Disaster Management Reference Handbook Series Overview.
Floods, storms, and wind account for large proportions of displacement compared to other disasters. Floods are the most frequent type of disaster whereas wind-related disasters constitute the biggest losses in terms of economic damage, displac...ement, and number of affected people. ASEAN has succeeded in developing institutions not only for addressing the threat posed by natural hazards but also for building resilience into communities at risk
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The checklist tool described in this handbook is intended for EU/EEA public health authorities who need to assess the capacity for communicable disease prevention and control at migrant reception/detention centres hosting migrants for weeks/months (medium-term) in order to identify gaps and set prio...rities for development.
Using this tool, the aim is to monitor and support capacity development to prevent the onset and improve the management of communicable disease outbreaks at medium-term migration reception/detention centres, both on a day-to-day basis and in the event of a sudden influx of migrants.
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A practioner's guide, based on lessons from Ebola.
This guide is a compilation of best practices and key lessons learned through Oxfam’s experience of community engagement during the 2014–15 Ebola response in Sierra Leone and Liberia. It aims to inform public health practitioners and programme ...teams about the design and implementation of community-centred approaches
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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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A manual for people working in environments contaminated by landmines and other explosive hazards including improvised explosive devices.
Sectors in which Priority Adaptation Projects should be implemented first include:
- 1) Agriculture, Early Warning Systems and Forest (First Priority Level Sectors). This is followed by:
- 2) Public Health and Water Resources (Second Priority Level Sectors);
- 3) Coastal Zone (Thir...d Priority Level Sector); and
- 4) Energy and Industry, and Biodiversity (Fourth Priority Level Sectors).
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Gender-based violence is a life-threatening, global health and human rights issue that violates international human rights law and principles of gender equality. It is also a threat to lasting peace and an affront to our common humanity. United Nations Member States have called for urgent action to ...end GBV in emergencies, recognizing that in crises, the risk of GBV is heightened, particularly for women and adolescent girls.
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The National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB), 2020-2025, presents
coordinated, strategic actions that the United States Government will take in the next five years to improve the health and wellbeing of all Americans by changing the course of antibiotic resistance.
T...his Plan is based on the U.S. Government’s 2014 National Strategy for CARB, and builds on the first National Action Plan released in 2015 by expanding evidence-based activities that have already been shown to reduce antibiotic resistance, such as optimizing the use of antibiotics in human and animal health settings.
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According to the Report, cascading and interlinked crises are putting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in grave danger, along with humanity’s very own survival. The Report highlights the severity and magnitude of the challenges before us. The confluence of crises, dominated by COVID-19,... climate change, and conflicts, are creating spin-off impacts on food and nutrition, health, education, the environment, and peace and security, and affecting all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Report details the reversal of years of progress in eradicating poverty and hunger, improving health and education, providing basic services, and much more. It also points out areas that need urgent action in order to rescue the SDGs and deliver meaningful progress for people and the planet by 2030.
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COVID-19 pandemic has taken the entire world by surprise, creating the greatest global catastrophe since WWII, impacting all spheres of our societies, including health, economy, social protection, as well as security, and human rights. The virus affects people and communities indiscriminately in all... parts of the world, with particularly strong impact on poorer communities, especially those already suffering from the humanitarian consequences caused by conflicts, social-economic problems or disasters.
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Internews’ Rooted In Trust (RiT) Project tracks COVID-19-related rumors circulating among social media users and vulnerable communities in Mali, as well as other countries around the globe. The rumors are used to inform risk communication efforts by humanitarians and public health actors, and to s...upport local media in disseminating more accurate and actionable information that responds to community questions and concerns.
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Communication to Healthcare Professionals Mar-2020
This guideline is intended to assist healthcare professionals in the participation of very important process of continuous surveillance of safety and efficacy of the health products which are used in their clinical practice. Continuous evaluation o...f medicines’ benefit and harm help to achieve the ultimate goal of safe and effective treatments available to patients.
The guideline is intended to assist healthcare professionals in the reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with the use of all registered health products, including medicines, old medicines, medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics (IVDs).
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Event-based surveillance (EBS) is defined as the organized collection, monitoring, assessment and interpretation of mainly unstructured ad hoc information regarding health events or risks, which may represent an acute risk to health. Both indicator-based and event-based surveillance components serve... the early warning and response (EWAR) function of the public health surveillance system. The Framework for Event-based Surveillance offers guidance to public health practitioners seeking to implement EBS at each administrative level in healthier countries.
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Briefing Note 8.
Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is a strategy for adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change by harnessing nature and the services it can provide. This strategy is crucial for cities and peri-urban areas, threatened by a multitude of climate hazards and home to more than ha...lf the human population as of 2018. Despite some outmigration from the largest cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, urbanization will continue, and by 2035, 62.5 percent of the world’s population is expected to reside in urban areas. However, given the need to retrofit, replace and upgrade deteriorating urban infrastructure, and to meet the challenges of climate change, including the urban heat island effect, droughts and more intense flooding, many experts and policymakers see in these demands an opportunity to reinvent cities as greener, less prone to pandemics, and more liveable.
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Most neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) occur in remote areas of low- and middle-income countries, where health systems are often poorly developed. Therefore, these neglected patients generally lack access to quality preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic care [1]. The difficulty to access NTD-ende...mic areas, challenging logistics, and the lack of skilled human resources in these areas are also major obstacles to conduct clinical research. We had to face these when conducting a good clinical practice/good clinical laboratory practice (GCP/GCLP)-compliant clinical study in eastern Sudan, a well-known endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis and other NTDs. We share here the challenges related to study preparation and implementation of this GCP/GCLP study that investigated the causes of persistent fever in a rural hospital located in Gedaref State in eastern Sudan. We think this type of paper may be of interest for researchers planning to conduct a clinical trial in a resource-limited setting as well as for funders of such research.
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The importance of robust mortality surveillance systems cannot be overstated in an era marked by increasing global health challenges where health threats loom large and population dynamics continue to evolve. Accurate and timely mortality data is essential for identifying trends and detecting emergi...ng health threats, evaluating the impact of interventions, and guiding evidence-based policy decisions.
This framework outlines a holistic approach to strengthening routine mortality surveillance systems, considering the unique contextual factors and challenges faced by African countries. It emphasizes the importance of establishing efficient data collection mechanisms, enhancing data quality and completeness, and promoting data sharing and collaboration among stakeholders.
Moreover, the framework recognizes the pivotal role of technology in the integration of data from fragmented mortality data sources. It highlights the potential of innovative data capture methods, advanced analytics, and real-time reporting systems to enhance mortality data’s accuracy, efficiency, and timeliness.
The continental framework for mortality surveillance aligns with Africa CDC’s mission and strategic goal by serving as a fundamental component in strengthening public health systems, enhancing disease surveillance capacities and capabilities, informing evidence-based policies and interventions, and promoting collaboration and coordination among African countries to address health challenges and improve health outcomes on the continent.
The successful implementation of this framework requires collective commitment and concerted efforts from governments, health institutions, and the international community. We hope this document will serve as a catalyst for transformative change, enabling countries to build resilient mortality surveillance systems that protect public health, save lives, and contribute to evidence-based decision-making.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has been the biggest disaster in living memory, on almost any measure. More than 6.5 million people are confirmed to have died in less than three years, and the pandemic’s indirect impacts have touched the lives of virtually every community on the planet.
Our World Disasters... Report 2022 focuses on the coronavirus pandemic and preparedness: both the ways preparedness ahead of COVID-19 was inadequate, and how the world can prepare more effectively for future public health emergencies.
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Asia remained the world’s most disaster-hit region from weather, climate and water-related hazards in 2023. Floods and storms caused the highest number of reported casualties and economic losses, whilst the impact of heatwaves became more severe, according to a new report from the World Meteorolog...ical Organization (WMO).
The State of the Climate in Asia 2023 report highlighted the accelerating rate of key climate change indicators such as surface temperature, glacier retreat and sea level rise, which will have major repercussions for societies, economies and ecosystems in the region.
In 2023, sea-surface temperatures in the north-west Pacific Ocean were the highest on record. Even the Arctic Ocean suffered a marine heatwave.
Asia is warming faster than the global average. The warming trend has nearly doubled since the 1961–1990 period.
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The article outlines the prioritized research agenda for the prevention and control of chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) as part of the World Health Organization's (WHO) action plan on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) from 2008 to 2013. It highlights the significant global impact of CRDs, including... asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other related conditions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The document stresses the need for effective prevention strategies and better surveillance, as well as enhanced healthcare infrastructure and resources in LMICs. It calls for research into CRD risk factors, effective interventions, and integrated care approaches that align with broader NCD prevention programs. The article emphasizes the importance of public health initiatives and cross-sector collaborations to reduce the disease burden and improve patient outcomes.
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Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children, imposing a consistent burden on health system. In recent years, prevalence of asthma symptoms became globally increased in children and adolescents, particularly in Low-Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Host (genetics, atopy) and environmental fa...ctors (microbial exposure, exposure to passive smoking and air pollution), seemed to contribute to this trend. The increased prevalence observed in metropolitan areas with respect to rural ones and, overall, in industrialized countries, highlighted the role of air pollution in asthma inception. Asthma accounts for 1.1% of the overall global estimate of “Disability-adjusted life years” (DALYs)/100,000 for all causes. Mortality in children is low and it decreased across Europe over recent years. Children from LMICs particularly suffer a disproportionately higher burden in terms of morbidity and mortality. Global asthma-related costs are high and are usually are classified into direct, indirect and intangible costs. Direct costs account for 50–80% of the total costs. Asthma is one of the main causes of hospitalization which are particularly common in children aged < 5 years with a prevalence that has been increased during the last two decades, mostly in LMICs. Indirect costs are usually higher than in older patients, including both school and work-related losses. Intangible costs are unquantifiable, since they are related to impairment of quality of life, limitation of physical activities and study performance. The implementation of strategies aimed at early detect asthma thus providing access to the proper treatment has been shown to effectively reduce the burden of the disease.
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