Natural disasters often increase morbidity and mortality rates. Taking appropriate measures to maintain environmental health helps to reduce or eliminate the risks of preventable disease and death. Such measures contribute not only to the health of individuals in and near disaster-stricken areas, bu...t they also contribute to decreasing the high costs of providing emergency health services in the aftermath of disaster.
This document is divided into several parts. The first section primarily addresses the effects of natural disasters on environmental health conditions and services. In the second section, environmental health measures are described that should be undertaken in each of three time frames: the predisaster, disaster, and postdisaster periods.
more
The mission of the Women’s Health Council is to inform and influence the development of health policy to ensure the maximum health and social gain for women in Ireland.
Its membership is representative of a wide range of expertise and interest in women’s health.
The Women’s Health Council ...has five functions detailed in its Statutory Instruments:
1. Advising the Minister for Health and Children on all aspects of women’s health.
2. Assisting the development of national and regional policies
and strategies designed to increase health gain and social gain for women.
3. Developing expertise on women’s health within the health services.
4. Liaising with other relevant international bodies which have similar functions as the Council.
5. Advising other Government Ministers at their request.
more
The community based programme aims to address the psychosocial needs of children and youth through helping to rebuild peaceful child- and youth-friendly communities through the use of cultural, creative, recreational, sportive and social activities. Within War Child, the community-based approach is ...relatively new and Sierra Leone was the first self-implementing War Child Programme Area (WPA) applying this approach.
more
The TB section of the toolkit presents selected (a) programmatic output and (b) outcome and impact indicators for TB. In addition to recommended monitoring programs and measuring the outcomes and impact of TB programs, indicators for the strengthening of health systems, strengthening of community sy...stems and some indicators that measure quality of services are also included.
more
ABOUT THE REPORT
Based on more than seventy interviews, surveys of both mainstream and social media in Myanmar, and a desk review of available election-related materials, this report evaluates the environment in which the current electoral cycle, Rakhine conflicts, and the 21st Century Panglong pea...ce process intersect and identifies opportunities for mitigating conflict risks in the lead-up to the 2020 Myanmar election.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mary Callahan is an associate professor in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Myo Zaw Oo is an independent researcher focusing on conflict and elections.
more
In this report, potential reasons for this apparent
contradiction between cherished human values
and observed social actions are explored with a
view to better formulating concrete steps that
governments and other stakeholders can take to
reshape social attitudes and public policy.
To Initiating a Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Project in Urban Slums with Social Mapping, Census Taking, and Community Engagement
This field workbook supports the implementation of the interagency (FAO, UNICEF, WHO) “Communication for Behavioural Impact (COMBI): A toolkit for behavioural and social communication in outbreak response”. It is a handheld guide and notebook for applying the WHO COMBI methodology in 7-steps, du...ring an outbreak. It is primarily intended for risk communication, developmental communication and health promotion/education personnel working in multidisciplinary teams to investigate and respond to disease outbreaks. It contains essential tools, checklists, and information needed to design effective behavioural and communication interventions in support of outbreak prevention and control objectives - to limit loss of life and minimize disruption to families, communities and societies
more
Mental health issues are usually given very low priority in health service policies. Although this is changing, African countries are still confronted with so many problems caused by communicable diseases and malnutrition that they have not woken up to the impact of mental disorders. Every country m...ust formulate a mental health policy based on its own social and cultural realities. Such policies must take into account the scope of mental health problems, provide proven and affordable interventions, safeguard patients’ rights, and ensure equity.
more
This document aims to provide global guidance on poliomyelitis (polio) surveillance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes as a technical complement to Polio eradication programme continuity, Immunization in the context of COVID-19 pandemic frequently asked questions, and is aligned with ...the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) commitment to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.
It highlights the decision making framework to guide the level of polio surveillance activities at country level including; the measures to put in place to ensure a minimum level of polio surveillance in the field and in the laboratory, and the trigger to return to normal polio function.
more
Heat is the top killer among all types of weather hazards, including hurricanes and tornadoes. But hospitals and health care providers do not always report heat-related illnesses or heat as an underlying cause of a death, making it hard to measure the actual impact of extreme heat on health.
This document provides a decision-making framework for implementation of mass treatment interventions, active case-finding campaigns and population-based surveys for neglected tropical diseases in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A two-step approach is proposed: a risk–benefit assessment, to ...decide if the planned activity should proceed; and an examination of a list of precautionary measures that should be applied with the aim of decreasing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 associated with the activity, and strengthening the capacity of the health system to manage any residual risk. This guidance note is intended to health authorities, NTD programme managers and their supporting partners.
more
Available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. You can download a summary of the main report and background documents!
The report demonstrates that the current system—at both national and international levels— was not adequate to protect people from COVID-19. The time it t...ook from the reporting of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown origin in mid-late December 2019 to a Public Health Emergency of International Concern being declared was too long. February 2020 was also a lost month when many more countries could have taken steps to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and forestall the global health, social, and economic catastrophe that continues its grip. The Panel finds that the system as it stands now is clearly unfit to prevent another novel and highly infectious pathogen, which could emerge at any time, from developing into a pandemic.
more
COVID-19: occupational health and safety for health workers: interim guidance, Interim guidance 2 February 2021
Health workers are at the front line of the COVID-19 outbreak response and as such are exposed to different hazards that put them at risk. Occupational hazards include exposure to SARS-C...oV-2 and other pathogens, violence, harassment, stigma, discrimination, heavy workload and prolonged use of personal protective equipment (PPE). This document provides specific measures to protect occupational health and safety of health workers and highlights the duties, rights and responsibilities for health and safety at work in the context of COVID-19.
more
Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical mental and social wellbeing, an individual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the e...nvironment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource fo everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Therefore, health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy lifestyles to wellbeing.
more
This handbook presents some basic information on safe construction practices. Its purpose is to provide guidance on choices regarding settlement planning in risky environments, as well as on the building techniques to improve individual shelters. The contents may be used to develop trainings on part...icipatory shelter risk reduction methods, such as PASSA.
This guide is not aimed at construction professionals, although it may serve them to communicate with beneficiaries and volunteers on safety measures. The intended readers are Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers, who are not expected to be experts in shelter construction and safety but should be able to understand the most important technical aspects of shelter safety in the communities in which they work.
more
The WHO End TB Strategy aims to end the global TB epidemic by 2030, in alignment with Goal 3 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN committed to ending the TB epidemic through adoption of WHO’s End TB Strateg...y and the UN SDGs in 2014 and 2015, respectivel
Almost half of the deaths worldwide caused by TB in 2019 occurred in the WHO South-East Asia Region, home to around a quarter of the global population. Maintaining robust progress in this Region is therefore essential if the global goal of ending the TB epidemic is to be realized. Despite substantial gains made in the Region, the threat to
health worldwide posed by the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to reverse these gains and eclipse the focus on the global TB emergency.
While continuing to tackle COVID-19-related challenges, countries will need to rapidly and urgently deploy supplementary measures to address the large numbers of missed cases, poor treatment outcomes and, potentially, a higher TB burden.
The Regional Strategic Plan towards Ending TB in the Region 2021–2025 clearly articulates priority interventions, analyses the challenges, bottlenecks and opportunities, and focuses on implementation considerations in the Region.
more
UNICEF Syria’s series of think pieces. Every day counts. An outlook on child protection for the most vulnerable children in Syria.To navigate the complex and continuously changing context and attain sustainable results for children, UNICEF – along with other UN agencies - seeks to make a shift i...n its programming towards early recovery while maintaining the delivery of humanitarian assistance based on needs on the ground. This will help strengthen the linkages between the needs-based emergency response and essential service restoration, socioeconomic resilience, and social cohesion.
more
The Infection prevention and control in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a living guideline consolidates technical guidance developed and published during the COVID-19 pandemic into evidence-informed recommendations for infection prevention and control (IPC). This living guideline... is available both online and PDF.
This version of the living guideline (version 6.0) includes fifteen statements on IPC measures in health-care settings (screening and patient placement, ventilation, physical barriers, environmental cleaning, waste management, amongst others) as well as one statement on mask fit in the community context.
more
The far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic underscore the critical need for evidence-informed, transparent and inclusive decision-making. Policy-makers have grappled with complex choices amidst uncertainty. They have constantly reassessed response measures while navigating their economic impl...ications and unintended consequences on societal well-being. Effective communication of the basis for these decisions has also posed a challenge, requiring transparency and public trust.
more