A guidance document in simple language for health personnel, setting out their rights and responsibilities in conflict and other situations of violence. It explains how responsibilities and rights for health personnel can be derived from international humanitarian law, human rights law and medical e...thics.The document gives practical guidance on:
- The protection of health personnel, the sick and the wounded; - Standards of practice; - The health needs of particularly vulnerable people; - Health records and transmission of medical records; - "Imported" health care (including military health care);
- Data gathering and health personnel as witnesses to violations of international law; - Working with the media
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Training for Health Care Workers
Ghana's attempt to regulate health care waste management started in 2002 with the development of guidelines on health care waste manage-ment by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2006, the Ministry of Health developed the health care waste policy and guidelines. This guidance document im...proved health care waste management in the country.
With support from the UNDP-GEF medical waste management project, the Ministry of He lth has revised the existing National Health Care Waste Management (HCWM), policy and guideline, 2006 and has produced two separate documents- A National Health Care Waste Management Policy and a National Guideline for Health Care Waste Management
countrywide. This policy is replacing the 2006 policy and introduces new technical and administrative policy issues to enhance waste management in health care facilities.
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Fact sheet
Good hygiene is critical to ensure that healthcare staff provide quality care, reduce the spread of infections, and protect the health of communities. This fact sheet explores the healthcare-related risks of poor hygiene and the critical elements of hand hygiene needed to improve qua...lity of care and reduce negative outcomes of poor compliance (e.g., healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance) in healthcare facilities, and provides recommendations and additional readings for improving hygiene in health settings and achieving a safe, clean healthcare environment.
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nt. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(12), 13097-13116; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph111213097
Climate change will increase the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events and create risks that will impact health care facilities. Health care facilities will need to assess climate chang...e risks and adopt adaptive management strategies to be resilient, but guidance tools are lacking. In this study, a toolkit was developed for health care facility officials to assess the resiliency of their facility to climate change impacts. A mixed methods approach was used to develop climate change resiliency indicators to inform the development of the toolkit. The toolkit consists of a checklist for officials who work in areas of emergency management, facilities management and health care services and supply chain management, a facilitator’s guide for administering the checklist, and a resource guidebook to inform adaptation. Six health care facilities representing three provinces in Canada piloted the checklist. Senior level officials with expertise in the aforementioned areas were invited to review the checklist, provide feedback during qualitative interviews and review the final toolkit at a stakeholder workshop. The toolkit helps health care facility officials identify gaps in climate change preparedness, direct allocation of adaptation resources and inform strategic planning to increase resiliency to climate change.
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The health sector In Ukraine is beginning to change in recent years. The sector, based on a system of health care (Semashko) originating from the Soviet Union, had been stagnant for many years. Remarkably little had changed since Independence and the health care system is as of today still character...ized by a very hierarchical and territorial system with large numbers of beds in institutional care settings. At the same time the Government of Ukraine has only limited resources available that are spread thin over the existing infrastructure
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The impact of attacks on health care in Fragile, Conflict-affected and Vulnerable (FCV) settings goes well beyond endangering health providers. Reduced capacity, interrupted services and loss of health care resources deprive vulnerable populations of urgently needed care, undermine health systems an...d jeopardize long-term public health goals.
As the world struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic, protecting health care where health systems are the most vulnerable has become more important than ever. Ensuring the right to access health care for everyone, everywhere is not only at the core of WHO’s commitment to achieve better health but also a stepping stone to a reaching the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs.
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New E-learning on health care responsibilities in times of conflict
Are you a doctor wondering how to interact with the media, or a nurse wondering how to treat patient information in difficult circumstances? Are you an ambulance driver unsure of what your responsibilities are? Are you a hospital a...dministrator wondering what to do with overwhelming numbers of deceased patients? If so, the Health Care in Danger project's new e-learning module on the responsibilities of health-care personnel is for you.
The module introduces health-care personnel to the principles underpinning ethical considerations when working in conflict situations and other emergencies. Using an engaging multimedia interface, the module presents various dilemmas that medical personnel face every day. Users can explore these issues in depth by interacting virtually with experts in the field, studying real-life issues, and receiving guidance that helps them to make decisions in difficult situations. The module allows learners freedom to explore, and for each chapter includes documents with more detailed information on topics of interest to the user.
Access is completely free, and no login is required. The module functions on Safari, Internet Explorer 9 and later, Firefox, and Google Chrome, as well as on tablet devices. Would you like to get started? The module is available online, and hosted by ICRC.
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Health-care waste management is a critical aspect of health-care systems, crucial for public health and environmental sustainability. This report provides valuable insights into the existing health-care waste management frameworks across 16 countries in the Western Pacific Region. It provides an ove...rview of essential components of the legal framework and best practices, including adoption of environmental friendly technologies in policies and highlights both strengths and areas in need of improvement. The report provides recommendations to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of future health-care waste management policies in the Region.
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Examples from four Philippine Hospitals
Value in Health Regional Issues 4 C (2014) 37-40
Health care waste can be difficult to treat and dispose of safely. The environmental and health impacts of waste put extra pressure on resources. Therefore, it is important to try and reduce the quantities of waste wherever possible. Ensure waste is segregated properly at the point of disposal. It i...s cheaper and easier to manage general waste through a municipal waste system than infectious or sharps waste which needs treatment before final disposal. Organic general wastes like food and paper can be composted rather than being wasted. Non- hazardous general waste may also be sorted for recycling.
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This document shall serve as the most comprehensive set of guidelines on the safe management of waste generated from heath care activities in the country. It incorporates the requirements of all Philippine laws and regulations governing HCWM and is designed for the use of individuals, public and pri...vate establishments, and other entities involved in segregation, collection, handling, storage, treatment,and disposal of waste generated from heath care activities.
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Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and first-aiders are coming under attack while trying to save lives. They are threatened, arrested or beaten, their hospitals looted or bombed. Some are unable to work because medical supplies can’t get through; some are forced to flee for their lives. Some are e...ven killed.
Attacks on health-care personnel, facilities and vehicles during armed conflict are wrong. They are prohibited under international humanitarian law (also known as the law of war), because they deprive sick and wounded people of much-needed care.
Preventing violence against health care is a matter of life and death.
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