Promoting and protecting the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of children, adolescents, and their caregivers remains undamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a direct contribution to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well- eing). In 2024, UNICEF accelerated the scale-up o...f integrated, multisectoral MHPSS programming. These efforts contributed to the strengthening of national and subnational child and adolescent mental health systems by supporting programming across the continuum of care, investing in workforce development, advancing data systems and evidence generation, and promoting institutional leadership and coordination mechanisms. UNICEF’s growing reach, particularly through health, education, and child protection systems, reflects a strategic commitment to embedding MHPSS in sustainable development frameworks and in responses that bridge humanitarian action and development programming.
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PHSM are vital in reducing the risk and scale of infectious disease transmission and lowering hospitalization and deaths. Examples include contact tracing, quarantine and isolation, mask use, ventilation, school or workplace measures, mobility restrictions and travel requirements.
While these mea...sures are essential, decision-making on PHSM becomes particularly complex during rapidly evolving health emergencies, with incomplete information and under significant public and political pressure, especially when the pathogen is novel or poorly understood. In such contexts, guidance needs to be agile and responsive, developed and adapted based on emerging evidence and shifting epidemiological patterns. Decision-makers are frequently confronted with difficult trade-offs, having to balance measures that are:
─ effective but socially disruptive;
─ cost-effective but logistically burdensome;
─ beneficial for public health but economically disruptive; or
─ practical but inequitable or unethical
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On 4 September 2025, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Kasai Province, following confirmation of Zaire ebolavirus by the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) in Bulape and Mweka Health Zones. As of 19... September, there have been 48 total cases (38 confirmed, 10 probable) with 31 deaths (21 confirmed, 10 probable) and a CFR of 64.5%. Among laboratory confirmed cases, 16 deaths were recorded (CFR: 45.7%). Four deaths occurred among health workers, underscoring the risk of nosocomial transmission. Most cases (39.7%) are among adults aged 20 years and above, in a densely populated, remote, and under-resourced area.
The outbreak is driven by multiple risk factors, including transmission in health facilities with limited infection prevention and control (IPC) measures and personal protective equipment (PPE), incomplete contact tracing, delayed detection, and unsafe burial practices. High population mobility between Bulape and Tshikapa, reliance on traditional healers, and the concurrent mpox outbreak are further straining the fragile health system and increasing the risk of geographic spread.
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This plan, approved by the Organization’s 62nd Directing Council, was shaped by extensive consultations with countries and stakeholders, and commits to transformative health outcomes over the next six years, tackling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), mental health, health security, fragmented healt...h systems and services, and the elimination of communicable diseases, amongst others.
“The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that the Region of the Americas is stronger when we work together,” said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Director. “This Strategic Plan harnesses our collective strength to build resilient health systems, reduce disease burden, and improve health and well-being for all across the Americas.”
The plan builds on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed gaps in health systems while highlighting the power of joint action. It targets measurable impacts in countries, such as reducing maternal mortality, reversing rising suicide rates, and eliminating diseases like leprosy and Chagas.
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AIDS 2024, 38:1579–1588. Treatment interruptions are a barrier to successful antiretroviral therapy (ART). 'Fresh start messages', which leverage significant days on the calendar (e.g., new year, public holiday) in order to prompt action, have the potential to encourage people with HIV (PWH) to re...turn to care. We evaluated a 'fresh start' intervention (text messages) to increase return to care in PWH who had missed their last appointment.
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With an estimated population of about 5 million and an annual growth rate of 8 per cent, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, is Africa’s fastest growing city.1 Over 70 per cent of the people live in informal, unplanned settlements with inadequate infrastructure. In addition, heavy rainfalls twice a year ...result in signifi cant fl ood risks. The objectives in Dar es Salaam were to 1) obtain high quality and up to date exposure maps of aff ected communities and as a stretch goal 2) to create a hydrological model using elevation data. Both of these would form important elements to managing fl ood risks but neither had been previously available due to a lack of high quality digital imagery
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This resource was written to support persons who seek to initiate a support group for suicide loss survivors. Suicide bereavement support groups offer a wide range of benefits that can help individuals to navigate the difficult time following a loss. First and foremost, a support group provides a ch...ance to break the silence and reduce the stigma surrounding suicide by creating a space where individuals can openly discuss their grief. It also serves as a source of information about suicide and bereavement. It is important to note that support groups are not a replacement for professional help and that support groups may not be for everyone.
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This report was developed by the WHO TB Vaccine Accelerator Finance and Access working group, co-led by WHO, Gavi and the Government of South Africa. It sets out the working group’s shared vision for equitable access to novel TB vaccines and will advance a shared understanding of the current lands...cape and its possible evolution in the future. It identifies six urgently needed solutions to accelerate access and financing and highlights the roles of different stakeholders to support the implementation of these solutions.
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The primary audience for this guideline includes policy-makers or service providers who are responsible for developing national and local health-care protocols and policies related to care during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period, and those directly providing care to women during pregna...ncy, including obstetricians, midwives, endocrinologists, nurses, general practitioners, dietitians and diabetes educators, and managers of maternal and child health programmes, in all settings.
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Human Rights Fact Sheet Series
Overview
Learning objectives
• Promote respect and dignity for people with depression.
• Recognize common symptoms of depression.
• Know the assessment principles of depression.
• Know the management principles of depression.
• Perform an assessment for depression.
• Use effective... communication skills in interactions with people with depression.
• Assess and manage physical health conditions as well as depression.
• Assess and manage emergency presentations of depression (see Module: Self-harm/
suicide).
• Provide psychosocial interventions for people with depression and their carers.
• Deliver pharmacological interventions as needed and appropriate, considering special
populations.
• Plan and perform follow-up for depression.
• Refer to specialists and link with outside services where appropriate and available.
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El Ministerio de Salud de manera articulada con el Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS) presenta la lista de laboratorios a nivel nacional que realizan la prueba molecular SARS-CoV-2 para la detección o descarte de la COVID-19. Los laboratorios son: Laboratorios Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS), Lab...oratorios Referenciales DIRESAS/GERESAS/DIRIS, Laboratorios Institutos / Hospitales Minsa, Laboratorios Hospitales Fuerzas Armadas, Laboratorios Hospitales ESSALUD, Laboratorios Universidad, Laboratorios Privados
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The Urban Health Initiative (UHI) goes beyond improving access to health care and promoting healthy behaviours, and focuses on how to build cities that enable and encourage good health.
O Protocolo de Vigilância Epidemiológica e Sanitária de Eventos Adversos Pós-Vacinação (EAPV), é o documento de referência nacional para a vigilância das vacinas COVID-19. Além disso, complementará, com os demais protocolos definidos pelo Ministério da Saúde, as ações empreendidas par...a o enfretamento da pandemia de Covid-19 no país.
O desenvolvimento e a operacionalização do Protocolo obrigam à definição clara de uma estrutura de liderança, coordenação e harmonização, bem como à identificação das entidades com responsabilidades no planejamento, na execução e na avaliação das atividades estabelecidas nas três esferas de gestão do Sistem Unico de Saude. Para tanto, este Protocolo preconiza o fortalecimento da integração dos atores do SUS, bem como de segmentos da sociedade brasileira, envolvidos direta ou indiretamente com a minimização de riscos e monitoramento de EAPV.
Este documento apresenta orientações gerais estruturantes e procedimentos para o funcionamento eficiente do sistema de farmacovigilância/vigilância de eventos adversos pós-vacinação (VEAPV) nas diferentes esferas de gestão do Sistema Unico de Saude, especificamente quanto as questões de segurança e queixas técnicas de vacinas.
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The exercise was convened by the East Africa Community (EAC) and implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO) to test both countries’ preparedness and response to disease outbreaks. It covered various real-life simulations involving the health, livestock, agriculture, tourism and environment... sectors. The simulation that was presented was not unusual in the region, and highlighted the daily challenge of managing the risk of disease outbreaks.
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Integrating trauma healing for partner staff into recovery programming.
This assessment shares testimonies from CRS and partner staff who participated in a trauma healing program in Central Africa Republic.
CRS's trauma-healing methodology uses small groups—of all genders, ages and faiths—focu...sing on the survivors of violence. Religious leaders, members of community protection committees, and local authorities also participate in these groups. Basic trauma‑healing workshops focus on individual sharing and healing while laying the foundation for communities to build capacity to respond to widespread suffering
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Due to the anticipated significant rise in VL testing occasioned by Ghana’s adaptation of 2016 ART guidelines, it has become necessary to develop this VL scale-up and operational plan to assure complete client access to laboratory monitoring towards the achievement of the third 90 of the HIV care ...cascade. The plan will enhance VL testing, monitoring whilst improving the clinical and laboratory interface for improved client care.
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