Having completed this course, learners will be able to: Describe and analyze the opportunities, challenges and limits of Global Health Diplomacy. Examine the diplomatic, financial, and geopolitical context that underlies global health decision-making. Explain the role of the many players in the spac...e, including governments, philanthropists, and multilateral institutions . Course Objective The field of global health is often thought of purely in medical or public health terms, but there are important geopolitical and policy dimensions of global health that underlie programmatic responses to global health challenges. By completing this course, learners will be able to explain the specific institutions and initiatives that are fundamental to current global health diplomacy activities and functions, and how these influence global health outcomes. Learners will further be able to summarize real-world examples where global health diplomacy either helped or limited global health outcomes, and explain the reasons for those outcomes.
Accessed July 27th, 2019
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Be a hero, be prepared! Learn with Tanah how to be prepared in case of tsunamis and earthquakes.
Tanah: The Tsunami and Earthquake Fighter is a mobile gaming app developed by UNESCO-Bangkok, the Red Cross Global Disaster Preparedness Center, and USAID. Players can download the game for free on th...eir mobile devices and follow the avatar Tanah through different levels as she prepares for and respond to tsunamis and earthquakes.
It is available in English, Spanish, Nepalese, and Bahasa Indonesian. Android and IOS
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The Kabeho Mwana project (2006–2011) supported the Rwanda Ministry of Health (MOH) in scaling up integrated community case management (iCCM) of childhood illness in 6 of Rwanda’s 30 districts. The project trained and equipped community health workers (CHWs) according to national guidelines. In p...roject districts, Kabeho Mwana staff also trained CHWs to conduct household-level health promotion and established supervision and reporting mechanisms through CHW peer support groups (PSGs) and quality improvement systems. The iCCM model implemented by Kabeho Mwana resulted in greater improvements in care-seeking than those seen in the rest of the country. Intensive monitoring, collaborative supervision, community mobilization, and CHW PSGs contributed to this success. The PSGs were a unique contribution of the project, playing a critical role in improving care-seeking in project districts. Effective implementation of iCCM should therefore include CHW management and social support mechanisms. Finally, re-analysis of national survey data improved evaluation findings by providing impact estimates.
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A guide for community health workers, rehabilitation workers, and families.
This manual covers identifying primary and secondary disabilities, developing skills for daily living, and working through behavior problems. The new 2018 edition features new topics, including mental and developmental di...sabilities, microcephaly and Zika, causes of birth defects and childhood disability, epilepsy and seizures, hearing loss and vision problems, HIV, leprosy, and more, and has updated information on polio, cerebral palsy, juvenile arthritis, muscular dystrophy, and medications.
Readers will find instructions on how to build six different wheelchairs using local resources; useful therapy techniques, such as making fun and educational toys; ideas for improving playground accessibility for all children; and low-cost rehabilitation aids and adaptations for home and community.
You can download chapter 4 for free. The complete book is available at Hesperian Book STore
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Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are required to stay at home to protect themselves and prevent the spread of the disease, including young people. Children have been out of school and as a result, many of them may be spending more time on screens to complete online activities as part of home...schooling, socializing with peers or playing video games given that outdoor activities may be restricted due to lockdowns. This infographic provides important information on what you need to know in regard to excessive screen use and gaming during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also stresses the importance of recognizing the signs of excessive screen use and taking action to ensure online safety for young people during this pandemic.
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The National AIDS Control Council recognizes the growing, organized and progressive inter-faith religious voice in the spheres of governance and development in Kenya. Across the country, the Faith Sector has been involved in HIV prevention, treatment, care and support to programmes towards... the HIV response.On behalf of the board and the NACC family, I want to thank the Faith Sector Working Group (FSWG) and the Faith Religious Leaders for their contribution in HIV prevention by recognizing their comparative advantage in moulding behaviors among the various populations. We pride in your ability of being able to reach millions of Kenyans at any given time. This is the more reason why NACC wishes to sincerely thank you for working closely with us on the HIV response.We appreciate the Faith Sector support to the provision of HIV and health care services provision which has facilitated access to health services even in the remotest parts our country. The role played by the Religious Leaders in addressing stigma and discrimination as the greatest barrier to access of HIV and Health services by PLHIV and other vulnerable populations is well acknowledged.Finally, our gratitude goes to the theologians who participated in the development of the Faith Sector HIV messages booklet, which provides a tool to facilitate the Religious Leaders with knowledge to address the gaps in the HIV response among the congregants.
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GO VIRAL! helps protect you against COVID-19 misinformation. You’ll learn about some of the most common ways false and misleading information about the virus are spread. Understanding these tricks allows you to resist them the next time you come across them online. Scientists who worked with us on... the development of GO VIRAL! found that playing the game significantly improves people’s ability to spot misinformation about COVID-19.
The recommended age for GO VIRAL! is 15+. Although the game has received a PEGI-age rating of 3 (i.e., the game has been deemed suitable for persons age 3 and up), the game does include some themes that may be interpreted as sensitive, especially to people under the age of 15. If you are unsure, always ask for parental consent.
Spread the word – fight the spread of misinformation by challenging your friends and family to GO VIRAL!
Available in different languages
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22 Sept. 2021
The rapid development of effective Covid-19 vaccines in 2020 gave hope to the world in the darkest days of the deadly pandemic. However, the vaccine roll-out has been massively skewed towards wealthy nations. While rich states have hoarded vaccines, companies have also played a decisi...ve role in restricting fair access to a life-saving health product. This report focuses on six leading vaccine developers, AstraZeneca, BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer, assessing each company’s human rights policy, pricing structure, records on intellectual property, knowledge and technology sharing, allocation of available vaccine doses and transparency.
Available in Arabic, English, French, German and Spanish
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Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that occurs mainly in the tropics and subtropics but has a high potential to spread to new areas. Dengue infections are climate sensitive, so it is important to better understand how changing climate factors affect the potential for geographic spread and futu...re dengue epidemics. Vectorial capacity (VC) describes a vector's propensity to transmit dengue taking into account human, virus, and vector interactions. VC is highly temperature dependent, but most dengue models only take mean temperature values into account. Recent evidence shows that diurnal temperature range (DTR) plays an important role in influencing the behavior of the primary dengue vector Aedes aegypti. In this study, we used relative VC to estimate dengue epidemic potential (DEP) based on the temperature and DTR dependence of the parameters of A. aegypti. We found a strong temperature dependence of DEP; it peaked at a mean temperature of 29.3°C when DTR was 0°C and at 20°C when DTR was 20°C. Increasing average temperatures up to 29°C led to an increased DEP, but temperatures above 29°C reduced DEP. In tropical areas where the mean temperatures are close to 29°C, a small DTR increased DEP while a large DTR reduced it. In cold to temperate or extremely hot climates where the mean temperatures are far from 29°C, increasing DTR was associated with increasing DEP. Incorporating these findings using historical and predicted temperature and DTR over a two hundred year period (1901-2099), we found an increasing trend of global DEP in temperate regions. Small increases in DEP were observed over the last 100 years and large increases are expected by the end of this century in temperate Northern Hemisphere regions using climate change projections. These findings illustrate the importance of including DTR when mapping DEP based on VC.
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As climate change increasingly contributes to migration and displacement in many parts of the world, there is a pressing need for measures that build resilience and prevent displacement as well as those that help climate-affected people move to safety and support receiving communities. Multilateral ...development banks (MDBs) are critical, if sometimes overlooked, players because of their ability to invest in large-scale projects that contribute to sustainable development, primarily in low- and middle-income countries.
This report explores the unique role of MDBs in the climate finance landscape and highlights opportunities for migration, humanitarian, and other key actors to partner with them on projects that effectively target climate-related migration and displacement. After reviewing the evidence on the complex linkages between climate and mobility, the report examines MDBs’ climate-related work to date, challenges they face to scaling up these efforts, and strategies to begin to address hurdles. These recommendations include learning from past MDB investments that have touched on climate migration, funding data collection or sharing to strengthen understanding of climate migration trends, and developing partnerships to support policy and project development, financing, and implementation.
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Population movements have turned Chagas disease (CD) into a global public health problem. Despite the successful implementation of subregional initiatives to control vectorial and transfusional Trypanosoma cruzi transmission in Latin American settings where the disease is endemic, congenital CD (cCD...) remains a significant challenge. In countries where the disease is not endemic, vertical transmission plays a key role in CD expansion and is the main focus of its control. Although several health organizations provide general protocols for cCD control, its management in each geopolitical region depends on local authorities, which has resulted in a multitude of approaches. The aims of this review are to (i) describe the current global situation in CD management, with emphasis on congenital infection, and (ii) summarize the spectrum of available strategies, both official and unofficial, for cCD prevention and control in countries of endemicity and nonendemicity. From an economic point of view, the early detection and treatment of cCD are cost-effective. However, in countries where the disease is not endemic, national health policies for cCD control are nonexistent, and official regional protocols are scarce and restricted to Europe. Countries of endemicity have more protocols in place, but the implementation of diagnostic methods is hampered by economic constraints. Moreover, most protocols in both countries where the disease is endemic and those where it is not endemic have yet to incorporate recently developed technologies. The wide methodological diversity in cCD diagnostic algorithms reflects the lack of a consensus. This review may represent a first step toward the development of a common strategy, which will require the collaboration of health organizations, governments, and experts in the field.
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Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis is a deadly infectious disease affecting West and Central Africa, South Sudan and Uganda, and transmitted between humans by tsetse flies. The disease has caused several major epidemics, the latest one in the 1990s. Thanks to recent innovations such as rapid di...agnostic tests for population screening, a single-dose oral treatment and a highly efficient vector control strategy, interruption of transmission of the causative parasite is now within reach. If indeed gHAT has an exclusively human reservoir, this could even result in eradication of the disease. Even if there were an animal reservoir, on the basis of epidemiological data, it plays a limited role. Maintaining adequate postelimination surveillance in known historic foci, using the newly developed tools, should be sufficient to prevent any future resurgence.
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Forests, trees and green spaces, hereinafter ‘forests and trees’ for short, provide multiple goods and services that contribute to human health. These include medicines, nutritious foods and other non-wood forest products (NWFPs). Globally, at least 3.5 billion people use NWFPs, including medici...nal plants, which are particularly important for vulnerable groups and Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs).
During periods of crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for forest products typically increases amongst these groups. Forests and trees also contribute to better health by playing a role in climate change
mitigation and adaptation, contributing to regulating the carbon cycle, but also moderating the micro-climate, filtering pollutants from the air and protecting settlements against the effects of extreme events such as droughts and flash floods.
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Website last accessed on 07.06.2023
Stopleishmania.org is an initiative of the VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre (UCM), the National Centre of Microbiology (ISCIII), the Animal Protection Centre (Madrid City Council) and the Directorate of Public Health (Regional Government of Madrid). This proj...ect launches the possibility of collaboration with other research centres, feeding the site with updated information on this disease.
Leishmaniosis prevention and control should include novel communication strategies that must be easily accesible and would include new advances in the knowledge of the disease. Recently, other animals different than dogs have been described as competent reservoirs of Leishmania, playing an important epidemiological role in recent outbreaks in Europe and Asia. At the moment, most of the information available is fundamentally devoted to humans and dogs, and there is no a global approach to the disease, taking into account all possible reservoirs.
The contents are available in Spanish and English, and come from the knowledge and experience in the disease of the above mentioned organisms, including research and information outreach.
The result is a website mainly focused on dissemination of the fundamental aspects for the control and prevention of the disease, taking into account that leishmaniosis due to its zoonotic condition, requires a multidisciplinary vision in accordance with the "One Health" principles. The web is complemented by a collaborative tool where the registered research groups can present themselves and disseminate their research results, therefore providing updated information on the scientific advances in the disease control.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a double shock - health and economic. As of March 1, 2021, COVID-19 has cost more than 2.5 million lives and triggered an economic recession surpassing any economic downturn since World War II.
Part I of this paper explores the impact of this current macro-fisc...al outlook on the three primary sources of health spending. Drawing on experiences from previous economic crises, scenario analyses suggest a fall in government per capita spending on health in 2021 and 2022 unless governments make bold choices to increase the share of health in general government spending.
Part II of the paper discusses policy options to meet the spending needs in health. These options encompass strategies to make fiscal adjustments work and channel funds where they are most needed, as well as policies to stabilize the balance sheets of social health insurance (SHI) schemes. The paper explains how the health sector can play an active role in expanding fiscal space, contributing to tax reforms, most importantly pro-health taxes, and mobilizing and absorbing external financing, including debt relief.
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The biennium 2020–2021 has revealed more clearly than ever the need for a strong, credible and independent WHO on the world stage. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis has demonstrated the fundamental importance of the global detection, response and coordination roles that only WHO can play a...cross all Member States. At the same time, the challenges to global health systems and the pressure to ensure equal access to quality health care and the best health possible for all have mounted. The triple billion targets of the Thirteenth General Programme of Work, 2019–2023 remain relevant. The work of WHO in all contexts has never been more critical. However, as several Member States have pointed out, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the discrepancy between what the world expects of WHO and what it is able to deliver with the resources/capacity it has at its disposal. Sustainable financing is thus a key challenge for the Organization that must be addressed as part of the lessons learned from the current COVID-19 pandemic. Member States discussed this issue in detail during the Seventy-third World Health Assembly and their conclusions were reflected in resolution WHA73.1 (2020). The topic of adequate funding is not new. However, discussions on the matter have, to date, remained rather abstract. Building on previous discussions and taking account of lessons learned, the WHO Secretariat would like to initiate a process aimed at finding a concrete solution to the sustainable financing of WHO. This document proposes a process through which to arrive at such a decision, including the key stages and timeline.
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Pathogen genomic surveillance has become a priority for public health systems in recent years. Genomic sequencing is increasingly being used to characterize pathogens and monitor important public health priorities (e.g. poliovirus, influenza virus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Vibrio cholerae, ant...imicrobial resistance (AMR)). The decrease in cost and time of sequencing and the exponential development of bioinformatic pipelines have played a critical role in integrating pathogen genomics into routine public health surveillance. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the role that sequencing plays in the surveillance of infectious diseases. Sequencing facilitates earlier detection, more accurate investigation of outbreaks, closer real-time monitoring of pathogen evolution and tailored development and evaluation of interventions to inform local to global public health decision-making and action. However, there remains a need to coordinate efforts, leverage and link existing surveillance and laboratory networks and capabilities, and systematically integrate genetic sequence data (GSD) with clinical and epidemiological data to strengthen its utility.
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Tobacco has negative implications for the environment, the economy and the health of both smokers and non-smokers. All people have a fundamental right to breathe clean air, and tobacco-free environments are essential to guaranteeing this right. This includes protection in outdoor spaces. Whether sit...ting in class, playing games outside or waiting at the school bus stop, young people should be protected from second-hand smoke and e-cigarette emissions.
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Poor diets are the major cause of death and disease globally, driving high levels of obesity and noncommunicable diseases. Cheap, heavily marketed, ultra-processed, energy-dense and nutrient-poor food and drinks that are high in fat, sugar and salt play a major role. The high-sugar content of these ...products leads to consumption levels much higher than recommended. The World Health Organization recommends that sugar intake should be reduced to just 5% of energy intake by using fiscal policies and food and drink reformulation strategies. Over the previous decade, the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has implemented several policies aimed at reducing sugar intake. We compare the soft drinks industry levy and the sugar reduction programme, examining how differences in policy design and process may have influenced the outcomes. Success has been mixed: the mandatory levy achieved a reduction in total sugar sales of 34.3%, and the voluntary reduction programme only achieved a 3.5% reduction in sugar levels of key contributors to sugar intake (despite a target of 20%). Both policies can be improved to enhance their impact, for example, by increasing the levy and reducing the sugar content threshold in the soft drinks industry levy, and by setting more stringent subcategory specific targets in the sugar reduction programme. We also recommend that policy-makers should consider applying a similar levy to other discretionary products
that are key contributors to sugar intake. Both approaches provide valuable learnings for future policy in the United Kingdom and globally
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