Round 3: Key informant findings from 129 countries, territories and areas - Quarter 4 2021
Countries reported disruptions in all health-care settings. In more than half of countries surveyed, many people are still unable to access care at the prima...ry care and community care levels. Significant disruptions have also been reported in emergency care, particularly concerning given the impact on people with urgent health needs. Thirty-six per cent of countries reported disruptions to ambulance services; 32% to 24-hour emergency room services; and 23% to emergency surgeries.
Elective surgeries have also been disrupted in 59% of countries, which can have accumulating consequences on health and well-being as the pandemic continues. Disruptions to rehabilitative care and palliative care were also reported in around half of the countries surveyed.
Major barriers to health service recovery include pre-existing health systems issues which have been exacerbated by the pandemic as well as decreased demand for care.
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WHO recently conducted a survey to assess the availability and cost of a national tracer list of essential medicines in the outpatient sector in Ukraine using a new collection tool – the WHO Essen...tial Medicines and Health Products Price and Availability Monitoring Mobile Application. This tool facilitates rapid and inexpensive data collection at the facility level.
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This report reviews and analyses the Affordable Medicines Programme, which was introduced in Ukraine in April 2017 to provide patients with improved access to 23 outpatient medicines for the treatment of chronic noncommunicable diseases. The evaluat...ion combines both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The findings confirm that the Programme has contributed to a significant increase in access to needed outpatient medicines in Ukraine. Further, while implementation was successful overall, uptake across regions was uneven. The report concludes by listing a number of policy options to support the sustainability and expansion of the Affordable Medicines Programme.
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9 March 2022, Timely and accurate diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 is an essential part of a comprehensive COVID-19 response strategy. Ag-RDTs can be performed by individuals in which they collect their own specimen, perform a simple rapid test and... interpret their test result themselves at a time and place of their choosing, termed COVID-19 self-testing. This interim guidance provides a new recommendation that COVID-19 self-testing, using SARS-CoV-2 Ag-RDTs, should be offered as part of SARS-CoV-2 testing services. It also includes implementation considerations that can guide decisions on whether, and how, to adopt self-testing in different contexts, including the populations being prioritized; the disease prevalence in that population; and the impact on accessibility of testing, health care services and result reporting.
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The Malawian government recently introduced cost-covering consultation fees for self-referral patients in tertiary public hospitals. Previously, patients received medicines free of charge in government-owned health facilities, but must pay elsewhere.... Before the government implements a payment policy in other areas of health care, it is important to investigate the prices, affordability and availability of essential medicines in Malawi.
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(Synthesis Report 2021) [EN] - World Analysis on World about Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Drought, Flood and more; published on 09 Dec 2021 by FAO
WHO guidelines for pandemic preparedness and response in the nonhealth sector
UNICEF Indonesia's Issue Briefs about The Significance of Child Protection Systems : Key Findings from a Strategic Mapping Exercise in Six Provinces of Indonesia
In this paper we aim to provide information on the importance of efficiency measurement of health care facilities in developing countries. We state that efficiency measurement can be a substantial c...ontribution to saving lives. Therefore we analyse the performance of health centres in rural Burkina Faso making use of data which were taken from a comprehensive long-term cost information system. In the subsequent parts of this article, the study site is described and the DEA method outlined. The ensuing analysis of the data is carried out in two stages. Firstly, quantitative aspects concerning relative efficiency are presented. Secondly, the measures of performance are explained. The implications of the results are then discussed.
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This study aimed to analyze the geographical distribution of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to identify high-risk areas in space and time for the occurrence of cases and deaths in the indig...enous population of Brazil. This is an ecological study carried out between 24 March and 26 October 2020 whose units of analysis were the Special Indigenous Sanitary Districts. The Getis-Ord General G and Getis-Ord Gi* techniques were used to verify the spatial association of the phenomena and a retrospective space–time scan was performed. There were 32 041 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 471 deaths. The non-randomness of cases (z score = 5.40; P < 0.001) and deaths (z score = 3.83; P < 0.001) were confirmed. Hotspots were identified for cases and deaths in the north and midwest regions of Brazil. Sixteen high-risk space–time clusters were identified for the occurrence of cases with a higher RR = 21.23 (P < 0.001) and four risk clusters for deaths with a higher RR = 80.33 (P < 0.001). These clusters were identified from 22 May and were active until 10 October 2020. The results indicate critical areas in the indigenous territories of Brazil and contribute to better directing the actions of control of COVID-19 in this population.
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Sexual abuse perpetrated against children is one of the most significant crises of our time. Child sexual abuse is a significant risk factor for children, in common with other forms ...ribute-to-highlight medbox">of child maltreatment. Sexual abuse can have severe short- and long-term consequences on the physical, mental, social, emotional and economic well-being of children, families and communities. In emergencies, the threat of all forms of child abuse and gender-based violence (GBV), including child sexual abuse, is acute and widespread.
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United Nations Office of the Resident Coordinator | http://www.unlesotho.org/
Country profile: Democratic Republic of Congo
In our fourth year of producing The State of Open Humanitarian Data, we can report the highest levels yet for data availability across priority humanitarian operations. These gains can be attributed... to the commitment of organizations to sharing and maintaining their data publicly. There was also strong demand for data about the world's largest humanitarian crises, from the war in Ukraine to drought and food insecurity in the Horn of Africa.
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An ALNAP Guide. Pilot Version.
This pilot guide is intended to help evaluation managers to commission and oversee, and team leaders to conduct, RTEs of humanitarian operational responses. Drawing on a synthesis ...edbox">of existing good practices, it sets out a flexible approach that can be adapted to a variety of contexts. While it concentrates on the particular problems posed by RTEs undertaken within a few months of the start of an emergency response, it addresses how such RTEs can also feed into on-going operations. While the guide focuses on RTEs, some of the advice applies to all evaluations.
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In the context of the Support to National Malaria Control Programme (SuNMaP), demand creation is the strategic combination of advocacy, communication and mobilisation approaches that seek to achieve... increased community awareness of, and demand for, effective malaria prevention and treatment services. For malaria treatment, demand creation focuses on promoting improved testing, prompt and proper use of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) treatment for individual cases of malaria, and effective home management of fever, together with referrals of severe cases to a higher-level health facility.
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