Briefing Note 8.
Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is a strategy for adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change by harnessing nature and the services it can provide. This strategy is crucial for cities and peri-urban areas, threatened by a multitude of climate hazards and home to more than ha...lf the human population as of 2018. Despite some outmigration from the largest cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, urbanization will continue, and by 2035, 62.5 percent of the world’s population is expected to reside in urban areas. However, given the need to retrofit, replace and upgrade deteriorating urban infrastructure, and to meet the challenges of climate change, including the urban heat island effect, droughts and more intense flooding, many experts and policymakers see in these demands an opportunity to reinvent cities as greener, less prone to pandemics, and more liveable.
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A manual for health care providers.
This manual provides expert guidance on the laboratory techniques and procedures used in the diagnosis of Buruli ulcer, a disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Aimed at laboratory technicians and scientists working on this disease, the manual details the exac...t procedures to follow when performing a range of diagnostic tests. Recommended procedures, intended for use throughout the health system, are presented at levels appropriate for peripheral, district and central services and in accordance with the varying resources, skills and equipment typically found in countries where Buruli ulcer is endemic.
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The United Nations (UN) adopted a new international legal instrument in November 2000, the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. This contained a new definition of traf...ficking in persons and more particularly defined what was to be understood by child trafficking. The issue of human trafficking in general, and trafficking in children in particular, was highly relevant during the subsequent decade and anti-trafficking projects and initiatives attracted a great deal of funding. However, by the end of the decade, when funding declined, it was still not clear how much had been achieved.
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Those who clean are the first line of defense against health care-associated infections (HAIs), and support efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Strengthening the training of this important group can contribute to resolving many of today’s public health challenges. This is importan...t given that cleaning both surfaces and hands is vital to control the transmission of a number of HAIs.
This two-part training package targets those who clean heath care facilities.
The Trainer’s Guide takes the user through how to prepare, deliver and sustain an effective training for those who clean. The Modules and Resources provides instructions, definitions, photographs, posters and specific illustrations of recommended practices
The package can be used by those who deliver environmental cleaning training programmes and/or those with a background in IPC including ministries of health, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, experts working in Quality of care, IPC and environmental cleaning/ Water, sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Health facility IPC focal points and onsite cleaning supervisors
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The ICF Practical Manual provides information on how to use ICF. Anyone interested in learning more about use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF, WHO 2001) may benefit from reading this Practical Manual. The ICF is presently used in many different contexts... and for many different purposes around the world. It can be used as a tool for statistical, research, clinical, social policy, or educational purposes and applied, not only in the health sector, but also in sectors such as insurance, social security, labour, education, economics, policy or legislation development, and the environment. People interested in functioning and disability and seeking ways to apply the ICF should find the contents of this Practical Manual helpful. The Practical Manual provides a range of information on how to apply ICF in various situations. It is built on the acquired expertise, knowledge and judgement of users in their respective areas of work, and is designed to be used alongside the ICF itself, which remains the primary reference.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world and consequently increased MHPSS needs across various contexts. While National Societies respond to the rising mental health and psychosocial support needs, they are also adapting to and implementing remote support, such as telephone hotlines or other onl...ine services. Accordingly, many trainings in psychological first aid (PFA) of staff and volunteers have moved to online platforms.
Throughout the pandemic, the PS Centre developed online approaches, guidances, adaptable tools, videos, podcasts, and other materials on MHPSS. This was to ensure easy access to tools and resources that assist National Societies in their training efforts in MHPSS during COVID-19.
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Lancet Infectious Diseases Volume 22, Issue 11e327-e335.
In February, 2022, WHO published new guidelines with six recommendations to update the global public health strategy against schistosomiasis, including expansion of preventive chemotherapy eligibility from the predominant group of school-age...d children to all age groups (2 years and older), lowering the prevalence threshold for annual preventive chemotherapy, and increasing the frequency of treatment. This Review, written by the 2018-2022 Schistosomiasis Guidelines Development Group and its international partners, presents a summary of the new WHO guideline recommendations for schistosomiasis along with their historical context, supporting evidence, implications for public health implementation, and future research needs.
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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...e decisions, measures and actions taken solely with the purpose of preventing and containing COVID-19, often without adequate consideration of how this affects the wider health system and pre-existing resource constraints.
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This action plan is intended for senior-level decision-makers in ministries of health, malaria
programme managers, entomologists, and epidemiologists working on malaria and other vectorborne diseases programmes. It is also intended for decision-makers and technical and advocacy
staff at other orga...nizations and stakeholders involved in public health, malaria control and
elimination, and urban and rural development.
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BackgroundClimate change is one of the great challenges of our time. The consequences of climate change on exposed biological subjects, as well as on vulnerable societies, are a concern for the entire scientific community. Rising temperatures, heat waves, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, fir...es, loss of forest, and glaciers, along with disappearance of rivers and desertification, can directly and indirectly cause human pathologies that are physical and mental.
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This study addresses part of the Terms of Reference for a scoping report ‘An analysis of approaches to laboratory capacity strengthening for drug resistant infections in low and middle income countries’. It has been produced as a separate report because it is also very relevant for a second stud...y ‘Supporting Surveillance Capacity for Antimicrobial Resistance: Regional Networks and Educational Resources’. This study compares antimicrobial surveillance systems in three low and middle income countries in order to describe the components of these systems and to understand which surveillance models are best suited to particular contexts. Ghana, Nigeria and Nepal were selected as study countries because they cover different continents and include one ‘fragile’ context (Nigeria). Brief information from Malawi is also included.
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The World Food Programme (WFP) has taken important steps to progress disability inclusion across its programming and operations. In late 2022, WFP commissioned the Nossal Institute, University of Melbourne in partnership with the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia to identify ...pathways for increasing disability inclusion in WFP’s emergency preparedness and response (EPR) programming.
The study explored WFP’s programming in Indonesia and the Philippines, including WFP’s advisory, technical assistance and service provision roles to government and partners and informed the development of this guide (see appendix 2). As general guidance on disability inclusion is increasingly available, the purpose of this guide is to contextualize disability inclusion in WFP’s emergency preparedness and response programming. The guide builds on core reference materials, such as the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, 2019. While of wider relevance, this guide is directed at WFP’s EPR programming in Asia and the Pacific.
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As Uganda builds back from the COVID-19 shock, the Ugandan government is strengthening its commitment to a more gender-inclusive and sustainable economy. This report supports these efforts by describing the gendered impacts of COVID-19 and provides recommendations for Ugandan policy makers and World... Bank Group operations to ensure women’s participation in an inclusive and sustainable recovery. It presents gender-disaggregated data from three main sources: high-frequency phone surveys that track the impacts of the COVID-19 shock: one of Ugandan nationals conducted in June and one of refugees conducted in November 2020; interviews with 28 representatives of government institutions, development partners, and women’s organizations in Kampala and in rural areas; and a review of relevant policy and gray literature on climate change, the green economy, and women’s economic empowerment.
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What at first glance appears to be simple causality – climate change leading to more and more migration – has triggered intense academic debate over the past ten years because the circumstances are complex. There is need for a thorough analysis in the ground between denying the problem and asser...ting immediate causality. In international relations, migration induced by climate change and environmental degradation is increasingly recognized as a problem, whether in the framework of international climate policy, international migration policy, development cooperation, or international crisis management. But considering the dimension of these major challenges, only small steps have been taken so far. The scope of the problem continues to be underestimated. Climate change is jeopardizing the livelihoods of more and more people. It is a risk multiplier. Although understanding of the connection between climate change and migration has increased, many questions have yet to be answered. We need more knowledge to better support the people affected.
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Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) published a clinical case definition of post COVID-19
condition, by a Delphi consensus, on 6 October 2021. That process concluded that a separate definition
may be applicable for children. It is important to understand the frequency, characteristics ...and risk factors
that lead to post COVID-19 condition, along with its impact on everyday functioning and development of
children and adolescents. Long-term outcomes of the condition are currently unknown and need to be
studied. For these reasons, a globally standardized clinical case definition is needed.
Aim: To develop a globally relevant standardized clinical case definition for children and adolescents by
building on the WHO clinical case definition for post COVID-19 condition in adults.
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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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The article outlines the prioritized research agenda for the prevention and control of chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) as part of the World Health Organization's (WHO) action plan on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) from 2008 to 2013. It highlights the significant global impact of CRDs, including... asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other related conditions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The document stresses the need for effective prevention strategies and better surveillance, as well as enhanced healthcare infrastructure and resources in LMICs. It calls for research into CRD risk factors, effective interventions, and integrated care approaches that align with broader NCD prevention programs. The article emphasizes the importance of public health initiatives and cross-sector collaborations to reduce the disease burden and improve patient outcomes.
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The frequency of infectious disease epidemics is increasing, and the role of the health sector in the management of epidemics is crucial in terms of response. In the context of infectious disease epidemics, the use of climate-informed early warning systems (EWS) has the potential to increase the eff...ectiveness of disease control by intervening before or at the beginning of the epidemic curve, instead of during the downward slope.
Currently, the initiation of interventions is heavily reliant on routine disease surveillance systems – data that often arrive too late for preventative response. However, forecasting of disease outbreaks using surveillance and weather information shows promising potential – there also remains further scope to examine seasonal climate forecasts. By combining these elements in new EWS based on computational models, it will be possible to improve both the timeliness and impact of disease control. The World Health Organization (WHO) is strengthening existing surveillance systems for infectious diseases to enable the development of more robust and timely EWS, which has resulted in the rapid development and innovation of EWS for disease outbreaks.
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Zambia has completed the implementation of the National TB Strategic Plan (2017-2021) that set in motion the TB elimination agenda in Zambia through coordinated and accelerated TB response. During this period, the National TB and Leprosy Programme (NTLP) registered tremendous success.
The NTLP is ...poised to attain the ambitious goal pronounced by the government of eliminating TB by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the World Health Organization End TB Strategy. The programme exponentially increased TB notifications from as low as 35,922 people with TB in 2018 to 40,726 in 2020 and in 2021 the TB notifications rose to 50,825 (a 25% increase against 2020 performance). The NTLP also registered incredible success in sustaining high TB Preventive Treatment (TPT) initiations among persons living with HIV and a high TB treatment success rate among drug-susceptible TB cases. New and relapse TB notifications in children below 15 years increased by 43%, from 2,724 in 2020 to 3,890 in 2021. TB notifications ratio between children aged 0-4 and 5-14 was 0.9, an improvement from what we achieved in 2018 (the ratio was 0.7). The proportion of TB patients who are HIV positive continued to decrease, reaching 34% in 2021 from 39% in 2020. Sustained increases in TB notifications, treatment success rate, and TPT initiations have resulted in a rapid decrease in the TB incidence rate that reached 307 per 100,000 population in 2021 against a rate of 391 in 2015.
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This guide provides strategic direction for host countries, event organizers, health authorities, and key stakeholders to effectively plan and conduct Simulation Exercises (SimEx) and After Action Reviews (AARs) for mass gathering events. Packed with practical tools, it empowers users to seamlessly ...integrate these activities into ongoing learning and emergency risk management processes. Aligned with the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005), the guide serves as a critical resource for strengthening global and national health resilience, ensuring safer and more prepared mass gatherings.
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