22 April 2022, This document provides updated interim recommendations on the use of masks by health workers providing care to patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. This update is prompted by new evidence around mask use and COVID-19 transmission, as well as the emergence of variants of conc...ern including Omicron. Masks continue to be a critical tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These interim guidelines supersede the recommendations provided in the WHO recommendations on mask use by health workers, in light of the Omicron variant of concern published on 22 December 2022.
WHO continually evaluates the emerging evidence and will review these interim recommendations within two months and issue new guidance as needed.
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The aims of this publication is to highlight the lack of diversity in medical literature and education
1,800,944 persons affected by Cyclone Idai and Kenneth as reported by INGC
53,246 persons reported across 50 sites in Sofala, Manica, Tete and Zambezia Provinces in DTM’s multi-sectoral location assessment
279,230 persons assisted with various shelter and essential household items in Sofala ...and Cabo Delgado Provinces by IOM.
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Bonchial asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease in the world. In Kenya, it has been estimated that about 7.5% of the Kenyan population, nearly 4 million people, are currently living with asthma. Many cases tend to be underdiagnosed and undertreated which leads to high levels of morbid...ity and avoidable deaths. The consequences of poorly controlled asthma, including physical, mental, social, and economic impacts, are magnified in the poor on account of poor access to asthma services and sub-optimal quality of those services. With these guidelines, Kenya's Ministry of Health aims to work towards embedding asthma care in Universal Health Care (UHC) to ensure that quality asthma services are available in primary care settings with
referral networks strengthened for those who may require secondary and tertiary care. These national asthma guidelines will also ensure that treatment for asthma is standardized in both the public and the non-state health care sector.
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Childhood Respiratory Diseases & the Environment learning objectives
•To understand how the respiratory tract is affected by the environment
•To describe respiratory diseases linked to the environment
•To list one population-level intervention and one personal-level intervention for d...ecreasing risk of respiratory diseases
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Little is known about the patterns of development assistance (DA) for each component of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) in conflict-affected countries nor about the DA allocation in relation to the burden of disease
Training in monitoring and epidemiological assessment of mass drug administration for eliminating lymphatic filariasis: learners’ guide. World Health Organization.
Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS) is a gynaecological disease caused by Schistosoma haematobium, a parasitic worm that is acquired by skin contact with freshwater contaminated by schistosome cerceriae. Communities in which the infection is most endemic have limited access to clean water and healt...hcare services. Up to 150 million adolescent girls and women are estimated to be at risk of FGS and about 16–56 milion womens are living with FGS, with the majority of these in sub-Saharan Africa. The variability of these estimates points to the fact that this neglected tropical disease is not well studied and frequently not prioritized by local, regional, and global health policy makers.
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A qualitative assessment of knowledge gaps about female genital schistosomiasis among communities living in Schistosoma haematobium endemic districts of Zanzibar and Northwestern Tanzania.
PloS Neglected Tropical Diseases September 30, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009789
Schistosoma... haematobium causes urogenital schistosomiasis and is widely distributed in Tanzania. In girls and women, the parasite can cause Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS), a gynecological manifestation of schistosomiasis that is highly neglected and overlooked by public health professionals and policy makers. This study explored community members’ knowledge, attitudes and perceptions (KAP) on and health seeking behavior for FGS.
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Trachoma causes more vision loss and blindness than any other infection in the world. This disease is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria. Other variants or strains of these bacteria can cause a sexually transmitted infection (chlamydia) and disease in lymph nodes.
This is photomicrograph ...of a conjunctival smear that revealed the presence of what are known as, intracytoplasmic inclusions Trachoma is easily spread through direct personal contact such as from fingers, through shared towels and clothes, and through flies that have been in contact with the eyes or nose of an infected person. When left untreated, repeated Chlamydia trachomatis infections in the eye can cause severe scarring on the inside of the eyelid. This can cause the eyelashes to scratch the cornea (trichiasis). In addition to causing pain, trichiasis permanently damages the cornea and can lead to irreversible blindness.
Chlamydia trachomatis infections spread in areas that lack access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation systems. Trachoma affects the most resource-limited communities in the world. Globally, almost 1.9 million people have vision loss because of trachoma, and it causes 1.4% of all blindness worldwide.1 In 2021, 136 million people lived in trachoma-endemic areas and were at risk of trachoma blindness.
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Many countries have made significant progress in the implementation of World Health Organization recommended preventive chemotherapy strategy, to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF). However, pertinent challenges such as the existence of areas of residual infections in disease endemic districts pose... potential threats to the achievements made. Thus, this study was undertaken to assess the importance of these areas in implementation units (districts) where microfilaria (MF) positive individuals could not be found during the mid-term assessment after three rounds of mass drug administration.
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PLoS Negl Trop Dis 5(6): e1187. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001187. Buruli ulcer (BU), caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans infection, is a debilitating disease of the skin and underlying tissue which starts as a painless nodule, oedema or plaque and could develop into painful and massive ulcers if left u...ntreated. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the study assessed the effectiveness of the BUPaT programme to improve early detection and management of BU in an endemic area in Ghana.
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2020 was a year like no other. Amidst on-going humanitarian crises, largely fuelled by conflict and violence but also driven by the effects of climate change – such as the largest locust infestation in a generation – the world had to contend with a global pandemic. In less than one year (March-D...ecember 2020), more than 82 million COVID-19 cases and 1.8 million deaths were recorded. In that timeframe, out of the global COVID-19 totals, 30 per cent of COVID-19 cases and 39 per cent deaths were recorded in GHRP countries.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is a multiplier of vulnerability, compounding threats to food insecurity, while exposing weaknesses in food and health systems. It is severely undermining the capacity of communities to cope in times of crisis and has become a stress test for political and economic stability.