A tutorial for healthcare professionals
WHO Guideline. Since 2010, countries in the meningitis belt have started to introduce a new serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine conferring individual protection and herd immunity. Following the successful roll-out of this vaccine, epidemics due to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A (NmA) are... disappearing, but other serogroups (e.g. NmW, NmX and NmC) still cause epidemics, albeit at a lower frequency and of a smaller size. Due to these changes, WHO organized the review of the evidence to provide recommendations for epidemic control, related to operational thresholds for investigation and response to outbreaks, the use of rapid diagnostic tests, antibiotic regimens in epidemics, and prophylaxis for household contacts of cases
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Ending the epidemics of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria by 2030 is within reach, but not yet fully in our grasp.
With only 11 years left, we have no time to waste. We must step up the fight now.
To support the achievement of health equity in the Region, the regional inter-agency movement Every Woman Every Child Latin America and the Caribbean (EWEC-LAC) advocates for and supports the use of equity and evidence-based policies, strategies and interventions to accelerate equitable progress in ...the health of women, children and adolescents. Although progress has been made, great inequities persist. Women from the LAC region’s poorest countries are almost four times more likely to die due to complications during childbirth than those living in the wealthiest countries. Through the years, several tools, instruments and methods (TIMs) have been developed by global, regional and country partners that can be used to conduct systematic equity-based analyses and/or re-designs of health systems, programs, strategies and interventions. The main purpose of this document is to present an overview of existing TIMs that can be used by policymakers, program managers, development partners, nongovernmental organizations, academia and civil society partners to strengthen systematic identification, analysis and responding to social inequities in the health of women, children and adolescents in LAC. The TIMs included were identified through a systematic search process
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This publication provides an overview of UN Women’s commitments to the humanitarian community guided by the “UN Women strategic plan 2022–2025”. It highlights areas where UN Women has a unique advantage in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls across the humanitari...an–development–peace nexus, and in contributing to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee priorities, including localization and accountability to affected people.
The strategy adopts a two-pronged approach:
strengthening accountability towards gender commitments in coordination and implementation of UN-led humanitarian and refugee responses, and
strengthening comprehensive protection and livelihoods support to crisis-affected women and girls.
While taking these approaches, UN Women prioritizes amplifying women’s voices, leadership, and agency as a critical and enabling cross-cutting area.
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To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health and HIV expenditure, UNAIDS carried out a modelling study on fiscal space for health and HIV. From a sample of 28 countries, three countries—the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jamaica, and Lesotho—were selected to capture health and HIV ...expenditure impacts across countries with especially marked differences in burdens of disease (including HIV prevalence), HIV donor dependency, level of economic development, and geographic location. While the three-country sample is too small to permit findings to be generalized to other countries, these analyses are useful for informing UNAIDS’ work to identify some policy positions to minimize the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the HIV response.
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This action plan is intended for senior-level decision-makers in ministries of health, malaria
programme managers, entomologists, and epidemiologists working on malaria and other vectorborne diseases programmes. It is also intended for decision-makers and technical and advocacy
staff at other orga...nizations and stakeholders involved in public health, malaria control and
elimination, and urban and rural development.
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Little is known about the patterns of development assistance (DA) for each component of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) in conflict-affected countries nor about the DA allocation in relation to the burden of disease
The Infection prevention and control in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a living guideline consolidates technical guidance developed and published during the COVID-19 pandemic into evidence-informed recommendations for infection prevention and control (IPC). This living guideline... is available both online and PDF.
This version of the living guideline (version 6.0) includes fifteen statements on IPC measures in health-care settings (screening and patient placement, ventilation, physical barriers, environmental cleaning, waste management, amongst others) as well as one statement on mask fit in the community context.
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World Humanitarian Data and Trends presents global- and country-level data-and-trend analysis about humanitarian
crises and assistance. Its purpose is to consolidate this information and present it in an accessible way, providing policymakers, researchers and humanitarian practitioners with an evid...ence base to support humanitarian policy decisions and provide context for operational decisions.
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This document lays out economic arguments for investing in the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator). Framed within an overall context that recognizes the broader human health and societal impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, ACT-Accelerator's Economic Investment Case argues that investm...ent in ACT-Accelerator is the world’s best bet and most viable solution for restarting the global economy. It is intended for governments, multilaterals, civil society, businesses and foundations and all those interested in the work required to change the course of the pandemic. The global deployment of ACT-Accelerator’s comprehensive package of tools will reduce the severity of COVID-19 disease, enabling countries to transition out of the crisis thereby restarting domestic and international economic engines driving our global economy.
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In 2019, the Global Fund’s 6th Replenishment raised more than $USD14 billion to fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Just two years later, the world has changed significantly. Put simply: COVID-19 devastated prevention and treatment programs. For the first time since the Global Fund’s founding, ...in 2020 the world lost ground in the fight against HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The Global Fund moved quickly to support countries to respond to COVID-19 and its impact on the three diseases, repurposing and leveraging additional funding to support urgent needs and adapt programs. Despite those efforts, the need for action to resume progress in the fight against HIV, TB and malaria has never been greater.
The world faces a choice.
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In April 2020, Gavi and COVAX joined the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) to provide equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines to tackle the pandemic. In June 2020, the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) was launched to finance equitable access in 92 lower-income countries. Si...nce then, US$ 10 billion has been raised for the AMC to procure vaccines and support delivery. Despite a challenging supply situation, COVAX has now shipped one billion doses to 144 countries, including over 870 million to AMC economies.
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The annual Development Co-operation Report brings new evidence, analysis and ideas on
sustainable development to members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the international community more broadly. The objectives are to promote best practices and innovation in development co-ope...ration and to inform and shape policy reform and behaviour change to realise better lives and the Sustainable Development Goals for all
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As the Americas undergo profound demographic change and there are more persons aged 65 years or older than children younger than 5 years, it is crucial to recognize that national immunization programs must be redesigned to ensure comprehensive protection for individuals across the lifespan. By adopt...ing a life course approach (LCA) to immunization, vaccination programs can be tailored to close immunity gaps at different stages of life. The life course approach foresees the establishment of multiple strategies to reduce missed opportunities for vaccination according to age group. This technical document explains the key concepts of the LCA with a focus on immunization by vaccination, as well as the underlying biological mechanisms that require the application different vaccines at different life stages according to changes to the immune system and in the epidemiological situation of a community.
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Unmet mental health needs in the Region of the Americas are a leading source of morbidity and mortality, which result in tremendous health, social, and economic consequences. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the mental health crisis in the Region, necessitating urgent action at the highest leve...ls of government and across sectors to build back better mental health now and for the future. This landmark report is the result of the PAHO High-Level Commission on Mental Health and COVID-19. It provides an analysis of the mental health situation in the Region, followed by a series of recommendations and corresponding actions to support countries in the Americas to prioritize and advance mental health using human rights- and equity-based approaches.
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Smallpox eradication was certified in 1980. Mpox has been endemic in Central and West African countries since it was first detected in 1958 . It is a zoonosis; cases are often found close to tropical rainforests where various animals carry the orthopoxvirus that causes the disease. In endemic countr...ies, most mpox infections in humans result from a primary animal-to-human transmission. Human-to-human transmission can result from close contact with respiratory secretions, skin lesions of an infected person, or recently contaminated objects. Transmission can also occur via the placenta from mother to fetus or through close contact during and after birth.
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The aim of this guidance manual is to introduce the user to project/programme plan- ning in a Red Cross Red Crescent environment. It describes the different stages of the planning phase of the “project/programme cycle” within the context of Results-Based Management (RBM). It also gives an overvi...ew of the various components of RBM and explains how to integrate and apply this approach in practice. In addition, the manual summarizes briefly the other key phases of the cycle (assessment, imple- mentation and monitoring, evaluation) and provides references to the key Federation manuals on these phases.
The manual has been developed primarily for use by people managing projects and programmes either in a National Society or the secretariat of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (International Federation). Although it is mainly designed for use at the country level, the basic principles can be applied to project and programme planning at any level. The manual draws on two International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement publications – the International Federation’s Project Planning Process (2002) and the ICRC Economic Security Unit’s Programme/ Project Management: The Results-Based Approach (2008) – reflecting the significant similarity of approach. The International Federation has developed the manual internally to suit the particular needs and uses of project/programme management within the organization.
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