Guidance has been updated on a number of chemicals: asbestos, bentazone, chromium, iodine, manganese, microcystins, nickel, silver, tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene. Guidance has also been added for chemicals not previously assessed in the Guidelines: anatoxin-a and analogues, cylindrospermopsi...ns and saxitoxins. The new guidance on organotins has replaced the prior guidance focused on dialkyltins. With these updates, the guideline values for tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene have been revised while new guideline values for cylindrospermopsins, manganese, microcystins, and saxitoxins have been established .
Updated information on cyanobacteria has been included, introducing an alert level framework for early-warning and to guide short-term management responses. Guidance has also been updated in the sections on adequacy of water supply, climate change, emergencies, food production and processing, and radiological aspects, particularly on managing radionuclides when exceeding WHO screening values and guidance levels.
more
In spite of the work carried out by the EU institutions, the Member States, many cities and grassroot movements in Europe, the general public is still not engaging enough in air quality policy initiatives and the level of awareness and knowledge of the effects of poor air quality on health is often ...low.
HEAL, within its work with the EU urban air quality partnership has put together a toolkit on ‘Communicating on air quality and health – Inspiring practices, challenges and tips’, providing hands-on examples of how communication on air quality, the health links and (policy and behavioural) changes takes place, as an inspiration particularly for urban authorities wanting to communicate on clean air.
The Partnership on Air Quality was founded in 2016 with the main objective of improving air quality in cities and bringing the ‘healthy city’ higher on the local, national and EU agendas as part of the urban agenda.
more
The document focuses on household water treatment methods to ensure access to safe drinking water, particularly in areas with limited access to clean water sources. It highlights the importance of safe water, noting that contaminated water is a major cause of waterborne diseases such as diarrhea and... cholera. Treating water at the household level is emphasized as an effective way to reduce health risks.
The document outlines several treatment methods, including boiling, which kills most pathogens; chlorination, which disinfects water by adding chlorine; filtration, which removes dirt and certain microbes using simple or advanced filters; and solar disinfection (SODIS), which involves exposing water in clear plastic bottles to sunlight for several hours to kill microbes. Additionally, it stresses the importance of safe water storage, such as using clean and covered containers to prevent recontamination, and practicing good hygiene, including regular handwashing and maintaining cleanliness around water sources.
By promoting these methods, the document aims to raise awareness and provide practical solutions for improving water quality at the household level, thereby reducing the spread of diseases and enhancing public health.
more
A manual on homemade masks
This guide is designed to provide a simple outline of best practices to make, use and reuse masks to enable NGOs and individuals to self-create such masks and accelerate widespread adoption of masks across India.
The key criteria for proposed designs are:
Ease of Ac...cess to Materials
Easy of Making at Home
Ease of Use and Reuse
Wearing of masks is especially recommended for people living in densely populated areas across India
more
Beware of the Smoke due to Forest Fire and Land !!!
Access : 25.4.2017
The project aims to build trust around COVID-19 vaccines to ensure greater access to and uptake in the vaccines through establishing healthy information ecosystems to address mis- and disinformation and vaccine hesitancy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The bulletins are in French.
Protect yourself from the bad effects of haze of smoke: Information flyer about how to protect yourself from the haze of smoke in Indonesia
Access : 26.4.2017
This video highlights the significant risks that malaria poses to pregnant and breastfeeding women in malaria-endemic regions. It follows the stories of Angavu from Kenya, Moyinoluwa from Nigeria and Lamai from Thailand. It emphasises the severe consequences that malaria can have during pregnancy, i...ncluding miscarriage, stillbirth, low birth weight and maternal death. Due to safety concerns, pregnant women are often excluded from antimalarial drug trials, which causes long delays in effective medicines becoming available for this vulnerable group. To address this issue, the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) launched the Malaria in Mothers and Babies (MiMBa) initiative, which aims to accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of safe antimalarial treatments for pregnant and breastfeeding women. The initiative aims to close critical gaps in research, drug development, and access, ensuring that these women and their babies are better protected against malaria. The video calls for continued efforts to address the needs of underserved populations most affected by malaria.
more
This animation uses the “visible germ” to help people immediately grasp how easily the coronavirus is transmitted. The film uses simple and visual ways to teach prevention practices that can help people protect themselves and others at home and in their community.
Ther videos are available in... more than 30 languages for free download for your personal and non-commercial use. To access the download pages, you need to "Login.
more
The Knowledge Translation Unit is a group within the University of Cape Town’s Lung Institute and Department of Medicine who has worked on primary care programmes to strengthen provision of evidence-informed care in low-resources settings in South Africa, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Brazil for two decad...es. See here for more information. We are working around the clock to help health workers in these and similar settings to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. These can be accessed below. We are also working to expand these to support primary healthcare workers, patients and households. You can also access our free online training.
For purposes of assisting communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are making our COVID-19 and related materials freely available for others to use subject to some simple conditions.
more
Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments Specialized Booklet 3
The People’s Charter for Health is a statement of the shared vision, goals, principles and calls for action that unite all the members of the PHM coalition. It is most widely endorsed consensus document on health since the Alma Ata Declaration
Available in different languages
Lancet 2022; 399: 1155–200 Published Online March 15, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/
S0140-6736(21)02488-0
Regional situation analysis, practices, experiences, lessons learned and ways forward.