As the number of transboundary pest and animal and foodborne disease outbreaks rises, so does the number of people who are chronically hungry due to these and other factors. The correlation can be explained by the link between our health and that of the planet. We rely on land and sea for the produc...tion of safe and quality foods for our daily nourishment. Pests and disease epidemics negatively impact the quality, quantity and safety of our food sources, and cripple economic growth and efficiencies in production. Furthermore, the epidemic and endemic levels of the pathogens and disease vectors can be difficult to control. This is why FAO stresses and promotes the special efforts required for cost-effective preventive measures rather than the more expensive control, disinfestation, treatment and disposal measures. When preventive measures are late or difficult, preparedness and contingency plans must be in place to enable rapid response. Early warning systems, based on close monitoring, surveillance, and timely reporting are fundamental to warn and empower communities to safeguard their livelihoods and assets by enhancing disease and pest prevention measures and for government services to take immediate measures to protect communities and national economies.
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Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a significant burden globally, with millions of patients affected each year. These infections affect both high- and limited-resource healthcare settings, but in limited-resource settings, rates are approximately twice as high as high-resource settings (15 o...ut of every 100 patients versus 7 out of every 100 patients). Furthermore, rates of infections within certain patient populations are significantly higher in limited-resource settings, including surgical patients, patients in intensive-care units (ICU) and neonatal units. It is well documented that environmental contamination plays a role in the transmission of HAIs in healthcare settings. Therefore, environmental cleaning is a fundamental intervention for infection prevention and control (IPC).It is a multifaceted intervention that involves cleaning and disinfection (when indicated) of the environment alongside other key program elements to support successful implementation (e.g., leadership support, training, monitoring, and feedback mechanisms). To be effective, environmental cleaning activities must be implemented within the framework of the facility IPC program, and not as a standalone intervention. It is also essential that IPC programs advocate for and work with facility administration and government officials to budget, operate and maintain adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure to ensure that environmental cleaning can be performed according to best practices.
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Les maladies infectieuses sont en constante mutation. De nouvelles maladies apparaissent, d’autres qui sont bien connues se propagent ou refont surface, et quelques rares fois, une maladie est éradiquée. Les maladies infectieuses telles que le VIH, la tuberculose et le choléra sont des causes c...onsidérables de morbidité et de mortalité dans plusieurs régions du monde. Le personnel de la santé joue un rôle primordial, en ce qui concerne la protection de leurs clients contre les maladies infectieuses et leurs traitements en cas d’infection. Dans le cadre de leur travail, le personnel de santé accomplisse des tâches cliniques ou autres activités susceptibles de les exposer ainsi que leurs clients aux microorganismes – orga- nismes potentiellement infectieux. Bon nombre de ces clients sont malades et, par conséquent, sont plus vulnérables aux infections ou peuvent avoir des infec-tions susceptibles d’être transmises à d’autres personnes. Par chance, l’ensemble du personnel travaillant dans les services de santé est en mesure d’exécuter des procédés simples visant à minimiser le risque – vis-à-vis d’eux-mêmes et de leurs clients – et réduire la propagation des infections. Ces pratiques peuvent être intégrées à moindre frais dans les habitudes quotidiennes au sein des établissements de santé du monde entier. Ce guide de référence est spécialement conçu pour l’emploi à tous les niveaux du système sanitaire, depuis les plus grands hôpitaux jusqu’aux plus petits dispensaires ou centres de santé, dans des établissements où les ressources sont rares.Ce guide, publié pour la première fois en 1999, a été mis à jour. Bien que la plu-part des pratiques restent inchangées, il a fait l’objet de quelques modifications significatives – par exemple, concernant les recommandations liées au lavage des mains et aux précautions standard. Toutefois, ce guide continue de présenter des recommandations pratiques en matière de procédés simples et relativement peu coûteux pouvant être exécutés partout, à l’aide des matériels de base et des équi-pements de niveau technologique moyen.
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Purpose of this document: to present eight practical steps that Member States can take at the national and sub-national level to improve WASH in health care facilities
Confronted with the important issue of patient safety, in 2002 the Fifty-fifth World Health Assembly adopted a resolution urging countries to pay the closest possible attention to the problem and to strengthen safety and monitoring systems. In May 2004, the Fifty-seventh World Health Assembly approv...ed the creation of an international alliance as a global initiative to improve patient safety. The World Alliance for Patient Safety was launched in October 2004 and currently has its place in the WHO Patient Safety programme included in the Information, Evidence and Research Cluster.
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This briefing note summarises key mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) considerations in relation to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Updated Interim guidance 29 July 2020
The provision of safe water, sanitation and waste management and hygienic conditions is essential for preventing and for protecting human health during all infectious disease outbreaks, including of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Ensuring evidenced-based ...and consistently applied WASH and waste management practices in communities, homes, schools, marketplaces, and healthcare facilities will help prevent human-to-human transmission of pathogens including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
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Los servicios de emergencias médicas prehospitalarias (SEM) facilitan atención inicial de soporte vital básico y/o avanzado y traslado de heridos o enfermos desde el lugar donde ocurre la emergencia hasta el centro sanitario donde le van a prestar cuidados definitivos. Los SEM también pueden pre...star traslado de pacientes desde una instalación de salud a otra de mayor nivel o complejidad, en lo que se conoce como traslado interhospitalario. Los servicios de ambulancia es el componente más conocido y puede ser prestado por diferentes proveedores que pueden ir desde departamentos de bomberos, organizaciones de voluntarios o servicios adscritos a universidades hasta hospitales que cuentan con su propio servicio de ambulancias para cubrir a sus usuarios. Los SEM prehospitalarios también incluyen otros componentes como los centros tipo 911 o los Centro Reguladores de Urgencia y Emergencias (CRUE) y los programas de primer respondiente. Todos ellos deben integrase de una forma coordinada con las redes integradas de servicios de salud para asegurar una continuidad de los cuidados de salud prestados a la persona herida o enferma. Durante emergencias de salud pública, los servicios de emergencia medicas prehospitalarias pueden verse superados por el número de llamadas o demanda de traslados médicos.
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En enero de 2020, el agente etiológico responsable de un grupo de casos de neumonía grave en Wuhan, China, fue identificado como un nuevo betacoronavirus (2019-nCoV), distinto del SARS-CoV y MERS-CoV (1) (2) (3). La secuencia genómica completa de este nuevo agente está disponible y se han desarr...ollado diferentes protocolos de detección, aunque aún no se han validado por completo. Sin embargo, a la luz de la posible introducción de un caso sospechoso relacionado con el 2019-nCoV en la Región de las Américas, la Organización Panamericana de la Salud / Organización Mundial de la Salud (OPS / OMS) recomienda a los Estados Miembros garantizar su identificación oportuna, el envío de las muestras a laboratorios Nacionales o de referencia y la implementación del protocolo de detección molecular para 2019-nCoV, según la capacidad del laboratorio.
Hasta la fecha, no es completamente claro el potencial patogénico ni la dinámica de transmisión del 2019nCoV. Por esta razón y a la luz del conocimiento de otros virus similares (MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV), es necesario mantener y fortalecer las medidas de bioseguridad y elementos de protección personal para el trabajo con muestras sospechosas de infección con patógenos respiratorios.
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La capacidad de respuesta de un hospital puede ser superada por la llegada masiva de pacientes que soliciten atención médica como consecuencia de una situación de emergencia. Ante este escenario, se debe considerar si el establecimiento de salud está organizado para garantizar la gestión integr...al de la respuesta hospitalaria, el funcionamiento de los mecanismos de coordinación, el manejo integral de la información, las capacidades logísticas para facilitar la respuesta, y los recursos necesarios para su ejecución, así como para una respuesta integral a los pacientes, precautelando la salud y bienestar de los trabajadores de salud. (7)
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MICROBIAL DRUG RESISTANCEVolume 24, Number 5, 2018ªMary Ann Liebert, Inc.DOI: 10.1089/mdr.2017.0383
Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is a worldwide publichealth concern, with serious health, economic, and so-cietal repercussions. Its emergence is attributed to the se-lective pressure exerted by antib...iotic use in the community, hospitals, veterinary health, agriculture, aquaculture, and the environment. Additionally aggravating the situation is the fact that very few new antibiotics have recently been produced by pharmaceutical companies. It is widely acknowledged that food animals are key reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and that antibiotic usage in this population favors the emergence, selection, and spread of resistance among animals and humans, both through zoonoses (infectious diseases trans-mitted between animals and humans) and the food chain.
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Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, Vol.12 (2013) pp.234-248
In 2006, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) published an Expert Report entitled “Antimicrobial Resistance: Implications for the Food System” (IFT 2006). That report summarized current scientific knowledge pe...rtaining to the public-health impact of antimicrobial use in the food system and the development and control of antimicrobial resistance. Since that time, intense interest in this topic has continued within the regulatory and scientific communities as well as the general public. This IFT Scientific Status Summary serves to update that 2006 IFT Expert Report by briefly reviewing new scientific evidence relevant to the goals of the initial report and providing a number of key observations and conclusions.
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Stewardship is defined as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care”. It was originally applied in the health-care setting as a tool for optimizing antimicrobial use, termed “antimicrobial stewardship” (AMS). Stewardship has since be...en applied in the context of governance of the health sector as a whole, taking responsibility for the health and well-being of the population and guiding health systems at the national and global level.
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This document provides additional guidance for the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals, and should be read in conjunction with the Recommended International Code of Practice for Control of the Use of Veterinary Drugs CAC/RCP 38-1993. Its obj...ectives are to minimize the potential adverse impact on public health resulting from the use of antimicrobial agents in food-producing animals, in particular the development of antimicrobial resistance. It is also important to provide for the safe and effective use of veterinary antimicrobial drugs in veterinary medicine by maintaining their efficacy. This document defines the respective responsibilities of authorities and groups involved in the authorization, production, control, distribution and use of veterinary antimicrobials such as the national regulatory authorities, the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, veterinarians, distributors and producers of food-producing animals.
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The purpose of this guidance is to assist WHO Member States, and other stakeholders, in the establishment and development of programmes of integrated surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in foodborne bacteria (i.e., bacteria commonly transmitted by food). In this guidance, “integrated surveill...ance of antimicrobial resistance in foodborne bacteria” is defined as the collection, validation, analyses and reporting of relevant microbiological and epidemiological data on antimicrobial resistance in foodborne bacteria from humans, animals, and food, and on relevant antimicrobial use in humans and animals. Integrated surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in foodborne bacteria therefore includes data from relevant food chain sectors (animals, food and humans) and includes data on both antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial use. Integrated surveillance of antimicrobial resistance for foodborne bacteria expands on traditional public health surveillance to include multiple elements of the food chain, and to include antimicrobial use data, to better understand the sources of infection and transmission routes.
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The global impact of COVID-19 has been profound, and the public health threat it represents is the most serious seen in a respiratory virus since the 1918 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Here we present the results of epidemiological modelling which has informed policymaking in the UK and other countries i...n recent weeks.
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Interim Version 24, February 2020
This checklist has been prepared with the aim of supporting hospital managers and emergency planners in achieving the above by defining and initiating actions needed to ensure a rapid response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The checklist is structured on eleven key co...mponents; under each component, there is a list of questions regarding the status of implementation of the recommended action specific to that component. Hospitals at risk of increased health service demand should be prepared to initiate the implementation of each action promptly. The section on “Recommended reading” lists selected tools, guidelines and strategies relevant to each component, as well as other supporting documentation.
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Interim Guidcance March 2020
People affected by humanitarian crises, particularly those displaced and/or living in camps and camp-like settings, are often faced with specific challenges and vulnerabilities that must be taken into consideration when planning for readiness and response operations for... the COVID-19 outbreak. They are frequently neglected, stigmatized, and may face difficulties in accessing health services that are otherwise available to the general population. In the context of this Interim Guidance, the people in humanitarian situations affected by this guidance may include internally displaced persons (IDPs), host communities, asylum seekers, refugees and returnees, and migrants when in similar situations. While further adaptations might be needed for some population groups, including those living in slums this interim guidance is issued to assist field staff to immediately respond to urgent needs.
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Em 22 de janeiro de 2020, foi ativado o Centro de Operações de Emergências em Saúde Pública para o novo Coronavírus (COE – nCoV), estratégia prevista no Plano Nacional de Resposta às Emergências em Saúde Pública do Ministério da Saúde.
O novo Coronavírus (2019-nCoV) é um vírus ide...ntificado como a causa de um surto de doença respiratória detectado pela primeira vez em Wuhan, China.
Desde 2005, o Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) está aprimorando suas capacidades de responder às emergências por síndromes respiratórias, dispondo de planos, protocolos, procedimentos e guias para identificação, monitoramento e resposta às emergências em saúde pública.
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