the aid library

LIST OPTIONS

Filter

3232

Understanding barriers to quality of care: an approach for conducting a situational analysis of water, sanitation and hygiene (‎WASH)‎ and quality in health care facilities

World Health Organization WHO (2021) C_WHO

The availability of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in health care facilities, especially in maternity and primary-care settings where they are often absent, supports core aspects of quality, equity and dignity for all people. This document describes an approach for conducting a nation... more

Download (194)

View PDF (288)

Report on the health of refugees and migrants in the WHO European Region

World Health Organization WHO, Regional Office for Europe (2018) C_WHO

No Public Health without Refugee and Migrant health. This report, the first of its kind, creates an evidence base with the aim of catalysing progress towards developing and promoting migrant-sensitive health systems in the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region and beyond. This report seeks to... more

Download (87)

View PDF (103)

Infrastructure, policy and regulatory interventions to increase physical activity to prevent cardiovascular diseases and diabetes: a systematic review

Durão, S.; Burns, J.; Schmidt, B. et al. BMC Public Health (2023) CC

Background Noncommunicable diseases are major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Modifying the risk factors for these conditions, such as physical inactivity, is thus essential. Addressing the context or circumstances in which physical activity occurs may promote physical activity a...t a population level. We assessed the effects of infrastructure, policy or regulatory interventions for increasing physical activity. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase and clinicaltrials.gov to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs), controlled before-after (CBAs) studies, and interrupted time series (ITS) studies assessing population-level infrastructure or policy and regulatory interventions to increase physical activity. We were interested in the effects of these interventions on physical activity, body weight and related measures, blood pressure, and CVD and type 2 diabetes morbidity and mortality, and on other secondary outcomes. Screening and data extraction was done in duplicate, with risk of bias was using an adapted Cochrane risk of bias tool. Due to high levels of heterogeneity, we synthesised the evidence based on effect direction. Results We included 33 studies, mostly conducted in high-income countries. Of these, 13 assessed infrastructure changes to green or other spaces to promote physical activity and 18 infrastructure changes to promote active transport. The effects of identified interventions on physical activity, body weight and blood pressure varied across studies (very low certainty evidence); thus, we remain very uncertain about the effects of these interventions. Two studies assessed the effects of policy and regulatory interventions; one provided free access to physical activity facilities and showed that it may have beneficial effects on physical activity (low certainty evidence). The other provided free bus travel for youth, with intervention effects varying across studies (very low certainty evidence). Conclusions Evidence from 33 studies assessing infrastructure, policy and regulatory interventions for increasing physical activity showed varying results. The certainty of the evidence was mostly very low, due to study designs included and inconsistent findings between studies. Despite this drawback, the evidence indicates that providing access to physical activity facilities may be beneficial; however this finding is based on only one study. Implementation of these interventions requires full consideration of contextual factors, especially in low resource settings. more

Download (351)

View PDF (379)

National Guidelines for Health Care Waste Management in Ghana

Ministry of Health and Ministry of Environment Ghana (2019) CC

Ghana's attempt to regulate health care waste management started in 2002 with the development of guidelines on health care waste manage-ment by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2006, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) also developed the Health Care Waste Management Policy and Guidelines as ... more

External Link

Geographical, landscape and host associations of Trypanosoma cruzi DTUs and lineages

Izeta-Alberdi, A.; Ibarra-Cerdena, C.; Moo-llanes, D.; Ramsey,J. BMC Part of Springer Nature (2016) CC

Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease (CD), considered one of the most important parasitic infections in Latin America. Between 25 and 90 million humans are at infection risk via at least one of multiple infection mechanisms. Under natural conditions, the principal transmissio... more

Download (1323)

View PDF (863)

Health Care Waste Management Manual, Fourth Edition

Department of Health Philippines (2020) CC

This document shall serve as the most comprehensive set of guidelines on the safe management of waste generated from heath care activities in the country. It incorporates the requirements of all Philippine laws and regulations governing HCWM and is designed for the use of individuals, public and pri... more

Download (344)

View PDF (358)

Informing vaccination programs: a guide to the design and conduct of dengue serosurveys

World Health Organization WHO (2020) C_WHO

In this document, recommendations are provided on designing and implementing a cross-sectional serosurvey using school-based sampling to estimate age-specific DENV seroprevalence to inform a country’s national dengue vaccination program. The document includes recommendations for methods for ... more

External Link

Discrete typing units of Trypanosoma cruzi: Geographical and biological distribution in the Americas

Veláquez-Ortiz, N.; Herrera, G.; Hernández, C. et al. Scientific Data (2022) CC

Chagas disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi is a public health issue in Latin America. This highly diverse parasite is divided into at least seven discrete typing units (DTUs) TcI-TcVI and Tcbat. Some DTUs have been associated with geographical distribution in epidemiological scenarios and clinical m... more

Download (87)

View PDF (137)

Strengthening the Health Systems Response to COVID-19 - Technical guidance #3

World Health Organization (Europe) (2020) C_WHO

Supply of essential medicines and health technologies (6 April 2020) This paper is one of a set of technical guidance papers developed by the WHO Regional Office for Europe to provide practical information and resources for decision-makers on measures to strengthen the health system response to C... more

Download (154)

View PDF (174)

Guidelines for Care of Critically Ill Adult Patients with COVID-19 in the Americas. Summary, version 3

Pan American Health Organisation PAHO (2021) C_WHO

This publication provides recommendations for the management of critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 being treated in intensive care units (ICUs) in the Americas. These clinical practice guidelines provide evidence-informed recommendations for identifying markers and mortality risk factors in... more

Download (59)

View PDF (35)

Prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance in the Eastern Mediterranean Region – a progress report, 2024

World Health Organization WHO (2024) C_WHO

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health crisis that resulted in 1.14 million deaths in 2021. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates, 96 416 of these deaths occurred in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region. All 22 countr... more

Download (130)

View PDF (76)

Diabetes in pregnancy

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (2016) CC2

The document "Diabetes in Pregnancy" by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) outlines quality standards for managing diabetes in women during pregnancy, with a focus on five key areas. First, it emphasizes the importance of preconception planning for women of childbearing age wit... more

Download (86)

View PDF (104)

UNICEF’s HIV Programming in the Context of COVID-19: Building back better for children, adolescents and women

Unicef (2021) CC2

The coronavirus outbreak that began in 2019 (COVID-19) threatens to reverse years of hard-won gains in preventing and treating HIV. Fragile health systems are further stressed as health workers navigate an increased client load and demands at work while also being concerned for their own health and ... more

Download (271)

View PDF (269)

A Roadmap to combat postpartum haemorrhage between 2023 and 2030

World Health Organization WHO (2023) C_WHO

WHO today released its first roadmap to tackle postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) – defined as excessive bleeding after childbirth - which affects millions of women annually and is the world’s leading cause of maternal deaths. Despite being preventable and treatable, PPH results in around 70 000 de... more

External Link

Cardiovascular diseases in Africa in the twenty-first century: Gaps and priorities going forward

Minja, N.W.; Nakagaayi, D.; Aliku, T. et al. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (2022) CC

In 2015, the United Nations set important targets to reduce premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths by 33% by 2030. Africa disproportionately bears the brunt of CVD burden and has one of the highest risks of dying from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide. There is currently an epide...miological transition on the continent, where NCDs is projected to outpace communicable diseases within the current decade. Unchecked increases in CVD risk factors have contributed to the growing burden of three major CVDs—hypertension, cardiomyopathies, and atherosclerotic diseasesleading to devastating rates of stroke and heart failure. The highest age standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to hypertensive heart disease (HHD) were recorded in Africa. The contributory causes of heart failure are changing—whilst HHD and cardiomyopathies still dominate, ischemic heart disease is rapidly becoming a significant contributor, whilst rheumatic heart disease (RHD) has shown a gradual decline. In a continent where health systems are traditionally geared toward addressing communicable diseases, several gaps exist to adequately meet the growing demand imposed by CVDs. Among these, high-quality research to inform interventions, underfunded health systems with high out-of-pocket costs, limited accessibility and affordability of essential medicines, CVD preventive services, and skill shortages. Overall, the African continent progress toward a third reduction in premature mortality come 2030 is lagging behind. More can be done in the arena of effective policy implementation for risk factor reduction and CVD prevention, increasing health financing and focusing on strengthening primary health care services for prevention and treatment of CVDs, whilst ensuring availability and affordability of quality medicines. Further, investing in systematic country data collection and research outputs will improve the accuracy of the burden of disease data and inform policy adoption on interventions. This review summarizes the current CVD burden, important gaps in cardiovascular medicine in Africa, and further highlights priority areas where efforts could be intensified in the next decade with potential to improve the current rate of progress toward achieving a 33% reduction in CVD mortality. more

External Link

Surgical approaches to the urogenital manifestations of lymphatic filariasis

World Health Organization WHO (2019) C_WHO

During the 17 years since Surgical approaches to the urogenital manifestations of lymphatic filariasis was first published, there has been heightened awareness of the physical, economic and emotional burden of the genitourinary manifestations of filariasis. With the impetus to provide better guidanc... more