On 30thJanuary 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the People’s Republic of China to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under the international Health Regulations. The following day, the Italian Governm...ent declared a state of emergency, stopping all flights to and from Chinese airports. 1.2On 7th April the foreign, interior, transport and health ministers signed a decree under theInternational Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue stating that Italian ports could no longer be classified as places of safety for foreign naval units, including NGO-run migrantrescue ships, operating outside the Italian Search and Rescue (SAR) area. Despite the national lockdown and the closure of ports to international rescue vessels in the Mediterranean Sea, small ships departing from Libya and Tunisia have continued to sail towards the Italian coastline. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), during the period 1stJanuary –12thApril, 2020 there were an estimated 3,229 sea arrivals in Italy
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Aligned to the Lancet Migration Global Statement to include migrants and refugees incountries’response to COVID-19, this update focuses on Mexico’s challenges and opportunities to build an inclusive response that is based on a contextualized adaptation of there commendations published by th...e Lancet Migration. A critical component for this analysis is the recognition of migration as a social determinant of health, which acts as a major risk factor for populations subjected to violence, trauma and forced exile while in the face of a global pandemic.
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The World Health Organization (WHO)6, the Civil Society Action Committee and the Lancet Migration global collaboration are amongst many organisations that have advised governments against returning irregular migrants during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The expulsion of i...rregular migrants to under-prepared countries puts migrants and communities at risk, and is against the principles of solidarity and public health that should inspire action during these challenging times. It also puts at risk the staff who implement these policies. Detention, overcrowded conditions and lack of hygiene all render irregular migrants more vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19. Irregular laborers, agricultura land food workers, cleaners and caregivers are all essential in the response to the pandemic, there fore the temporary or longer term regularisation of migrants to facilitate their access to health, social services and employment should be considered as a humane, practical and self-interested alternative to forcible return.
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A paper presented during a conference on The Catholic Social Teaching and its Social and Political impact on the Development 9thto 10th December, in Schloss Eichholz Koln/Cologne/GermanyPresented by Sr. Dr. Elizabeth Nduku
accessed July 2020
How to respond to Covid19 pandemic in West and Central Africa
Primary health care, as outlined in the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata and again 40 years later in the 2018 WHO/UNICEF document A vision for primary health care in the 21st century: towards universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, is a whole-of-government and whole-of-society a...pproach to health that combines the following three components: multisectoral policy and action; empowered people and communities; and primary care and essential public health functions as the core of integrated health services.(1) Primary health care-oriented health systems are health systems organized and operated so as to make the right to the highest attainable level of health the main goal, while maximizing equity and solidarity. They are composed of a core set of structural and functional elements that support achieving universal coverage and access to services that are acceptable to the population and that are equity enhancing. The term “primary care” refers to a key process in the health system that supports first-contact, accessible, continued, comprehensive and coordinated patient-focused care.
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This publication marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. It is dedicated to the women leaders and allied community mobilizers who have devoted their lives to advancing the human rights and dignity of all people affected by the HIV epidemic, and to opposing soci...al injustice, gender inequality, stigma and discrimination, and violence. Unless otherwise indicated, the HIV-related statistics cited in this publication reflect the most recent UNAIDS data available.
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COVID-19: Travel, Points of Entry and Border Health
Infection prevention and control practices need to be implemented to guarantee the safety of healthcare workers and patients in healthcare settings, it is fundamental to prevent cross contamination and containment of spread of COVID 19. As of the day of this publication, the following precautions ar...e recommended for the care of patients with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19: - For any suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19: standard + contact + droplet precautions. -For any suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 and Aerosol Generated Procedure: standard + contact + airborne precautions. - The results of the application of this evaluation tool, in addition to other tools, will provide an overview regarding compliance with the activities of prevention and control of infections associated with provision of care in acute healthcare services in a health setting, without making judgments about the individual risk of patients, nor on particular cases. By its nature, this tool is only an external diagnostic to support IPC professionals and managers to assess the gaps and take corrective measures. To provide a tool for assessment of infection prevention and control practices in isolation areas in acute healthcare settings in the context of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). These recommendations are preliminary and subject to review as new evidence becomes available.
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ACT Alliance appeal: Global Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic – ACT201 - Sub-Appeal - ACT 201-BGD -
This guidance note on Syria is the first in a series of comprehensive Q&As, which aims to give practical guidance on how to comply with EU sanctions when providing humanitarian aid, in particular medical assistance, to fight the coronavirus pandemic. By clarifying the responsibilities and processes ...for the provision of this aid, this note should facilitate the task of humanitarian operators in Syria. It should speed up the channelling of equipment and assistance to fight the coronavirus pandemic in Syria. It is addressed to all actors involved in the supply of humanitarian aid, such as the competent authorities of EU Member States, which manage the implementation of EU sanctions, and public and private operators (donors, NGOs, banks and other actors involved in humanitarian activities), which must comply with EU sanctions when providing assistance.
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El propósito de este documento es proporcionar orientación sobre la limpieza y desinfección de las superficies ambientales en el contexto de COVID-19. Esta orientación está destinada a los profesionales de la salud, los profesionales de la salud pública y las autoridades sanitarias que están ...elaborando y aplicando políticas y procedimientos operativos estándar (POE) sobre la limpieza y desinfección de las superficies ambientales en el contexto de COVID-19.
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The primary audience for this guidance is persons
working directly in vector-borne disease prevention
and control, including programme managers,
researchers and field workers. A brief technical
background is provided for the benefit of persons
without expertise in vector-borne diseases; readers...
working in the field may wish to skip the background
section and begin with the discussion of ethical
issues and values in Chapter 3. The guidance cannot
offer universally applicable answers to the complex
ethical issues raised, nor can it provide a checklist of
issues that are necessarily relevant in all situations.
Rather, its goal is to help readers recognize aspects
of their work that raise significant ethical challenges
and to respond to these challenges in accordance
with internationally accepted values and norms.
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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 document briefly describes the macroeconomic performance before the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), which is mainly characterized by severe economic depression, economic and financial sanctions by the Trump administration, and tight fiscal space that constrains to undertake additional mea...sures. It estimates three economic scenarios based on different oil price assumptions for 2020. The negative effects of the quarantine on the economy are estimated using the two biggest shocks faced by Venezuela in its recent history. It emphasizes the relevance of foreign currency and external financing to mitigate the pandemic’s impact. Finally, this paper discusses the economic measures taken by the government.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on health care systems that, in many instances, worsened the already existing assistance gaps. When it comes to Latin America and Central America, this challenge adds to the consequences mass mobilizations have had in recent years, which have exc...eeded the national capacities to provide prompt assistance and social protection, particularly in the health care field. This pandemic has a direct impact on people on the move since the movement restriction policies and the lockdown and social distancing measures have reduced their ability to insert themselves into economic activities that were already precarious in many cases. Consequently, they have less access to food, housing, medicines and other essential consumer goods, and fewer possibilities of getting to their countries of destinati
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The Lancet Global Health Published:May 12, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30229-1
1 June 2020
Countries around the world are facing the challenge of increased demand for care of people with COVID-19, compounded by fear, misinformation and limitations on movement that disrupt the delivery of health care for all conditions. Maintaining essential health services: operational guidan...ce for the COVID-19 context recommends practical actions that countries can take at national, subregional and local levels to reorganize and safely maintain access to high-quality, essential health services in the pandemic context. It also outlines sample indicators for monitoring essential health services, and describes considerations on when to stop and restart services as COVID-19 transmission recedes and surges. This document expands on the content of pillar 9 of the COVID-19 strategic preparedness and response plan, supersedes the earlier Operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak, and complements the recently-released Community-based health care, including outreach and campaigns, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is intended for decision-makers and managers at the national and subnational levels.
This is an update to COVID-19: Operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak: Interim guidance, 25 March 2020
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