Oxfam Water Supply Scheme for Emergencies. This manual is part of a series of guides devised by the Oxfam Public Health Engineering Team to help provide a reliable water supply for populations affected by conflict or natural disaster. Wherever possible, water supplies in emergency conditions should ...be obtained from underground sources by exploitation of springs, tubewells, or dug wells. No filtration will then be needed. However, if sources are not available or cannot be developed, the use of surface water from streams, rivers, lakes or ponds becomes necessary. Usually these surface sources are polluted. The level of faecal contamination can be measured by use of the Oxfam/Delagua Water Test Kit (see Section C). Where a serious level of faecal pollution exists, it is essential firstly to try to reduce the cause of contamination, and secondly to treat the water to make it suitable for human consumption. The Filtration equipment provides a simple, long-term physical and biological treatment system that requires no chemicals (except small amounts of chlorine required during filter cleaning) and needs only simple regular maintenance
more
Annex of Environmental Health in Emergencies and Disaster; page 245 - 252
Information in Tables 1–4 summarizes the actions of the World Health Organization,
the International Atomic Energy Authority, other international organizations, and local
health authorities in response to a nuclear acci...dent, in compliance with the Convention
on Early Notification and the Assistance Convention.
more
Snakebites are well-known medical emergencies in many parts of the world, especially in rural areas. Agricultural workers and children are the most affected. The incidence of snakebite mortality is particularly high in South-East Asia. Rational use of snake anti-venom can substantially reduce mortal...ity and morbidity due to snakebites. These guidelines are a revised and updated version of Regional Guidelines for the Management of snakebites published by the WHO Regional Office in South-East Asia in 2011. These guidelines aim to promote the rational management of snakebite cases in various health facilities where trained health functionaries and quality snake antivenom are available.
more
Chapter 9: Public health guide for emergencies
Les 25 et 26 février 2015
L’émergence de l’épidémie de la maladie à virus Ebola en Afrique de l’Ouest menace la sécurité sanitaire publique régionale et mondiale. La Guinée, le Mali et le Sénégal partage une longue frontière de plusieurs milliers de kilomètres. La rencontre de La...bé les 25 et 26 février 2015 permettra de renforcer la collaboration transfrontalière afin de prévenir et d’arrêter la propagation de l’épidémie de la maladie à virus Ebola
more
Annual report on global preparednessfor health emergencies
The next pandemic is not a question of if, but when—and the world is woefully unprepared, according to the first annual report from the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board. The WHO and the World Bank convened the independent group after ...the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Global News reports. Within 36 hours, a contagion like the 1918 flu could sweep the globe and take 50 to 80 million lives while wreaking havoc on the global economy, the report warns. And that’s just one possibility.
What would it take to get prepared? An investment of $1-$2 per person per year could create “acceptable” level of preparedness.
more
Weekly bulletins on outbreaks and other emergencies in the WHO Africa Region.
Cancer is an emerging public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa due to population growth, ageing and westernisation of lifestyles. In this piece, we use data from Mozambique over a 50-year period to illustrate cancer epidemiological trends in low-income and middle-income countries to hypothesise ...potential circumstances and factors that could explain changes in cancer burden and to discuss surveillance weaknesses and potential improvements. This epidemiological transition deserves increasing policy attention.
more
Productive and Inclusive Cities for an Emerging Democratic Republic of Congo
In addition to the ongoing humanitarian emergencies in the country, the COVID-19 pandemic poses a potential monumental social and economic threat to Nigeria, with a devastating knock on effect for the most vulnerable population in the BAY states who have endured a decade of conflict. The UN system i...n Nigeria launched a One UN Response Plan to COVID-19 to support the rapid implementation of the Government’s National COVID-19 Multi-Sectoral Pandemic Response Plan and will continue to support strong coordination and coherence with all stakeholders responding to the pandemic.
more
Preparación y respuesta a la emergencia del COVID-19
A toolkit for pharmacists.
Emerging data show that medication errors and adverse events cause significant harm to patients’ health and
well-being. It is estimated that the burden of adverse events due to medicines is now comparable to that of
widespread diseases, such as malaria or tuberculosis....1 The impacts of medication errors also represent a
burden for health systems, with the annual cost associated with medication errors estimated at USD 42 billion
worldwideharm
more
The main message emerging from this new comprehensive global assessment is that premature death and disease can be prevented through healthier environments – and to a significant degree. Analysing the latest data on the environment-disease nexus and the devastating impact of environmental hazards ...and risks on global health, backed up by expert opinion, this report covers more than 100 diseases and injuries.
more
For public health emergencies, risk communication includes the range of communication capacities required through the preparedness, response and recovery phases of a serious public health event to encourage informed decision making, positive behaviour change and the maintenance of trust.
Risk commu...nication used to be viewed primarily as the dissemination of information to the public about health risks and events, such as outbreaks of disease and instructions on how to change behaviour to mitigate those risks. Thinking on this has now evolved dramatically as social science evidence and new communication and media technologies and practices have evolved in the 21st century.
more
Since the re-emergence of monkeypox in Nigeria in September 2017, the Nigeria Centre
for Disease Control(NCDC) has continued to receive reports and respond to cases of the
disease from States across the country. Between September 2017 when the outbreak started and November 2018, about 300 suspecte...d cases had been reported from 26 out of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The highest number of cases were reported from States in the South-South region of Nigeria. Monkeypox is a zoonotic orthopox virus, which presents in humans with symptoms such as fever, headache, body pain, malaise, lymphadenopathy (enlargement of glands),
sore throat and the typical generalised vesiculopustular rash. Transmission is via direct or
indirect contact with infected animals, human, or contaminated materials.
more
The socioeconomic factors and public health inadequacies that facilitated the rapid spread of this infection continue to exist. As it is a new and emerging disease it has not received sufficient coverage yet in the medical curricula of Member States. Specific treatment is not available, and there is... no vaccine for the prevention of chikungunya fever. It has therefore become imperative to develop guidelines, based on the limited clinical experience gathered from managing patients so far, for appropriate management of patients in communities and in health facilities. Experts engaged in managing patients with chikungunya fever in the Region were brought together by the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia to outline guidelines for managing various situations and stages of the disease.
The socioeconomic factors and public health inadequacies that facilitated the rapid spread of this infection continue to exist. As it is a new and emerging disease it has not received sufficient coverage yet in the medical curricula of Member States. Specific treatment is not available, and there is no vaccine for the prevention of chikungunya fever. It has therefore become imperative to develop guidelines, based on the limited clinical experience gathered from managing patients so far, for appropriate management of patients in communities and in health facilities. Experts engaged in managing patients with chikungunya fever in the Region were brought together by the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia to outline guidelines for managing various situations and stages of the disease. This publication is the end result of that exercise and is intended to assist health-care providers in planning and implementing appropriate care to patients with chikungunya fever according to their actual clinical conditions
more
The domestic regulation of public health emergencies (PHEs) is inextricably linked to the regulation of other types of disaster. PHEs are usually governed at least partly by general disaster and emergency laws. Moreover, there is significant overlap in the legal mechanisms used to respond to PHEs an...d other types of disaster, including the declaration of a state of disaster or emergency and the use of emergency powers. Even where PHEs are regulated by separate instruments, those instruments must surmount many of the same policy and practical challenges as general disaster laws, such as finely balancing competing considerations (e.g. speedy response versus due process), facilitating the coordination of a multitude of actors, and protecting the most vulnerable within society. Finally, many contemporary developments in disaster risk management (DRM), such as a greater emphasis on risk reduction and preparedness, are just as pertinent to PHEs as to other types of disaster.
more
Natural disasters and emergencies frequently cause power outages that can compromise the quality and safety of food. These flyers include tips to reduce food safety risks during a power outage for households, food suppliers, vendors, food industry inspectors and workers.
The risk of emergence and re-emergence of arboviruses with pandemic potential has increased as a global public health threat and will continue to do so in the years to come. The Global Arbovirus Initiative outlines an integrated approach across these viruses and disciplines that will enable optimal ...use of limited resources to achieve the greatest impact, particularly in areas with the heaviest arboviral burden and in areas that are at risk of emergence of arboviruses. Following a series of global consultations and review by the Technical Advisory Group on Arbovirus (TAG-Arbovirus), the Global Arbovirus Initiative and its 6 constituent pillars, each with strategic objectives and priority activities, are consolidated in this reference document.
more
Public health emergencies, including pandemics, highlight the need for health systems and services that are prepared, resilient and ready to respond to health security threats. Endorsed by Member States in 2023, the Asia Pacific Health Security Action Framework (APHSAF) is designed to engage m...ultisectoral actors in health security, and to reflect the complex nature of current and future public health emergencies. The Framework presents six interconnected, multisectoral domains of work that together form a comprehensive, multi-hazard health security system — emphasizing the One Health approach. The Framework also supports progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage while meeting the responsibilities and obligations of the International Health Regulations (2005).
more