The Atlas of health and climate is a product of this unique collaboration between the meteorological and public health communities. It provides sound scientific information on the connections between weather and climate and major health challenges. These range from diseases of poverty to emergencies... arising from extreme weather events and disease outbreaks. They also include environmental degradation, the increasing prevalence of noncommunicable diseases and the universal trend of demographic ageing.
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This paper presents lessons learned from previous flood responses in developing countries, based on a structured review of the literature. It is intended for people working in relief and recovery operations who have to decide if, when and how to intervene after a flood.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as ‘a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community’. Mental illn...ess refers to all of the diagnosable mental disorders, which are characterised by abnormalities in thinking, feelings or behaviours. Mental illness is closely related to vulnerability, both in its causes and in its effects. Globally, 14 per cent of the global burden of disease is attributed to mental illness – with 75 per cent of those affected being found in low-income countries – which includes a broad spectrum of diagnoses, from common mental illnesses such as anxiety and
substance abuse, to severe illnesses like psychosis.
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DHS Working Papers No. 69
This paper uses data from the three Indian National Family Health Surveys (1992-93, 1998-99, 2005-06) to examine how the relationship between household wealth and child mortality evolved during a time of significant economic change in India. The main predictor is a new... measure of household wealth that captures changes in wealth over time. Outcomes include neonatal mortality, postneonatal mortality, child mortality, and under-five mortality. Multivariate analysis is conducted at the national, urban, rural, and regional levels.
Results indicate that the overall relationship between household wealth and mortality weakened over time, as evidenced by the coefficients for under-five mortality at the national level.
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The paper sets out the specific communication challenge posed by Ebola and why it was so difficult to get to grips with this in the early months of the outbreak. It thendocuments when the health communication response became more useful and explores what that tells us about effective media and commu...nication. Finally, it offers recommendations to ensure that media and communication are used to their full potential during other disease outbreaks and humanitarian crisis
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Every year, around 830 000 children die from unintentional or "accidental" injuries. The vast majority of these injuries occur in low-income and middle-income countries. However, dozens of prevention strategies and programmes exist. If they were integrated into other child survival programmes and im...plemented on a larger scale, many of these deaths and much of the injury-related disability could be prevented.
The report documents the magnitude, risks and prevention measures for child injuries globally –particularly for drowning, burns, road traffic injuries, falls and poisoning.
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Chapter 1 provides new data on the latest developments in the global treatment effort, highlighting positive trends as well as aspects that require improvement. Chapter 2 summarizes the impact of the scale-up in reducing AIDS-related mortality and new HIV infections. Chapter 3 examines the sequence ...of steps in the continuum of care from HIV diagnosis to successful provision of ART services and outlines key supportive innovations. Chapter 4 discusses the implications and anticipated impact of the new "Consolidated guidelines on the use of ARV drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection
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2016-2018 Early implementation,
This report presents 2015 data on the consumption of systemic antibiotics from 65 countries and areas, contributing to our understanding of how antibiotics are used in these countries. In addition, the report documents early efforts of the World Health Organization (...WHO) and participating countries to monitor antimicrobial consumption, describes the WHO global methodology for data collection, and highlights the challenges and future steps in monitoring antimicrobial consumption.
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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 publication is designed to provide Ipas staff, trainers, partners and other health-care providers with access to up-to-date, evidence-based recommendations. In general, the recommendations are the same as those in the World Health Organization’s 2012 Safe Abortion: Technical and Policy Guidanc...e for Health Systems, Second edition. In rare cases, the recommendations have been modified due to the settings where Ipas works. In addition, if there is more current evidence to inform the recommendations, they will be updated here.
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Journal of Tuberculosis Research, 2017, 5, 189-200
Background: In Benin, little is known about the influence of both gender and
HIV-status on diagnostic patterns and treatment outcomes of Tuberculosis
(TB) patients. Objective: To assess whether differences in gender and HIV
status affect diagn...ostic patterns and treatment outcomes of TB patients. Methods:
Retrospective cohort study of patients registered in 2013 and 2014 in
the three largest TB Basic Management Units in south Benin. Results: Of 2694
registered TB patients, 1700 (63.1%) were male. Case notification rates were
higher in males compared with females (96 vs 53/100,000 inhabitants). The
male to female ratio was 1:1 in HIV positive patients, but was 2:1 among HIV
negative cases. In HIV-positive patients, there were no differences in TB types
between men and women. In HIV-negative patients, there were significantly
higher proportions of females with clinically diagnosed pulmonary TB (p =
0.04) and extrapulmonary TB (p < 0.001). Retreatment TB was 4.65 times
higher amongst males compared with females. For New bacteriologically confirmed
pulmonary TB, no differences were observed in treatment outcomes
between genders in the HIV positive group; but significantly more unfavorable
outcomes were reported among HIV negative males, with higher rates of
failure (p < 0.001) and loss-to-follow up (p = 0.02). Conclusion: The study
has shown that overall TB notification rates were higher in males than in females
in south Benin, with more females co-infected with HIV. Unfavorable outcomes were more common in HIV-negative males.
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The occurrence of a high percentage of couterfeit medicines on the global medicines market is often attributed to a lack of effective regulation and a weak enforcement capacity. This review, while focusing on counterfeit medicines and medical devices in developing countries, will present information... on their impact and how these issues can be addressed by regulation and control of the supply chain using technology appropriate to the developing world.
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The second edition of the WHPCA Global Atlas of Palliative Care was launched during World Hospice & Palliative Care Day 10 October. The Atlas is an update of the original WHPCA/WHO Global Atlas of Palliative care at the end of life published in 2014. It is full of useful facts and figures to support... palliative care advocacy and development. In this edition we have switched from using the WHO methodology for need for palliative care to the evolving Lancet Commission on Palliative Care and Pain Relief methodology. As a result the number of people needing palliative care has gone from 40 million per year to almost 57 million and more accurately reflects the need for palliative care globally models of palliative care worldwide? What resources are devoted to palliative care? What is the way forward?
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How has the DRC Ebola outbreak impacted Sexual and Reproductive Health in North-Kivu?
Recommendations (more specifics found in the assessment):
1. Sexual and reproductive health needs and services are to be embedded in the EVD response from the outset.
2. Reduce delays at every stage of the patie...nt journey, particularly for women experiencing obstetric complications, including complications from abortion.
3. Support individuals and communities to mitigate SRH risks posed during and after EVD epidemic:
4. Formulate SRH guidelines for the EVD context involving experts in all relevant fields.
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Novel coronavirus will disproportionately impact world’s 70 million displaced people
Report recommends stopping asylum seeker deportations, prioritising hygiene and refugee camp decongestion, better communication
Displaced people must be included in prevention, mitigation efforts - for s...ake of everyone’s health
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In 2015, 5.9 million children under age five died (1). The major causes of child deaths globally are pneumonia, prematurity, intrapartum-related complications, neonatal sepsis, congenital anomalies, diarrhoea, injuries and malaria (2). Most of these diseases and conditions are at least partially cau...sed by the environment. It was estimated in 2012 that 26% of childhood deaths and 25% of the total disease burden in children under five could be prevented through the reduction of environmental risks such as air pollution, unsafe water, sanitation and inadequate hygiene or chemicals.
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The marathon to eradicate polio is on its final lap: the world is more than 99% of the way to success. After millennia of living with poliovirus and suffering the paralysis it causes, today nearly all the world’s people live in polio-free countries; two of the three strains of wild poliovirus (WPV...) have been eradicated. Some 20 million people are walking who would have been paralysed had it not been for the efforts of national governments and health workers. If eradicating polio has been a marathon, the finishing line is in sight.
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The marathon to eradicate polio is on its final lap: the world is more than 99% of the way to success. After millennia of living with poliovirus and suffering the paralysis it causes, today nearly all the world’s people live in polio-free countries; two of the three strains of wild poliovirus (WPV...) have been eradicated. Some 20 million people are walking who would have been paralysed had it not been for the efforts of national governments and health workers. If eradicating polio has been a marathon, the finishing line is in sight.
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Conformément aux recommandations de divers comités de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS), le Bureau régional de l’OMS pour l’Afrique a mis en place trois initiatives phares afin de permettre aux États Membres de la Région africaine de se préparer aux urgences de santé publique, ...de les détecter et d’y riposter. Ces programmes sont le fruit de consultations approfondies avec plus de 30 Ministres africains, ainsi qu’avec des acteurs techniques, des partenaires à travers le continent et des institutions régionales telles que le Centre africain de contrôle et de prévention des maladies (CDC-Afrique), dont les contributions ont façonné les activités prioritaires. Le présent rapport est le troisième rapport de synthèse trimestriel sur les progrès accomplis dans la mise en œuvre des initiatives phares.
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Most of the global burden of sepsis occurs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), but the prevalence and etiology of sepsis in LMICs are not well understood. In particular, the lack of laboratory infrastructure in many LMICs has historically precluded an assessment of the pathogens leading to ...sepsis. A recent systematic review found that data describing antimicrobial resistance were absent for 43% of countries in Africa, and only two countries have national antimicrobial resistance plans. In addition, small studies have identified indiscriminate antibiotic use both in and out of hospital settings in sub-Saharan Africa. The absence of microbiological data and lack of antibiotic stewardship complicate sepsis management and almost certainly worsens outcomes, particularly in low-resource systems. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence, etiology, and outcomes of sepsis among a cohort of critically ill patients in a referral hospital of Malawi, with a focus on the prevalence of culture-confirmed bacteremia and urinary tract infections.
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