Findings from this report reveal that, rates of early marriage are high, a significant percentage of children contribute to the household’s income or are its main source of income, and restrictions on the mobility of women and girls constrain their participation in social and economic activities a...nd their access to basic services. As the overwhelming majority of refugees do not have paid employment and rely mainly on aid and dwindling family resources, the more the situation of displacement is prolonged the greater the likelihood of higher rates of child labour for boys and early marriage for girls.
more
Advances have been made through expanded interventions delivered through five public health approaches: innovative and intensified disease management; preventive chemotherapy; vector ecology and management; veterinary public health services; and the provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene. I...n 2015 alone nearly one billion people were treated for at least one disease and significant gains were achieved in relieving the symptoms and consequences of diseases for which effective tools are scarce; important reductions were achieved in the number of new cases of sleeping sickness, of visceral leishmaniasis in South-East Asia and also of Buruli ulcer.
The report also considers vector control strategies and discusses the importance of the draft WHO Global Vector Control Response 2017–2030.
more
From 2000 to 2010, Rwanda implemented comprehensive health sector reforms to strengthen the public health system, with the aim of reducing maternal and newborn deaths in line with Millennium Development Goal 5, among many other improvements in national health. Based on a systematic review of the lit...erature, national policy documents and three Demographic & Health Surveys (2000, 2005 and 2010), this paper describes the reforms and the policies they were based on, and provides data on the extent of Rwanda’s progress in expanding the coverage of four key women’s health services. Progress took place in 2000–2005 and became more rapid after 2006, mostly in rural areas, when the national facility-based childbirth policy, performance-based financing, and community-based health insurance were scaled up. Between 2006 and 2010, the following increases in coverage took place as compared to 2000–2005, particularly in rural areas, where most poor women live: births with skilled attendance (77% increase vs. 26%), institutional delivery (146% increase vs. 8%), and contraceptive prevalence (351% increase vs. 150%). The primary factors in these improvements were increases in the health workforce and their skills, performance-based financing, community-based health insurance, and better leadership and governance. Further research is needed to determine the impact of these changes on health outcomes in women and children.
more
(August 28 – October 10, 2017)
A nutrition and mortality assessment using SMART methodology was applied and the survey covered 15 statistical (14 districts plus 1) domains countrywide. The main objective of the survey was to assess the current nutrition status of the population, especially ch...ildren 6-59 months old and women of reproductive age (15-49 years of age). The survey also looked at the major contextual factors contributing to undernutrition such as infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices; food security indicators; water, sanitation and hygiene indicators; and health situation in Sierra Leone
more
Myanmar continues to present a complex and dynamic operating context where ongoing socio-economic and political challenges, including conflict, displacement, widespread poverty and food insecurity, hinder development efforts. An estimated 24.8 percent of its 54 million population live near or below ...the poverty line. Many struggle with inadequate physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food, with women, girls, persons with disabilities and minorities affected most.
more
Society first acknowledges a child’s existence and identity
through birth registration. The right to be recognized as
a person before the law is a critical step in ensuring
lifelong protection and is a prerequisite for exercising all
other rights. A birth certificate is proof of that legal ide...ntity, and is
the basis upon which children can establish a nationality,
avoid the risk of statelessness and seek protection from
violence and exploitation. For example, proof of age is
needed to help prevent child labour, child marriage and
underage recruitment into the armed forces. A birth
certificate may also be required to access social service
systems, including health, education and justice.
more
This technical guidance outlines current evidence, knowledge and best practice relating to incidences of violence and injuries among refugees and migrants in the WHO European Region. It highlights key principles, summarizes priority actions and challenges, maps existing international commitments and... frameworks and provides practical policy considerations for preventing and responding to such challenges. Specific areas for intervention include ensuring safe passage for migration; addressing causes of violence and injuries in transit and destination countries, including changing norms and values; identifying victims and providing care and protection; investigating and prosecuting perpetrators; and strengthening the knowledge base. While the main intended audience of this technical guidance series are policy-makers across sectors at local, national and regional levels, the contents of this publication will also be of value for health-care practitioners and law enforcement and border protection officials.
more
Every year, an estimated 15 million babies are born preterm – before 37 weeks of pregnancy. That is more than 1 in 10 live births. Approximately 1 million children die each year worldwide due to complications from their early birth. Those that survive often face a lifetime of ill-health including ...disability, learning difficulties, and visual and hearing problems.
Half of the babies born at or below 32 weeks (2 months early) die in low-income settings, due to a lack of feasible, cost-effective care, such as warmth, breastfeeding support, and basic care for infections and breathing difficulties. In high-income countries, almost all these babies survive.
more
Every year, nearly 250 million people move across borders temporarily or permanently for a job opportunity, studying, to flee a crisis back home, or for other reasons. Another 750 million move for similar reasons within the borders of their countries. With the understanding that human mobility affec...ts public health, and health affects human mobility and migrants, for decades, IOM has been providing critical health services to women, children and men on the move, while standing by governments for technical and operational support as needed. In 2019, in lower-income settings and in complex emergencies, along the world’s most perilous migration routes, in the aftermath of natural disasters or in response to disease outbreaks, IOM’s health teams have provided hundreds of thousands with primary health-care consultations, mental health and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health care, pre-migration health services, and much more.
This year, more than ever before, as the world reels from the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19, we have experienced that health is a cross-cutting component of overall human development and well-being.
more
Poor sanitary conditions in disaster-stricken areas result in higher risk for diarrheal illness in vulnerable populations, especially children. This disease negatively impacts the nutritional status of affected children and causes significant morbidity and mortality. Early di...agnosis and treatment are thus essential to reduce the impact of diarrheal diseases on people affected by disasters. Early identification of cases allows the implementation of measures needed to prevent or lessen outbreaks that can occur in displaced populations in this context. The use of primary care management tools, such as the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy is highly important.This module will first discuss diarrheal diseases and their management, and dehydration and its treatments.
more
Sudan has a long history of hosting refugees and asylum seekers with 991,787 individuals, 51 per cent female and 53 per cent children, expected to live in Sudan by the end of 2020.
31 March 2021
This article is part of a series of explainers on vaccine development and distribution. Learn more about vaccines – from how they work and how they’re made to ensuring safety and equitable access – in WHO’s Vaccines Explained series.
Countries around the world are rolling ou...t COVID-19 vaccines, and a key topic of interest is their safety. Vaccine safety is one of WHO’s highest priorities, and we’re working closely with national authorities to develop and implement standards to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.
more
USAID funded/ Primary Health Care Project in Iraq (PHCPI) in cooperation with Iraqi Ministry of Health (MOH) aims to promote Primary Health Care (PHC) services provided by Primary Health Care Clinics (PHCCs) in Iraq in order to achieve the development goal in enhancing the PHC provision system throu...gh achieving the following results: First: Enhancing management and operations systems, which support clinical care. Second: Improving the quality of the delivered PHC according to quality standards. Third: Enhancing and expanding local community participation and partnership in PHC. Maintaining the medical & service devices in the hospitals and health clinics besides making them function according to the adapted standard specifications, lead to providing most efficient medical services for people and accomplish the purposes for which they were invented. Maintenance and repair of facilities and infrastructure, and keeping them safe and clean are also of the important approaches for the results referred to in (first) and (second) above. This can be achieved through enhancing and developing facilities, and medical & service devices management. This guideline seeks to develop work mechanism for engineers, technicians and the PHCCs’ facilities and medical & service equipment maintenance workers; clarify the concept of maintenance, its importance and classifications in health area, its planning and implementation, the tasks and duties of other directorates and departments of the Ministry in relation to all kinds of maintenance. Add to that preparing documents and forms, which are used in documenting and monitoring the steps required to be accomplished in the maintenance of PHCCs’ facilities and medical & service equipment, for the equipment to perform the best possible services for people and get their satisfaction.
more
ecancer has just published a comprehensive set of guidelines for paediatric cancer surgery, applicable to low and high resource settings across the world. You can read the guidelines online
The guidelines have been developed by the International Society of Paediatric Surgical Oncology (IPSO) with... authors from both High Income Countries and Lower and Middle Income Countries, and have been further validated by experts in the respective fields with the aim of providing evidence-based information for surgeons who care for children with cancer.
These guidelines include information on the care and treatment of children with malignancies, including making a diagnosis, obtaining adequate venous access, performing a surgical resection for solid tumours (with staging and reconstruction), performing procedures for cancer prevention and its late effects, and managing complications of treatment; all with the goal of improving survival and quality of life.
more
Supplement to: Guidance on vaccination and prevention of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks for countries hosting refugees from Ukraine, April 2022 update
This document provides: • information on how to obtain vaccination documentation remotely (intended for refugees from Ukraine and intern...ally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine who lack documentation of vaccination status for themselves or their children); • information on the types of vaccination documentation issued in Ukraine, and English translations of standard documents (intended for health care providers in refugee-host countries to facilitate assessment of vaccination status of refugees).
more
This Handbook is primarily for educators, to help them learn about mental health issues and better support them in educational environments. The Handbook aims to provide training to teachers, administrators, and people involved in the education of primary school children about the implementation of ...mental health literacy into daily school life. Such knowledge, skills and attitudes will equip all levels of educators with key tools to support student mental health, manage difficult classroom behavior, and promote students’ wellbeing and academic success.
more
KEY MESSAGES
Always talk to a GBV specialist first to understand what GBV services are available in your area. Some services may take the form of hotlines, a mobile app or other remote support.
Be aware of any other available services in your area. Identify services provided by humanitarian pa...rtners such as health, psychosocial support, shelter and non-food items. Consider services provided by communities such as mosques/ churches, women’s groups and Disability Service Organizations.
Remember your role. Provide a listening ear, free of judgment. Provide accurate, up-to-date information on available services. Let the survivor make their own choices. Know what you can and cannot manage. Even without a GBV actor in your area, there may be other partners, such as a child protection or mental health specialist, who can support survivors that require additional attention and support. Ask the survivor for permission before connecting them to anyone else. Do not force the survivor if s/he says no.
Do not proactively identify or seek out GBV survivors. Be available in case someone asks for support.
Remember your mandate. All humanitarian practitioners are mandated to provide non-judgmental and non-discriminatory support to people in need regardless of: gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability status, age, ethnicity/tribe/race/religion, who perpetrated/committed violence, and the situation in which violence was committed. Use a survivor-centered approach by practicing:
Respect: all actions you take are guided by respect for the survivor’s choices, wishes, rights and dignity.
Safety: the safety of the survivor is the number one priority.
Confidentiality: people have the right to choose to whom they will or will not tell their story. Maintaining confidentiality means not sharing any information to anyone.
Non-discrimination: providing equal and fair treatment to anyone in need of support.
If health services exist, always provide information on what is available. Share what you know, and most importantly explain what you do not. Let the survivor decide if s/he wants to access them. Receiving quality medical care within 72 hours can prevent transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and within 120 hours can prevent unwanted pregnancy.
Provide the opportunity for people with disabilities to communicate to you without the presence of their caregiver, if wished and does not endanger or create tension in that relationship.
If a man or boy is raped it does not mean he is gay or bisexual. Gender-based violence is based on power, not someone’s sexuality.
Sexual and gender minorities are often at increased risk of harm and violence due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Actively listen and seek to support all survivors.
Anyone can commit an act of gender-based violence including a spouse, intimate partner, family member, caregiver, in-law, stranger, parent or someone who is exchanging money or goods for a sexual act.
Anyone can be a survivor of gender-based violence – this includes, but isn’t limited to, people who are married, elderly individuals or people who engage in sex work.
Protect the identity and safety of a survivor. Do not write down, take pictures or verbally share any personal/identifying information about a survivor or their experience, including with your supervisor. Put phones and computers away to avoid concern that a survivor’s voice is being recorded.
Personal/identifying information includes the survivor’s name, perpetrator(s) name, date of birth, registration number, home address, work address, location where their children go to school, the exact time and place the incident took place etc.
Share general, non-identifying information
To your team or sector partners in an effort to make your program safer.
To your support network when seeking self-care and encouragement.
more
Chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kill more than
four million people every year and affect hundreds
of millions more. These diseases erode the health
and well-being of the patients and have a negative
impact on families and societies. Women ...and
children are particularly vulnerable, especially those
in low and middle income countries, where they are
exposed on a daily basis to indoor air pollution from
solid fuels for cooking and heating. In high income
countries, tobacco is the most important risk factor
for chronic respiratory diseases, and in some of
these countries, tobacco use among women and
young people is still increasing.
more
PEPFAR Malawi’s Country Operational Plan 2022 (COP22) embodies joint priorities from national and subnational dialogues building on the 2020-2025 National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS. The interagency team has developed a person-centered, district-tailored and Malawi Population-Based HIV Impact Ass...essment (MPHIA)-informed strategy through extensive engagement with Government of Malawi (GoM) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to sustain HIV epidemic control. At the end of COP21, PEPFAR Malawi was commended for contributing to reaching epidemic control in strong collaboration with GoM and stakeholders including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). This includes enrollment of 88% of recipients of care on three or more months of antiretroviral treatment (ART), better outcomes for Malawian children through remarkable efforts in Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programming and progress made towards reaching men with more intentional and focused programming.
more
PEPFAR Malawi’s Country Operational Plan (COP) 2021 reflects a culmination of strong interagency collaboration between the PEPFAR Malawi team, Government of Malawi (GoM), and civil society organizations (CSOs) to mitigate the devastating impacts of COVID-19 and sustain progress achieved over the l...ast two decades towards HIV epidemic control.
At the conclusion of the March 2020 Johannesburg Regional Planning Meeting, the PEPFAR Malawi team presented a COP20 surge strategy to improve client-centered care, mitigate treatment disruption, scale prevention programs to key and vulnerable populations, and strengthen national health systems.
Following this meeting, the first three COVID-19 cases were reported in Malawi and immediately thereafter, adaptations to the COP20 strategy became imperative to deliver safe, client-centered care.
more