Mobile vaccination teams visiting long-term care homes will have an important role in providing vaccination coverage for some of the most vulnerable population sub-groups. However, based on the experiences of German mobile diagnostic teams during the first COVID-19 pandemic w...ave, the deployment of mobile vaccination teams to care homes for older adults and people with disabilities is expected to raise various ethical challenges.
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In the last decade, Timor-Leste has made remarkable progress in strengthening its health system and improving the health status of its population. This has resulted in an increased life expectancy, and the achievement of Millennium Development Goals such as a reduction in infant and under-five morta...lity, an improvement in maternal and child health outcomes, and an increase in immunization coverage. Further, the country has successfully eliminated infectious diseases such as polio, measles, and maternal and neonatal tetanus. There is full political commitment to reducing the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) by 80% and the number of deaths due to TB by 90% by 2030. The country has made great progress in the context of the pandemic, having established numerous quarantine facilities/isolation centres; trained health-care workers; streamlined the procurement and supply of medicines, consumables, personal protective equipment and other equipment; and strengthened the capacity in critical care across secondary and tertiary health care, to better respond to future pandemics and other disaster situations.
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The article "Time to Align: Development Cooperation for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases" argues for greater international cooperation and investment in addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs), especially in low- and middle-income countries. Traditionally, global health fu...nding has focused on infectious diseases, but the growing burden of NCDs—such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes—necessitates new approaches to development assistance.
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A global Pandemic, Preparedness and Response (RRR) architecture
After the earthquake in Türkiye-Syria in February 2023 an emergency response was provided to the affected population. Young persons with disabilities were one of the social groups most affected by the crisis. These were either young persons who acquired a disability due to the earthquake, or young ...persons with disabilities who were further isolated after the crisis due to compounded and structural barriers.
In response to this situation the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action reached out to the Youth2030 Disability Task Team with the aim of supporting humanitarian teams in the field. The current version of this checklist has been developed for a broader context not only for the Türkiye-Syria case, but also for other humanitarian crises. This checklist aims to provide guidance on how to ensure meaningful participation of young persons with disabilities in local humanitarian response. The expected users are humanitarian actors, especially those working in the field.
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Globally, over two million women live with obstetric fistula with the majority of the cases
being from Africa. In low-resource settings such as Zambia, obstetric fistula (OF) is a visible indicator of
gaps in maternal health care resulting in failure to provide adequate, accessible and quality m...aternal health
care, including family planning, skilled birth attendance, basic and emergency obstetric and neonatal care,
and affordable treatment of fistula. OF is preventable and treatable, and no woman in Zambia should continue to endure the condition. It is therefore necessary that Zambia intensifies national scale up of OF management centers including
community based interventions, train more surgeons and other health workers to provide quality and
affordable care closer to the women who are silently suffering from obstetric fistula.
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The National Strategic Plan is based on the following guiding principles:
1) Life-course approach: adolescence is a key decade in the course of life that influences the health outcomes later in life.
2) Comprehensive approach: It recognizes the cross cutting health and development needs o...f young people such as intentional and unintentional injuries and violence, SRH, HIV/AIDS, mental health, substance use, violence, substance use and substance use disorders, infectious diseases and common conditions.
3) Equity and rights-based approach: focusing on equitable access to services to all adolescents including vulnerable groups and the recognizing the need to move from aspirations to obligations in fulflling young people rights for the highest attainable standard of health.
4) Multisectoral approach: recognizing cognizant of the fact that holistic development of young people requires multisectoral approach involving education, social welfare.
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Specifically the Strategy focuses on five strategic objectives:
commitment to action on Healthy Ageing in every country;
developing age-friendly environments;
aligning health systems to the needs of older populations;
developing sustainable and equitable systems for providing lon...g-term care (home, communities, institutions); and
improving measurement, monitoring and research on Healthy Ageing.
Available in Englisch, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish
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Special summit of African Union on HIV and Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (atm) Abuja, Nigeria 2–4 may, 2006Sp/Assembly/ATM/2 (I), Rev.3
Abuja call for accelerated action towards universal access to HIV and Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria services in Africa
The South African WHO Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) 2023–2027 focuses on four key strategic priorities based on the country’s health needs and disease epidemiology, while also considering the need for building resilient health systems for UHC and health security in the post pandemic period....
These include:
1. augment health systems strengthening reforms to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.
2. address the quadruple burden of diseases and promote well-being across the life course in view of achieving global targets.
3. build health systems resilience and strengthen health emergency preparedness and response capacities.
4. enhance multisectoral collaboration and global partnerships for concerted action on health and its determinants.
In order to harness its expertise across its three levels, namely: the WHO Country Office (WCO), WHO Regional Office for Africa, and WHO headquarters, WHO will work closely and collaboratively with the Government of South Africa to implement the 2023–2027 strategic priorities.
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The objective of the EMTCT Plus initiative is to achieve and sustain the elimination
of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, Chagas, and perinatal hepatitis
B (HBV) as a public health threat. It embraces the principles and lines of action
of the Strategy for Universal Access to Health a...nd Universal Health Coverage
[2], building upon the lessons learned from the PAHO 2010 Strategy and Plan of
Action for the EMTCT of HIV and Congenital Syphilis.
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Guidelines for WHO Representatives and Country
Offices in the Western Pacific Region