The world is facing an unprecedented range of emergencies. In reaction to these complex adversities, many people experience considerable distress and impairment, and a minority may even go on to develop mental health conditions. Meanwhile, those with pre-existing mental health conditions may experie...nce a worsening of their condition and are at risk of neglect, abandonment, abuse and lack of access to support. Unfortunately, evidence-based mental health care is often extremely limited in humanitarian settings. In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) published the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP-HIG) in 2015. This practical tool supports health-care providers in assessing and offering first-line management of mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) conditions in humanitarian emergency settings.
2 December 2021. The current report, Stories of change from four countries: Building capacity for integrating mental health care within health services across humanitarian settings, describes efforts in four countries to build evidence-based mental health systems in humanitarian emergency settings using the mhGAP-HIG. This report includes three sections, the first describing the importance of scaling up mental health care in emergency contexts, the second outlining case studies (“stories of change”) to scale up the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) programme in four settings and the third describing lessons learned by stakeholders.
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Health care-associated infections (HAIs) affect patients and health systems every day, causing immense suffering, driving higher health-care costs and hampering efforts to achieve high-quality care for all. HAIs are often difficult to treat, are the major driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and... cause premature deaths and disability. The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as outbreaks of Ebola, Marburg and mpox are the most dramatic demonstrations of how pathogens can spread rapidly and be amplified in health care settings. But HAIs are a daily threat in every hospital and clinic, not only during epidemics and pandemics. Lack of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in health care settings not only affects the application of infection prevention and control (IPC) best practices but also equity and dignity among both those providing and receiving care.
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To provide a foundation for the strategic policy and programme development needed to ensure the sustainable implementation of effective interventions for reducing the global burden of PPH
The key to a lasting world free of all forms of poliovirus lies in rapidly interrupting all remaining endemic transmission of WPV in the endemic areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is the only way to ensure that such strains do not re-emerge globally through international spread. It lays the cor...nerstone for the eventual cessation of all oral polio vaccine use, in order to eliminate the long-term risks associated with variant poliovirus strains, which is the GPEI’s top operational priority. The target for certifying the
world free of all WPV remains end-2026.
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This manual is designed to orient helpers to offer psychologicalfirst aid (PFA) to people following a serious crisis event. PFA involves humane, supportive and practical assistance for people who are distressed, in ways that respect their dignity, culture and abilities. PFA is an approach that can b...e learned by both professionals and non-professionals who are in a position to help people impacted by very distressing events
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STGs are designed to assist health care professionals in making decisions about appropriate, effective patient care. However, health managers often have trouble setting and meeting the high standards required of modern, developed health care systems. With stakeholders expressing concern over issues ...such as strength of evidence, transparency, conflicts of interest, and effective implementation, it is clear that many health care professionals need further guidance in developing and making use of STGs.
This manual guides health professionals through the process of establishing and implementing STGs, placing special emphasis on the low- and middle-income country (LMIC) context. By including tools, templates, and success stories as well as hyperlinks to useful resources, the manual helps health practitioners understand not only important concepts of treatment guidelines, but also how they can best be used in practice.
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New funding requirements: CHF 2.8 billion IFRC-wide of which CHF 670 million is channelled through the IFRC Emergency Appeal in support of National Societies
Nations will more quickly transition to clean energy if they redirect government funds away from subsidising unhealthy commodities– in particular fossil fuels. Such action would reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, thereby mitigating climate change and saving lives. Countries must re...examine current economic incentives to industries that harm health as an essential step towards creating coherent policies that sustain growth, support clean energy expansion and prevent noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
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Growing evidence indicates that large proportions of children around the world experience physical, sexual and emotional violence every year, with enormous implications for human rights, public health and economic and social development.1 Over the last five years, national governments and Together f...or Girls – a global public-private partnership comprising UNICEF,
other United Nations (UN) agencies, the United States (US) Government and various private sector agencies – have worked to mobilize and sustain a global movement to end violence against children, with a focus on sexual violence against girls.
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It is against this background that the Ministry of Health and Sanitation with its partners have
taken the lead to develop Essential Health Services Package (EHSP). The MOHS believes that the
development of EHSP; defining the services that should be available at each level of care
(community to ...tertiary level), for each age cohort, and across each public health functions, not
only allows for more effective and equitable health service delivery, but also for the
establishment of a functional referral system and allocation of appropriate investments for high
impact interventions. The package is expected to set precedence in defining ‘essential’ set of
services for the population in Sierra Leone, structurally promoting integration of health services,
and providing succinct guidance to partners and stakeholders on the country priorities.
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2020 is a critical year for our Joint Programme as we collectively define the path to getting back on track to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Our revised timelines for adoption of the next strategy are highly ambitious. We need the full support of all the tremendously dedicated people in UNAIDS-w...ithin our staff, our board and all our stakeholders to make this happen.
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A WHO-UNICEF joint statement encouraging greater health commodity supply chain integration for temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals where appropriate, 19 November 2020
This guideline provides global, evidence-informed recommendations on the use of indicators for assessing a population’s
iron status and application of the use of ferritin concentrations for monitoring and evaluating iron interventions.
This guide also draws on the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to apply for measles outbreak response
support from the Measles & Rubella Initiative Outbreak Response Fund (17) and includes a section on
measles outbreak recovery so that contributing factors and potential root causes are identifi...ed and
addressed systematically after a measles outbreak. This guide does not aim to be a comprehensive guide
on measles elimination or routine immunization (RI) more broadly.
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Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a growing public health problem in Ghana and other African countries. Strokes and other CVDs have become a leading cause of death due to increasing risk factors such as hypertension. According to the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD), ischaemic heart disease was... the fourth leading cause of death in Ghana in 2016. The prevalence of hyper-
tension, a major risk factor for CVDs, is increasing rapidly and ranges from 19% to 48%, according to the Ghana Health Service Annual Report, 2017, due to rising life expectancy and the increasing prevalence of contributing factors such as overweight/obesity. Early diagnosis and adequate management of the risk factors can reduce the fatal consequences of CVDs.
At the heart of improving risk assessment and management of CVDs are nationally approved guidelines, which facilitate standardisation of care approaches.
These guidelines developed by experts from all levels of health care and stakeholders capture all recommended approaches and necessary information for clinicians and other healthcare workers on CVDs. They also serve as a practical guide for assessing and managing the most important CVDs prevalent in Ghana and can be used at all levels of care namely health facilities without a doctor; with a general practitioner and with a physician specialist.
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This report on global leishmaniasis surveillance follows those published in 2016–2023.2–6 Six indicators of leishmaniasis are publicly available from the Global Health Observatory (GHO).7 In addition to the GHO, country profiles with up to 30 indicators are published, with detailed data received... from 45 Member States.
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9 April 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is presenting States in Europe with an extraordinary and unprecedented public health emergency. In response, States are taking necessary and legitimate measures to prevent the spread of the virus and to protect their populations. Some of these measures have been... taken within the framework of a declared state of emergency, based on specific national provisions governing emergency situations.
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