The ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) is a weekly bulletin for epidemiolgists and health professionals on active public health threats. This issue covers the period 7-13 August 2016 and includes updates on Zika virus, yellow fever in Angola, polio, MERS CoV and West Nile virus.
Over half a billion children are living in areas with extremely high levels of floods and nearly 160 million children live in areas of high or extremely high droughts. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 26% of the annual 6.6 million deaths of children under five are linked to environ...ment-related causes and conditions. Children are also disproportionately affected by pollution, not only in terms of death rates, but also in terms of cognitive and physical development. This report illustrates that environmental causes also have an impact on whether children are pushed to work and on the kind of work they engage in, the conditions of work, exposure to dangerous toxicants and the risk of exploitation. However, the report raises more questions than it answers as it is one of the first reports addressing the question, how environmental degradation and climate change affect the vulnerability of children towards exploitation.
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In this report a nutrition governance framework was applied to research and analyse the provincial experience with nutrition policy in Pakistan, looking both at chronic and acute malnutrition. Twenty-one in-depth interviews with key stakeholders were also conducted along with a review of published a...nd grey literature. Findings were validated and supplemented by consultative provincial roundtable meetings. Punjab’s nutritional puzzle is that it has high levels of chronic malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies despite a surplus production of food and a low poverty level. Under-nutrition is mainly linked to insufficient attention to preventive health strategies and to a lack of connection between relevant sectors such as Education, Health, Poverty, Safe Water and Sanitation, and Food. Strategic opportunities are recommended which include cross-party political support and ownership for nutrition, with steering by executive leadership; multi-sectoral action and functional integration of various departments and programmes with the creation of a central convening structure for effective cross-sectoral coordination; broadening of nutritional activities beyond salt iodization and vitamin A coverage; central co-ordination of monitoring and evaluation and effective partnerships between the state and non-state sector around data production, awareness, advocacy, and monitoring.
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1,800,944 persons affected by Cyclone Idai and Kenneth as reported by INGC
53,246 persons reported across 50 sites in Sofala, Manica, Tete and Zambezia Provinces in DTM’s multi-sectoral location assessment
279,230 persons assisted with various shelter and essential household items in Sofala ...and Cabo Delgado Provinces by IOM.
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WHO commissioned a survey, carried out in September/October 2015, among some 10 000 members of the public in 12 countries (2 per WHO Region: Barbados, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, the Russian Federation, Serbia, South Africa, Sudan and Viet Nam) on their use of antibiotics, knowl...edge of antibiotics and of antibiotic resistance. While not claiming to be exhaustive, this and other surveys will help WHO and partners to ensure efforts are focused on tackling some of the biggest gaps in understanding and the most prevalent misconceptions
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