A Systematic Review, Country Case Studies, and Recommendations for Integration into National Health Systems
Alliance Report
Participation of community health workers (CHWs) in the provision of primary health care has been experienced all over the world for several decades, and there is an amount ...of evidence showing that they can add significantly to the efforts of improving the health of the population, particularly in those settings with the highest shortage of motivated and capable health professionals.
more
Wild elephants and snakes, violent men lurking in the forest and human traffickers on the prowl during the night. These are among the most pressing fears identified by Rohingya children who fled fighting in Myanmar to Bangladesh, according to a new report launched today by Save the Children, World V...ision and Plan International to coincide with the six month mark of the crisis.
more
On 31st December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. On 7th January 2020, Chinese authorities identified a new strain of Coronavirus as the causative age...nt for the disease. The virus has been renamed by WHO as SARS-CoV-2 and the disease caused by it as COVID-19. The disease since its first detection in China has now spread to over 200 countries/territories, with reports of local transmission happening in more than 160 of these countries/territories. As per WHO (as of 1st April, 2020), there has been a total of 823626 confirmed cases and 40598 deaths due to COVID-19 worldwide.
In India, as on 2nd April, 2020, 1965 confirmed cases (including 51 foreign nationals) and 50 deaths reported from 29 States/UTs. Large number of cases has been reported from Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
more
Kenya reported its first case of COVID-19 on 12 March 2020 and, as at 7 April 2020, 172 cases had been confirmed and 6 deaths reported. The Government of Kenya has taken a number of measures to curb the spread of the virus, including implementing a curfew, restricting movement out and into four coun...ties, including Nairobi Metropolitan, and closing most of the urban and rural markets to enforce social distancing. However, these measures, along with the global economic shock caused by the pandemic, are expected to generate new needs, requiring an immediate and urgent response.
more
The following Emergency Response Plan for the COVID-19 pandemic seeks to set out activities that will be undertaken by humanitarian actors in Ukraine over the course of 2020 to respond to the public health impact of the epidemic – as well as the indirect, socio-economic impact on people’s well-b...eing, which will span across many areas. Given the extensive public exposure of the COVID-19 threat, the response will cover the whole of Ukraine, while providing a distinct focus on Donetska and Luhanska oblasts that have been ravaged by an armed conflict for the last six consecutive years. The planned COVID-19 response in the two conflict-affected oblasts will be treated as an annex to the current Humanitarian Response Plan for Ukraine
more
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone, including key populations at higher risk of HIV. And the gains made against other infectious diseases, including HIV, are at risk of being reversed as a result of disruptions caused by COVID-19. This is the background to a new report published by FHI 360,... in collaboration with UNAIDS, which gives advice on how to minimize the impacts of COVID-19 on key populations.
more
The first case of COVID-19 was reported in Mozambique on 22 March 2020. As of 26 May, Mozambique had 194 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 168 were locally transmitted. The country’s capital, Maputo, and the province of Cabo Delgado are currently the epicentres of the outbreak in Mozambique, w...ith Pemba and Afungi registering more than 50 percent of the overall cases. Other provinces affected are Manica, Inhambane, Gaza, Tete and Sofala.
more
This document summarizes preparedness and response activities to address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in South Sudan through the end of 2020. The addendum includes the activities and financial requirements of the updated National COVID-19 Response Plan. Originally issued in March prio...r to identification of the first person confirmed with COVID-19 in South Sudan and with a focus on preparedness, the updated plan encompasses a significantly scaled-up national response.
more
We will soon be piloting a project titled “Integrating Spirituality into Patient Care” that will form “spiritual care teams” to assess and address patients’ spiritual needs in physician outpatient practices within Adventist Health System, the largest Protestant healthcare system ... in the United States.This paper describes the goals, the rationale, and the structure of the spiritual care teams that will soon be implemented, and discusses the barriers to providing spiritual care that health professionals are likely to encounter.Spiritual care teams may operate in an outpatient or an inpatient setting, and their purpose is to provide health professionals with resources necessary to practice whole person healthcare that includes spiritual care.We believe that this project will serve as a model forfaith-based health systems seeking to visibly demonstrate their mission in a way that makes them unique and expresses their values.Not only does this model have the potential to be cost-effective, but also the capacity to increase the quality of patient care and the satisfaction that health professionals derive from providing care.If successful, this model could spread beyond faith-based systems to secular systems as well both in the U.S. and worldwide.
more
Right now, we are facing an unpredictable and highly dynamic situation as a global community. However, as we have seen from the solidarity, support and power of communities in the HIV epidemic and already in communities responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the response must not be fear and stigma. W...e need to build a culture of solidarity, trust and kindness. Our response to COVID-19 must be grounded in the realities of people’s lives and focused on eliminating the barriers people face in being able to protect themselves and their communities. Empowerment and guidance, rather than restrictions, can ensure that people can act without fear of losing their livelihood, sufficient food being on the table and the respect of their community. Ultimately it will give us a more effective, humane and sustainable response to the epidemic.
more
The pandemic presents tough choices for governments, local communities, health and school systems, as well as families and businesses: How to re-open safely? How to safeguard people’s lives and protect their livelihoods? Where to allocate scarce resources? How to protect those unable to protect th...emselves? Answers to questions like these will affect our short-term success in battling the spread of the virus and could have impacts for generations to come.
More than ever, the world needs reliable and trustworthy data and statistics to inform these important decisions. The United Nations and all member organizations of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) collect and make available a wealth of information for assessing the multifaceted impacts of the pandemic. This report updates some of the global and regional trends presented in Volume I and offers a snapshot of how COVID-19 continues to affect the world today across multiple domains.
more
Primary health care, as outlined in the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata and again 40 years later in the 2018 WHO/UNICEF document A vision for primary health care in the 21st century: towards universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, is a whole-of-government and whole-of-society a...pproach to health that combines the following three components: multisectoral policy and action; empowered people and communities; and primary care and essential public health functions as the core of integrated health services.(1) Primary health care-oriented health systems are health systems organized and operated so as to make the right to the highest attainable level of health the main goal, while maximizing equity and solidarity. They are composed of a core set of structural and functional elements that support achieving universal coverage and access to services that are acceptable to the population and that are equity enhancing. The term “primary care” refers to a key process in the health system that supports first-contact, accessible, continued, comprehensive and coordinated patient-focused care.
more
Recently, a renewed interest in large-scale community health worker (CHW) programs has been seen globally. This renewal provides an opportune moment to take stock of issues and challenges such programs face and what can be done to make them as effective as possible. With this in mind, this manual is... intended to be used a practical guide for policymakers and program
managers wishing to develop or strengthen a CHW program, drawing lessons from other countries that have implemented CHW programs at-scale. Throughout, we discuss major policy and programmatic issues that decision-makers and planners need to consider when designing, implementing, scaling up or strengthening a national-level CHW program. We offer an overview
of specific challenges CHW programs face, country lessons, tools, and other resources that may be helpful, while incorporating relevant programmatic examples as much as possible.
more
The meningitis road map has been designated as a flagship global strategy of the WHO’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work, 2019–2023 and is an essential component in achieving universal health coverage.
The road map will reinforce and combine with wider initiatives, such as those aimed at s...trengthening primary health care and health systems, increasing immunization coverage, improving global health security, fighting antimicrobial resistance and advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities. It will complement other global control strategies, such as those addressing sepsis, pneumonia, tuberculosis and HIV. Implementation will be a challenge for all countries across the world, but especially in resource-poor settings where the burden of meningitis is greatest. The targets for the visionary and strategic goals will be adapted to regional and local contexts.
more
This Global Competency Standards sets the benchmark for the health workforce in providing equality of care to refugees and migrants. Refugee and migrant populations are highly diverse, with significant variation in life experiences, health needs and access to health care. The standards described out...line expected behaviours of health workers in delivering quality care to refugees and migrants and can be used to inform the outcomes of education programmes aligned with standards for care. The Competency Standards is designed to provide a foundation to support the development of competency-based curricula tailored to the local context and for health workers to achieve a minimum level of competence. The importance of person-centred, culturally responsive care is emphasized in the nine competency standards, which recognize the need for health workers to be trained, supported and empowered within strong health systems
more
The Knowledge Guide provides guidance on how health workers can apply the Standards to their own practice. For each of the nine competencies and their specific behaviours in the Standards, the Knowledge Guide examines in detail how a health worker's knowledge, skills and attitudes can reach the stat...ed benchmark for providing people-centred health services to refugees and migrants. The Knowledge Guide also details the learning outcomes that reflect the behaviours that a health worker will demonstrate once they have achieved the Competency Standards.
The Knowledge Guide is designed for educators and health workers to assist in designing or integrating learning content to enable attainment of the identified knowledge, skills and attitudes.
more
Introduction: Considering the global prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a vaccine is being developed to control the disease as a complementary solution to hygiene measures—and better, in social terms, than social distancing. Given that a vaccine will eventually be produced, informa...tion will be needed to support a potential campaign to promote vaccination.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the variables affecting the likelihood of refusal and indecision toward a vaccine against COVID-19 and to determine the acceptance of the vaccine for different scenarios of effectiveness and side effects.
Materials and Methods: A multinomial logistic regression method based on the Health Belief Model was used to estimate the current methodology, using data obtained by an online anonymous survey of 370 respondents in Chile.
Results: The results indicate that 49% of respondents were willing to be vaccinated, with 28% undecided or 77% of individuals who would potentially be willing to be inoculated. The main variables that explained the probability of rejection or indecision were associated with the severity of COVID-19, such as, the side effects and effectiveness of the vaccine; perceived benefits, including immunity, decreased fear of contagion, and the protection of oneself and the environment; action signals, such as, responses from ones' family and the government, available information, and specialists' recommendations; and susceptibility, including the contagion rate per 1,000 inhabitants and relatives with COVID-19, among others. Our analysis of hypothetical vaccine scenarios revealed that individuals preferred less risky vaccines in terms of fewer side effects, rather than effectiveness. Additionally, the variables that explained the indecision toward or rejection of a potential COVID-19 vaccine could be used in designing public health policies.
Conclusions: We discovered that it is necessary to formulate specific, differentiated vaccination-promotion strategies for the anti-vaccine and undecided groups based on the factors that explain the probability of individuals refusing or expressing hesitation toward vaccination.
more
Despite the continuing war in Ukraine, the Government is preparing for the country’s recovery and reconstruction. Given the magnitude of the attacks on the health infrastructure and consequent disruption to health system functioning, reconstruction of the health system is integral to the country...s recovery. The immediate priorities are to restore essential services, respond to new physical and mental health needs, protect public health, and provide a secure and attractive environment for the return of both health professionals and the general population. This policy note identifies strategic directions for post-war health system recovery in the short and longer terms, while sustaining essential health services during the ongoing invasion
more
The socioeconomic factors and public health inadequacies that facilitated the rapid spread of this infection continue to exist. As it is a new and emerging disease it has not received sufficient coverage yet in the medical curricula of Member States. Specific treatment is not available, and there is... no vaccine for the prevention of chikungunya fever. It has therefore become imperative to develop guidelines, based on the limited clinical experience gathered from managing patients so far, for appropriate management of patients in communities and in health facilities. Experts engaged in managing patients with chikungunya fever in the Region were brought together by the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia to outline guidelines for managing various situations and stages of the disease.
The socioeconomic factors and public health inadequacies that facilitated the rapid spread of this infection continue to exist. As it is a new and emerging disease it has not received sufficient coverage yet in the medical curricula of Member States. Specific treatment is not available, and there is no vaccine for the prevention of chikungunya fever. It has therefore become imperative to develop guidelines, based on the limited clinical experience gathered from managing patients so far, for appropriate management of patients in communities and in health facilities. Experts engaged in managing patients with chikungunya fever in the Region were brought together by the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia to outline guidelines for managing various situations and stages of the disease. This publication is the end result of that exercise and is intended to assist health-care providers in planning and implementing appropriate care to patients with chikungunya fever according to their actual clinical conditions
more
This sourcebook aims to detail why health needs to be part of urban and territorial planning and how to make this happen. It brings together two vital elements we need to build habitable cities on a habitable planet: 1) Processes to guide the development of human settlements – in this document ref...erred to as “urban and territorial planning (UTP)”; and 2) concern for human health, well-being and health equity at all levels – from local to global, and from human to planetary health.
This sourcebook identifies a comprehensive selection of existing resources and tools to support the incorporation of health into UTP, including advocacy frameworks, entry points and guidance, as well as tools and illustrative case studies. It does not provide prescriptions for specific scenarios – these should be determined by context, people and available resources.
more