The scale of West Africa’s Ebola epidemic has been attributed to the weak health systems of affected countries,
their lack of resources, the mobility of communities and their inexperience in dealing with Ebola. This briefing for African Affairs argues that these explanations lack important contex...t. The briefing examines responses to the outbreak and offers a different set of explanations, rooted in the history of the region and the political economy of global health and development. To move past technical discussions of “weak” health systems, it highlights how structural violence has contributed to the epidemic. As part of this, local people – their beliefs, concerns and priorities – have been marginalised. Both the crisis response and post-Ebola ‘reconstruction’ will be strengthened by acknowledgment of its long term structural underpinnings and from a more collaborative inclusion of local people.
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The World Heart Federation (WHF) has been advocating globally for stronger
legislation and policy regarding cardiovascular disease (CVD) for many years. Now, as focus shifts from global to national progress, we call on members and colleagues to advocate for greater action on CVD in your local setti...ngs. This ‘Road to 2018 Toolkit’ provides World Heart Federation members with information
and specific, practical tools to support national CVD advocacy, especially around the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2018.
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The importance of robust mortality surveillance systems cannot be overstated in an era marked by increasing global health challenges where health threats loom large and population dynamics continue to evolve. Accurate and timely mortality data is essential for identifying trends and detecting emergi...ng health threats, evaluating the impact of interventions, and guiding evidence-based policy decisions.
This framework outlines a holistic approach to strengthening routine mortality surveillance systems, considering the unique contextual factors and challenges faced by African countries. It emphasizes the importance of establishing efficient data collection mechanisms, enhancing data quality and completeness, and promoting data sharing and collaboration among stakeholders.
Moreover, the framework recognizes the pivotal role of technology in the integration of data from fragmented mortality data sources. It highlights the potential of innovative data capture methods, advanced analytics, and real-time reporting systems to enhance mortality data’s accuracy, efficiency, and timeliness.
The continental framework for mortality surveillance aligns with Africa CDC’s mission and strategic goal by serving as a fundamental component in strengthening public health systems, enhancing disease surveillance capacities and capabilities, informing evidence-based policies and interventions, and promoting collaboration and coordination among African countries to address health challenges and improve health outcomes on the continent.
The successful implementation of this framework requires collective commitment and concerted efforts from governments, health institutions, and the international community. We hope this document will serve as a catalyst for transformative change, enabling countries to build resilient mortality surveillance systems that protect public health, save lives, and contribute to evidence-based decision-making.
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This evaluation is the first systematic effort by UNICEF to generate evidence on how well its global as well as country level Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) strategies have worked, including their acceptance and ownership in various contexts and appropriateness of investments in c...apacity development and supply components. Overall, the evaluation recommends that UNICEF continue to promote and support CMAM as a viable approach to preventing and addressing severe acute malnutrition (SAM), with an emphasis on prevention through strengthening community outreach and integrating CMAM into national health systems and with other intervention
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A toolkit for pharmacists.
Emerging data show that medication errors and adverse events cause significant harm to patients’ health and
well-being. It is estimated that the burden of adverse events due to medicines is now comparable to that of
widespread diseases, such as malaria or tuberculosis....1 The impacts of medication errors also represent a
burden for health systems, with the annual cost associated with medication errors estimated at USD 42 billion
worldwideharm
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The number of people facing acute food insecurity1 is growing at an alarming rate in the European Union (EU) Member States of Central Eastern Europe. COVID-19 and the resulting disruption to global markets, trade, and food supply chains have negatively affected food security since 2020; now, this ha...s been compounded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Women and girls who have been displaced from Ukraine into Hungary are facing tremendous obstacles to their safety and wellbeing, particularly given the link between food insecurity and gender-based violence (GBV). Urgent policy responses and concrete actions are needed to support low-income households and vulnerable communities, particularly women and their families displaced from Ukraine, to stem this growing crisis.
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In response to the first cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reported on the continent, many African Union Member States implemented large-scale public health and social measures (PHSM) rapidly. These measures were aimed at reducing transmission and the number of new cases being reported, p...rotecting the most vulnerable populations, and allowing time for countries to ramp up critical healthcare and diagnostic services. While these quick actions bought time for Member States, the negative socio-economic impacts are being felt widely, and countries are now exploring how best to ease these measures back while still managing the outbreak.
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As the Group of Eight (G8) world leaders meet in Saint Petersburg, Russia for this year’s G8 Summit, it is important to take stock of international efforts to finance the response to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Financing a sufficient and sustained response to the epidemic has emerged as one of t...he world’s greatest challenges, and one that will be with us for the foreseeable future. Often, those countries most affected are also least able to respond, increasing their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and in turn further complicating their ability to address the epidemic, as is the case for many nations in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, concerns have been raised about “second wave” nations, particularly China, India, and Russia, which stand on the brink of generalized epidemics if more is not done now
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Antimicrobials are precious agents for combating infectious diseases and had saved millions of lives throughout the world. However, the current trend of increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a global health problem with increased morbidity and mortality in infectious diseases. Sri La...nka is not an exemption and face many health related issues with multidrug resistant (MDR) organisms. Currently there is a global effort in combating antimicrobial resistance. WHO extends its fullest support and plays a major role in motivating the countries to combat antimicrobial resistance with national action plans in place. Sri Lanka has initiated combating AMR with multisectoral collaboration, under one health concept. The development of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2017-2022 provides the roadmap to combat AMR.
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The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Biosafety and Biosecurity Initiative was launched by the Africa CDC in April 2019 with the aim of strengthening the African Union (AU) Member States’ biosafety and biosecurity systems and enabling them to comply with national and i...nternational requirements for biosafety and biosecurity including the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), and United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 and the multi-country Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). The World Health Organization (WHO) Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and the Global Health Security Index report confirmed the known capacity gaps in biosafety and biosecurity among Africa Union Member (AU).
The regional consultations by Africa CDC conducted between 2019-2021 highlighted the deficiency or limited availability of standardized and regionally recognized training programs in the continent, limiting biosafety and biosecurity capacity building efforts in the region. In response, Africa CDC working with AU Member States developed a home grown, implementable and accessible professional training and certification program that is both recognized and endorsed by AU Member States. The Regional Training and Certification Program for Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals, for African Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals (RTCP-BBP) has four (4) areas of specialization, namely
Selection, Installation, Maintenance and Certification of Biological Safety Cabinets
Biorisk Management
Design and Maintenance of Facilities Handling High Risk Pathogens (Biocontainment Engineering)
Biological Waste management
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PLoS Negl Trop Dis 13(10): e0007694. In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized Chagas disease (CD; Trypanosoma cruzi infection) as a neglected tropical disease (NTD) [1] and included it into the global plan to combat NTDs [2]. The Target 3.3 of the United Nations Sustainable Developmen...t Goals (UN/SDG) aims at ending the epidemics of NTDs by 2030 [3]. Mother-to-child (congenital/connatal) transmission is currently the main mode of transmission of T. cruzi over blood transfusions and organ transplantations in vector-free areas within and outside Latin America (LA). Based on recent demonstrations that congenital transmission can be prevented [4–7], WHO has shifted its objective, in 2018, from control to elimination of congenital CD (cCD).
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COVID-19 pandemic has taken the entire world by surprise, creating the greatest global catastrophe since WWII, impacting all spheres of our societies, including health, economy, social protection, as well as security, and human rights. The virus affects people and communities indiscriminately in all... parts of the world, with particularly strong impact on poorer communities, especially those already suffering from the humanitarian consequences caused by conflicts, social-economic problems or disasters.
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17 Febr. 2022. As part of the “Strategy to Achieve Global COVID-19 Vaccination by mid-2022”, global targets of 40% population coverage by end of 2021 and 70% coverage by June 2022 have been set by the World Health Organization (WHO), to successfully prevent severe illness and deaths, minimize so...cial disruption and economic consequences of COVID-19, curtail the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) and ultimately control the pandemic.
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World Relief published a new report revealing the immense impact of COVID-19 on the world's poor. This report is one of the most comprehensive of its kind, corresponding to the two-year anniversary of when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a global pandemic.
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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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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HIV infection, due to the immunosuppressant that leads, nowadays constitutes an aggravating factor of endemic tuberculosis. Tuberculosis remains a huge burden to human health, even in the early 21st century. The situation is deteriorating in many countries, particularly because of the synergy with t...he HIV epidemic and the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis. The urgent development of new tools that can improve the diagnosis, prevention and/or treatment of tuberculosis and other major mycobacterium diseases depends largely on the progress of basic and applied research. Faced with this situation, there is an urgent need for effective strategies and actions to permanently solve the problem of this endemic disease whose impact is too negative on people’s lives.
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Water, sanitation and hygiene education in schools – WASH in Schools – provides safe drinking water, improves sanitation facilities and promotes lifelong health. WASH in Schools enhances the well-being of children and their families, and paves the way for new generations of healthy children.
f...rom Schools offers a snapshot of WASH in Schools experiences across the globe. These stories have been gathered through a retrospective search of UNICEF’s global and country office websites. They represent a myriad of activities undertaken by UNICEF and partners in 2010 and 2011.
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Has the world worked together to tackle the coronavirus? July 2021. This research paper assesses how the global community has responded to calls for greater solidarity in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, and presents the insights of key stakeholders and experts in global health governance, health sec...urity, and pandemic preparedness and response. The authors examine the state of solidarity at global, regional and national levels, and present case studies on COVAX and on the EU’s turbulent journey through solidarity.
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This book provides significantly expanded content and experience in relation to a broader stewardship context- for example, stewardship in specific populations, different countries as well as the role of different professions in stewardship to political and media engagement. We hope this book has so...mething to offer everyone practicing in this area. Therefore, The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy [BSAC] in collaboration with ESGAP are very pleased to present this e-book on Global Antimicrobial Stewardship that is relevant to health care professions working in preventing and managing infection across the healthcare communities and health care facilities. It aims to support health care professionals, or teams, or policy makers interested in learning about bringing the principles of stewardship to the bed side
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