A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck at 04:17 local time on 6 February 2023, with its epicentre located in Pazarcık district
in Kahramanmaraş province, Türkiye. Over 1200 aftershocks have since been reported. These are Türkiye’ s most powerful
earthquakes since 1939
In response to the devastating earthquakes impacting Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic, the World Health Organization delivered 72 metric tons of trauma and emergency surgery supplies, including treatments, to both countries to support ongoing response efforts.
A first charter flight depar...ted to Türkiye on 9 February carrying 37 metric tons of life-saving supplies, and a second flight is scheduled to deliver 35 metric tons of supplies to the Syrian Arab Republic today.
In total, these life-saving supplies from both flights will be used to treat and care for 100 000 people as well as for 120 000 urgent surgical interventions in both countries.
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UNICEF, WHO Whole of Syria Nutrition, Cluster, the Global Nutrition Cluster, the IFE Core Group, and partners call for ALL involved in the response to the earthquakes in Syria to protect, promote, and support the feeding and care of infants and young children, their caregivers, especially pregnant, ...postpartum, and breastfeeding women. This is critical to support maternal and child survival, growth and development, and to prevent malnutrition, illness and death. This joint statement has been issued to help secure immediate, coordinated, multi-sectoral action on infant and young child feeding (IYCF) to support and provide care for infants and their caregivers during the emergency response of the Earthquake in Syria.
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At 4:17 in the morning on 6 February, a magnitude 7.8
earthquake struck northwestern Turkey. According to
latest reports, this enormous tremor has already caused
over 16,000 deaths in both Turkey, and Syria while over
20,000 are reportedly injured. At least 20 strong
aftershocks have also been ...reported in southern and
central Turkey and will likely continue for the next several
days. The damage has been incredible, with dozens of
cities and town experiencing severe damage to
infrastructure.
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Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, the global economy was suffering from the repercussions of several man-made conflicts, climate shocks, COVID-19 and rising costs — with devastating consequences for poor people in low-income and developing countries. The war in Ukraine — a major “breadbasket...” for the world — is deepening these challenges on an unprecedented scale. In the immediate, swift and bold action is required by both wealthy and low-income nations to avert further humanitarian and economic catastrophe.
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Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, a country known as the 'breadbasket of Europe', is raising fears of a
global food crisis, further exacerbating existing food security challenges worldwide. Much depends on the
response of the international community, including the EU, to a number of rapidly... evolving scenarios.
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About a year after infection, a painful blister forms – 90% of the time on the lower leg – and one or more worms emerge accompanied by a burning sensation. To soothe the burning pain, patients often immerse the infected part of the body in water. The worm(s) then releases thousands of larvae (ba...by worms) into the water. These larvae reach the infective stage after being ingested by tiny crustaceans or copepods, also called water fleas.
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Global efforts to eradicate dracunculiasis have continued to progress, with only 542 cases reported in 2012, as compared with 1058 in 2011. It is a long thread-like worm. It is transmitted exclusively when people drink water contaminated with parasite-infected water fl eas. It is now found in some o...f the most deprived regions of Africa.
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Course information
Yaws is targeted for eradication by WHO in the 2021-2030 NTD Roadmap. It is therefore crucial to know how to identify cases, design and implement activities to eradicate the disease at the community level.
In the context of integration of skin NTDs it is vital to learn to recogn...ize a disease targeted for eradication. At the individual level yaws lesions may mimic other skin diseases. At the community level, it is key to know how to design and implement the total community treatment strategy and monitor its impact. This course aims at providing health workers with the basic knowledge to understand the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, impact, eradication strategy and reporting of yaws.
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The Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP) undertook regional and large scale frght against onchocerciasis in West Africa in 1974 using a vector control strategy. By 2002 OCP had succeeded in eliminating the disease as a public health, socio-economic and development problem in 10 out ...of I I countries. This campaign was highly technical and expensive. ln 1987, Merck & Co.,lnc. committed themselves to provide ivermectin free of charge for as long as needed to onchocerciasis endemic countries. This made it possible to envrsage the extension of onchocerciasis control activities to the remaining endemic countries in Africa.
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Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by the Leishmania parasite. This parasite typically lives in infected sand flies. You can contract leishmaniasis from a bite of an infected sand fly.
The sand flies that carry the parasite typically reside in tropical and subtropical environments. Fatal... epidemics have occurred in areas of Asia, East Africa, and South America.
Affected regions are often remote and unstable, with limited resources for treating this disease. Doctors Without Borders calls leishmaniasis one of the most dangerous neglected tropical diseases. The organization also states this disease is second only to malaria in parasitic causes of death.
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Onchocerciasis used to be an important public health problem in Africa, with over 37 million people infected and millions suffering from debilitating skin disease, terrible itching, impaired vision and
blindness. But the epidemiological situation has improved dramatically over the last two decades.... Community directed treatment with ivermectin has effectively brought the disease under control in most endemic areas where onchocerciasis is no longer a public health risk.
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Map abput presence of WFP during the earthquake in Syria
Every day in 2020, approximately 800 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth - meaning that a woman dies around every two minutes.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.1 is to reduce maternal mortality to less than 70 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births by ...2030.
The United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) – comprising WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Bank Group and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (UNDESA/Population Division) has collaborated with external technical experts on a new round of estimates covering 2000 to 2020. The estimates represent the most up to date, internationally-comparable MMEIG estimates of maternal mortality, using refined input data and methods from previous rounds.
The report presents internationally comparable global, regional and country-level estimates and trends for maternal mortality between 2000 and 2020.
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Countries are making progress toward the global goal of 95% of people living with HIV knowing their status by 2025. However, considerable gaps remain in achieving these goals globally. Men in high HIV burden settings and men from key populations in all settings are consistently less likely to know t...heir HIV status than women. Globally, 78% of men ages 15 years and older who are living with HIV are aware of their HIV status, compared with 86% of women with HIV of these ages.
Offering HIV testing services, including HIV self-testing, at formal and informal workplaces has emerged as an effective, acceptable and feasible approach for reaching men. A 2018 World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) policy brief provides key guiding principles for HIVST implementation at workplaces. Building on the 2018 policy brief, this brief captures early experience with HIVST implementation at workplaces and discusses emerging approaches of sustainable financing that can be adapted for HIV self-testing at workplaces.
The primary audiences for this policy brief are ministries of health and labour, national HIV programmes, employers’ organizations, workers’ organizations (labour unions), enterprises, implementing partners, including civil society organizations, and health insurance agencies.
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Map of Distribution of Paragonimiasis, worldwide latest year available.
Foodborne trematodes are a group of diseases that include the parasites Clonorchis, Opisthorchis, Fasciola and Paragonimus. These parasitic flukes have a complex life cycle involving diverse definitive hosts and one or two inte...rmediate hosts. Foodborne trematodes cause infection in humans via the consumption of contaminated food (raw fish, crustaceans or vegetables). Infection can result in severe liver and lung disease and together these diseases are estimated to cause 2 million life years lost to disability and death worldwide every year.
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Map of Distribution of opisthorchiasis, worldwide, latest year available.
Foodborne trematodes are a group of diseases that include the parasites Clonorchis, Opisthorchis, Fasciola and Paragonimus. These parasitic flukes have a complex life cycle involving diverse definitive hosts and one or two i...ntermediate hosts. Foodborne trematodes cause infection in humans via the consumption of contaminated food (raw fish, crustaceans or vegetables). Infection can result in severe liver and lung disease and together these diseases are estimated to cause 2 million life years lost to disability and death worldwide every year.
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Map of Distribution of fascioliasis, worldwide, latest year available.
Foodborne trematodes are a group of diseases that include the parasites Clonorchis, Opisthorchis, Fasciola and Paragonimus. These parasitic flukes have a complex life cycle involving diverse definitive hosts and one or two inter...mediate hosts. Foodborne trematodes cause infection in humans via the consumption of contaminated food (raw fish, crustaceans or vegetables). Infection can result in severe liver and lung disease and together these diseases are estimated to cause 2 million life years lost to disability and death worldwide every year.
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Map of Distribution of clonorchiasis, worldwide.
Foodborne trematodes are a group of diseases that include the parasites Clonorchis, Opisthorchis, Fasciola and Paragonimus. These parasitic flukes have a complex life cycle involving diverse definitive hosts and one or two intermediate hosts. Foodbo...rne trematodes cause infection in humans via the consumption of contaminated food (raw fish, crustaceans or vegetables). Infection can result in severe liver and lung disease and together these diseases are estimated to cause 2 million life years lost to disability and death worldwide every year.
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Sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH) violate the rights and wellbeing of the people we serve and the people with whom we serve. Such behaviours are directly in opposition to WHO’s values and our abiding responsibility to do no harm. WHO uses the umbrella term “sexual mi...sconduct” to encompass the full spectrum of prohibited and unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature (including rape and sexual assault) as described in WHO’s 2023 Policy for preventing and addressing sexual misconduct (1). This is because all such acts are prohibited – whether perpetrated by WHO’s own personnel or by implementing partners – and therefore constitute misconduct. The term sexual misconduct is also easier to communicate and translate, as
victims and survivors do not always understand the complicated acronyms and definitions used by the United Nations (UN) and the humanitarian sector. However, we use the terms sexual misconduct and SEAH interchangeably as required when we interact with UN and other stakeholders.
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