. It aims to reduce premature mortality from NCDs and enhance global health equity.
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The European Respiratory Society (ERS)/American Thoracic Society (ATS) Task Force on severe asthma includes an updated definition of severe asthma, a discussion of severe asthma phenotypes in relation to genetics, natural history, pathobiology and p...hysiology, as well as sections on evaluation and treatment of severe asthma where specific recommendations for practice are made. See the unabridged online version of the document for detailed discussion of the definition of severe asthma, phenotypes and recommendations for practice.
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The Department of Nutrition, HIV and AIDS (DNHA) in Ministry of Health and Population is grateful to all stakeholders who contributed to the development of ...">the Nutrition Education Communication Strategy II. The DNHA acknowledges the financial and technical support from the World Bank and USAID through the Nutrition, HIV and AIDS project and Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project (FANTA III)/FHI 360, respectively. The participation of several partners including Irish Aid, the European Union (EU), Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organisation (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Civil Society Organisation Nutrition Alliance (CSONA), Concern Worldwide and the Clinton Health Access Initiative(CHAI).
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This review of the IFRC support to the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society response to the 2012 cholera outbreak provides ideas and concepts to promote ...a more coherent and evidence based rationale on how to make more effective use of IFRC global assets to stop, control, mitigate and respond to cholera epidemics. No fit and healthy person should die from cholera – that should be the indicator of success.
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This book contains the findings of technical reviews of eight transitional shelter designs. It is divided into sections:
- Section A discusses transitional shelter design briefs, includes a programming checklist and explains how ...tribute-to-highlight medbox">the shelters in this book were reviewed.
- Section B contains summary findings of the technical reviews for the eight shelters.
- Section C contains design details for foundations, walls and roofs.
- Annexes contain details of materials, a template design brief, conversion tables, a glossary, and references.
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Operational Updates
Emergency Relief & Nutrition Rakhine: A significant increase in internal displacements due to continued armed conflict between the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) and Arakan Army was reported in northern and central Rakhine State i...ncreasing from 6,000 people in February to 20,000 in March. WFP delivered a one-month ration of food to 2,220 newly displaced people in central Rakhine State, with plans to extend support to additional displaced populations based on coordination with other actors meeting current needs, including the Government and ICRC. WFP continued providing emergency relief assistance to 96,050 conflict-affected people from 173 Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu villages in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships of northern Rakhine State. In addition, WFP reached over 16,300 children under 5 years through nutrition interventions. In central Rakhine, 4,740 pregnant and lactating women (PLWs) and 24,160 children under 5 years were reached with nutrition interventions, and over 128,040 food-insecure people received relief assistance.
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The publication draws on pre-COVID data to highlight how children with disabilities face greater risks in the midst of this pandemic. It documents what has happened to services for children and adul...ts with disabilities across the world and includes examples of what has been done to address disruptions in services. It also discusses the challenges in generating disability-inclusive data during the pandemic.
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The majority of Countdown countries did not reach the fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG 4) on reducing child mortality, despite the fact that... donor funding to the health sector has drastically increased. When tracking aid invested in child survival, previous studies have exclusively focused on aid targeting reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH). We take a multi-sectoral approach and extend the estimation to the four sectors that determine child survival: health (RMNCH and non-RMNCH), education, water and sanitation, and food and humanitarian assistance (Food/HA). Methods and findings: Using donor reported data, obtained mainly from the OECD Creditor Reporting System and Development Assistance Committee, we tracked the level and trends of aid (in grants or loans) disbursed to each of the four sectors at the global, regional, and country levels. We performed detailed analyses on missing data and conducted imputation with various methods. To identify aid projects for RMNCH, we developed an identification strategy that combined keyword searches and manual coding. To quantify aid for RMNCH in projects with multiple purposes, we adopted an integrated approach and produced the lower and upper bounds of estimates for RMNCH, so as to avoid making assumptions or using weak evidence for allocation. We checked the sensitivity of trends to the estimation methods and compared our estimates to that produced by other studies. Our study yielded time-series and recipient-specific annual estimates of aid disbursed to each sector, as well as their lower- and upper-bounds in 134 countries between 2000 and 2014, with a specific focus on Countdown countries. We found that the upper-bound estimates of total aid disbursed to the four sectors in 134 countries rose from US$ 22.62 billion in 2000 to US$ 59.29 billion in
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The World Heart Federation (WHF) commenced a Roadmap initiative in 2015 to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease and resultant burgeoning of healthcare costs. Roadmaps provide a bluepri...nt for implementation of priority solutions for the principal cardiovascular diseases leading to death and disability. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of these conditions and is an increasing problem due to ageing of the world’s population and an increase in cardiovascular risk factors that predispose to AF. The goal of the AF roadmap was to provide guidance on priority interventions that are feasible in multiple countries, and to identify roadblocks and potential strategies to overcome them.
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Application of a One Health approach .
The present guidance was developed with the support of the WHO Advisory Group on Integrated Surveillance of... Antimicrobial Resistance (AGISAR) to assist countries and other stakeholders in the establishment and development of programmes of integrated surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in the foodborne bacteria (i.e., bacteria commonly transmitted by food) by taking a One Health approach.
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