This Fiji contextualized manual was initially drafted for CANDO partners as a result of the work done by the humanitarian arms of the various Christian denominations. However as the work progressed it became evidently clear that the training was needed for all responders, and not only Christian resp...onders, and as such, the Christian component has been added as an Annex to this manual, whilst the entire manual is relevant and can be used to train all first responders in Fiji.
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This is the sixth of our 11-paper supplement entitled “Community Health Workers at the Dawn of New Era”. Expectations of community health workers (CHWs) have expanded in recent years to encompass a wider array
of services to numerous subpopulations, engage communities to collaborate with and to... assist health systems in responding to complex and sometimes intensive threats. In this paper, we explore a set of key considerations for training of CHWs in response to their enhanced and changing roles and provide actionable recommendations based on
current evidence and case examples for health systems leaders and other stakeholders to utilize.
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Key questions
What is already known?
Critical illness is common throughout the world and COVID-19 has caused a global surge of critically ill patients.
There are large gaps in the quality of care for critically ill patients, especially in low-staffed and low-resourced settings, and mortal...ity rates are high.
Essential Emergency and Critical Care (EECC) is the effective lifesaving care of low-cost and low-complexity that all critically ill patients should receive in all wards in all hospitals in the world.
What are the new findings?
The clinical processes that comprise EECC and the essential care of critically ill patients with COVID-19 have been specified in a large consensus among clinical experts worldwide.
The resource requirements for hospitals to be ready to provide this care has been described.
What do the new findings imply?
The findings can be used across medical specialties in hospitals worldwide to prioritise and implement essential care for reducing preventable deaths.
Inclusion of the EEEC processes could increase the impact of pandemic preparedness and response programmes and policies for health systems strengthening.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified mental health as an integral component of the COVID-19 response. Its rapid assessment of service delivery for mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, on which this report is based, is the first attempt to... measure the impact of the pandemic on such services at a global level. The data were collected through a web-based survey completed by mental health focal points at ministries of health between June and August 2020. The questionnaire covered the existence and funding of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) plans, the presence and composition of MHPSS coordination platforms, the degree of continuation and causes of disruption of different MNS services, the approaches used to overcome these disruptions, and surveillance mechanisms and research on MNS data.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected job satisfaction among healthcare workers; yet this has not been empirically examined in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We addressed this gap by examining job satisfaction and associated factors among healthcare workers in Ghana and Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic. W...e conducted a cross-sectional study with healthcare workers (N = 1012). The two phased data collection included: (1) survey data collected in Ghana from April 17 to May 31, 2020, and (2) survey data collected in Ghana and Kenya from November 9, 2020, to March 8, 2021. We utilized a quantitative measure of job satisfaction, as well as validated psychosocial measures of perceived preparedness, stress, and burnout; and conducted descriptive, bivariable, and multivariable analysis using ordered logistic regression. We found high levels of job dissatisfaction (38.1%), low perceived preparedness (62.2%), stress (70.5%), and burnout (69.4%) among providers. High perceived preparedness was positively associated with higher job satisfaction (adjusted proportional odds ratio (APOR) = 2.83, CI [1.66,4.84]); while high stress and burnout were associated with lower job satisfaction (APOR = 0.18, CI [0.09,0.37] and APOR = 0.38, CI [0.252,0.583] for high stress and burnout respectively). Other factors positively associated with job satisfaction included prior job satisfaction, perceived appreciation from management, and perceived communication from management. Fear of infection was negatively associated with job satisfaction. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted job satisfaction among healthcare workers. Inadequate preparedness, stress, and burnout are significant contributing factors. Given the already strained healthcare system and low morale among healthcare workers in SSA, efforts are needed to increase preparedness, better manage stress and burnout, and improve job satisfaction, especially during the pandemic.
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Preliminary fndings from a global survey of urban young people on the air they breathe and a child health co-benefts analysis of radical decarbonisation of 16 global cities.
The Planetary Health Report Card is a student-driven, metric-based initiative to inspire planetary health and sustainable healthcare education engagement in medical schools. In addition to inspiring expansion of medical school curricula, we hope to inspire medical schools to expand research efforts,... engage with communities most affected by climate change and environmental injustice, support passionate medical students who are trying to organize around planetary health at the institutional level, and implement sustainable practices. A set of metrics in these five category areas allows students and faculty to conduct a needs assessment at their medical school.
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These guidelines provide a framework for effective action to facilitate access to safe and ethical
testing services for different population groups. The implementation of the a comprehensive
approach, known as HIV Testing Services (HTS) is cardinal as an effective package of services
that diminis...hes the impact of the HIV epidemic in our country. All forms of HTS adhere to
the 5Cs: Confidentiality, Counselling, Consent, Correct results and Connection, or linkage
to care, with all based within a human right context. In addition to the 5Cs, however, the
MOHCDGEC emphasizes the use of a variety of approaches to HTS that will reduce the
number of missed opportunities. These include Provider-Initiated Testing and Counselling
testing, Couple counselling and testing, Index testing, and infant and children counselling and
testing in alignment to the revised WHO guidelines. Furthermore, these guidelines accentuate
on the continual provision of integrated HTS service at all levels of the public and private
health service delivery system.
The HTS Providers, managers and other stakeholders
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Round 3: Key informant findings from 129 countries, territories and areas - Quarter 4 2021
Countries reported disruptions in all health-care settings. In more than half of countries surveyed, many people are still unable to access care at the primary care and community care levels. Significant dis...ruptions have also been reported in emergency care, particularly concerning given the impact on people with urgent health needs. Thirty-six per cent of countries reported disruptions to ambulance services; 32% to 24-hour emergency room services; and 23% to emergency surgeries.
Elective surgeries have also been disrupted in 59% of countries, which can have accumulating consequences on health and well-being as the pandemic continues. Disruptions to rehabilitative care and palliative care were also reported in around half of the countries surveyed.
Major barriers to health service recovery include pre-existing health systems issues which have been exacerbated by the pandemic as well as decreased demand for care.
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This report presents the key findings of the end-of-project assessment of households and
community health volunteers, conducted in 2017 in the Kamukunji and Embakasi sub-counties
of Nairobi, Kenya, for a Community Health Volunteers’ Decision Support System (CHV DSS)
intervention project. The re...port was prepared by the African Population and Health Research
Center (APHRC). The end-line survey was implemented by APHRC. Implementation of the CHV
DSS project is a joint collaboration among several partners, including APHRC, the City County
of Nairobi, sub-county health management teams (Kamukunji and Embakasi), and community
health volunteers. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the donor organization, the County Innovation Challenge Fund
for Kenya.
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Occupational health and safety programmes aim to prevent diseases and injuries arising out of, linked with or occurring in the course of work, while improving the quality and safety of care, safeguarding the health workforce and promoting environmental sustainability in the health sector.
This gu...ide provides an overview of the key elements of occupational health and safety programmes for health workers at national, subnational and facility levels, as well as advice for the development and implementation of such programmes. Health workers exposure risk assessment and management in the context of COVID-19 virus
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In 2018 and early 2019, the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s cultural contexts of health and well-being project worked alongside the University of Exeter’s WHO Collaborating Centre on Culture and Health, the Minsk Regional Centre for Psychiatry and Addiction, and the Institute of Mental Health o...f the Ukrainian Catholic University to engage researchers, practitioners, health-care workers and other relevant stakeholders in a series of workshops on the cultural contexts of early life trauma in Belarus and Ukraine.
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his Framework begins with a desired future scenario and considers actions and interventions necessary to get there. It advocates for holistic view to address tuberculosis. The Framework revisits challenges and actions in four layers: TB specific; challenges in health systems that influence TB care; ...challenges in sectors beyond health that determine TB; and overarching governance issues. Multisectoral action and accountability are embedded in the Framework. The Framework is based on the principles of people-centered care and system development.
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The threats posed by climate change to agriculture are now well known. Climate change has already resulted in a negative trend in mean crop yield per decade, and this is likely to continue as the century unfolds. In Africa, 650 million people are currently dependent on rain- fed agriculture and, des...pite progress in the Millennium Development Goals, food and nutrition insecurity remainunacceptably high.
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Known avoidable environmental risks to health cause at least 12.6 million deaths every year, and account for about one quarter of the global burden of disease (2016 data) (1). Air pollution alone causes about 7 million
deaths a year, placing it among the top global risks to health (2). Global envir...onmental challenges are on the rise, including climate change, rapid urbanization and increased resistance to drugs.
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The 2021 WHO health and climate change global survey report provides a valuable snapshot of the overall progress governments have made in addressing the health risks of climate change. The findings on key health and climate change indicators aim to empower policy makers to: make informed decisions o...n the implementation of policies and plans; identify evidence gaps; and better understand the barriers to achieving adaptation and resilience priorities in the health sector while maximizing the health benefits of sector-wide climate mitigation efforts.
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French and European food systems need to be trans- formed in order to address health, environmental and social challenges.
The world agreed to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Nine planetary boundaries set an upper limit to Earth system impacts of human activity in the long run. Conventional efforts to achieve the 14 socio-economic goals will raise pressure on planetary boundaries, moving the world away... from the three environmental SDGs. We have created a simple model, Earth3, to measure how much environmental damage follows from achievement of the 14 socio-economic goals, and we propose an index to track effects on people’s wellbeing. Extraordinary efforts will be needed to achieve all SDGs within planetary boundaries.
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The global burden of disease associated with air pollution exposure exacts a massive toll on human health worldwide: exposure to air pollution is estimated to cause millions of deaths and lost years of healthy life annually. The burden of disease attributable to air pollution is now estimated to be ...on a par with other major global health risks such as unhealthy diet and tobacco smoking, and air pollution is now recognized as the single biggest environmental threat to human health.
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