The article "Cardiovascular Diseases" on Our World in Data provides an in-depth analysis of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the leading cause of death globally. It examines CVD trends, such as the decline in mortality rates in high-income countries due to improved healthcare and lifestyle changes, wh...ile low- and middle-income countries experience rising CVD burdens. The article highlights major risk factors, including high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, and poor diet. It emphasizes the importance of preventive measures and access to treatment to reduce global disparities in CVD outcomes. The data-driven approach uses visualizations to illustrate the global impact and distribution of CVD.
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3 June 2021. After 40 years of AIDS, charting a course to end the pandemic.
The report shows that countries with progressive laws and policies and strong and inclusive health systems have had the best outcomes against HIV. In those countries, people living with and affected by HIV are more likely t...o have access to effective HIV services, including HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (medicine to prevent HIV), harm reduction, multimonth supplies of HIV treatment and consistent, quality follow-up and care.
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22 Sept. 2021
The rapid development of effective Covid-19 vaccines in 2020 gave hope to the world in the darkest days of the deadly pandemic. However, the vaccine roll-out has been massively skewed towards wealthy nations. While rich states have hoarded vaccines, companies have also played a decisi...ve role in restricting fair access to a life-saving health product. This report focuses on six leading vaccine developers, AstraZeneca, BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer, assessing each company’s human rights policy, pricing structure, records on intellectual property, knowledge and technology sharing, allocation of available vaccine doses and transparency.
Available in Arabic, English, French, German and Spanish
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Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children, imposing a consistent burden on health system. In recent years, prevalence of asthma symptoms became globally increased in children and adolescents, particularly in Low-Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Host (genetics, atopy) and environmental fa...ctors (microbial exposure, exposure to passive smoking and air pollution), seemed to contribute to this trend. The increased prevalence observed in metropolitan areas with respect to rural ones and, overall, in industrialized countries, highlighted the role of air pollution in asthma inception. Asthma accounts for 1.1% of the overall global estimate of “Disability-adjusted life years” (DALYs)/100,000 for all causes. Mortality in children is low and it decreased across Europe over recent years. Children from LMICs particularly suffer a disproportionately higher burden in terms of morbidity and mortality. Global asthma-related costs are high and are usually are classified into direct, indirect and intangible costs. Direct costs account for 50–80% of the total costs. Asthma is one of the main causes of hospitalization which are particularly common in children aged < 5 years with a prevalence that has been increased during the last two decades, mostly in LMICs. Indirect costs are usually higher than in older patients, including both school and work-related losses. Intangible costs are unquantifiable, since they are related to impairment of quality of life, limitation of physical activities and study performance. The implementation of strategies aimed at early detect asthma thus providing access to the proper treatment has been shown to effectively reduce the burden of the disease.
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Mycetoma is a slow-growing bacterial or fungal infection, most often of the foot, that may spread to other parts of the body and can cause severe deformity. It is a debilitating disease that most often affects poor people in rural areas with limited access to health care.
WiderNet@UNC and the WiderNet Project have established the Ebola Emergency Response Library initiative to create a pocket library for people, especially local health care workers in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, responding to the Ebola crisis in Africa.
They are collecting high-quality digit...al resources for everyone from physicians and researchers to families, teachers, media outlets, social workers, and school children.
While this collection is available on the World Wide Web for those who have Internet access, the resources can be distributed on micro chips for use in smartphones, tablets, and laptops in places that lack internet access. The chips can be freely copied so that the information spreads faster than the disease.
The Internet version of the Ebola Pocket Library can be viewed at:
http://www.widernet.org/portals/ebola
The downloadable version can be found here:
Download the Ebola Pocket Library
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Early damage assessments indicate that at least 800,000 people could be directly exposed to minor to severe damages, including communication, access, security, loss of livelihoods, infrastructure, and health services could be impacted.
On 19 August 2016, the former UN Secretary-General announced a new approach to cholera in Haiti, consisting of two tracks. Track 1 focuses on reducing cholera transmission, improving access to care, and addressing water, sanitation, and health system issues. Track 2 aims to provide material assistan...ce to those most affected by cholera. The Secretary-General urged Member States to show solidarity with Haiti by increasing contributions. The UN General Assembly, in resolution 71/161, recognized the UN's moral responsibility to cholera victims and called for support to eliminate cholera and address its victims' suffering. The Secretary-General was requested to provide an update on the progress of this approach.
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The article is a scoping review that explores the challenges in diagnosing asthma in children in three sub-Saharan African countries: Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. It identifies key barriers, such as a lack of community awareness, inadequate healthcare access, limited diagnostic tools like spir...ometry, and insufficient knowledge among healthcare workers. The review also highlights the stigma associated with asthma and the absence of relevant diagnostic guidelines. Solutions proposed include community education, development and adherence to diagnostic guidelines, and strengthening healthcare systems. The study aims to inform policymakers and healthcare providers to improve asthma diagnosis and care for children in these regions.
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This document summarizes Haiti's cholera situation as of November 16, 2016. Between January and October 2016, Haiti reported 35,203 new suspected cholera cases (32% increase from 2015) and 369 deaths (56% increase). After Hurricane Matthew, cases rose dramatically, with 52% of new cases concentrated... in Grand'Anse and South departments. Since the 2010 outbreak began, Haiti had experienced 797,000 total cases and 9,353 deaths. The report identifies key factors contributing to cholera persistence: weak water and sanitation infrastructure, limited healthcare access, underfunding, population density, and mobility. Despite concerning trends, humanitarian partners were cautiously optimistic as a feared nationwide outbreak following Hurricane Matthew had not materialized, and a vaccination campaign was underway. However, the cholera response was significantly underfunded, with only 42% of requested funds received.
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Viral hepatitis is defined as inflammation of the liver cells due to viral infection. The burden of liver disease in South Africa is mostly underestimated as viral hepatitis, in particular chronic infection, is a silent and neglected cause of morbidity and mortality. However, the burden of disease i...s likely substantial given the prevalence of chronic viral hepatitis. This burden is further compounded by the lack of screening and access to care and treatment as well as inadequate disease surveillance, human and financial resources.
The National Guidelines for the Management of Viral Hepatitis were developed, with the purpose to:
inform healthcare workers in the public and private sectors about the disease, its epidemiology in South Africa and current methods of diagnosis and therapy
strengthen the healthcare response to viral hepatitis
empower communicable diseases workers and stakeholders to make informed decisions regarding appropriate and cost effective interventions
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Since the launch of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) in 2000, more than 910 million people have received preventive chemotherapy for lymphatic filariasis (LF) and many thousands have received care for chronic manifestations of the disease. To achieve this, millions of c...ommunity drug distributors (CDDs), community members and health personnel have worked together each year to ensure that at-risk communities receive preventive chemotherapy through mass drug administration (MDA). The successes of 20 y of partnership with communities is celebrated, including the application of community-directed treatment, the use of CDDs and integration with other platforms to improve community access to healthcare. Important challenges facing the GPELF moving forward towards 2030 relate to global demographic, financing and programmatic changes. New innovations in research and practice present opportunities to encourage further community partnership to achieve the elimination of LF as a public health problem. We stress the critical need for community ownership in the current Covid-19 pandemic, to counter concerns in relaunching MDA programmes for LF.
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The report provides an epidemiological update on cholera outbreaks in Haiti as of January 17, 2023. Since the first confirmed cases in October 2022, Haiti has reported 24,232 suspected cases, including 1,742 confirmed cases and 483 deaths. The most affected areas are in the Ouest Department, particu...larly Port-au-Prince. Children aged 1 to 4 years are the most affected group. The ongoing humanitarian crisis, security issues, and limited access to healthcare have worsened the outbreak, hindering epidemiological surveillance and case reporting. The PAHO/WHO is working with Haitian authorities to respond to the outbreak and mitigate its spread.
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The article analyzes the prevalence and risk factors of chronic respiratory diseases, focusing on sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights that environmental exposures, such as biomass fuel usage and air pollution, significantly contribute to respiratory health issues in the region. The research underlines... the limited healthcare infrastructure, insufficient diagnostic tools, and the need for comprehensive data collection to better understand the burden of respiratory diseases. The authors advocate for targeted public health interventions, improved access to healthcare, and policies aimed at reducing exposure to risk factors to mitigate the prevalence of respiratory conditions.
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New research exposes how women and children are disproportionally affected by climate migration, which puts them at greater risk of gender-based violence, child labour and exploitation.
Governments must ensure the safety and protection of women and girls in climate emergencies, including the safe... and equal access to basic services, food, and healthcare before, during, and after disasters. Women must also be included in decision making in their communities so they can lead on resilience building and address gendered issues of migration and displacement.
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Covid-19 Social Policy Response Series / No.14
This report examines Ecuador’s social policy response to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic’s effects and protect
vulnerable populations. It chronologically traces containment, closure policies, social policies and programmes
put in place following t...he announcement of Covid-19 as a global pandemic. A combination of external con-
straints and domestic structures, i.e. informality and weak coordination, led to truncated efforts in the healthcare
response, while persistent inequalities in access to technology and high levels of informality led to fragmented
education, labour policies and social protection responses. The report zooms into the Family Protection Grant
(Bono de Protección Familiar or BPF), a new social protection programme that covers informal workers, which
captures the difficulties in reaching unregistered populations amid lockdown and containment measures.
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The Knowledge Translation Unit is a group within the University of Cape Town’s Lung Institute and Department of Medicine who has worked on primary care programmes to strengthen provision of evidence-informed care in low-resources settings in South Africa, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Brazil for two decad...es. See here for more information. We are working around the clock to help health workers in these and similar settings to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. These can be accessed below. We are also working to expand these to support primary healthcare workers, patients and households. You can also access our free online training.
For purposes of assisting communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are making our COVID-19 and related materials freely available for others to use subject to some simple conditions.
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The article focuses on "The State of the World’s Children 2023" report published by UNICEF. It highlights the critical role of vaccines in saving lives and the challenges in global immunization efforts, especially for marginalized and underserved children. The report emphasizes the impact of COVID...-19 on routine immunization, leaving millions of children unprotected from preventable diseases. It calls for urgent measures to restore and improve vaccination coverage, ensure equity in vaccine access, strengthen primary healthcare systems, and build trust in vaccines. The report also advocates for innovations and sustainable funding to achieve immunization for every child.
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The article focuses on "The State of the World’s Children 2023" report published by UNICEF. It highlights the critical role of vaccines in saving lives and the challenges in global immunization efforts, especially for marginalized and underserved children. The report emphasizes the impact of COVID...-19 on routine immunization, leaving millions of children unprotected from preventable diseases. It calls for urgent measures to restore and improve vaccination coverage, ensure equity in vaccine access, strengthen primary healthcare systems, and build trust in vaccines. The report also advocates for innovations and sustainable funding to achieve immunization for every child.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the SAFER initiative in 2018 to address the global health and societal challenges posed by alcohol-related harm. The initiative outlines five key strategies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and its associated consequences. These include strengthening... restrictions on alcohol availability by implementing and enforcing policies to limit its accessibility and advancing drink-driving countermeasures, such as low blood alcohol concentration limits and random breath testing, to reduce alcohol-impaired driving incidents.
Additionally, SAFER emphasizes facilitating access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment for individuals with alcohol use disorders, ensuring that healthcare systems are equipped to provide effective support. Another core strategy is enforcing comprehensive bans or restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship, and promotion to minimize its influence, particularly on vulnerable populations such as youth. Finally, the initiative advocates raising alcohol prices through excise taxes and pricing policies to make it less affordable and thereby reduce consumption.
By implementing these evidence-based, cost-effective measures, the SAFER initiative aims to reduce the global burden of alcohol-related deaths and disabilities, fostering healthier societies worldwide.
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