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
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A broad range of UNHCR’s key priorities overlap with MHPSS issues – for example, child protection and sexual and gender-based violence [SGBV] prevention and response.
Despite all these existent synergies, UNHCR’s current policies and guidelines do not sufficiently link with MHPSS principles.... For example, the Community Services section, which is closely aligned to the principles of MHPSS and could be well-positioned to guide the implementation of related programs, has not adopted the MHPSS language or approach.
There are opportunities for UNHCR to engage more strongly and clearly in this field. However, this requires a vision for how the organisation as a whole, and particular sectors within the organisation, will engage within the field of MHPSS activities. For a start, UNHCR can work to improve its understanding and framing of mental health and psychosocial issues, and how these issues fit within its broader mandate.
While the majority of MHPSS activities are delivered by implementing partners, UNHCR staff require familiarity with core principles in the field, such as the Intervention Pyramid contained in the IASC Guidelines, in order to support and monitor quality MHPSS activities.
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The report discusses the epidemiological and social aspects of ageing, health and functional changes experienced with ageing, the impact of physical activity, assessment of the nutritional status of older persons, and nutritional guidelines for healthy ageing.
The 40-page field guide outlines possible causes of separation, discusses the psychosocial impacts of being separated, such as how we experience loss, and provides guidelines on how to support those who have been separated from family members – including delivering difficult news to loved ones, ba...sic helping skills, interviews, on-going support and referrals, and reunification. There is also a chapter on self-care for staff and volunteers. The materials provided here will need to be adapted to suit local contexts. The aim of this field guide is to build both confidence and skills in responding to disaster and crisis situations, and to raise awareness of the broader goals of the Movement’s work in supporting families separated from their loved ones
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Every five minutes a child dies as the result of violence, according to a ground-breaking report from Unicef UK. The report reveals that the vast majority of children are killed outside warzones and that physical, sexual and emotional abuse is widespread with millions of children unsafe in their hom...es, schools and communities. Some 345 children could die from violence each day in the next year, unless governments act.
The report also finds that:
(1) Children who are victims of violence have brain activity similar to soldiers exposed to combat;
(2) A third of children who are victims of violence are likely to develop long-lasting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder;
(3) Those living in poverty are more likely to be victims of violence, wherever they live in the world;
(4) Over 7% of child deaths due to violence each day are the result of interpersonal violence, rather than conflict.
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The publication conveys the quantitative surveillance results focusing on tobacco use and noncommunicable disease (NCD) related behaviours among youth (13–15 years) in Member States of the WHO South-East Asia Region, namely, the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) and the Global Youth... Tobacco Survey (GYTS). This publication contains selected indicators relating to tobacco use and other related risk behaviours of youth (aged 13–15 years) in Member States of the WHO South-East Asia Region. The tobacco indicators are mainly taken from GYTS and other indicators relating to risk behaviours (dietary behaviours, physical activity, alcohol use, drug use, mental health, violence and unintentional injury, sexual behaviours, protective factors and hygiene) are taken from GSHS. The latest findings from surveys conducted in Member States are presented in the publication.
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CBM’s Child Safeguarding Policy is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 (and its optional protocols); the national child protection legislation of Germany as well as that of the CBM program
countries and the Keeping Children Safe Standards. This policy has been created beca...use respecting the dignity of all children and keeping them safe is a foundational principle of CBM’s work. For the purpose of this policy a child is anyone under the age of 18 years. CBM is committed to ensuring a safe environment for children through investing the necessary resources needed to apply the procedures contained in this policy.
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The publication conveys the most recent quantitative surveillance results focusing on noncommunicable disease (NCDs)-related risk behaviours among adults from the WHO STEPwise approach to NCD risk factor surveillance (STEPS) and tobacco use among adults from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) in... Member States of the WHO South-East Asia Region. This publication contains selected indicators relating to tobacco use and other related risk behaviours of adults in Member States of the WHO South-East Asia Region. The tobacco indicators are taken from GATS or STEPS and other indicators relating to risk behaviours (history– dietary behaviours, physical activity, alcohol use, cervical cancer screening; physical measurements – body mass index, blood pressure, waist circumference; biochemical measurements – fasting blood glucose level, blood glucose level 2 hours after glucose load, total blood cholesterol, urine sodium and urine creatinine) are taken from STEPS. The latest findings from surveys conducted in Member States are presented in the publication.
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Growing evidence indicates that large proportions of children around the world experience physical, sexual and emotional violence every year, with enormous implications for human rights, public health and economic and social development.1 Over the last five years, national governments and Together f...or Girls – a global public-private partnership comprising UNICEF,
other United Nations (UN) agencies, the United States (US) Government and various private sector agencies – have worked to mobilize and sustain a global movement to end violence against children, with a focus on sexual violence against girls.
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Unlike foot and mouth disease, the avian flu, e-coli or listeria, the COVID-19 pandemic has not spread directly through livestock or agriculture commodities, and has therefore not directly disrupted on-farm production. However, the crisis is undermining the ability of farms and agri-enterprises to e...nsure consistent supplies of food to markets due to enforced closures, labour shortages resulting from illness, and slowdowns in operations caused by physical distancing and lockdowns.
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The International Council of Nurses (ICN) Code of Ethics ([1], p. 5) specifies the nurse’s role of promoting “an environment in which the human rights, values, customs and spiritual beliefs of the individual, family and community are respected”. The Malta Code of Ethics supports this for nurse...s and midwives [2], stating that the nurse is to “recognize and respect the uniqueness of every patient/client’s biological, psychological, social and spiritual status and needs”. Since patients are attended by different members of the multi-disciplinary team, these codes of ethics also address the holistic care of health care professionals that contribute towards patients’ safety. Examples of some heroes in nursing are given, whereby, their being in care generated signs of spirituality in their attempts to address patients’ needs, while their caring attitude instilled hope and healing.
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Africa CDC will coordinate efforts to scale-up contact tracing by more than one million contact tracers.
It is therefore critical that these contact tracers are adequately trained and equipped to avoid being infected.
In the strategies for effective infection prevention and control (IPC), what does triage entail at hospitals?
Triage includes screening at the entrance, identification of cases and isolation if necessary. There should be a triage (screening) area where visitors to the hospital are interviewed using... standard questionnaires to identify symptoms, along with temperature checks and documentation of contacts. Individuals who meet the case definition for COVID-19 should be isolated immediately while arrangement is being made for swab (sample) collection from the patient. (See the WHO guidance on triage).
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This publication presents a comprehensive methodology to support the Member States of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in preparing for and responding to heat-health risks in the Region of the Americas. It builds on World Health Organization and the World Meteorological Organization globa...l documents, as well as on the disaster preparedness methodologies employed throughout the countries of the Region. This publication is part of an effort coordinated by PAHO to support Member States in multihazard preparedness, and includes: early warning system strengthening; threat characterization; activation and deactivation procedure definition; and institutional coordination. It engages different disciplines and recognizes the importance of intersectoral collaboration to respond to heat-health risks. It aims to bring awareness of the impacts of heat on the health of people of the Americas to public health decisionmakers, and thereby strengthen health service provision.
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Globally, approximately 56.8 million people are in need of palliative care
services; 78% of them living in low and middle-income country yet only
about 12% have their needs being met causing great suffering for many.
22 April 2022, This document provides updated interim recommendations on the use of masks by health workers providing care to patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. This update is prompted by new evidence around mask use and COVID-19 transmission, as well as the emergence of variants of conc...ern including Omicron. Masks continue to be a critical tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These interim guidelines supersede the recommendations provided in the WHO recommendations on mask use by health workers, in light of the Omicron variant of concern published on 22 December 2022.
WHO continually evaluates the emerging evidence and will review these interim recommendations within two months and issue new guidance as needed.
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The Lancet Planetary Health, Vol.5 Issue 2, Feb. 1,2021.
Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) serve to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement of staying “well below 2°C”, which could also yield substantial health co-benefits in the process. However, existing NDC commitments are inadequa...te to achieve this goal. Placing health as a key focus of the NDCs could present an opportunity to increase ambition and realise health co-benefits. We modelled scenarios to analyse the health co-benefits of NDCs for the year 2040 for nine representative countries (ie, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK, and the USA) that were selected for their contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions and their global or regional influence.
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The Interim Guidance for Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) outlines recommendations, considerations and methods to raise awareness, manage risk perception, maintain trust and proactively support people at risk to make informed decisions to protect themselves and others from monkeypo...x. The guidance includes recommendations on identifying and communicating with affected populations and key audiences and avoiding stigma in communications outreach. It also includes key messages about symptoms of monkeypox, transmission, prevention measures, and communicating about uncertainty. This document also provides RCCE guidance for managers and planners of gatherings and events, where close physical contact may create an environment conducive for the transmission of monkeypox. Additionally, this document includes a compendium of recommendations for RCCE methods and resources to support the monkeypox response.
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Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a condition which generally has no symptoms and if left untreated, can lead to heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure and blindness. Risk factors include older age, overweight or obesity, lack of physical activity, high salt/sodium intake, and h...igh alcohol intake.
Hypertension affects around 1 in 6 adults in the Americas and is the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading cause of death in the region, responsible for around 2 million lives lost each year.
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In this version of the compendium, each guidance is coded using the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI).
The compendium provides a systematic compilation of published guidance from WHO and other UN organizations on health and environment. Guidance on policies and actions a...s well as awareness raising and capacity building interventions is presented for all major areas of health and environment. Guidance referring to priority settings for action such as cities and other urban settlements, housing, workplaces and health care facilities is also listed. For greater practical relevance, each guidance is classified according to principally involved sectors, level of implementation and instruments for implementation.
The compilation of guidance for each area of health and environment or priority setting for action is accompanied, as available, by information on main sources, exposure assessment and existing guideline values. Important tools and further resources are presented alongside.
This compilation of published guidance on health and environment highlights that a large number of actions across main topics of health and environment, concerning various sectors, and applicable to various levels are available to improve health and reduce environmental risks. This compendium is intended to serve as a repository and easy-to-use and useful resource for decision and policy makers in health and environment at various levels.
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