This document draws on scientific evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic and from prior public health research on behaviour change, with the purpose of empowering African Union Member States to promote widespread adoption of masks in the general population. This document complements existing Africa CDC... technical guidance on the community use of face masks.
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Practical considerations
It provides more detailed and practical guidance for continuing services for each life stage across the life-course continuum. As such, both documents should be read and used together. The countries in South-East Asia and the Pacific regions would like to adapt the guidance... within the national and sub-national continuity plans, based on the local situation of COVID-19 transmission, containment response and health system capacity.
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DHS Further Analysis Reports No. 108 - This report examines levels, trends, and inequalities in maternal health in Rwanda from 2010 to 2014-15 among women age 15-49 with a recent birth. The analysis uses Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data for 15 key indicators of maternal health: 6 for antenat...al care, 3 for delivery, 1 for postnatal care, and 5 for barriers to accessing medical care. Levels and trends in these indicators were analyzed overall and by three background characteristics: women’s education, household wealth quintile, and region.
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Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET): Disussion Paper 109
This report describes the evolution of mainland Tanzania’s EHB; the motivations for developing the EHBs, the methods used to develop, define and cost them; how it is being disseminated, communicat...ed, and used; and the facilitators (and barriers) to its development, uptake or use. Findings presented in this report are from three stages of analysis: literature review, key informant perspectives and a national consultative meeting.
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Medicines and Allied Substances [No. 3 of 2013 47 | An Act to continue the existence of the Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority and re-name it as the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority; provide for the functions and powers of the Authority; provide for the registration and regulation of pharmacie...s, health shops and agro-veterinary shops; provide for the registration and regulation of medicines and allied substances; provide for the regulation of the manufacture, importation, exportation, possession, storage, distribution, supply, promotion, advertising, sale and use of medicines and allied substances; provide for the regulation and control of clinical trials; repeal and replace the Pharmaceutical Act, 2004; and provide for matters connected with, or incidental to, the foregoing.
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The revision of the SRHR Policy is based on the results of the analysis of the implementation process of the past policy, which has provided evidence to
ensure that the revised policy is relevant and effective. The revision has also been done with the participation of all national stakeholders who ...have
also international experience on SRHR issues. The Ministry urges all public and private institutions to use this policy as a guide in the implementation of
SRHR services in the country.
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Handbook on pregnancy, childbirth, childhood illnesses, child development and the care of children. The handbook, Facts for Life, provides vital messages and information for mothers, fathers, other family members and caregivers and communities to use in changing behaviours and practices that can sav...e and protect the lives of children and help them grow and develop to their full potential.
This version of Facts for Life builds on the three previous editions, which have been helping families and communities around the world since 1989. Newborn Health has been added to the Safe Motherhood chapter, giving attention to child survival from the first stage of life. A new chapter, Child Protection, has been included, focusing attention on the actions needed to ensure children grow up in protective environments.
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The LDHS provides an opportunity to inform policy and provide data for planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of national health programs. It is designed to provide up-to-date information on health indicators including fertility levels, sexual activity, fertility preferences, awaren...ess and use of family
planning methods, breastfeeding practices, nutritional status of children, early childhood and maternal mortality, maternal and child health, and awareness and behaviors regarding HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. The study also incorporated measurements of HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis Cprevalence along with seroprevalence of Ebola virus disease antibodies, the results of which will be included in future addendums. In addition to presenting national estimates, the report provides estimates of key indicators for both rural and urban areas, the country’s 15 counties, and the capital, Monrovia.
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These consolidated guidelines on HIV testing services (HTS) bring together existing and new guidance on HTS across different settings and populations.
The World Health Organization (WHO) first released consolidated guidelines on HTS in 2015, in response to requests from Member States, national pr...ogramme managers and health workers for support to achieve the United Nations (UN) 90–90–90 global HIV targets – and specifically the first target of diagnosing 90% of all people with HIV. In 2016, based on new evidence, WHO released a supplement to address important new HIV testing approaches – HIV self-testing (HIVST) and provider-assisted referral.
Since the release of 2015 and 2016 HTS guidelines, new issues and more evidence have emerged. To address this, WHO has updated guidance on HIV testing services. In this guideline, WHO updates recommendation on HIVST and provides new recommendations on social network-based HIV testing approaches and western blotting (see box, next page). This guideline seeks to provide support to Member States, programme managers, health workers and other stakeholders seeking to achieve national and international goals to end the HIV epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.
These guidelines also provide operational guidance on HTS demand creation and messaging; implementation considerations for priority populations; HIV testing strategies for diagnosis HIV; optimizing the use of dual HIV/syphilis rapid diagnostic tests; and considerations for strategic planning and rationalizing resources such as optimal time points for maternal retesting
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This policy brief has been developed in response to the contemporary challenge of antibiotic resistance (ABR). ABR poses a formidable threat to global health and sustainable development. It is now increasingly recognized that the systematic neglect of cultural factors is one of the biggest obs...tacles to achieving better health outcomes and better standards of living worldwide. Using a cultural contexts of health approach, the policy brief explores the centrality of culture to the challenge of ABR. The brief examines how the prescription and use of antibacterial medicines, the transmission of resistance, and the regulation and funding of research are influenced by cultural, social and commercial, as well as biological and technological factors. The brief moves beyond the ready equation of culture with individual behaviours and demonstrates how culture serve as an enabler of health and provide new possibilities for change.
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The National Strategic Plan is based on the following guiding principles:
1) Life-course approach: adolescence is a key decade in the course of life that influences the health outcomes later in life.
2) Comprehensive approach: It recognizes the cross cutting health and development needs o...f young people such as intentional and unintentional injuries and violence, SRH, HIV/AIDS, mental health, substance use, violence, substance use and substance use disorders, infectious diseases and common conditions.
3) Equity and rights-based approach: focusing on equitable access to services to all adolescents including vulnerable groups and the recognizing the need to move from aspirations to obligations in fulflling young people rights for the highest attainable standard of health.
4) Multisectoral approach: recognizing cognizant of the fact that holistic development of young people requires multisectoral approach involving education, social welfare.
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The five hepatitis viruses have different epidemiological profiles, and their impact, duration, and transmission route also vary. The most common transmission routes contributing to the spread of hepatitis are exposure to infected blood via blood transfusion or unsafe injection practices, consumptio...n of contaminated food and drinking water, and transmission from mother to child during pregnancy and delivery. Also, unsafe injection practices, including the use of unsterile needles and syringes, serve as a major pathway for the spread of hepatitis B and C, and reducing transmission of both diseases requires addressing these practices.
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The primary objective of the 2015-16 MDHS project is to provide up-to-date estimates of basic demographic and health indicators. Specifically, the MDHS collected information on fertility levels, marriage, fertility preferences, awareness and use of family planning methods, breastfeeding practices, n...utrition, maternal and child health and mortality, awareness and behavior regarding HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other health-related issues such as smoking and knowledge of tuberculosis. As the 2015-16 MDHS is the first DHS survey in the country, trend analysis is not carried out in this report.
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The objectives of these WHO guidelines are to provide updated evidence- based recommendations for the treatment of persons with hepatitis C infection using, where possible, all DAA-only combinations. The guidelines also provide recommendations on the preferred regimens based on a patient’s HCV gen...otype and clinical history, and assess the appropriateness of continued use of certain medicines. This document also includes existing recommendations on screening for HCV infection and care of persons infected with HCV that were first issued in 2014
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This is a resource pack for a Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) surveys about Zika virus and its suspected complications such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
This resource and associated advice was requested by governments and response partners as a way to rapidly obtain valuab...le and insightful information in order to tailor interventions to better address people's needs at community level, thereby contributing to the overall public health response to Zika virus and its potential complications. It can be used in communities with Zika virus transmission or those at risk.
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This document updates the 2009 ECDC guidance on chlamydia control in Europe. It was developed by a technical expert group which conducted a critical review of the scientific evidence on the epidemiology of chlamydia and the effectiveness of screening programmes.
The aim of this guidance is to suppo...rt Member States to develop, implement or improve strategies for chlamydia control. This guidance describes the current evidence base behind the proposed options, highlights key gaps in knowledge, and suggests effective options for national chlamydia control strategies. It is directed primarily at policy advisors but should also be useful for programme managers and experts in sexual health.
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The Policy Guidelines and Service Standards for National Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme document outlines the steps on how to offer and deliver services. Improving quality of care is critical to improving clients' health status as well as increasing access to, and utilization of Sexual and... Reproductive Health services. Service Standards and Guidelines are intended to be used by programme managers, implementers, trainers, surpervisors, and service providers as a tool for delivering quality care measures.
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USAID/KENYA Evaluation Services and Program Support (ESPS)
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has a solid track record of supporting health and development initiatives in Kenya. AIDS, Population, and Health Integrated Assistance (APHIA) is the agency’s flagship hea...lth initiative in the country. APHIA is currently in its third iteration, APHIAPlus, which began in January 2011 and is slated to end in December 2015. APHIAPlus was designed to contribute to Result 3 (“Increased use of quality health services, products, and information”) and Result 4 (“Social determinants of health”) of USAID/Kenya’s implementation framework. The main technical areas of focus are HIV/AIDS; malaria; family planning (FP); tuberculosis (TB); maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH); and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
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The intended purpose of this compendium is to provide program managers, organizations, and policy makers with a menu of indicators to better “know their HIV epidemic/know their response” from a gender perspective. The indicators in the compendium are all either part of existing indicators used i...n studies or by countries or have been adapted from existing indicators to address the intersection of gender and HIV. The indicators can be measured through existing data collection and information systems (e.g. routine program monitoring, surveys) in most country contexts, though some may require special studies or research.
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This report presents the findings of the Estimating the Size of Populations through a Household Survey (ESPHS) study that took place in 2011. The study utilized a single household survey to estimate the size of several key populations, including sex workers, men who have sex with men (MSM), injectin...g drug users (IDU), and clients of sex workers. These populations include several groups outlined in the National Strategic Plan for HIV and AIDS as most at risk for HIV infection, specifically sex workers and MSM.
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