The Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework is a systematic tool with which to obtain a situation analysis of hand hygiene promotion and practices within an individual health-care facility.
The global burden of disease (GBD) study provides information about fatal and non-fatal health outcomes around the world.
The objective of this work is to describe the burden of mental disorders among children aged 5–14 years in each of the six regions of the World Health Organisation. Data come ...from the GBD 2015 study. Outcomes: disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) are the main indicator of GBD studies and are built from years of life lost (YLLs) and years of life lived with disability (YLDs).
more
Cervical cancer, along with maternal deaths, has been identified as a national priority in
South Africa as well as other Sub-Saharan African countries. Cervical cancer is the
second most common cancer among women in South Africa, after breast cancer. Due
to limited access to prevention, early dia...gnosis and treatment, cervical cancer is often
fatal.
more
Two adjectives raise an issue for communicators working on Chagas disease (CD): “invisible and silent”. Two adjectives that can be ascribed to other neglected tropical diseases (NTD), but which are part of the essence of CD. Bringing CD out of its situation of neglect and oblivion is a mission e...ntrusted mainly to the world of communication as well as of science, politics and financial resources. However, communication has not always been considered among the priorities in the approach to the disease, except in valuable exceptions, some of which we have seen in the preceding article.
more
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected infectious endemic disease that is transmitted through the bite of a vector insect (sandfly) of the Lutzomyia genus,typical of rural geographical territories, and causes disfiguring skin ulcers and disabilities. It is estimated that CL affects between 600...000 and 1 000 000 people a year around the world, mainly in the America s, the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East and Central Asia. Eighteen of the 21 countries that make up the Latin American (LA) region are considered endemic areas for this neglected tropical disease. Colombia is one of the countries that reports the majority of global cases with 6161 in 2020 and has the second highest number of cases in the Americas, after Brazil.
more
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a global epidemic with significant morbidity. Diabetic
retinopathy (DR) is the specific microvascular complication of DM and affects 1 in 3 persons with DM. DR remains a leading cause of vision loss in working adult populations. Patients with severe levels of DR are report...ed to have poorer quality of life and reduced levels of physical, emotional, and social well-being, and they utilize more health care resources.
Epidemiological studies and clinical trials have shown that optimal control of blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids can reduce the risk of developing retinopathy and slow its progression. Timely treatment with laser photocoagulation, and increasingly, the appropriate use of intraocular administration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors can prevent visual loss in vision- threatening retinopathy, particularly diabetic macular edema (DME). Since visual loss may not be present in the earlier stages of retinopathy, regular screening of persons with diabetes is essential to enable early intervention.
more
Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness globally. In Malawi, glaucoma accounts for 15.8% of the blindness among people aged 50 years and above. Blindness from glaucoma is preventable with early detection and timely treatment. However, glaucoma management remains a challenge to eye care... providers due to its asymptomatic progression.
These guidelines inform eye care providers about the requirements for early detection of glaucoma, and the appropriate assessment and management of glaucoma patients. The guidelines also demonstrate the need for ophthalmologists to work with secondary-level eye care providers. With
glaucoma being a permanently blinding condition, it is vital to ensure that all eye care providers are adequately equipped with skills and resources for the early detection and management of glaucoma.
more
World Health Organization. (2021). Minimum technical standards and recommendations for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health care for emergency medical teams. World Health Organization.
The World health statistics report is the annual compilation of health and health-related indicators which has been published by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2005. The 2023 edition reviews more than 50 health-related indicators from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO’s T...hirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW 13).
more
This report is the annual global monitoring report documenting progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 targets 2.1 and 2.2. This year’s report explores the links between urbanization and changing food systems and how these changes are impacting the availability, affordability and des...irability of healthy diets, food security and malnutrition in all its forms. It shows that understanding the ways in which urbanization is shaping food systems will require using a rural-urban continuum lens. By mapping the interlinkages across the rural-urban continuum, governments can identify challenges created by urbanization and suitable policies, technologies, investments and governance mechanisms to help address them.
more
Cholera remains a significant public health threat in many countries worldwide. In resource-constrained settings, it disproportionately affects thousands of poor and vulnerable population
Multiple pandemics, numerous outbreaks, thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars of national income wiped out—all since the turn of this century, in barely 17 years—and yet the world’s investments in pandemic preparedness and response remain woefully inadequate. We know by now that the ...world will see another pandemic in the not-too-distant future; that random mutations occur often enough in microbes that help them survive and adapt; that new pathogens will inevitably find a way to break through our defenses; and that there is the increased potential for intentional or accidental release of a synthesized agent. Every expert commentary and every analysis in recent years tells us that the costs of inaction are immense. And yet, as
the havoc caused by the last outbreak turns into a fading memory, we become complacent and relegate the case for investing in preparedness on a back burner, only to bring it to the forefront when the next outbreak occurs. The result is that the world remains scarily vulnerable.
more
MOBILISIERUNG INLÄNDISCHER ÖFFENTLICHER RESSOURCEN FÜR GESUNDHEIT
While there has been real progress in addressing the burden of disease in the WHO African region, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the link between health, economics and security, as the region saw decades of progress threatened, including positive trends in decreasing inequality. In the Africa...n Region the momentum towards achieving the 2030 SDG disease burden reduction targets (SDG targets 3.3, 3.4 and 3B) has stalled.
The COVID-19 pandemic was also a major threat to gains made, such as the eradication of polio in the region, declared in 2020; reduced numbers of new HIV infections in 2021 compared to 2010; and passing the 2020 milestone of the End TB Strategy, with a 22% reduction in new cases compared with 2015. However, the pandemic also disrupted essential health services in 92% of countries globally, 22.7 million children missed basic immunization, there was an increase in malaria and TB, and global deaths from TB rose for the first time since 2015.
more
This paper is motivated by the global spread of the coronavirus referred to as COVID-19 and its efect on Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has alluded to the COVID-19 not only afecting the global health but also trade and tourism, commodity prices, and fnanci...al conditions that calls for an additional policy response to support demand and ensure an adequate supply of credit
more
What countries need: Investments needed for 2010 targets
Between 2012 and 2016, development assistance for HIV/AIDS decreased by 20·0%; domestic financing is therefore critical to sustaining the response to HIV/AIDS. To understand whether domestic resources could fill the financing gaps created by declines in development assistance, we aimed to track spe...nding on HIV/AIDS and estimated the potential for governments to devote additional domestic funds to HIV/AIDS.
more
Heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is a condition frequently encountered by healthcare professionals and, in order to achieve the best outcomes for patients, needs to be managed optimally. This guideline document is based on the European Society of Cardiology Guidelines for the t...reatment of acute and chronic heart failure published in 2016, and summarises what is considered the best current management of patients with the condition. It provides information on the definition, diagnosis and epidemiology of HFrEF in the African context. The best evidence-based treatments for HFrEF are discussed, including established therapies (beta-blockers, ACE-i/ARBs, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs), diuretics) that form the cornerstone of heart failure management as well as therapies that have only recently entered clinical use (angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI), sodium/glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors). Guidance is offered in terms of more invasive therapies (revascularisation, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) by implantation of a biventricular pacemaker with (CRT-D) or without (CRT-P) an ICD, left ventricular assist device (LVAD) use and heart transplantation) in order to ensure efficient use of these expensive treatment modalities in a resourcelimited environment. Furthermore, additional therapies (digoxin, hydralazine and nitrates, ivabradine, iron supplementation) are discussed and advice is provided on general preventive strategies (vaccinations). Sections to discuss conditions that are particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa (HIV-associated cardiomyopathy (CMO), peripartum CMO, rheumatic heart disease, atrial fibrillation) have been added to further improve clinical care for these commonly encountered disease processes.
more
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a continuous and robust impact on world health. The resulting COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating physical, mental and fiscal impact on the millions of people living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), as they have a higher risk of severe illness... and death from COVID-19. COVID-19 has been associated with an
excess in all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality beyond that related to the infection itself and its immediate consequences. Studies in the
United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA) have clearly shown increasing deaths from ischemic heart disease, stroke and hypertensive disease due to COVID-19. Overall, the impact has been greater in individuals with lower socioeconomic status, even in high income nations.
more
The Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Guidelines aim to support healthcare workers improve quality and safety health care. The Guidelines further aim to promote and facilitate the overall goal of IPC by providing evidence-based recommendations on the critical aspects of IPC, focusing on the fun...damental principles and priority action areas. All health service organizations should consider the risk of healthcare-associated infection(s) (HAI) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) transmission to implement these recommendations. The IPC Guidelines also set national standards for the prevention and control of HAIs and to ensure compliance to the National Quality Standards.
more