Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs | July – September 2017
An overview on the health equity impact of policy and action: Is it making a difference? Why or why not?
Overview
Learning objectives
• Name the general principles of essential care and practice.
• Name management principles of priority MNS conditions.
• Use effective communication skills in interactions with people with MNS conditions.
• Perform assessments for priority MNS conditions.
... Assess and manage physical health in MNS conditions.
• Know the impact of violence and gender-based violence on mental health.
• Provide psychosocial interventions to a person with a priority MNS condition and their
carer.
• Deliver pharmacological interventions as needed and appropriate in priority MNS
conditions considering special populations.
• Plan and perform follow-up for MNS conditions.
• Refer to specialists and links with outside agencies for MNS conditions as appropriate and
available.
• Promote respect and dignity for people with priority MNS conditions.
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Exposure to air pollution causes 7 million deaths worldwide every year and costs an estimated US$ 5.11 trillion in welfare losses globally. In the 15 countries that emit the most greenhouse gas emissions, the health impacts of air pollution are estimated to cost more than 4% of their GDP. Actions to... meet the Paris goals would cost around 1% of global GDP. The report provides recommendations for governments on how to maximize the health benefits of tackling climate change and avoid the worst health impacts of this global challenge.
It describes how countries around the world are now taking action to protect lives from the impacts of climate change – but that the scale of support remains woefully inadequate, particularly for the small island developing states, and least developed countries. Only approximately 0.5% of multilateral climate funds dispersed for climate change adaptation have been allocated to health projects
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This WHO information note provides an updated list of recommended criteria for selecting RDTs for malaria, and highlights the performance of RDTs evaluated by the WHO malaria RDT product testing programme. It also provides an overview of additional considerations in the procurement of rapid tests.
he statistics in this report are from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) which records disasters which have killed ten or more people; affected 100 or more people; resulted in a declared state of emergency; or a call f...or international assistance.
In the period 2000 to 2019, there were 7,348 major recorded disaster events claiming 1.23 million lives, affecting 4.2 billion people (many on more than one occasion) resulting in approximately US$2.97 trillion in global economic losses.
This is a sharp increase over the previous twenty years. Between 1980 and 1999, 4,212 disasters were linked to natural hazards worldwide claiming approximately 1.19 million lives and affecting 3.25 billion people resulting in approximately US$1.63 trillion in economic losses.
Much of the difference is explained by a rise in climate-related disasters including extreme weather events: from 3,656 climate-related events (1980-1999) to 6,681 climate-related disasters in the period 2000-2019.
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International Migration 2020 Highlights presents key facts and messages regarding international migration globally and by region during 2000-2020, based on the 2020 revision of the international migrant stock data set, which provides updated estimates of numbers of persons living outside their count...ry of birth, classified by age, sex and origin, for 232 countries and areas. This Highlights also reviews policies and programmes to promote planned and well-managed migration and provides an overview of SDG indicator 10.7.2 on the number of countries with migration policies to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, used for measuring progress toward the achievement of SDG target 10.7.
You can download this paper and the full report in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian ans Spanish
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Preliminary overview of refugees and migrants self-reported impact of COVID-19
The study surveyed over 30,000 refugees and migrants living in 170 countries. Many of the respondents had fled war or dire economic conditions in their home country only to be faced with the additional challenges posed b...y COVID-19. Travel restrictions including border closures, suspension of resettlement travel, and last-minute deportation left many stranded or forced to stay in cramped, makeshift shelters or detention centers. Amid these uncertain, precarious conditions, many migrants described either a lack of access to health services or a fear of seeking them out — even if they were experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
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Climate change presents the single biggest threat to human development, and its widespread impacts disproportionately burden the poorest and most vulnerable households in fragile and rural developing contexts – particularly women and children.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate C...hange’s (IPCC) latest report, ‘between 2010 and 2020, droughts, floods and storms killed 15 times as many people in highly vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa — which is responsible for less than 3 percent of global emissions – than in the wealthiest countries’.
Recognising environmental degradation and climate change are key accelerators of extreme child vulnerability, World Vision (WV) approved the Environmental Stewardship Management Policy (‘the Policy’) and Guidelines (‘the Guidelines’) in 2021.
To support the implementation of the Policy and Guidelines, WV has developed this Environmental Stewardship and Climate Action Handbook (‘the Handbook’) to help offices across the WV Partnership implement best practice environmental management strategies both in the field and in our operations and facilities.
Integrating environmental stewardship and climate action into all our work – whether that be in our Area Programmes, grant projects, responses to disasters or advocacy – is critical to achieving WV’s strategy.
As a Christian organisation we are compelled to follow the ways of Jesus Christ, calling us to care for the ‘least of these’ (Matthew 25:40) – the vulnerable children who are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Our response to the degradation of the environment is not motivated by political expediency or funding – but because we are called to steward God’s creation (Genesis 1:28).
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States have committed and assumed obligations to address multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination against refugees, internally displaced persons, asylum seekers, returnees and stateless persons. The Global Compact on Refugees places ending discrimination of any kind based on the grounds of ...race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability, age, or other status at the centre of action to prevent displacement and to ensure peaceful coexistence between refugee and host communities. Narratives about cultural diversity and inclusion are important, but there is also a pressing need in many societies for conversations and action to address racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
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This thematic brief accompanies the Working for Health 2022–2030 Action Plan, serving as a background and rationale to the related actions of the Working for Health progression model (see Annex). The brief aims to inform Member States, nonstate actors and other users of the Action Plan on the con...text of health and care workforce education and employment, including the relevant policy landscape, key challenges and future directions.
In doing so, it provides an expanded exploration of the themes beyond what is provided in the Action Plan itself and reflects the topical issues and considerations that shaped its design, including those issues identified in the Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly Resolution WHA74.14 to protect, safeguard and invest in the health and care workforce. The importance of these themes was again emphasized at the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly, when Resolution WHA75.17: Human resources for health was co-sponsored by over 100 Member States, calling for the adoption and implementation of the Working for Health 2022–2030 Action Plan and utilization of the related Global Health and Care Worker Compact.
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This report presents the results of the official United Nations estimates and projections of urban and rural populations for 233 countries and areas of the world and for close to 1,900 urban settlements with 300,000 inhabitants or more in 2018, as published in World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 ...Revision. The data in this revision are consistent with the total populations estimated and projected according to the medium variant of the 2017 Revision of the United Nations global population estimates and projections, published in World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. This revision updates and supersedes previous estimates and projections published by the United Nations.
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The greatest risk to persons engaging in international medical emergency response is poor preparation.
The In Control handbook hopes to provide a remedy.
At the time of writing, we are living through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a health emergency that disregards physical borders, brin...gs into focus social inequalities and affects people on every continent. This shared challenge requires unprecedented measures and the collaboration of the brightest minds to support global health protection through this crisis and beyond. Healthcare infrastructures have to be strengthened, public health capacities and processes upgraded, medical countermeasures and vaccinations found and psychosocial side-effects treated.
Solidarity is the normative order of the day and the human species has to collaborate to face this invisible threat. Hiding and living in fear is not an option in this interconnected world. We have both a responsibility and an opportunity to make substantial contributions to a safer, healthier and more sustainable future for us all.
The existence of this handbook is an impressive example of solidarity. Over 50 authors from more than 15 institutes and organisations have come together voluntarily within a very short time to make their expertise available and enable cross-sectoral thinking. Knowledge is bundled, resources are combined, information gaps are filled. The In Control handbook is not a theoretical treatise of possible dangers, but a collection of subject-matter expertise, written by experts and practitioners who have shaped health topics over the past 20 years in the most diverse corners of the world.
The Centre for International Health Protection at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is collaborating with its partners and investing heavily in the build-up of operational know-how and capacity to support health crisis response abroad. This is done by preparing and enabling professionals to deploy safely across the world to assist those in need. In Control addresses the multi-faceted challenges of an international deployment. Readers will find not only technical medical information, but also insights into, for example, the fragility of our environment, the cultural differences that influence risk communication or the dilemmas arising from social distancing. Legal principles are highlighted, along with ethical guidance to ensure that our actions and decisions correspond to the highest moral standards.
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Unfortunately, current data available on SDG financing are not sufficient to quantify the distribution of financing for the SDGs.
AidData’s methodology for measuring financing to the SDGs attempts to fill this gap by analyzing development project documentation to estimate project-level contributi...ons to the SDGs (and their associated targets). This methodology lets us see where development financing is targeted, allowing comparisons among SDG goals and individual SDG targets.
This methodology note describes two iterations of AidData’s methodology. The first, based on a crosswalk with existing aid reporting schemes, was employed for AidData’s 2017 flagship report Realizing Agenda 2030: Will donor dollars and country priorities align with global goals? and our brief Financing the SDGs in Colombia. The second iteration of the methodology employs a direct coding scheme, linking development projects directly to the SDGs through analysis and coding of project descriptions rather than through an intermediary classification system. This method was employed for our 2019 brief Financing the SDGs: Evidence in Four Countries.
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The biennium 2020–2021 has revealed more clearly than ever the need for a strong, credible and independent WHO on the world stage. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis has demonstrated the fundamental importance of the global detection, response and coordination roles that only WHO can play a...cross all Member States. At the same time, the challenges to global health systems and the pressure to ensure equal access to quality health care and the best health possible for all have mounted. The triple billion targets of the Thirteenth General Programme of Work, 2019–2023 remain relevant. The work of WHO in all contexts has never been more critical. However, as several Member States have pointed out, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the discrepancy between what the world expects of WHO and what it is able to deliver with the resources/capacity it has at its disposal. Sustainable financing is thus a key challenge for the Organization that must be addressed as part of the lessons learned from the current COVID-19 pandemic. Member States discussed this issue in detail during the Seventy-third World Health Assembly and their conclusions were reflected in resolution WHA73.1 (2020). The topic of adequate funding is not new. However, discussions on the matter have, to date, remained rather abstract. Building on previous discussions and taking account of lessons learned, the WHO Secretariat would like to initiate a process aimed at finding a concrete solution to the sustainable financing of WHO. This document proposes a process through which to arrive at such a decision, including the key stages and timeline.
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WHO/Europe has launched a new guide, providing support to countries on how to apply behavioural and cultural insights (BCI) for health. It presents a simple step-wise approach, complemented by a rich collection of detailed considerations, tools and exercises. The guide is the first of its kind, spec...ifically developed for use by public health professionals developing policies, services and communications informed by BCI across health topics.
Some of the most persistent public health challenges involve human behaviour. Using a BCI lens means that health policies, services and communications can be tailored to the needs and circumstances of people and communities, and thereby help combat these challenges. The new Tailoring Health Programmes (THP) guide describes how this can be done.
Building on several topic-specific guides that focused on applying BCI to routine and influenza vaccination and tackling antimicrobial resistance, as well as external evaluations and a rigorous peer-review process, this guide is the result of over a decade of work by WHO/Europe. The THP approach has already been adopted in over 20 countries and has received positive feedback from public health agencies.
“This guide is the culmination of a decade of work involving many colleagues at country, regional and global levels. The guide is our “BCI bible”, guiding our work with and in countries to help tackle persistent health challenges,” said Katrine Bach Habersaat, Regional Advisor for BCI at WHO/Europe.
Karina Godoy, Senior Analyst and National Focal Point for Behavioural Insights at the Public Health Agency of Sweden, who is employing the approach described in the guide across several health projects, comments: “The THP guide is easy to use and at the same time provides detailed guidance and inspiration where needed. We have decided to translate the document into Swedish and use the approach widely”.
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This WHO laboratory manual provides the most up to date methods and procedures for the laboratory identification of yellow fever virus infection in humans. It provides guidance on the establishment and maintenance of an effective laboratory providing routine surveillance testing for yellow fever, wh...ich operates within the WHO coordinated Global Yellow Fever Laboratory Network (GYFLaN) capable of providing confirmation of yellow fever infection reliably and timely. This second edition supersedes the first edition of the 2004 WHO manual for the monitoring of yellow fever virus infection.
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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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The document, "Progress on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases," reports on global efforts to reduce the impact of NCDs, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, following the commitments made at high-level United Nations meetings. It highlights ...the inadequate progress in meeting the targets set under the Sustainable Development Goal 3.4 to reduce premature NCD mortality by one-third by 2030. Key challenges include insufficient funding, limited implementation of effective interventions, and political and economic barriers, especially in low-income countries. The report calls for strengthened international cooperation, policy reform, and innovative approaches to meet global health targets.
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