Published OnlineJuly 14, 2021https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00164-9. New Lancet research offers the first comprehensive analysis of the growing footprint of noncommunicable and injury-related neurological disorders to India’s overall disease burden.
Takeaways from 1990 to 2019 In terms ...of total disability adjusted life years:
• The share of noncommunicable neurological disorders doubled from 4% to 8.2%.
• Injury-related neurological disorders increased from 0.2% to 1.1%
• The contribution of communicable neurological disorders decreased from 4.1% to 1.1%
• Stroke, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and headache disorders were among the largest contributors to DALYs.
more
UNAIDS and the World Health Organization have published this updated guidance on ethical considerations in HIV prevention trials. The new guidance is the result of a year-long process that saw more than 80 experts and members of the public give inputs and is published 21 years after the first editio...n appeared.
more
The well-being of children in sub-Saharan Africa is under siege from all directions since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region is now suffering its first-ever economic recession, pushing about 50 million people into extreme poverty, a majority of whom are children.
Every year, an estimated 15 million babies are born preterm – before 37 weeks of pregnancy. That is more than 1 in 10 live births. Approximately 1 million children die each year worldwide due to complications from their early birth. Those that survive often face a lifetime of ill-health including ...disability, learning difficulties, and visual and hearing problems.
Half of the babies born at or below 32 weeks (2 months early) die in low-income settings, due to a lack of feasible, cost-effective care, such as warmth, breastfeeding support, and basic care for infections and breathing difficulties. In high-income countries, almost all these babies survive.
more
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
more
WHO estimates that in 2015, 257 million people were living with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection worldwide, and that 900 000 died from HBV infection, mostly through the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Worldwide, the majority of persons with chronic hepatitis B infecti...on and associated deaths in adulthood acquired their infection at birth through mother-to-child perinatal transmission or in early childhood.
more
Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic on 11 March 2020, and Malawi declared its first case on 2 April. As of 30 April, there were 36 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 and 3 deaths. A State of Disaster was declared by President Arthur Peter Mutharika on 20 March and a 21...-day lockdown was implemented from 18 April to 9 May. The lockdown measures include: bans on public gatherings; closure of schools; and bans on international flights and cross-border passenger buses.
more
Today, the world is facing a learning crisis: While millions of children have entered education systems for the first time, many of them cannot read, write or do basic mathematics, even after several years of primary school.1 This global learning crisis has its roots in children’s earliest years, ...when failure to invest in quality early childhood education (ECE)results in children starting school already behind in a host of critical skills they need to succeed in primary school.2Investing in the foundations of learning during the child’s early years benefits children,3 families, education systems and societies at large.4 Participation in quality ECE sets in motion a positive learning cycle and is a proven strategy to address the global learning crisis at its roots by closing early learning gaps, strengthening the efficiency of education systems and providing a solid foundation for human capital development and economic grow
more
This booklet provides an overview of all findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study. Published in The Lancet in November 2018, GBD 2017 provides for the first time an independent estimation of population, for each of 195 countries and territories and the globe, using a standardized, repli...cable approach, as well as a comprehensive update on fertility. Produced with the input of 3,676 collaborators from 146 countries and territories, GBD 2017 incorporates major data additions and improvements, and methodological refinements. GBD 2017 also includes estimates at the subnational level for selected locations.
more
Journal of the International AIDS Society Vol. 21 (2018) e25133
Many prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission programmes across Africa initiate HIV-infected (HIV positive) pregnant women on lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) on the first day of antenatal care (“same-day” initiation...). However, there are concerns that same-day initiation may limit patient preparation before starting ART and contribute to subsequent non-adherence, disengagement from care and raised viral load. We examined if same-day initiation was associated with viral suppression and engagement in care during pregnancy.
The data suggest that same-day ART initiation during pregnancy is not associated with lower levels of engagement in care or viral suppression through 12 months post-delivery in this setting, providing reassurance to ART programmes implementing Option B+.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jia2.25133
more
A Focus on the Journey to Self-Reliance for Preventing Child and Maternal Deaths . June 2018
The 2018 Acting on the Call report focuses on 25 countries’ journeys to self-reliance for preventing child and maternal deaths. Self-reliance is a country’s ability to finance and implement solution...s to its own development challenges. Understanding where countries lie on this effort - known as the journey to self-reliance - helps USAID to best partner with countries and support their efforts.
The report looks at the health status of 25 priority countries as well as the current capacity of the health system to meet the needs of women and children. In the report, we recount progress since the 2012 Call to Action as well as identify gaps in order to inform future programming and areas that need strengthening during the journey to self-reliance. For the first time ever, we’ve calculated the return on our investment to eliminate bottlenecks to improving health services.
more
This Module, Count me in! Inclusive WASH in Ethiopia, was prepared by Ethiopian authors with support from The Open University UK. It was first published in June 2018. The contributors of original material are:Girma Aboma, Manager, GAA Economic Development ConsultBethel Shiferaw, SPCC Disability Incl...usion Advisor, Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development
more
Botswana CPD.
The 6th Government of Botswana/UNFPA Country Programme (2017-2021) is focusing on a transformative development agenda that is universal, inclusive, human rights-based, integrated and anchored in the principle of equality and leaving no one behind, while reaching the furthest left beh...ind first. The country programme will contribute directly to the three outcomes of the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework (2017-2021).
more
Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET): Disussion Paper 111
The health services delivery system in Zambia is pyramid in structure, with primary healthcare (PHC) services at community level, at the base, followed by first and second level hospitals at distric...t and provincial levels, respectively, and third level (tertiary) services at national level. Notably, primary health services are free in Zambia and health service providers are either governmentowned or not-for-profit facilities.
Over the years, resource constraints have affected the quality and extent of healthcare services at all levels, requiring the mobilisation of additional resources for the sector. In doing so, prioritisation was high on the agenda of health sector reform. The EHB, therefore, prioritises interventions with the highest impact on the population, enabling policy makers to revisit priority diseases and conditions and to cost the services provided at each level of facility. Other key issues in developing the EHB in Zambia have included the need to have cost-effective services and cost per capita of services for more systematic budgeting, to rank interventions and to validate and cost the health benefit package as a whole.
more
UNICEF analysis indicates that:
- Investments that increase access to high-impact health and nutrition interventions by poor groups have saved almost twice as many lives as equivalent investments in non-poor groups.
- Access to high-impact health and nutrition interventions has improved ra...pidly among poor groups in recent years, leading to substantial improvements in equity.
- During the period studied, absolute reductions in under-five mortality rates associated with improvements in intervention coverage were three times faster among poor groups than non-poor groups.
- Because birth rates were higher among the poor, the reduction in the under-five mortality rate translated into 4.2 times more lives saved for every 1 million people. Indeed, of the 1.1 million lives saved across the 51 countries during the final year studied for each country, nearly 85 per cent were among the poor.
- Intensified focus on equity-enhancing policies and investments can help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goal newborn and child mortality targets (SDG3.2).
more
This document provides information and recommendations for action, based on the current available knowledge around monkeypox. It is a first draft which will be updated in light of evolving evidence and additional information as they become available.
This document is part of the process for improving the quality of care in family planning. Medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use (MEC), the first edition of which was published in 1996, prsents current World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on the safety of various contraceptive e-
m...ethods for use in the context of specific health conditions and characteristics. This is the fifth edtion of the MEC –the latest in the series of periodic updates
more
The Thinking Health manual outlines an evidence-based approach describing how community health workers can reduce prenatal depression through evidence-based cognitive-behavioural techniques recommended by the mhGAP programme.
This manual is the first volume of WHO’s new series on low-intensity p...sychological interventions.
more
The Global status report on violence prevention 2014, which reflects data from 133 countries, is the first report of its kind to assess national efforts to address interpersonal violence, namely child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner and sexual violence, and elder abuse. Jointly publis...hed by WHO, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the report reviews the current status of violence prevention efforts in countries, and calls for a scaling up of violence prevention programmes; stronger legislation and enforcement of laws relevant for violence prevention; and enhanced services for victims of violence.
You can download summaries in different languages, single chapters and graphics
more
This interim guidance is aimed at assisting organizers of international meetings attended by individuals from EVD-affected countries and individuals with a travel history to EVD-affected countries within the previous 3 weeks.
The first part is intended for organizers of international meetings, to ...safely plan and conduct these events. The second part is addressed to public health authorities directly involved in supporting such international meetings.
more