The report reveals weak national mental health services overburdened by the demands placed on them by the Syria crisis. Health facilities which previously provided integrated mental health services in Syria have themselves become casualties of war, with most either destroyed, damaged or not function...ing. The shortage of trained mental health care providers is viewed as critical, both in Syria and in the neighboring countries where refugees now reside. Strengthening and expanding these services is crucial for Syria’s longer term recovery because the need for treatment will last for years after the war ends.
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The booklet starts with a general overview of how illicit drugs and the environment are linked within the bigger picture of the Sustainable Development Goals, climate change and environmental sustainability. It highlights direct and indirect linkages and gives examples of the significant local and i...ndividual-level impact that drugs can have on the environment. This is followed by a more in-depth overview of the latest scientific evidence for plant-based drugs and for synthetic drugs. For plant-based drugs, for example, this includes an analysis of the relationship between illicit crop cultivation and deforestation. For synthetic drugs, it includes an analysis of waste composition, volumes, and dumping and discharge, as well as the relation with wastewater treatment.
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Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) is an essential part of any disease outbreak response. Risk communication in the context of an Ebola outbreak refers to real time exchange of information, opinion and advice between frontline responders and people who are faced with the threat of Eb...ola to their survival, health, economic or social wellbeing. Community engagement refers to mutual partnership between Ebola response teams and individuals or communities in affected areas, whereby community stakeholders have ownership in controlling the spread of the outbreak.
It is intended to be used to guide RCCE work which is central to stopping the outbreak and preventing its further amplification. Unlike other areas of response, RCCE draws heavily on volunteers, frontline personnel and on people without prior training in this area. As such, the document provides basic background information, scopes the socio-economic and cultural aspects (that are known at the time of publication), and provides the latest evidence-based advice and approaches
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LEAVING NO-ONE BEHIND | “A Journey to End NTDs – Elimination and Care” records what we have achieved over the last year and where we are now. It presents our plan of action for the coming years, bringing our ‘traditional’ NTD work together with ‘Disease Management Disability and Inclusio...n’ (DMDI), Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID) and Livelihoods. We care for those affected and we’re working to enhance community and government ownership through national
health system strengthening, community engagement and cross-sectoral action. Ultimately, we are working to free future generations from these menacing diseases, improving prevention and treatment, without forgetting those for whom prevention and treatment are too late because they already have a disability.
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The Access to Controlled Medications Programme identified the development of treatment guidelines that cover the treatment of all types of pain as one of the core areas of focus for improving access to opioid analgesics. Such guidelines are interesting both for health-care professionals and policy-...makers. They are also important in improving access to controlled medicines for determining when those opioid medicines and when non-opioid medicines are preferred.
Based on a Delphi study, WHO planned the development of three treatment guidelines, covering chronic pain in children, chronic pain in adults and acute pain.
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The Rethabile positive parenting activity is being run by 4Children Lesotho with caregivers and teens ages 9 to 24 for the purpose of reducing harsh parenting practices (i.e., violence) and improving positive parenting practices. By promoting adult–child communication around topics such as HIV a...nd AIDS prevention, and exploring models of family-focused violence prevention and support, the program facilitates disclosure of HIV status, promotes greater treatment seeking and adherence, and helps to reduce HIV stigma.lesoth
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Specific measures are being taken within the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) to address the MDR TB problem through appropriate management of patients and strategies to prevent the propagation and dissemination of MDR TB.
The term "Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant TB" (PMD...T) refers to programme based MDR TB diagnosis, management and treatment. This guideline promotes full integration of basic TB control and PMDT activities under the NTP, so that patients with TB are evaluated for drug resistance and are placed on the appropriate treatment regimen and properly managed from the outset of treatment, or as early as possible. The guidelines also integrate the identification and treatment of more severe forms of drug resistance, such as extensively drug resistant TB (XDR TB).
At the end, the guideline introduces new standards for registering, monitoring and reporting outcomes of multidrug resistant TB cases.
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Clinical guideline, Methods, Evidence and Recommendations
In this guideline the following is covered: information needs of people with chronic hep
titis B and their carers; where children, young people and adults with chronic hepatitis B a-
should be assessed; assessment of liver disease, includi...ng the use of non-invasive tests and genotype testing; criteria for offering antiviral treatment; the efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness of currently available treatments; selection of first-line therapy; management of treatment failure or drug resistance; prophylactic treatment during im-
munosuppressive therapy; and monitoring for treatment response
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The National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS and STIs 2017-2024 spells out the objectives and targets that we have jointly committed to achieve. The plan describes the strategies and activities that will need to be implemented on the ground across India's 36 States and Union Territories with the help of... AIDS Control Societies, District AIDS Prevention and Control Units, Regional Institutes, communities, development partners and the private sector. We must urgently scale up our efforts to avert new HIV infections and provide care and treatment to people living with HIV to materialise our commitment of ending AIDS in India by 2030.
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DHS Further Analysis Reports No. 108 - This report examines levels, trends, and inequalities in maternal health in Rwanda from 2010 to 2014-15 among women age 15-49 with a recent birth. The analysis uses Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data for 15 key indicators of maternal health: 6 for antenat...al care, 3 for delivery, 1 for postnatal care, and 5 for barriers to accessing medical care. Levels and trends in these indicators were analyzed overall and by three background characteristics: women’s education, household wealth quintile, and region.
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School health programmes are the most cost-effective way to influence health behaviours in young people. The purpose of this two-part handbook is to support schools as they seek to implement interventions in order to reduce the main modifiable risk behaviours for noncommunicable disea...ses. This Practical application handbook provides advice to schools on providing young people with the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and life skills necessary for making informed decisions, and creating a healthy school environment that can reduce the risk of NCDs
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The Zambia Population Based HIV impact assessment of 2016, reported the prevalence of viral hepatitis in Zambia as ranging between 5.6% among adults aged 15 to 59% in the general population, and 7.1% among HIV infected individuals. It is estimated that the majority of persons with chronic hepatitis ...B and/ or hepatitis C are unware of their infection and do not benefit from promotive, preventive and curative services designed to reduce onward transmission. Zambia introduced hepatitis B virus vaccine to the routine Under 5 vaccination schedule in 2005. Preliminary results from the ZAMPHIA indicate that hundreds of infections have been abated in children since then. However, its also clear that we continue to miss key opportunities to prevent transmission, diagnose and treat infections, prevent serious disease, and in many cases cure people. In addition, high risk groups inter alia health care workers still have limited access to the vaccine.
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The checklist and reference list has two parts: high-level cross-cutting content (Part A) and specific programme content (Part B). Part A applies to all countries and contains situation and response analysis, the NSP development process, the goal, targets and priority-setting of the NSP and the prin...ciples of human rights and gender equity and sustainability. Part B comprises the programme requirements of prevention, treatment and care, comorbidities and integration, social protection, health systems, community engagement, human rights and gender equity, efficiency and effectiveness, governance, management and accountability, HIV and the humanitarian response
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Healthcare 2020, 8(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8010026
The current article is an integrative and analytical literature review on the concept and meaning of empathy in health and social care professionals. Empathy, i.e., the ability to understand the perso...nal experience of the patient without bonding with them, constitutes an important communication skill for a health professional, one that includes three dimensions: the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. It has been proven that health professionals with high levels of empathy operate more efficiently as to the fulfillment of their role in eliciting therapeutic change.The empathetic professional comprehends the needs of the health care users, as the latter feel safe to express the thoughts and problems that concern them. Although the importance of empathy is undeniable, a significantly high percentage of health professionals seem to find it difficult to adopt a model of empathetic communication in their everyday practice. Some of the factors that negatively influence the development of empathy are the high number of patients that professionals have to manage, the lack of adequate time, the focus on therapy within the existing academic culture, but also the lack of education in empathy. Developing empathetic skills should not only be the underlying objective in the teaching process of health and social care undergraduate students, but also the subject of the lifelong and continuous education of professionals
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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 facilitators’ guide is part of a five-part Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities (CST) package providing guidance on caregiver skills training for families of children aged 2–9 years with developmental delays or disabilities.
This fa...cilitators’ guide provides information for leading group sessions 1–9. It is a reference manual to be used in conjunction with specific training and under supervision.
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This guide is part of a five-part Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities (CST) package providing guidance on caregiver skills training for families of children aged 2–9 years with developmental delays or disabilities.
This guide for facilita...tors provides information for leading the three home visits. It is a reference manual to be used in conjunction with specific training in caregiver skills training and under supervision. The guide includes detailed descriptions of the objectives and activities for each home visit. Goal setting information and forms are also included, along with information for trouble shooting and problem solving.
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In 2015, the United Nations set important targets to reduce premature
cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths by 33% by 2030. Africa disproportionately
bears the brunt of CVD burden and has one of the highest risks of dying
from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide. There is currently
an epide...miological transition on the continent, where NCDs is projected
to outpace communicable diseases within the current decade. Unchecked
increases in CVD risk factors have contributed to the growing burden of three
major CVDs—hypertension, cardiomyopathies, and atherosclerotic diseasesleading to devastating rates of stroke and heart failure. The highest age
standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to hypertensive heart
disease (HHD) were recorded in Africa. The contributory causes of heart failure
are changing—whilst HHD and cardiomyopathies still dominate, ischemic
heart disease is rapidly becoming a significant contributor, whilst rheumatic
heart disease (RHD) has shown a gradual decline. In a continent where health
systems are traditionally geared toward addressing communicable diseases,
several gaps exist to adequately meet the growing demand imposed by CVDs.
Among these, high-quality research to inform interventions, underfunded
health systems with high out-of-pocket costs, limited accessibility and
affordability of essential medicines, CVD preventive services, and skill
shortages. Overall, the African continent progress toward a third reduction
in premature mortality come 2030 is lagging behind. More can be done in
the arena of effective policy implementation for risk factor reduction and
CVD prevention, increasing health financing and focusing on strengthening
primary health care services for prevention and treatment of CVDs, whilst
ensuring availability and affordability of quality medicines. Further, investing
in systematic country data collection and research outputs will improve the accuracy of the burden of disease data and inform policy adoption on
interventions. This review summarizes the current CVD burden, important
gaps in cardiovascular medicine in Africa, and further highlights priority
areas where efforts could be intensified in the next decade with potential
to improve the current rate of progress toward achieving a 33% reduction
in CVD mortality.
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This report explores the extent to which evidence, policy, normative guidance and commitments on HIV and gender-based violence, and their interlinkages, is being translated into action on the ground in fragile settings. These issues are explored through the lens of training of peace support operatio...ns deploying African troops across Africa and beyond.
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About one fourth of the world’s population is estimated to have been infected with the tuberculosis (TB) bacilli, and about 5–10% of those infected develop TB disease in their lifetime. The risk for TB disease after infection depends on several factors, the most important being the person’s im...munological status. TB preventive treatment (TPT) given to people at highest risk of progressing from TB infection to disease remains a critical element to achieve the global targets of the End TB Strategy, as reiterated by the second UN High Level Meeting on TB in 2023. Delivering TPT effectively and safely necessitates a programmatic approach to implement a comprehensive package of interventions along a cascade of care: identifying individuals at highest risk, screening for TB and ruling out TB disease, testing for TB infection, and choosing the preventive treatment option that is best suited to an individual, managing adverse events, supporting medication adherence and monitoring programmatic performance
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