A module from the suite of health service capacity assessments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Interim Guidance 20 October 2020.
This self-assessment tool is designed for acute health-care facilities (i.e. tertiary and secondary) but can be modified for the use in long-term care facilities..., to help identify, prioritize and address the gaps in infection prevention and control (IPC) capacity in managing their response to COVID-19. The tool should be used by IPC professionals and/or those responsible for disaster planning or outbreak management in the facility (such as the response to the COVID-19 outbreak) at the start of the improvement process. A sample workplan template is provided to address gaps identified and record required actions.
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Stories of putting people at the centre
Accessed: 20.11.2019
The Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis is one of the biggest external displacement crises in the world today. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded an already desperate situation for many refugees and migrants, as well as their hosts, sorely testing health and social welfare systems and the abilit...y of countries to assist the vulnerable population.
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INTRODUCTION: Health service use among the public can decline during outbreaks and had been predicted among low and middle-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) started implementing public health measures across Kin...shasa, including strict lock-down measures in the Gombe health zone.
METHODS: Using monthly time series data from the DRC Health Management Information System (January 2018 to December 2020) and interrupted time series with mixed effects segmented Poisson regression models, we evaluated the impact of the pandemic on the use of essential health services (outpatient visits, maternal health, vaccinations, visits for common infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases) during the first wave of the pandemic in Kinshasa. Analyses were stratified by age, sex, health facility and lockdown policy (i.e, Gombe vs other health zones).
RESULTS: Health service use dropped rapidly following the start of the pandemic and ranged from 16% for visits for hypertension to 39% for visits for diabetes. However, reductions were highly concentrated in Gombe (81% decline in outpatient visits) relative to other health zones. When the lock-down was lifted, total visits and visits for infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases increased approximately twofold. Hospitals were more affected than health centres. Overall, the use of maternal health services and vaccinations was not significantly affected.
CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in important reductions in health service utilizsation in Kinshasa, particularly Gombe. Lifting of lock-down led to a rebound in the level of health service use but it remained lower than pre-pandemic levels.
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The African Region has been experiencing unprecedented health challenges due to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which have compounded the already difficult task the Region was facing in moving towards universal health coverage (UHC) attainment.
In 2009, WHO’s Second International Conference on Buruli Ulcer Control and Research resolved to strengthen the capacity of national laboratories to confirm cases of the disease, but advised that “efforts are still needed to develop simple diagnostic tools usable in the field as well as disabilit...y prevention methods”.
In 2013, WHO and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics convened a meeting of Buruli ulcer experts in Geneva, Switzerland (9) at which two priority unmet needs in diagnosis were identified:
a diagnostic test for early detection of Buruli ulcer in symptomatic patients with sufficient positive predictive value to put patients on appropriate treatment; and
a screening test at the primary health care or community level for symptomatic patients with ulcer
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2nd edition.This updated publication provides programme managers with a user-friendly tool that can: (i) analyse and draw conclusions from historic dengue datasets; (ii) identify appropriate alarm indicators that can predict forthcoming outbreaks at smaller spatial scales; and (iii) use these result...s and analyses to build an early warning system to detect dengue outbreaks in real time and respond accordingly. This web-based tool can ensure enhanced, fast and secured communication between national and subnational levels, and standardized utilization of surveillance data.
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Experiences from Indonesia, Kenya, Uganda and Ukraine
This document provides information and recommendations for action, based on the current available knowledge around monkeypox. It is a first draft which will be updated in light of evolving evidence and additional information as they become available.
As part of a wider organisational undertaking to better capture and communicate the effectiveness of its work, Oxfam developed an evaluative method to assess the quality of targeted humanitarian responses. This method uses a global humanitarian indicator tool which is intended to enable Oxfam GB to ...estimate how many disaster-affected men and women globally have received humanitarian aid that meets establishes standards for excellence. This method was used after the independence of South Sudan, which was followed by political tensions with its neighbour on issues unresolved from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which include border demarcation, wealth-sharing and the fate of the disputed territory of Abyei.
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EVALUATION REPORT. This report is a synthesis of the evaluation of UNICEF's response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Indonesia that was undertaken in August 2008 to July 2009. The evaluation assessed UNICEF's response in four sectors where it had major involvement: child protection; basic educat...ion; water, sanitation and hygiene; and child and maternal health and nutrition.
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The floods caused by the Tropical Cyclone IDAI has affected 3 million people in the Republics of Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe leaving 839 people dead, and this figure continued to rise as the rains stopped and water subsided. To date, over 201,476 people (Table 1) have been displaced and about 31...7 camps established. A total of 2,347 people have been reported injured and over 300 people are still missing in the affected countries.
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This assessment tool for HIV and internally displaced persons (IDPs) is an outcome of multisectoral, multi-agency assessment missions in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Nepal and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) first global consultation on HIV and inter...nally displaced persons held in April 2007 in Geneva.
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These advocacy messages complement the Technical Note on the Protection of Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic, for child protection actors to prioritize child protection in COVID-19 response plans.
This Interim Guidance outlines how key public health and social measures needed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread and the impact of the disease can be adapted for use in low capacity and humanitarian settings. The recommendations outlined here need to be adjusted to the scale of transmission, co...ntext and resources, in order to achieve the objective of managing COVID-19, namely to reduce transmission and facilitate the detection and management of infected and exposed individuals within the population. The Guidance is intended for humanitarian and development actors of all operational levels working with communities ocal authorities involved in COVID-19 preparedness and response operations in these settings, in support of national and local governments and plans. Additional considerations for support to residents of urban informal settlements and slums are available in Annex 1.
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