In 2014, the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Malawi conducted a nationwide assessment of emergency obstetric
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and newborn care (EmONC) services. This cross-sectional facility-based survey used 10 data collection modules. Data collection began on 23rd September 2014 and concluded on 17th October 2014, in all 28 districts. Facilities in both the public and private sector (for-profit and not-for-profit) were included. Since the focus of the assessment was obstetric and newborn care, health facilities that did not offer maternal and newborn health (MNH) services were not selected. In all districts, a census of all hospitals and a 60 percent random sample of health centres that ought to have performed deliveries in the previous year yielded a total of 365 facilities: 87 hospitals and 278 health centres. All these facilities were visited during the assessment. During analysis, weighting procedures were applied to extrapolate results to the district and national level, representing all 87 hospitals and 464 health centres. Such weighting was necessary as a stratified random sample of health centres was taken and weighting applied to all indicators and presentations that have health facility as a unit of measurement. Case reviews and provider’s interviews, on the other hand, are not weighted as their sampling strategy is based on convenience.
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Cancer centres are a major resource in ensuring a comprehensive approach to cancer treatment and its planning. As part of a new roadmap developed by WHO a
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nd IAEA to help countries design national cancer control programmes, this publication proposes a framework to develop a cancer centre and/or to strengthen the provision of services in an existing cancer centre. The publication provides the features of multidisciplinary cancer care and details the infrastructure, human resources and equipment for different services. This framework is expected to be used as a guide to implementation, taking into consideration the local context and resources.
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According to the Report, cascading and interlinked crises are putting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in grave danger, along with humanity’s very own survival. The Report highlights the severity
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and magnitude of the challenges before us. The confluence of crises, dominated by COVID-19, climate change, and conflicts, are creating spin-off impacts on food and nutrition, health, education, the environment, and peace and security, and affecting all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Report details the reversal of years of progress in eradicating poverty and hunger, improving health and education, providing basic services, and much more. It also points out areas that need urgent action in order to rescue the SDGs and deliver meaningful progress for people and the planet by 2030.
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The chapter Closing the Gap: The Health Disparities of Older LGBTI People in the Americas, is part of the publication series titled ‘Decade
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of Healthy Aging: situation and challenges’. In order to outline the current knowledge available on the situation of health and well-being of older persons in the Americas at the beginning of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Aging (2021-2030), this document presents data and existing evidence different forms of discrimination and mistreatment older people face due to their sexual orientation and gender identities that ultimately increase health disparities. Previous studies on LGBTI older people offer valuable information on the lived experiences of these communities and demonstrate that they face unique challenges with aging, emphasizing the difficulties related to access to care. Very few studies on older people and aging include a focus on sexual orientation or gender identity; however, it is possible to point out that HIV/AIDS is one of the most significant health disparities confronting LGBTI older persons, followed by physical and mental health problems, substance use, social isolation, poverty, and the lack of access to quality healthcare, including long-term care facilities or other institutions. Closing the gap in access and quality of health and care services is an imperative to increase longevity, health status and quality of life of LGBTI older people.
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The WHO End TB Strategy aims to end the global TB epidemic by 2030, in alignment with Goal 3 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Member
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States of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN committed to ending the TB epidemic through adoption of WHO’s End TB Strategy and the UN SDGs in 2014 and 2015, respectivel
Almost half of the deaths worldwide caused by TB in 2019 occurred in the WHO South-East Asia Region, home to around a quarter of the global population. Maintaining robust progress in this Region is therefore essential if the global goal of ending the TB epidemic is to be realized. Despite substantial gains made in the Region, the threat to
health worldwide posed by the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to reverse these gains and eclipse the focus on the global TB emergency.
While continuing to tackle COVID-19-related challenges, countries will need to rapidly and urgently deploy supplementary measures to address the large numbers of missed cases, poor treatment outcomes and, potentially, a higher TB burden.
The Regional Strategic Plan towards Ending TB in the Region 2021–2025 clearly articulates priority interventions, analyses the challenges, bottlenecks and opportunities, and focuses on implementation considerations in the Region.
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Barriers to HIV Services and Treatment for Persons with Disabilities in Zambia
The 80-page report documents the obstacles faced by people with disabilities in both the community
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and healthcare settings. These include pervasive stigma and discrimination, lack of access to inclusive HIV prevention education, obstacles to accessing voluntary testing and HIV treatment, and lack of appropriate support for adherence to antiretroviral treatment. The report also describes the sexual and intimate partner violence women and girls with disabilities face, and the need for the government and international donors to do more to ensure inclusive and accessible HIV services.
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The present booklet is about gender-responsive substance abuse treatment services for women. It is part of the United Nations Office on Drugs
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and Crime (UNODC) project to develop tools to support the development and improvement of substance abuse treatment services, based on evidence from the literature and case studies that illustrate practical experiences and lessons learned in providing substance abuse treatment services in various regions of the world.
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Nurses are key players in health promotion and disease prevention and the backbone of
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health care systems worldwide. Nurses work on the front lines of disease prevention, health promotion, and health management and are often the unsung heroes in health care facilities and emergency response. Despite the critical role they play in health care, there is a nursing shortage across the world that will affect the delivery of competent nursing care. This document highlights key action points for targeted investment in the nursing workforce and calls on Member States to strengthen nursing within the context of their own country efforts.
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Civil Society Organisations’ contribution towards community engagement to access and demand health services
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and encourage communities to practice appropriate health-seeking behaviour in Mon and Chin States
The following report is a study of 14 villages under the Collective Voices project (November 2015-December 2017) in the states of Mon and Chin. The objectives of the study were:
(1) to explore Village Health Committee (VHC) members, Basic Health Staff (BHS), and community members’ perceptions on community engagement in seeking and demanding health care and
(2) to describe health-seeking behaviours relating to Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health and hygiene practices among target beneficiaries.
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In 2012, all Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed a historical target to reduce premature mortality from noncommunicable d
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iseases
(NCD). This commitment was echoed in 2015 by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which included a target to reduce premature mortality (the
measure of unfulfilled life expectancy and deaths between the ages of 30 and 70 years) from NCD by 30% by the year 2030. The Sustainable Development Goals are especially relevant to cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death globally, with increasing prevalence in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).
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This report presents the results of the official United Nations estimates and projections of urb
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an and rural populations for 233 countries and areas of the world and for close to 1,900 urban settlements with 300,000 inhabitants or more in 2018, as published in World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision. The data in this revision are consistent with the total populations estimated and projected according to the medium variant of the 2017 Revision of the United Nations global population estimates and projections, published in World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. This revision updates and supersedes previous estimates and projections published by the United Nations.
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The Road Map outlines various strategies which will guide policy makers, development partners, training institutions and service providers in supporting Government efforts towards the attainment of
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MDGs related to maternal and neonatal health.
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HRH Strategy for the Health Sector: 2012/13 – 2016/17
This report explores the access to healthcare granted to irregular migrants in 10 EU Member States. It focuses on migrants who are present in an irregular situation, namely those who do not fulfil conditions for entry, stay or residence. Through int
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erviews with a range of different sources including public authorities at the national and local level, health professionals, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) providing helathcare and irregular migrants themselves, this report documents the legal, economic and practical obstacles that hinder migrants' access to healthcare.
For versions in French, Polish, German and Swedish check also http://fra.europa.eu/de/publication/2012/migranten-einer-irregulren-situation-zugang-zu-medizinischer-versorgung-zehn
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This valuable and timely guidebook represents an innovative contribution to enhancing quality education through textbooks. It will change the way textbook authors, publishers and
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educators, as well as governments of the United Nations Member States, see the potential of educational media at a time of growing violent extremism, changing notions of national identity, increasingly globalized and diverse communities, and environmental destruction. The need for education that promotes peace, social justice and global citizenship has become more urgent in a world of greater uncertainty. This guidebook builds on the momentum of Agenda 2030, providing a toolkit to enable textbook authors to place ESD at the core of their subjects in ways that are at once practical for them and interesting and relevant to the students.
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Since independence (1961) the Government through the Department of Social welfare has been providing services to people with disabilities without a
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comprehensive policy. The adoption of the National Policy on Disability (NPD) is the outcome of many years of consultations among disability stakeholders.
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The purpose of the PAS III is to guide Pakistan’s overall national response for HIV and AIDS through 2020, through focused interventions with set targets, costs, roles
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and responsibilities. The successful implementation of PAS III involves multiple stakeholders to achieve priority outcomes outlined in the Strategy. The Strategy focuses on allocating limited resources to scale up high-impact, high-value interventions such as HTC and treatment to reduce AIDS related deaths and new HIV infections. Priorities in the PAS III have been identified to ensure maximum impact in reducing new infections, especially among key populations, improving treatment uptake and retention, and improving the quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS in the context of limited financial and human resources.
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Globally, approximately 56.8 million people are in need of palliative care
services; 78% of them living in low
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and middle-income country yet only
about 12% have their needs being met causing great suffering for many.
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