Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that occurs mainly in the tropics and subtropics but has a high potential to spread to new areas. Dengue infections are climate sensitive, so it is important to better understand how changing climate factors affect the potential for geographic spread and futu...re dengue epidemics. Vectorial capacity (VC) describes a vector's propensity to transmit dengue taking into account human, virus, and vector interactions. VC is highly temperature dependent, but most dengue models only take mean temperature values into account. Recent evidence shows that diurnal temperature range (DTR) plays an important role in influencing the behavior of the primary dengue vector Aedes aegypti. In this study, we used relative VC to estimate dengue epidemic potential (DEP) based on the temperature and DTR dependence of the parameters of A. aegypti. We found a strong temperature dependence of DEP; it peaked at a mean temperature of 29.3°C when DTR was 0°C and at 20°C when DTR was 20°C. Increasing average temperatures up to 29°C led to an increased DEP, but temperatures above 29°C reduced DEP. In tropical areas where the mean temperatures are close to 29°C, a small DTR increased DEP while a large DTR reduced it. In cold to temperate or extremely hot climates where the mean temperatures are far from 29°C, increasing DTR was associated with increasing DEP. Incorporating these findings using historical and predicted temperature and DTR over a two hundred year period (1901-2099), we found an increasing trend of global DEP in temperate regions. Small increases in DEP were observed over the last 100 years and large increases are expected by the end of this century in temperate Northern Hemisphere regions using climate change projections. These findings illustrate the importance of including DTR when mapping DEP based on VC.
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Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(12), 2626; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122626
Climate change is increasing risks to human health and to the health systems that seek to protect the safety and well-being of populations. Health authorities require information about current associatio...ns between health outcomes and weather or climate, vulnerable populations, projections of future risks and adaptation opportunities in order to reduce exposures, empower individuals to take needed protective actions and build climate-resilient health systems. An increasing number of health authorities from local to national levels seek this information by conducting climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessments. While assessments can provide valuable information to plan for climate change impacts, the results of many studies are not helping to build the global evidence-base of knowledge in this area. They are also often not integrated into adaptation decision making, sometimes because the health sector is not involved in climate change policy making processes at the national level. Significant barriers related to data accessibility, a limited number of climate and health models, uncertainty in climate projections, and a lack of funding and expertise, particularly in developing countries, challenge health authority efforts to conduct rigorous assessments and apply the findings. This paper examines the evolution of climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessments, including guidance developed for such projects, the number of assessments that have been conducted globally and implementation of the findings to support health adaptation action. Greater capacity building that facilitates assessments from local to national scales will support collaborative efforts to protect health from current climate hazards and future climate change. Health sector officials will benefit from additional resources and partnership opportunities to ensure that evidence about climate change impacts on health is effectively translated into needed actions to build health resilience.
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The consequences of the failing health system has immediate and longer-term impacts on children . April 2022
Available in English and Arabic
PNAS 2022 Vol. 119 No. 7 e2109217118
Journal of Land Use Science, 16:3, 223-239, DOI: 10.1080/1747423X.2021.1933226
A global food crisis fuelled by conflict, climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic is growing because of the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine driving rising prices of food, fuel and fertilizer. Millions of people across the world are at risk of being driven into starvation unless action is taken... now to respond together and at scale. Due to the unprecedented overlap of crises, WFP’s annual operational requirements are at an all-time high of US$22.2 billion, with confirmed contributions so far at US$4.8 billion (22 percent). WFP is calling for coordinated action to address this crisis.
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In 2007, the Sixtieth World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA60.13 on control of leishmaniasis, urging Member States, among other actions:
to strengthen prevention, active detection and treatment of cases of both cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in order to decrease the disease burde...n; and
to strengthen the capacity of peripheral health centres to deliver primary and secondary care, so that they provide appropriate affordable diagnosis and treatment and act as sentinel surveillance sites.
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Annals of Global Health, 87(1), p.30. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.2647
More than three months since the start of the war in Ukraine, people globally are facing a cost-of-living crisis not seen in more than a generation, with escalating price shocks in the global food, energy and fertilizer markets - in a world already grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and climate ch...ange.
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Self-care interventions are among the most promising and exciting new approaches to improve health and well-being, both from a health systems perspective and for people who use these interventions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) uses the following working definition of self-care: Self-care i...s the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker. The scope of self-care as described in this definition includes health promotion; disease prevention and control; self-medication; providing care to dependent persons; seeking hospital/specialist/primary care if necessary; and rehabilitation, including palliative care. It includes a range of self-care modes and approaches. While this is a broad definition that includes many activities, it is important for health policy to recognize the importance of self-care, especially where it intersects with health systems and health professionals.
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The mhGAP community toolkit: field test version is an integral part of WHO's Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP), and aims at scaling up services for people with mental health conditions to achieve universal health coverage.
The toolkit provides guidance for programme managers on how to i...dentify local mental health needs and tailor community services to match these needs. It offers practical information and necessary tools for community providers to promote mental health, prevent mental health conditions and expand access to mental health services.
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Cryptococcal disease, particularly cryptococcal meningitis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among people living with HIV with advanced HIV disease. It is estimated that it is responsible for nearly 19% of AIDS-related mortality, second only to tuberculosis. Rapid screening, diagnosi...s and linking to appropriate treatment are critical actions national programs must take to reduce the burden of disease.
WHO in 2022 introduced updated guidelines for diagnosing, preventing, and managing cryptococcal disease among adults, adolescents and children living with HIV. This policy brief provides a summary of the key recommendations, clinical considerations, and also stresses the importance of ensuring access to life-saving antifungals. There is an urgent need for countries to scale-up management for not just cryptococcal meningitis, but address cryptococcal disease in the context of a package of care for advanced HIV disease as recommended by WHO.
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As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the people of Ukraine, especially the most vulnerable, are paying an enormous price. Lives and livelihoods are being lost, with more than ten million people forced from their homes— and their country—in search of safety. The war has unleashed catast...rophic damage to the country’s economy and threatens lasting increases in poverty and societal upheaval. The scale of the war and the devastation it has caused have jeopardized Ukraine’s hard-fought development gains, through destruction of production and property, disruption of trade, diminished investment due to amplified uncertainty, and erosion of human capita
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The EYE communication strategy is intended for use by all EYE partners and respective communication teams, as well as regional and country colleagues who will need to communicate about the work of EYE. It will also be publicly available for others, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and p...rivate sector organizations, who may wish to read or share content published about EYE.
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Guía Nacional para el Manejo de la Enfermedad por el Virus de la Chikungunya
The war in Ukraine has had devasting impact on women and girls
worldwide, widening gender gaps and increasing rates of food insecurity, malnutrition and energy poverty. This brief reviews the available evidence of that impact, recommending urgent attention to its consequences for women and girls. I...ts findings underline the global impacts on gender equality and women’s rights that have been compounded by climate change, environmental degradation and the COVID-19 pandemic,
demonstrating further entrenched inequalities and human rights violations.
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