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Strengthening primary health care to tackle racial discrimination, promote intercultural services and reduce health inequities

World Health Organization WHO (2022) C_WHO

As countries aim to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieving universal health coverage, health inequities driven by racial discrimination and intersecting factors remain pervasive. Inequities experienced by indigenous peoples as well as people of African descent, Roma ... more

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WASH FIT: A practical guide for improving quality of care through water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities (Second edition)

UN Children's Fund UNICEF; World Health Organization WHO (2023) C_WHO

Fully functioning water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and health care waste management services are a critical aspect of infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, and ensuring patient safety and quality of care. Such services are also essential for creating an environment that supports the dig... more

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Cardiovascular diseases in Africa in the twenty-first century: Gaps and priorities going forward

Minja, N.W.; Nakagaayi, D.; Aliku, T. et al. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (2022) CC

In 2015, the United Nations set important targets to reduce premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths by 33% by 2030. Africa disproportionately bears the brunt of CVD burden and has one of the highest risks of dying from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide. There is currently an epide...miological transition on the continent, where NCDs is projected to outpace communicable diseases within the current decade. Unchecked increases in CVD risk factors have contributed to the growing burden of three major CVDs—hypertension, cardiomyopathies, and atherosclerotic diseasesleading to devastating rates of stroke and heart failure. The highest age standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to hypertensive heart disease (HHD) were recorded in Africa. The contributory causes of heart failure are changing—whilst HHD and cardiomyopathies still dominate, ischemic heart disease is rapidly becoming a significant contributor, whilst rheumatic heart disease (RHD) has shown a gradual decline. In a continent where health systems are traditionally geared toward addressing communicable diseases, several gaps exist to adequately meet the growing demand imposed by CVDs. Among these, high-quality research to inform interventions, underfunded health systems with high out-of-pocket costs, limited accessibility and affordability of essential medicines, CVD preventive services, and skill shortages. Overall, the African continent progress toward a third reduction in premature mortality come 2030 is lagging behind. More can be done in the arena of effective policy implementation for risk factor reduction and CVD prevention, increasing health financing and focusing on strengthening primary health care services for prevention and treatment of CVDs, whilst ensuring availability and affordability of quality medicines. Further, investing in systematic country data collection and research outputs will improve the accuracy of the burden of disease data and inform policy adoption on interventions. This review summarizes the current CVD burden, important gaps in cardiovascular medicine in Africa, and further highlights priority areas where efforts could be intensified in the next decade with potential to improve the current rate of progress toward achieving a 33% reduction in CVD mortality. more

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Therapeutics and COVID-19 (Living Guideline, 10 November 2023)

World Health Organization WHO (2023) C_WHO

WHO has updated its guidelines for COVID-19 therapeutics, with revised recommendations for patients with non-severe COVID-19. This is the 13th update to these guidelines. Updated risk rates for hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19 The guidance includes updated risk rates for... hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19. The current COVID-19 virus variants tend to cause less severe disease while immunity levels are higher due to vaccination, leading to lower risks of severe illness and death for most patients. This update includes new baseline risk estimates for hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19. The new ‘moderate risk’ category now includes people previously considered to be high risk including older people and/or those with chronic conditions, disabilities, and comorbidities of chronic disease. The updated risk estimates will assist healthcare professionals to identify individuals at high, moderate or low risk of hospital admission, and to tailor treatment according to WHO guidelines: **High: **People who are immunosuppressed remain at higher risk if they contract COVID-19, with an estimated hospitalization rate of 6%. **Moderate: **People over 65 years old, those with conditions like obesity, diabetes and/or chronic conditions including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney or liver disease, cancer, people with disabilities and those with comorbidities of chronic disease are at moderate risk, with an estimated hospitalization rate of 3%. Low: Those who are not in the high or moderate risk categories are at low risk of hospitalization (0.5%). Most people are low risk. Review of COVID-19 treatments for people with non-severe COVID-19 WHO continues to strongly recommend nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (also known by its brand name ‘Paxlovid’) for people at high-risk and moderate risk of hospitalization. The recommendations state that nirmatrelvir-ritonavir is considered the best choice for most eligible patients, given its therapeutic benefits, ease of administration and fewer concerns about potential harms. Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir was first recommended by WHO in April 2022. If nirmatrelvir-ritonavir is not available to patients at high-risk of hospitalization, WHO suggests the use of molnupiravir or remdesivir instead. WHO suggests against the use of molnupiravir and remdesivir for patients at moderate risk, judging the potential harms to outweigh the limited benefits in patients at moderate risk of hospital admission. For people at low risk of hospitalization, WHO does not recommend any antiviral therapy. Symptoms like fever and pain can continue to be managed with analgesics like paracetamol. WHO also recommends against use of a new antiviral (VV116) for patients, except in clinical trials. The update also includes a strong recommendation against the use of ivermectin for patients with non-severe COVID-19. WHO continues to advise that in patients with severe or critical COVID-19, ivermectin should only be used in clinical trials. more

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HEARTS. Technical package for cardiovascular disease management in primary health care. Team-based care

World Health Organization WHO, et al. (2018) C_WHO

Many low-resource settings have a shortage of physicians and health workers. (1) In order to provide patient-centred continuous care more effectively, primary care systems can include team-based care strategies in their clinic workflows and protocols. Team-based care uses multidisciplinary teams (wh... more

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Social and Behavior Change Communication SBCC for Malaria in Pregnancy: Strategy Development Guidance

Health Communication Capacity Collaborative HC3; USAID (2017) CC

This Implementation Kit (I-Kit), developed by the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), which is funded by USAID and based at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, offers structured guidance for improving social and behavioural change communication (SBCC) strategies relat... more

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The Ukraine war and threats to food and energy security

Benton, T.; et al. Chatham House (2022) CC

Cascading risks from rising prices and supply disruptions, April 2022. Global resource markets are still reeling from the impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the two countries are major suppliers of energy, food and fertilizers. Supply disruption and the sudden imposition, in response to the... more

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Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on provision of sexual and reproductive health services in primary health facilities in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

Adelekan, B.; E. Goldson, Z. Abubakar et al. Repoductive Health Journal (2021) CC

RESULTS: Between 76 and 97% of the PHCS offered RMCAH services before the lockdown. Except in antenatal, delivery and adolescent care, there was a decline of between 2 and 6% in all the services during the lockdown and up to 10% decline after the lockdown with variation across and within States. Dur... more

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The Effects of Covid-19 on Latin America’s Economy

Cottani, J. Center for Strategic & International Studies CSIS (2020) C1

Noember 2020

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Socio-economic Impacts of the Ebola Virus Disease on Africa. Revised Edition

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (2015)

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How COVID-19 is changing the world. Vol.II

UN Children's Fund UNICEF (2020) C_UNICEF

The pandemic presents tough choices for governments, local communities, health and school systems, as well as families and businesses: How to re-open safely? How to safeguard people’s lives and protect their livelihoods? Where to allocate scarce resources? How to protect those unable to protect th... more

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Broader health impacts of vertical responses to COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries

Tabitha Hrynick, T.; S. Ripoll and S. Carter Social Science in Humanitarian Action (2021) C1

This paper reviews the effects of vertical responses to COVID-19 on health systems, services, and people’s access to and use of them in LMICs, where historic and ongoing under-investments heighten vulnerability to a multiplicity of health threats. We use the term ‘vertical response’ to describ... more

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The link between the West African Ebola outbreak and health systems in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone: a systematic review

Haitham Shoman, Emilie Karafillakis and Salman Rawaf (2017) CC

Shoman et al. Globalization and Health (2017) 13:1 DOI 10.1186/s12992-016-0224-2

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Humanitarian crises monitoring: Coronavirus in developing countries: Secondary impacts

International Development Committee, Government of the United Kingdom (2021) CC

Developing countries face disastrous healthcare setbacks, hunger and huge international debt as covid-19’s ‘final wave’

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COVID-19 Impacts on African Children - How to Protect-a-generation at Risk

Save the Children (2020) C1

This policy paper underscores that, although children do not represent a high-risk group for direct COVID-19 fatality, the pandemic posts far-reaching secondary impacts that heighten risks to African children’s rights and wellbeing.

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The impacts of HIV AIDS on families and communities in Albania

Dr. X. Zeka; E. Gjergji; M. Hodaj; A. Xhuvani European Scientific Journal (2019) C2

European Scientific Journal, November edition vol. 8, No.26 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 Accessed: 29.09.2019

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Recovering from the Ebola Crisis: A summary report

UN Development Programme (2015)

In response to a call by the United Nations Secretary-General and the Governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, an international team conducted an Ebola Recovery Assessment.The aim was to contribute towards laying the foundation for short-, medium- and long-term recovery while the medical eme... more

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How to finance sustainable development: Recovery from the effects of COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean

UN United Nations (2022) C1

Global asymmetries influence policies for recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nearly 30 years after the Earth Summit and the global adoption of an international development agenda, in practical terms the environmental pillar of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has not been taken ... more

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Direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and response in South Asia

UN Children's Fund UNICEF (2021) C_UNICEF

It estimates that there have been 228,000 additional deaths of children under five in these six countries [Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka] due to crucial services, ranging from nutrition benefits to immunisation, being halted. It says the number of children being tr... more

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Preparing for the Regional Impacts of Climate Change in the United States

Center for Disease Control (CDC), Climate and Health Program (2020) C1

A summary of health effects, resources, and adaptation examples from health departments funded by CDC’s Climate and Health Program