Annex to Considerations in adjusting public health and social measures in the context of COVID-19
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presents an exceptional and unprecedented challenge for competent authoritiesa with responsibilities for national food safety control systemsb to continue conducting routine functions and activities in accordance with national regulations... and international recommendations. In many countries, competent authority staff are largely working from home, teleworking being the normal practice, and all face-to-face meetings cancelled or rescheduled as teleconferences. It is challenging to maintain, without interruption, routine activities such as the inspection of food business operations, certifying exports, control of imported foods, monitoring and surveillance of the safety of the food supply chain, sampling and analysis of food, managing food incidents, providing advice on food safety and food regulations for the food industry, and communicating on food safety issues with the public.
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Recent forecasts by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have indicated a risk of locust invasion in West Africa from June 2020. From East Africa, some swarms could reach the eastern part of the Sahel and continue westwards from Chad to Mauritania.
Surveillance and co...ntrol teams will be mobilized across the region with a focus on Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and the Niger, and extended to Senegal. Countries such as Cameroon, the Gambia and Nigeria are also on watch in the event that desert locust spreads to these highly acute food-insecure countries. Since the region could be threatened in the coming months, FAO is strongly encouraging no regret investments in preparedness and anticipatory action to control swarms and safeguard livelihoods, given already high levels of acute food insecurity. Therefore, cost estimates for preparedness, anticipatory action and rapid response have been assessed.
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COVID‑19 strategic preparedness and response
The first case of COVID-19 was reported in Mozambique on 22 March 2020. As of 26 May, Mozambique had 194 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 168 were locally transmitted. The country’s capital, Maputo, and the province of Cabo Delgado are currently the epicentres of the outbreak in Mozambique, w...ith Pemba and Afungi registering more than 50 percent of the overall cases. Other provinces affected are Manica, Inhambane, Gaza, Tete and Sofala.
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This Interim Guidance outlines how key public health and social measures needed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread and the impact of the disease can be adapted for use in low capacity and humanitarian settings. The recommendations outlined here need to be adjusted to the scale of transmission, co...ntext and resources, in order to achieve the objective of managing COVID-19, namely to reduce transmission and facilitate the detection and management of infected and exposed individuals within the population. The Guidance is intended for humanitarian and development actors of all operational levels working with communities ocal authorities involved in COVID-19 preparedness and response operations in these settings, in support of national and local governments and plans. Additional considerations for support to residents of urban informal settlements and slums are available in Annex 1.
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According to the International Science Council, the report focuses on identifying the scope of hazards that should be considered in risk reduction efforts, and provides scientifically robust and internationally agreed definitions of these hazards.
21 August 2020
This guidance provides specific considerations for the use of non-medical masks, also known as fabric masks, by children as a means for source control in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. It also advises on the use of medical masks for children under certain conditions.
A new publication - Waste Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic: from response to recovery - reviews current practices for managing waste from healthcare facilities, households and quarantine locations accommodating people with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. Jointly produced by UNEP, th...e Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and the International Environmental Technology Centre, the report considers various approaches, identifies best practices and technologies, and provides recommendations for policy-makers and practitioners to improve waste management, over the long term.
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Practical guide for doctors, nurses,laboratory technicians, medical auxiliaries,water and sanitation specialists and logisticians
Under the theme Equity at the Heart of Health, this Plan seeks to catalyze efforts in Member States to reduce inequities in health within and between countries and territories in order to improve health outcomes. The Plan identifies specific actions to tackle health inequality, including those recom...mended by the Commission on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Americas, with guidance from the High-level Commission for Universal Health. Four cross-cutting themes are central to this Plan’s approach to addressing the determinants of health: equity, gender, ethnicity, and human rights
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The Guidance Notes seek to help operationalize, simplify and standardize the collection and reporting of data through the application of common language and methods. They provide information on the key issues to take into account in the collection of health data and the types of data that should be ...collated, and potential stakeholders to engage with. They adapt and complement the UNDRR/UNISDR Technical guidance for monitoring and reporting on progress in achieving the global targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which has a multisectoral target audience.
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Despite being a curable and preventable disease, tuberculosis (TB) remains as one of the major challenges for health systems, globally. Every year, TB affects more than 10 million people and kills more than 1.4 million people. WHO’s Digital Health for the End TB Strategy – an Agenda for Action o...utlines a conceptual framework in which advantageously positioned digital health solutions are matched to the most urgent needs of TB programmes. Video-supported treatment is a component of one of the four core functions of this framework, the Patient Care domain, and primarily supports the first pillar of the End TB Strategy. This quick guide provides information on the solutions available for asynchronous modes of video communication and how these can be of use to TB programmes.
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This operation update provides a summary of key results achieved against the IFRC Syria Complex Emergency Plan of Action covering 13-month period, from 1 June 2019 to 30 June 2020.
Antimalarial drug resistance has emerged as a threat to global malaria control efforts, particularly in the Greater Mekong subregion. Drawing on data collected through more than 1000 therapeutic efficacy studies as well as molecular marker studies of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance, the Report... on antimalarial drug efficacy, resistance and response: 10 years of surveillance (2010–2019) presents a decade’s worth of data on drug efficacy and surveillance, as well as recommendations to monitor and protect the efficacy of malaria treatment in the decades to come.
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State of Health in the EU Cycle.
With the coronavirus (COVID-19) once again spreading rapidly, and the re-introduction of containment measures to flatten the curve of the epidemic, it is crucial for policymakers to plan effective strategies to re-open their economies to avoid further re-confinement...s. This should include much more effective testing, tracing and isolation policies that people can easily follow, as well as improved social distancing measures
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English Analysis on World about Disaster Management and Protection and Human Rights; published on 12 Jan 2021 by IFRC
The document presents an assessment developed by both institutions as a contribution to the prioritization of education in national response plans to the health emergency and future recovery strategies. "Countries have deployed various response and recovery plans in which education needs to be incor...porated as a central element," the report says, "not only to ensure an education response, but to achieve an equitable, inclusive and sustainable recovery”.
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