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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ECDC Technical Report, Fourth Update 3 July 2020
BMJ Global Health2020;5:e002914. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002914
The evidence produced in mathematical models plays a key role in shaping policy decisions in pandemics. A key question is therefore how well pandemic models relate to their implementation contexts. Drawing on the cases of Ebola and in...fluenza, we map how sociological and anthropological research contributes in the modelling of pandemics to consider lessons for COVID-19. We show how models detach from their implementation contexts through their connections with global narratives of pandemic response, and how sociological and anthropological research can help to locate models differently. This potentiates multiple models of pandemic response attuned to their emerging situations in an iterative and adaptive science. We propose a more open approach to the modelling of pandemics which envisages the model as an intervention of deliberation in situations of evolving uncertainty. This challenges the ‘business-as-usual’ of evidence-based approaches in global health by accentuating all science, within and beyond pandemics, as ‘emergent’ and ‘adaptive’.
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Germany’s overall response to COVID-19 has been evaluated as reasoned and sound. Nonetheless, it has exposed weaknesses and blindspots in the German healthcare system regarding the inclusion of migrant groups. For instance, marginalised groups such as labour migrants and asylum-seekers are not con...sidered for tailored measures in the government’s response to COVID-19. On the other hand, certain efforts to include migrant groups, such as the provision of information in numerous languages, are unprecedented in the German context. They may point to increasing accommodation for diversity.
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Scientific Brief, 30 June 2020
The current effort on fighting COVID-19 cannot conceal the fact that climatic and geological hazards affect Latin-America and the Caribbean every year. At a time when countries of the region are actively responding to the pandemic, they also need to prepare for and implement actions to mitigate the ...potential impacts of other recurrent hazards. For instance, countries like Guatemala and El Salvador have been recently hit by tropical storm Amanda and, as the Caribbean region faces its annual hurricane season, countries are enhancing climate-hazard preparedness. Many countries are bracing for a two-tier crisis as they grapple with complicated logistics, limited resources and scant supplies.
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In response to the first cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reported on the continent, many African Union Member States implemented large-scale public health and social measures (PHSM) rapidly. These measures were aimed at reducing transmission and the number of new cases being reported, p...rotecting the most vulnerable populations, and allowing time for countries to ramp up critical healthcare and diagnostic services. While these quick actions bought time for Member States, the negative socio-economic impacts are being felt widely, and countries are now exploring how best to ease these measures back while still managing the outbreak.
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The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on the cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces in the context of COVID-19. This guidance is intended for health care professionals, public health professionals and health authorities that are developing and implementing policies and sta...ndard operating procedures (SOP) on the cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces in the context of COVID-19.
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This guidance document addresses how physical distancing (referred to in previous guidance documents as ‘social distancing’) can help slow down transmission.
Ce document d'orientation explique comment la distance physique (désignée dans les documents d'orientation précédents sous le nom de «distance sociale») peut aider à ralentir la transmission.
Afghanistan has one of the largest populations per capita of persons with disabilities in the world. At least one in five Afghan households includes an adult or child with a serious physical, sensory, intellectual, or psychosocial disability. More than 40 years of war have left more than one million... Afghans with amputated limbs and other mobility, visual, or hearing disabilities. Many Afghans have psychosocial disabilities (mental health conditions) such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, which are often a direct result of the protracted conflict. Other Afghans have pre-existing disabilities not directly related to the conflict, such as those caused by polio.
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This guidance note developed by UNICEF helps WASH staff in their preparedness and response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. It provides an overview of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and its intersection with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). It also provides key actions that staff can i...mplement to help prevent infection and its spread in health-care facilities: from human to human, among health care workers and patients, through droplets, and by touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. WASH, including waste management and environmental cleaning, is essential for IPC
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9 April 2020
WHO has published the guidance “Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) when COVID-19 disease is suspected” This document is intended for clinicians taking care of hospitalized adult and paediatric patients with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) whe...n COVID-19 infection is suspected. Optimized supportive care should be provided to ensure the best possible chance for survival of COVID-19 patients as described in the WHO guidance:
1. Management of severe COVID-19 requires oxygen therapy and monitoring. Supplemental oxygen therapy should be given immediately to patients with SARI and respiratory distress, hypoxaemia or shock.
2. Management of critical COVID-19 (acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)) requires advanced oxygen/ventilatory support.
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April 2020
This Guidance Note offers a list of recommendations based on a combination of WHO guidelines, good practice and expert advice based on the latest scientific research. The situation with COVID-19 is evolving rapidly and the guidance will continue to be updated if and when new evidence o...r information becomes available.
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A brief guide for those using social media in humanitarian organizations
Scientific brief
8 April 2020
The Government of India is embarking on a mammoth task to prevent COVID-19 spread among communities. The Rapid Evidence Synthesis team received a request to support the planning and development of resources for ensuring preparedness of FLHWs for COVID-19 . The rapid evidence synthesis was conducted ...in a period of three days.
The findings highlight what we can learn from recent pandemics such that we are prepared for potential scenarios and challenges due to COVID-19. Key issues which decision-makers need to consider, based on available evidence
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This document provides guidance to EU/EEA Member States on environmental cleaning in healthcare and non-healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.