This publication outlines public health aspects of alcohol use and harm in WHO South East Asia Region Countries. It summarizes Global Regional and country specific data and also discusses aspects of alcohol control that are important in the context of the Region. The possible future trend of alcohol... use in the Region is also analysed and current and future barriers to effective alcohol control in countries of the Region are discussed.
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The Report describes the evaluation of WHO's contribution to the Maternal Health Program in South-East Asia Region. This was an independent evaluation conducted in 2015 by Amaltas, a Delhi based organization. The evaluation highlights the progress in five countries, namely Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mya...nmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka and provides specific recommendations for Organizational Learning and Development. This report will be useful for all those interested in WHO's work on Maternal Health Program in the Region.
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It estimates that there have been 228,000 additional deaths of children under five in these six countries [Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka] due to crucial services, ranging from nutrition benefits to immunisation, being halted.
It says the number of children being tr...eated for severe malnutrition fell by more than 80% in Bangladesh and Nepal, and immunisation among children dropped by 35% and 65% in India and Pakistan respectively...
It also estimates that there have been some 3.5 million additional unwanted pregnancies, including 400,000 among teenagers, due to poor or no access to contraception...
The interruption to health services also affected those suffering from other diseases - the report predicts an additional 5,943 deaths across the region among adolescents who couldn't get treated for tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid and HIV/Aids.
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Ocean plastic pollution has reached crisis level: every minute, more than an entire garbage truck of plastic makes its way into the world’s oceans—roughly 11 million metric tons annually. While plastic waste presents an immediate threat to marine wildlife and ecosystems, this global challenge al...so has implications for major industries such as fishing and tourism, impacting the livelihoods of millions of people. The drivers and impacts of ocean plastic pollution also contribute to global challenges in food security, human health, and climate change.
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This document provides technical guidance on concepts, definitions, indicators, criteria, milestones and tools to assist leprosy programmes in their journey towards the goals of interruption of transmission and elimination of leprosy disease and through the post-elimination period. Importantly, it p...rovides criteria with benchmarks, where possible, for all key aspects of leprosy programmes and services. Not only those related to elimination efforts, but also those related to diagnosis and management of leprosy, leprosy-related disabilities, mental wellbeing, stigma and discrimination and inclusion and participation of persons affected by leprosy. The document emphasises that the elimination of leprosy is a long-term, continuous journey on the one hand, while, on the other, clear milestones can be recognised on the way and programme implementation can be assessed against benchmarks, guiding appropriate action to keep the programme on track.
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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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COVID-19 has heavily emphasized how contact tracing is crucial for managing outbreaks, and as part of the strategy for adjusting, and eventually lifting, lockdowns and other stringent public health and social measures. As the pandemic develops further, it will be a core measure to manage further wav...es of infection. In early June 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an online global consultation on contact tracing in the context of COVID-19, looking at the lessons of the pandemic to date; known and emerging best practices; and the measures necessary for urgent implementation, scale-up, maintenance and enhancement of contact tracing activities.
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This guideline for the prevention and control of chikungunya fever
(CF) is intended for use by all peripheral health workers in the Region and
is based on the strategy outlined above. This document will focus mainly
on preventing, predicting and detecting outbreaks, and after detection,
investig...ating and containing them.
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Based on Human Rights Watch (HRW)'s reporting on the human rights dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic (see Related Summary, and the video, below), this document presents 40 questions to provoke thinking about a rights-respecting response to the crisis. The questions address the needs - including aro...und issues of information and communication - of groups most at risk, such as people living in poverty, ethnic and religious minorities, women, people with disabilities, older people, migrants, refugees, children, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The resource also identifies a variety of responses to the crisis, some of which are positive and others problematic - with many links to related stories and resources online.
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Information on Chikungunya Fever
The ‘Toolkit’ is targeted at practitioners responsible for implementing recovery programmes, their objective to provide a ‘how to’ guide on development, implementing and managing complex post-disaster recovery programmes.
Disaster Recovery Toolkit
Report of the Review Committee on the Functioning of the International Health Regulations (2005) in relation to Pandemic (H1N1) 2009