MEDBOX Issue Brief no. 19: World TB Day: Invest to end TB. Save Lives
In 2007, WHO warned that infectious diseases are emerging and re-emerging at a rate that has not been seen before. The potential for infectious diseases to spread rapidly results in high morbidity and mortality, causing a potential global public health treat of major concern.
Several factors are ...contributing to the (re)emergence of infectious diseases such as population growth, living in close contact with animals, frequent travelling, poverty, destructive ecological changes due to economic development and land use and climate change result in global warming.
Especially Africa is at a threat for (re)emerging infectious diseases due to the huge population growth (expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050) with rapid urbanisation. Additionally, people across and beyond the continent are excessively mobile which is combined with a weak health system. Moreover, the risk of (re)emerging infectious disease is further heightened by three newly adopted continental initiatives: African Continental Free Trade Area, Free Movement of Persons and African Passport and Single African Air Transport Market.
more
Energy use in the home is a vital and ubiquitous feature of human society. Energy
is used for a wide variety of purposes, including cooking, space heating, light-
ing, small-scale income generation, various household tasks, and entertainment.
This document offers public health guidance for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in reception centres, and other temporary accommodation facilities, in the context of the mass influx of Ukrainian people into the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Republic of Moldova.
During fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) production, water is used for a variety of purposes. Even the water was conventionally treated and disinfected, it may still potentially contain human pathogens, albeit at low concentrations. A risk assessment, appropriate to the national or local production c...ontext, should be conducted to assess the potential risks associated with a specific water source or supply in order to devise the appropriate risk mitigation strategies.
Since the 48th session of Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) noted the importance of water safety and quality in food production and processing, FAO and WHO has undertaken the work on this subject. This report describes the output of the third in a series of meetings, which examined appropriate and fit-for-purpose microbiological criteria for water used with fresh fruit and vegetables. The advice herein will support decision making when applying the concept of fit-for-purpose water for use in the pre- and post-harvest production of fresh fruit and vegetables.
more
During the first two years of the project (2019–2020), through a ‘One Health’ approach, comprehensive engagement was established with AMR coordinating committees, WHO regional and country offices and SORT IT partners in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Thirty-seven research studies were ...launched to inform AMR action plans in target country studies – local research, for local solutions, with local ownership.
more
2016 ASCO EDUCATIONAL BOOK | asco.org/edbo
7 April 2022. Aimed at national policymakers, public health and healthcare planners, staff working in reception centres, and healthcare staff caring for displaced persons, the information note concludes that universal testing of incoming refugees from Ukraine for tuberculosis (TB) infection is not r...ecommended. Specific groups, such as household contacts of bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary cases, or those who are immunocompromised should however be considered for TB infection testing.
Available in Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Slovakian, Ukranian
more
This policy brief outlines core elements that Member States are encouraged to a) develop an integrated approach to respiratory pathogen pandemic preparedness planning and b) enhance national and sub-national functional capacities for preparedness. In addition, this policy brief highlights suggested ...actions for Member States as they initiate or update national and sub-national pandemic preparedness planning process.
more
Mass vaccination campaigns to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) are occurring in many countries; estimates of vaccine effectiveness are urgently needed
to support decision making. A countrywide mass vaccination campaign with the
use of an inactivated severe acute respiratory syndrome c...oronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
vaccine (CoronaVac) was conducted in Chile starting on February 2, 2021.
more
The Department of Health (DOH) has developed a National Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Policy.1 This policy addresses the many cross-cutting issues relating to SRH service provision, drawing together the principles, rights, and guidance for planning and implementation th...at underpin the provision of quality, comprehensive, and integrated SRHR services in South Africa. The National Integrated SRHR Policy is supported by several clinical and service delivery guidelines covering related programmatic
areas, including the National Contraception Clinical Guidelines.
more
Policy Brief November 2021 Available in English, Spanish and Portuguese
The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled the ongoing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) global crisis due to the increase in the use of antibiotics to treat COVID-19 patients, disruptions to infection prevention and control practices in o...verwhelmed health systems, and diversion of human and financial resources away from monitoring and responding to AMR threats. Moreover, AMR is likely to have caused more COVID-19 deaths, as secondary bacterial infections can worsen the outcome of severe and critical COVID-19 illness. Therefore, it is more urgent than ever to prioritize efforts towards AMR containment and support countries to improve the detection, characterization and rapid response to emerging AMR.
more
The marathon to eradicate polio is on its final lap: the world is more than 99% of the way to success. After millennia of living with poliovirus and suffering the paralysis it causes, today nearly all the world’s people live in polio-free countries; two of the three strains of wild poliovirus (WPV...) have been eradicated. Some 20 million people are walking who would have been paralysed had it not been for the efforts of national governments and health workers. If eradicating polio has been a marathon, the finishing line is in sight.
more
Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2021;45:e74.
Some characteristics of patients and healthcare providers influence treatment success in MDR-TB cases. Physicians’ and nurses’ knowledge about MDR-TB must be improved, and follow-up of MDR-TB patients who are living with HIV and of those affiliated with the... subsidized health insurance scheme in Colombia must be strengthened, as these patients have a lower likelihood of a successful treatment outcome.
more
Epidemics of infectious diseases are occurring more often, and spreading faster and further than ever, in many different regions of the world. The background factors of this threat are biological, environmental and lifestyle changes, among others. A potentially fatal combination of newly-discovered ...diseases, and the re-emergence of many long-established ones, demands urgent responses in all countries. Planning and preparation for epidemic prevention and control are essential. The purpose of this “Managing epidemics” manual is to provide expert guidance on those responses.
more
Where are the outbreaks? What is monkeypox? Recongnizing monkeypox and more. An update on the monkeypox outbreak including protection, diagnosis, treatment.
Tuberculosis continues to represent a severe public health problem in the Region of the Americas, even more so in the case of indigenous peoples, whose TB incidence is much higher than that of the general population. To achieve tuberculosis control in these communities, it is necessary to respond t...o communities’ diverse needs from an intercultural perspective that allows the application of a holistic approach—from a standpoint of equality and mutual respect—and considers the value of their cultural practices. In the Region of the Americas, although there has been progress toward recognizing the need for an intercultural approach to health services, obstacles rooted in discrimination, racism, and the exclusion of indigenous peoples and other ethnic groups persist. To respond to this situation, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) prepared this guidance which––based on an intercultural approach in accordance with the priority lines of the current PAHO Policy on Ethnicity and Health and its practical development in the Region’s indigenous populations––represent a support tool for implementing the End TB Strategy. This publication integrates PAHO’s accumulated experience and best practices developed by its Member States in recent years, including discussions and experiences shared in regional meetings on the issue, and emphasizes innovation and social inclusion. This requires an urgent shift away from traditional paradigms, taking specific actions that gradually reduce TB incidence and moving toward effective multisectoral actions that have proven effective in quickly containing the epidemic. This publication integrates PAHO’s accumulated experience and best practices developed by its Member States in recent years, including discussions and experiences shared in regional meetings on the issue, and emphasizes innovation and social inclusion. This requires an urgent shift away from traditional paradigms, taking specific actions that gradually reduce TB incidence and moving toward effective multisectoral actions that have proven effective in quickly containing the epidemic.
more