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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A global hunger crisis -- fuelled by conflict, economic turbulence and climate-related shocks -- has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of people experiencing food insecurity and hunger has risen since the onset of the pandemic. The IRC estimates that the economic downturn alone w...ill drive the number of hungry people up by an additional 35 million in 2021. Without drastic action, the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 will suspend global progress towards ending hunger by at least five years.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the challenges countries face for maintaining their COVID-19 response while addressing competing public health challenges, conflicts, climate change and economic crises. WHO continues to support countries in adjusting COVID-19 strategies to reflect succ...esses to date and leverage what has been learned through national responses.
To assist national and global efforts to end the COVID-19 emergency worldwide, WHO updated the COVID-19 (Global Preparedness, Readiness and Response plan) in 2022 and outlined two strategic objectives.
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Le "Plan Stratégique National de Communication pour le Changement Social et de Comportement en Lutte contre le Paludisme" de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) vise à renforcer les actions de prévention et de traitement du paludisme à travers un changement social et comportemental. Ce p...lan s’inscrit dans un contexte où la RDC représente l’un des pays les plus touchés par le paludisme, avec une prévalence élevée, surtout chez les enfants de moins de cinq ans. Le plan met en avant des stratégies de mobilisation sociale, de communication et de gestion des cas de manière plus efficace. L'objectif est d'augmenter l'adhésion à l'utilisation des moustiquaires imprégnées et d'autres mesures préventives, tout en garantissant une meilleure gestion des stocks de traitements.
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En mai 2015, en adoptant le Plan d’action mondial pour combattre la résistance aux antimicrobiens (« Plan d’action mondial »), la Soixante-Huitième Assemblée mondiale de la Santé a reconnu l’importance de cette résistance en tant que problème majeur de santé publi...que. Le Plan propose des interventions pour lutter contre cette résistance, dont la réduction des usages inutiles d’antimicrobiens chez l’homme et chez l’animal. Il souligne aussi la nécessité d’une approche intersectorielle, « Un monde, une santé », pour endiguer cette résistance, impliquant des efforts de la part d’acteurs de nombreuses disciplines, dont les médecines humaine et vétérinaire
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The COVID-19 pandemic arrived in an evolving epidemiological context where some countries are experiencing a progressive decrease in HIV positivity in their testing programme as they are moving closer to the first 95 target. Distinguishing changes in HIV testing services due to the COVID-19 pandemic... from those resulting from evolving HIV testing strategies is crucial for adapting services and helping countries define their strategic mix of testing options moving forward. There is a need to focus, prioritize and plan for strategic efforts to prevent going further off the track toward achieving global targets and goals.
To support these efforts, WHO in partnership with ministries of health conducted an in-depth analysis of HIV testing services and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation prior to and during reported COVID-19 disruptions. Additional publicly available Global Fund and PEPFAR data was also reviewed and analysed. This analysis, and coordination with ministries of health, identified key service delivery adaptations utilized during COVID-19-related disruptions and formed the basis of this strategic guide.
This document focuses on current country needs, as well as plans for prioritization and potential surge support needs in the event of future disruptions. Although the data and implications are specific to sub-Saharan Africa, key principles and lessons can be applied elsewhere.
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This manual will contribute directly to the fourth focus area of the FAO Action Plan by promoting the prevention of infections and the prudent use of antibiotics in the pig and poultry sectors. The pig and poultry sectors are addressed together, as these sectors generally have the highest use of ant...ibiotics. This manual is jointly applicable to veterinarians, other health professionals and farmers; a key to success in using antibiotics effectively and prudently is good dialogue among these professions.
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The road map sets global targets and milestones to prevent, control, eliminate or eradicate 20 diseases and disease groups as well as cross-cutting targets aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. Three foundational pillars will support global efforts to achieve the targets: accelerate progra...mmatic action (pillar 1), intensify cross-cutting approaches (pillar 2) and change operating models and culture to facilitate country ownership (pillar 3).
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Cette publication présente le Programme sur la santé, l’environnement et les changements climatiques pour les Amériques 2021-2030. Le Programme est un appel à l’action au secteur de la santé pour qu’il prenne l’initiative d’agir sur les déterminants environnementaux de la santé dans... les Amériques. L’Organisation panaméricaine de la Santé (OPS) travaillera avec les États Membres pour atteindre son but et son objectif, qui consistent à permettre à tous de vivre en bonne santé et à promouvoir le bien-être de tous à tout âge, en employant une approche durable et équitable qui accorde la priorité à la réduction des iniquités en matière de santé. Le programme a été élaboré sous l’égide de la Stratégie mondiale de l’OMS sur la santé, l’environnement et les changements climatiques et s’appuie sur les engagements énoncés dans le Programme d’action sanitaire durable pour les Amériques 2018-2030 et le Plan stratégique de l’OPS 2020-2025. Le programme a été élaboré en consultation avec le groupe consultatif technique et par un processus décisionnel consensuel avec les États Membres au cours de la période 2019-2020. En vue de la réalisation de l’objectif de développement durable 3, le programme se concentre sur l’amélioration de la performance des programmes et des institutions de santé publique environnementale, la promotion de systèmes de santé résilients et durables sur le plan environnemental et la promotion de villes et de communautés saines et résilientes sur le plan environnemental. Sa mise en œuvre sera adaptée au contexte, en fonction des besoins et des réalités des pays. Il profitera aux pays et aux territoires en encourageant les pratiques de bonne gouvernance, en renforçant les rôles de leadership et de coordination du secteur de la santé, en favorisant l’action intersectorielle, en se concentrant sur la prévention primaire et en améliorant les données probantes et la communication. Il facilitera l’accès aux ressources humaines, techniques et financières nécessaires pour agir sur les déterminants environnementaux de la santé et fera en sorte que la Région soit pleinement engagée dans les processus et les accords mondiaux en matière de santé, d’environnement et de changements climatiques.
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NSP Review
Engaging with South Africa’s National Strategic Plan for HIV, STIs and TB Edition 7 July – August 2013
A publication of the Treatment Action Campaign and SECTION27
GeneXpert: An imperfect rollout
TB in South African prisons: Where to now?
Decentralising DR-TB care: How far alon...g are we?
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Despite the considerable improvement in global health, millions of people still lack access to quality health services, including access to effective antimicrobial medicines, or are impoverished as a result of health spending. At the same time, antimicrobial resistance – a consequence of overuse a...nd misuse of antimicrobials – is increasingly a barrier to accessing effective care. The declining effectiveness of antibiotics is driven by multiple factors, many of which can be addressed through well functioning primary health care. However, primary health care has not always had much attention in national health sector responses to
antimicrobial resistance, which often focus on tertiary care, laboratory detection and surveillance. The three pillars of primary health care (community engagement, front-line health services including primary care and essential public health, and multisectoral action on wider health determinants) are central not just to Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, but also to an effective response to antimicrobial resistance.
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This report aims to support countries in the necessary transition toward healthier, more sustainable diets by integrating biodiversity in food-based interventions to support nutrition and health. It is intended to help guide decision-makers in the health, nutrition and other sectors, to:
Consider... the important role of biodiversity in food systems for the development of integrated interventions to support healthy, diverse and sustainable diets;
To focus investments and country support for more comprehensive, coordinated and cross-cutting public health and nutrition projects and policies; and
To strengthen the resilience of food systems, health systems, and societies, each of which are each increasingly compromised by widespread ecological degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change.
Biodiversity at every level (genetic, species and ecosystem level) is a foundational pillar for food security, nutrition, and dietary quality. It is the basic source of variety in essential foods, nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and medicines, and underpins life-sustaining ecosystem services. It is a core environmental determinant of health, often a vital ingredient of healthy nutritional outcomes and livelihoods, gender equality, social equity, and other health determinants.
Biodiversity can play a more prominent role in planning for nutritional outcomes in various ways, e.g. by facilitating the production of nutritious fruits and plant products, sustaining livelihoods through more efficient production and increasing the diversity of products available in markets. This Guidance presents and expands on six core building blocks for mainstreaming biodiversity for nutrition and health:
Cross-sectoral knowledge development and knowledge co-production;
Enabling environments;
Integration;
Conservation and the wider use of biodiversity;
Education and awareness-raising;
Monitoring and evaluation;
This WHO report builds on an unprecedented opportunity to mainstream biodiversity in order to support healthy and sustainable diets, and offers the necessary technical guidance to catalyze and support a transformation of the global food system and transition to healthier, more sustainable diets.
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This checklist is the first step in identifying and prioritizing areas of action for improving the protection of health and safety of health workers in line with WHO–ILO Global Framework for National Occupational Health Programmes for Health Workers.
It is designed to be filled out in discussio...n with management, responsible officers for occupational health, environmental health, infection prevention and control, human resources and representatives of workers in the health facility. This participatory approach will provide a variety of perspectives and a more comprehensive basis for identifying the existing preventive measures, possible problems and solutions for continuous improvement.
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At the global, national, and regional levels, there are several guidelines and guides regarding the preparedness, prevention, surveillance, and control of diseases caused by respiratory viruses; most initiatives focus on specific virus events or cases. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ...pandemic, it has been found that even when there are strategies designed and planned for pandemics, it is necessary to strengthen and improve them. Planning for imminent threats, including those posed by respiratory viruses, contributes to strengthening the core capacities of the International Health Regulations (IHR [2005])
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The WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) aims at scaling up mental health services in non-specialized health settings to achieve universal health coverage. The mhGAP operations manual is an integral component of the mhGAP package and supports district health managers and others responsible... for integrating mental and physical health services. The manual offers practical guidance and necessary tools for planning, preparing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating mhGAP
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Countries, partners, and donors are committed to the global elimination of blinding trachoma by 2020.
Achieving this public health milestone requires more than funding; it requires health personnel with the
right mix of skills, and well supported and managed health systems. Mass drug administratio...n (MDA)
with Zithromax®, the Pfizer, Inc. donated antibiotic, is a key component of the SAFE strategy, endorsed
by the World Health Organization. There is growing
recognition that improving all aspects of MDA, from
planning to training, recording to reporting, and
receipt of drug to distribution (the supply chain), will
be necessary if MDA programmes are going to reduce
the community burden of Chlamydia trachomatis, and
eliminate trachoma as a cause of blindness by 2020.
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This guidance highlights tangible, evidence-based priority actions in health and WASH programs to achieve the Global Targets for nutrition. Throughout the guidance the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration within and outside the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement to holistically address nutrition ...is emphasised.
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WHO, in partnership with the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has published global standards for prosthetics and orthotics. Its aim is to ensure that prosthetics and orthotics services are people-centred an...d responsive to every individual’s personal and environmental needs. The standards advocate for the integration of prosthetics and orthotics services into health services, under universal health coverage. Implementation of these standards will support countries to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and towards the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
The standards provide guidance on the development of national policies, plans and programmes for prosthetics and orthotics services of the highest standard. The standards are divided into two documents: the standards and an implementation manual. Both documents cover four areas of the health system:
policy (governance, financing and information);
products (prostheses and orthoses);
personnel (workforce);
and provision of services.
The Standards have been developed through consultation with experts from around the globe via a steering group, development group and external review group.
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EVALUATION REPORT | Cette évaluation représente la première tentative mondiale d’examiner les interventions programmatiques de l’UNICEF menées dans le but de protéger les enfants lors des situations ’urgence. Elle a pour objectif de renforcer la programmation en matière de protection de ...l’enfance en évaluant les résultats accomplis au cours des dernières années, ainsi que de tirer des enseignements et faire des recommandations susceptibles d’avoir une influence sur les programmes en cours et futurs. Les conclusions de l’évaluation étaieront la mise en œuvre du Plan stratégique pour la période 2014-2017. L’évaluation comprend des études de cas nationales analysant les résultats en faveur des enfants à la lumière du plan stratégique à moyen terme (PSMT, 2006-2013), des Principaux engagements pour les enfants dans l’action humanitaire et des thèmes choisis pour l’évaluation. Douze pays ont fourni des données pour l’analyse, quatre sous forme d’études de cas avec visites dans le pays et rapports spéciaux (Colombie, Pakistan, République démocratique du Congo (RDC) et Soudan du Sud) et huit autres pays sous forme d’études théoriques (Afghanistan, État de Palestine, Haïti, Myanmar, Philippines, Somalie, Soudan et Sri Lanka). Quatre des pays (Haïti, Myanmar, Pakistan et Philippines) sont frappés par des catastrophes naturelles et des conflits soudains tandis que les autres souffrent surtout de conflits de longue durée connaissant parfois des éruptions soudaines de violence.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a multifaceted, international public health problem, which poses a direct threat to the safety of the population of South Africa. A national response is required to complement the development of a global plan, as articulated in the WHO’s draft resolution EB134/37 ...“Combating antimicrobial resistance including antibiotic resistance”, adopted by theWorld Health Assembly in May 2014. The overuse of antimicrobials is driving resistance. A return to appropriate, targeted antimicrobial use in humans, animals and the environment is critical if we are to conserve the antimicrobial armamentarium. Various interventions have been put in place to address antimicrobial resistance in South Africa. However, these are insufficient to effectively tackle the threat faced by the country. The strengths of the current system are outweighed by its weaknesses.
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