The primary audience for this guideline includes health-care professionals who are responsible for developing national and local health-care protocols and policies, as well as managers of maternal and child health programmes and policy-makers in all settings. The guideline will also be useful to tho...se directly providing care to pregnant women and preterm infants, such as obstetricians, paediatricians, midwives, nurses and general practitioners. The information in this guideline will be useful for developing job aids and tools for pre- and in-service training of health workers to enhance their delivery of maternal and neonatal care relating to preterm birth.
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Monitoring is a crucial element in any successful programme. It is important to
know if health care facilities – and ultimately countries – are meeting the agreed
goals and objectives for preventing and managing cardiovascular diseases (CVD).
Monitoring is the on-going collection, management ...and use of information to
assess whether an activity or programme is proceeding according to plan and/
or achieving defined targets. Not all outcomes of interest can be monitored. Clear
outcomes must be identified that relate to the most important changes expected to result from the project and to what is realistic and measurable within the timescale of the project. Once these outcomes have been articulated, indicators can be chosen that best measure whether the desired outcomes are being met.
To allow progress to be monitored, this module provides a set of indicators on
CVD management. Agreeing on a set of indicators allows countries to compare
progress in CVD management and treatment across different districts or
subnational jurisdictions, as well as at a facility level, identify where performance
can be improved, and track trends in implementation over time. Monitoring
these indicators also helps identify problems that may be encountered so that
implementation efforts can be redirected.
This module starts from the collection of data at facility level, which is then
“transferred up” the system: facility-level data are aggregated at subnational level
to produce reports that allow tracking of facility and subnational performance over time and allow for comparison among facilities. National-level data are obtained through population-based surveys.
Implementing a monitoring system requires action at many levels. At national and
subnational levels, staff can determine how best to integrate data elements into
existing data collection systems – such as the routine service-delivery data that are collected through facility-level Health Management Information Systems (HMIS).
In the facility setting, personnel must be aware of what data are needed. Sample
data-collection tools are included, recognizing that countries use different datamanagement systems for HMIS, so the CVD monitoring tools will be adapted to work with the HMIS system being used by the country, such that the indicators can be collected with minimal disruption/work to existing systems and tools
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According to official figures from Migración Colombia by the end of June 2019, there were more than 1.4 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants living in Colombia. The majority of people have settled in the border departments of La Guajira and Norte de Santander, continuing to cities along the Car...ibbean coast, or larger cities inland such as Medellin and Bogotá. Significant numbers of Venezuelans continue to cross Colombia by foot, heading for larger cities with more opportunities and better services or towards the southern border with Ecuador to continue their onward journey to a third country. Refugees and migrants arrive in Colombia with immediate humanitarian needs including access to safe accommodation, food, basic health care, but the prolonged nature of their displacement also requires longer term solutions including access to formal employment, education and social integration. The Interagency Group for Mixed Migration Flows (GIFMM) works closely with the Government at both the national level, and across 11 of the most affected departments, to deliver direct emergency assistance, protection, socio-economic integration activities and seeks to build the capacity of the host government.
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A series of information sheets to help empower communities and strengthen health systems
This series of information sheets introduces health literacy, its
relevance to public policy, and the ways it can be used to inform
the promotion of good health, the prevention and management
of communicab...le and noncommunicable diseases, and the
reduction of health inequities. It provides information and links
to further resources to assist organizations and governments
to incorporate health literacy responses into practice, service
delivery systems, and policy.
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Refugee 1 men and boys can be subjected to sexual and gender‑based violence (SGBV). Survivors have specific health, psychosocial, legal, and safety needs, but often find it hard to discuss their experience and access the support they need. It is important that UNHCR and its partners take steps to ...address these difficulties. The objectives of this note are to emphasise that programmes on sexual and gender‑based violence need to include men and boys, and to provide guidance on how to access survivors, facilitate reporting, provide protection and deliver essential medical, legal and social services. 2
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Overview
Learning objectives
• Promote respect and dignity for people with depression.
• Recognize common symptoms of depression.
• Know the assessment principles of depression.
• Know the management principles of depression.
• Perform an assessment for depression.
• Use effective... communication skills in interactions with people with depression.
• Assess and manage physical health conditions as well as depression.
• Assess and manage emergency presentations of depression (see Module: Self-harm/
suicide).
• Provide psychosocial interventions for people with depression and their carers.
• Deliver pharmacological interventions as needed and appropriate, considering special
populations.
• Plan and perform follow-up for depression.
• Refer to specialists and link with outside services where appropriate and available.
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The Community Health Nurse on the Go app aims to improve motivation among frontline health workers through a mobile technology application. By providing this mobile phone application to community health officers, nurses and their supervisors, CHN will combine virtual peer-to-peer support with improv...ed connectedness to a professional network and supervisors for frontline health workers involved in maternal, newborn and child health service delivery.
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Policy Note #3: Myanmar Health Systems in Transition Policy Notes Series
A network of basic health facilities has been established in each of the 330 townships, covering both rural and urban areas. For the vast majority of Myanmar’s people, particularly the 70% who reside in rural areas, the ...township health system (THS) is the only government-funded source of preventive, promotive and curative services.
To achieve the national policy objective of progressing towards universal health coverage (UHC) through a primary health-care approach by 2030, the THS is critical to success. It is responsible for the bulk of health care delivery – particularly in rural areas – and is at the heart of national health development in Myanmar. However, if the THS is to be the backbone of health care provision, it currently suffers from a severe case of osteoporosis.
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In April 2018, Refugees International (RI) conducted a mission to Bangladesh, to research the GBV (gender-based violence) response for Rohingya women and girls. RI found that the entire humanitarian system is struggling under tremendous constraints in Bangladesh, and protection and health actors do ...deliver lifesaving services to survivors in an incredibly challenging environment. This report, however, focuses on key gaps and challenges in GBV programming, as communicated by practitioners deployed to Bangladesh at various stages of the emergency, by local organizations, and by the affected women and girls themselves.
In the analyses and recommendations provided in this report, RI draws in part from the framework of the international initiative to safeguard women and girls in emergencies — the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies — and urges the donors and humanitarian organizations that are Call to Action partners to implement it more effectively and with urgency during this emergency.
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Based on scientific evidence, expert consensus and country experiences, the WHO core components for infection prevention and control (IPC) are the foundation for establishing or strengthening effective programmes at the national and facility level.
These new guidelines on core components of infecti...on prevention and control (IPC) at the national and acute health care facility level will enhance the capacity of Member States to develop and implement effective technical and behaviour modifying interventions. They form a key part of WHO strategies to prevent current and future threats from infectious diseases such as Ebola, strengthen health service resilience, help combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and improve the overall quality of health care delivery. They are also intended to support countries in the development of their own national protocols for IPC and AMR action plans and to support health care facilities as they develop or strengthen their own approaches to IPC.
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Rwanda first confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in March 2020. Although the number of cases has been low, health system resources are being redirected to respond and an increasing number of children are affected by the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic, including disruptions... to schooling and heightened protection risks.
While Rwanda remained Ebola-free during the outbreak, it remains a priority country and continues to maintain its Ebola preparedness. Rwanda is also home to 147,000 refugees, half of whom are children, who require assistance in and outside of camps.1 In 2021, UNICEF will continue to deliver life-saving services to refugees and children and families affected by COVID-19 and its socio-economic impacts, and maintain its Ebola preparedness and contingency planning.
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Interim Guidance, published 11 January 2021.
The cold chain is necessary to prevent damage to vaccines caused by heat exposure. However, improper use of cold chain equipment may cause damage to freeze-sensitive vaccines (i.e. those vaccines containing alum adjuvant or oil-emulsion adjuvant). Studie...s conducted in several countries with hot and cold climates show frequent occurrences of sub-zero temperatures in the cold chain. The most common cause of exposure to freezing temperature is the failure to correctly condition ice packs prior to transport. Vaccines that are inadvertently frozen lose potency, increase wastage rates and increase the risk of adverse events following immunization (AEFI). Vaccine carriers protect vaccine potency during immunization sessions and transport to outreach sites. This guidance document is intended to help inform which type of vaccine carrier to select based on local context, to maintain vaccine quality, especially at service delivery points.
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The Guidelines on promotive and preventive mental health interventions for adolescents - Helping Adolescents thrive (HAT), provide evidence-informed recommendations on psychosocial interventions to promote mental health, prevent mental disorders, and reduce self-harm and other risk behaviours among ...adolescents.
The HAT Guidelines aims to inform policy development, service planning and the strengthening of health and education systems, and facilitate mainstreaming of adolescent mental health promotion and prevention strategies across sectors and delivery platforms.
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The Guidelines on promotive and preventive mental health interventions for adolescents - Helping Adolescents thrive (HAT), provide evidence-informed recommendations on psychosocial interventions to promote mental health, prevent mental disorders, and reduce self-harm and other risk behaviours among ...adolescents.
The HAT Guidelines aims to inform policy development, service planning and the strengthening of health and education systems, and facilitate mainstreaming of adolescent mental health promotion and prevention strategies across sectors and delivery platforms.
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AHRO Reviews of Nursing is an international open-access journal that promotes the dissemination of quality knowledge in all aspects of nursing practice
The AHRO Review of Nursing (ARN) is an international, open-access, peer reviewed, scientific journal that seeks to promote the dissemination of q...uality knowledge related to all spheres of nursing practice. The primary aim is to promote a high standard of clinically related scholarship which advances and supports the practice and discipline of nursing. The Journal also aims to promote the international exchange of ideas and experience that draws from the different cultures in which practice takes place. Further, ARN seeks to enrich insight into clinical need and the implications for nursing intervention and models of service delivery. Emphasis is placed on promoting critical debate on the art and science of nursing practice.
ARN is essential reading for anyone involved in nursing practice, whether clinicians, researchers, educators, managers, policy makers, or students. The development of clinical practice and the changing patterns of inter-professional working are also central to ARN's scope of interest. Contributions are welcomed from other health professionals on issues that have a direct impact on nursing practice.
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Ending the neglect to attain the Sustainable Development Goals: a road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021–2030 (“the road map”) sets explicit targets for the elimination of onchocerciasis by 2030, including eliminating the need for mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin in at least... one focus in 34 countries, in more than 50% of the population in at least 16 countries, and in the entire endemic population in at least 12 countries. The road map also targets interruption of onchocercal transmission in 12 countries by 2030. Achieving these targets and milestones will require a number of critical actions. These include establishing a well-coordinated global partnership to connect stakeholders and existing partnerships at all levels in order to improve coordination and collaboration, accelerate technical progress, implement a harmonized research agenda and enhance service delivery.
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Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a category of chronic, disabling, and at times disfiguring diseases and conditions that occur most commonly in the setting of extreme poverty. Historically, NTDs have received less attention and funding when compared to other diseases occurring in the same regi...ons of the world. Several NTDs have internationally agreed upon targets for their control, elimination, and eradication. Nineteen countries in the WHO African Region have successfully eliminated at least one NTD, however recent gap analyses identified moderate to severe gaps across technical, strategy and service delivery, and enabling factors. This report summarizes the findings of a scoping review of published literature undertaken to highlight control, elimination, and eradication efforts towards NTDs across the WHO African Region over the last 30 years.
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The OpenWHO course titled "Interventions for Noncommunicable Diseases in Primary Health Care" provides guidance on screening, detection, diagnosis, and management of major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases (asthma and chron...ic obstructive pulmonary disease), and early cancer detection within primary health care settings. It emphasizes delivering high-impact essential NCD interventions through a primary healthcare approach to enhance early detection and timely treatment. This course is part of the SEARO NCD PEN-HEARTS series, which includes four courses aimed at enabling learners to plan and deliver NCD services effectively.
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An integrated approach is particularly important for low-resource settings for efficient use of limited resources. The course contents will include risk factors, clinical course, guidance and protocols for diagnosis, management and referral as needed for NCDs in PHC. SEARO NCD PEN-HEARTS is a series... of four courses with the other three courses focusing on Hearts of NCD: an integrated approach to management of NCDs in PHC, diabetic foot care and palliative care that will enable the learner to plan and deliver NCD services.
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