The power relations around global decisions which shape population health can be changed through new alliances and information flows. The Democratising Global Health Governance Initiative, of which WHO Watch is a project, is designed to contribute to improved population health (and health equity) th...rough new alliances and information flows.
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Procurement and supply management activities are fundamental to consistent and reliable access to essential medicines and health products. To reduce the impact of CVD, action needs to be taken to improve prevention, diagnosis, care and management of CVD diseases. Affordable essential medicines and t...echnologies to manage CVD disease must be available where and when they are required. Medicines and technologies need to be managed appropriately to ensure that the correct medicines are selected, procured in the right quantities, distributed to facilities in a timely manner, and handled and stored in a way that maintains their quality. This needs to be backed up by policies that enable sufficient quantities to be procured in order to reduce cost inefficiencies, ensure the reliability and security of the distribution system, and encourage the appropriate use of these health products. In order to avoid stock-outs and the disruption of treatment, all related activities need to be conducted in a timely manner, with performance continually monitored, and prompt action taken in response to problems that may arise. Additionally, medication must be dispensed correctly and used rationally by the healthcare provider and patient alike. The purpose of this guide is to explain the necessary steps.
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The guideline uses state-of-the-art evidence to identify effective policy options to strengthen community health worker (CHW) programme performance through their proper integration in health systems and communities.
Successful delivery of services through CHWs requires evidence-based models for edu...cation, deployment and management of these health workers. The guideline is intended as a tool for national policy makers and planners and their international partners to use in the design, implementation, performance and evaluation of effective community health worker programmes. It contains pragmatic recommendations on selection, training and certification; management and supervision: and integration into health systems and community engagement.
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This analytical report reviews and discusses the potential role and influence of political commitment in implementing endorsements and conducting policy in the field of tuberculosis (TB) prevention and care. It promotes discussion by comparing and analysing the extent to which selected international... commitments, set out in declarations and other committal documents between 2000 and 2018, may have translated into sustainable action. This reflection is relevant and timely, as the United Nations high-level meeting (UNHLM) on TB recently took place, offering countries the opportunity to take stock of progress made, refocus efforts, and step up global commitments to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of eliminating TB by 2030
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This paper was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2015, and produced by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, in cooperation with German civil society actors and freelance psychologists working in the field... of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) with refugees and internally displaced people (IDP) in both the Middle Eastern region and Germany. The commission arose from BMZ’s wish for guidance on the characteristics of good working practices in MHPSS and the desire expressed by GIZ’s civil society partners in the regional programme Psychosocial Support for Syrian and Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced People for more intensive dialogue to promote MHPSS in the context of the Syria and Iraq crises.
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arrow country studies
Political developments in Myanmar/Burma prompted the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) in 2013 to undertake a small-scale scoping study to re-evaluate and refine its advocacy strategies for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and to s...trengthen partnerships for advocacy with civil society organisations (CSO) working on SRHR in the country. The study aimed to identify the status of and the potential for SRHR advocacy by CSOs in Central Myanmar/Burma and in Eastern states along the Thai-Myanmar/Burma border, and increase the current knowledge base on SRHR issues, gaps, and challenges.
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Disability-inclusive development policy and practice is constantly changing and evolving. It is a foundational part of our work in CBM, underpinning all that we do. It requires us to be constantly reflecting, learning and improving our practice. In particular looking to the deeper questions: of the ...relationships and
representation of people with disabilities within our work; and how we partner with Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPOs) to achieve transformative, systemic change in the countries where we work.
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The toolkit presents step-by-step guidance that district health teams (DHTs), district leaders, MOH/UNEPI, immunisation partners, and civil society organisations (CSOs) can use to engage NHS and maximise the benefits of their participation in strengthening RI through activities such as community dia...logue meetings. Tables and annexes outline this process
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In March 2020 the IASC Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support uniting 57 humanitarian organizations as member issued the Interim Briefing Note Addressing Mental Health and Psychosocial Aspects of COVID-19 Outbreak. This document has proven to be very useful in the response and has... till now been translated in 24 languages. It covers a set of recommended activities as well as messages for different target groups.
The current document is an annex to the Interim Briefing Note and is meant to support the MHPSS operational response within the various sectors of humanitarian work. Approaches and interventions to MHPSS are not confined to one sector, but need to be integrated within many existing sectors and clusters.This document contains a wealth of operational information and practical approaches that can be used for humanitarian programming in health, SGBV, community-based protection, nutrition, camp management and camp coordination.
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WHO published the first COVID-19 Strategic Response and Preparedness Plan (SPRP) on 3 February, 2020. This report highlights the main points of progress that were made up to 30 June 2020 under the three objectives outlined in the SPRP: scaling up international coordination and support; scaling up co...untry preparedness and response by pillar; and accelerating research and innovation. The report also discusses some of the key challenges faced so far, and provides an update on the resource requirements for the next phase of WHO’s response as part of an unprecedented whole-of-UN approach to the pandemic.
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These guidelines group all recommendations on TB care and support in one document and are complemented by an operational handbook. The guidelines are to be used primarily by national TB programmes, or their equivalents in Ministries of Health, stakeholders and technical organizations working on... TB care in the public and private sectors and in the community.
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Over the past two decades, Afghanistan has depended on international donor support to fund essential services like health care. But this donor support has been falling for years and will likely to continue do so—perhaps precipitously—following the announcement by United States President Joe Bide...n that the US will withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. This decline in funding has already had a harmful—and life-threatening—impact on the lives of many Afghan women and girls, as it affects access to, and quality of, health care.
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1.1 Why this course is needed
The first few hours and days of a newborn baby’s life are a critical window for establishing breastfeeding and for providing mothers with the support they need to breastfeed successfully. Since 1991, the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) has helped to motivate... facilities providing maternity and newborn baby services worldwide to better support breastfeeding. It has been adopted by many countries and organizations. The BFHI aims to provide a health-care environment that supports mothers to acquire the skills necessary to exclusively breastfeed for six months, and to continue breastfeeding for two years or beyond.
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1.1 Why this course is needed
The first few hours and days of a newborn baby’s life are a critical window for establishing breastfeeding and for providing mothers with the support they need to breastfeed successfully. Since 1991, the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) has helped to motivate... facilities providing maternity and newborn baby services worldwide to better support breastfeeding. It has been adopted by many countries and organizations. The BFHI aims to provide a health-care environment that supports mothers to acquire the skills necessary to exclusively breastfeed for six months, and to continue breastfeeding for two years or beyond.
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In In recent years, China has increased its international engagement in health. Nonetheless, the lack
of data on contributions has limited efforts to examine contributions from China. Existing estimates that track
development assistance for health (DAH) from China have relied primarily on one data...set. Furthermore, little is known
about the disbursing agencies especially the multilaterals through which contributions are disbursed and how these
are changing across time. In this study, we generated estimates of DAH from China from 2007 through 2017 and
disaggregated those estimates by disbursing agency and health focus area.
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A year ago, the second Special Session of the World Health Assembly (WHASS) unanimously agreed to start a diplomatic process for a new binding instrument aimed at ensuring the international community is better prepared for the next health emergencies. The establishment of an Intergovernmental Negoti...ating Body (INB) at the WHO paved the terrain for a proper negotiation, which has started to unfold. The INB will be releasing the “conceptual zero draft” of the treaty text in early December 2022.
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The World Heart Federation (WHF) Roadmap series covers a large range of cardiovascular conditions. These Roadmaps identify potential roadblocks and their solutions to improve the prevention, detection and management of cardiovascular diseases and provide a generic global framework available for loca...l adaptation. A first Roadmap on raised blood pressure was published in 2015. Since then, advances in hypertension have included the publication of new clinical guidelines (AHA/ACC; ESC; ESH/ISH); the launch of the WHO Global HEARTS Initiative in 2016 and the associated Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) initiative in 2017; the inclusion of single-pill combinations on the WHO Essential
Medicines’ list as well as various advances in technology, in particular telemedicine and mobile health. Given the substantial benefit accrued from effective interventions in the management of hypertension and their potential for scalability in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), the WHF has now revisited and updated the ‘Roadmap for raised BP’ as ‘Roadmap for hypertension’
by incorporating new developments in science and policy. Even though cost-effective lifestyle and medical interventions to prevent and manage hypertension exist, uptake is still low, particularly in resource-poor areas. This Roadmap examined the roadblocks pertaining to both the demand side (demographic and socio-economic factors, knowledge and beliefs, social relations, norms, and
traditions) and the supply side (health systems resources and processes) along the patient pathway to propose a range of possible solutions to overcoming them. Those include the development of population-wide prevention and control programmes; the implementation of opportunistic screening and of out-of-office blood pressure measurements; the strengthening of primary care and a greater focus on task sharing and team-based care; the delivery of people-centred care and stronger patient and carer education; and the facilitation of adherence to treatment. All of the above are dependent upon the availability and effective distribution of good quality, evidencebased, inexpensive BP-lowering agents.
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Background: Community health worker (CHW) programmes are a valuable component of primary care in resource-poor settings. The evidence supporting their effectiveness generally shows improvements in disease-specific outcomes relative to the absence of a CHW programme. In this study, we evaluated expan...ding an existing HIV and tuberculosis (TB) disease-specific CHW programme into a polyvalent, household-based model that subsequently included non-communicable diseases (NCDs), malnutrition and TB screening, as well as family planning and antenatal care (ANC).
Methods: We conducted a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial in Neno District, Malawi. Six clusters of approximately 20 000 residents were formed from the catchment areas of 11 healthcare facilities. The intervention roll-out was staggered every 3 months over 18 months, with CHWs receiving a 5-day foundational training for their new tasks and assigned 20–40 households for monthly (or more frequent) visits.
Findings: The intervention resulted in a decrease of approximately 20% in the rate of patients defaulting from chronic NCD care each month (−0.8 percentage points (pp) (95% credible interval: −2.5 to 0.5)) while maintaining the already low default rates for HIV patients (0.0 pp, 95% CI: −0.6 to 0.5). First trimester ANC attendance increased by approximately 30% (6.5pp (−0.3, 15.8)) and paediatric malnutrition case finding declined by 10% (−0.6 per 1000 (95% CI −2.5 to 0.8)). There were no changes in TB programme outcomes, potentially due to data challenges.
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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in the treatment and care of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This report examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to NCD medicines, and the policies and strategies implemented by countries and health sys...tems to anticipate and mitigate stresses across NCD medicine supply chains. The full range of upstream and downstream impacts are investigated, including: manufacturing; procurement, importation and last mile delivery; patient-level effects through affordability and availability; and the effects on NCD medicine availability by category of disease. The report culminates in recommended actions and interventions for key stakeholders in the NCD pharmaceutical supply chain, including governments, regulatory authorities, manufacturers and the private sector; as well as directions for future research for improving access and supply chain access resilience.
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The Global Asthma Report (GAR) 2022, prepared by the Global Asthma Network (GAN), is the fourth such report (others 2011, 2014, 2018). GAN builds upon the work of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (T...he Union) to monitor asthma and improve asthma care, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
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