This report outlines the Ministry of Health’s National Health Research Agenda in which it identifies research priorities in health. It will be implemented in the same time frame as the Health Sector Strategic Plain 2012-2018. The Ministry of Health being the implementing agency of this document, i...s calling upon all partners, relevant ministries, higher learning institutions, students, development partners, etc to embrace this research agenda and ensure that researches conducted in Rwanda address priority areas identifies.
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Updated May 2017
This document is meant to respond to the questions:
■ What health interventions should the child receive and when should s/he receive it?
■ What health behaviours should a mother/caregiver practise (or not practise)?
Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar, or glucose), or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Diabetes is an important public health problem, one of four priority noncom...municable diseases (NCDs) targeted for action by world leaders. Both the number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been steadily increasing over the past few decades
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This booklet presents key messages for action, summarized from a set of chapters on different environmental health issues, available at www.who.int/ ceh/publications/healthyenvironmentsforhealthychildren. The work is a result of an on-going partnership between WHO, UNEP and UNICEF in the area of chi...ldren’s environmental health, and seeks to update the 2002 joint publication “Children in the New Millennium: Environmental Impact on Health.”
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This timely report comes at a decisive moment in history where
we can reshape urban environments and health systems for the
majority of the world’s population that live in cities. Enabling
this transformation are the SDGs, which have reconfigured how
governments and the international community... need to plan and
implement actions to eradicate poverty and inequality, create
inclusive economic growth, preserve the planet and improve
population health. Central to this quest is to create equitable,
healthier cities for sustainable development.
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This Community Health Systems (CHS) Catalog country profile is the 2016 update of a landscape
assessment that was originally conducted by the Advancing Partners & Communities (APC) project
in 2014. The CHS Catalog focuses on 25 countries deemed priority by the United States Agency for
Internation...al Development’s (USAID) Office of Population and Reproductive Health, and includes
specific attention to family planning (FP), a core focus of the APC project.
The update comes as many countries are investing in efforts to support the Sustainable Development
Goals and to achieve universal health coverage while modifying policies and strategies to better align
and scale up their community health systems.
The purpose of the CHS Catalog is to provide the most up-to-date information available on community
health systems based on existing policies and related documentation in the 25 countries. Hence, it does
not necessarily capture the realities of policy implementation or service delivery on the ground. APC
has made efforts to standardize the information across country profiles, however, content between
countries may vary due to the availability and quality of the data obtained from policy documents.
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Consultancy to take forward the International Health Partnership
South Sudan continues to struggle with a severe health crisis affecting 8.9 million people, primarily in flood- and conflict-affected regions with population movements (displacement and returns), and disease outbreaks. The nation's health system, heavily reliant on international aid, faces staffing ...and resource shortages. Vulnerable groups, including women, children, the elderly, and those with disabilities, have limited healthcare access and face heightened risks of mortality and illness.
The life expectancy at birth (55 years) is among the lowest globally, as mortality rates remain among the highest with neonatal, infant, under-five mortality rates estimated at 39.63, 63.76 and 98.69 deaths per 1000 live births respectively, and a maternal mortality ratio of 1,223 deaths per 100,000 live births. Although some disease specific mortality rates such as TB and AIDS-related mortality have declined, mortality due to malaria and non-communicable diseases have increased over the past five years.
The main causes of morbidity remain communicable diseases; malaria, is the top cause of morbidity (64%) and mortality (45%) among outpatients, followed by pneumonia and diarrhea.20 Several Counties report malaria cases above the threshold perennially especially during the rainy seasons, affecting mainly children under five years. The last malaria indicator survey (2017) estimated malaria prevalence of 32%, 34% and 18% among children under-five, protection of civilian’s sites, and internally displaced persons, respectively.
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In response to COVID-19, countries around the world have implemented several public health and social measures (PHSM), such as movement restrictions, closure of schools and businesses, and international travel restrictions.1 As the local epidemiology of the disease changes, countries will adjust (i....e. loosen or reinstate) these measures according to the intensity of transmission.
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This manual was developed based on the recommendations of a global technical consultation on child health in humanitarian emergencies co-organized by WHO and UNICEF at the end of 2003. WHO in collaboration with the Centre for Refugee and Disaster Response, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Ho...pkins University undertook a systematic review in 2004. It demonstrated that existing guidelines, including The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), do not cover all priority conditions in emergencies. The objective of this manual is to provide comprehensive guidance on child care in emergencies.
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Countries reported disruptions in all health-care settings. In more than half of countries surveyed, many people are still unable to access care at the primary care and community care levels. Significant disruptions have also been reported in emergency care, particularly concerning given the impact... on people with urgent health needs. Thirty-six per cent of countries reported disruptions to ambulance services; 32% to 24-hour emergency room services; and 23% to emergency surgeries.
Elective surgeries have also been disrupted in 59% of countries, which can have accumulating consequences on health and well-being as the pandemic continues. Disruptions to rehabilitative care and palliative care were also reported in around half of the countries surveyed.
Major barriers to health service recovery include pre-existing health systems issues which have been exacerbated by the pandemic as well as decreased demand for care.
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Primary health care, as outlined in the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata and again 40 years later in the 2018 WHO/UNICEF document A vision for primary health care in the 21st century: towards universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, is a whole-of-government and whole-of-society a...pproach to health that combines the following three components: multisectoral policy and action; empowered people and communities; and primary care and essential public health functions as the core of integrated health services.(1) Primary health care-oriented health systems are health systems organized and operated so as to make the right to the highest attainable level of health the main goal, while maximizing equity and solidarity. They are composed of a core set of structural and functional elements that support achieving universal coverage and access to services that are acceptable to the population and that are equity enhancing. The term “primary care” refers to a key process in the health system that supports first-contact, accessible, continued, comprehensive and coordinated patient-focused care.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is having far reaching impacts, well beyond the health crisis and needs, with the most severe impacts experienced in the poorest countries and those most vulnerable to humanitarian crises including natural disasters, such as Nepal.
The burden of diabetes is enormous, positioning it as one of the main challenges facing public health today. Currently, it is estimated that 62 million people are living with diabetes in the Region of the Americas and projections show its prevalence will continue rising over the following years. The... Region shows the highest number of years of healthy life lost (through either disability or premature death) due to diabetes worldwide. The high costs associated with its treatment produce a heavy economic burden. Its complications can seriously affect the quality of life of people living with diabetes, their families, and society and overload health systems. This report shows the latest internationally comparable data on diabetes and its main risk factors by year, country, and sex. It also includes a summary of the countries health systems’ response to diabetes, including national plans, targets, surveillance, guidelines, and access to essential drugs and technologies, and synthesizes information about diabetes-related complications and the close relationship between diabetes and other pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, tuberculosis, and COVID-19. The data presented here reveal that, despite advances in national responses, diabetes continues to expand, and our response remains insufficient. This report aims to draw attention to the urgent need to strengthen efforts to prevent, diagnose, and control diabetes in the Region of the Americas.
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"This is the final report of the six-year collaboration between the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse and the Gulbenkian Global Mental Health Platform, an initiative of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation aimed at reducing the global burden of mental health through the development a...nd application of evidence and good practices to global mental health."
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Policy Note #2: Myanmar Health Systems in Transition Policy Notes Series
Myanmar is a country in which people’s access to health services is determined more by where they live than their need for care – a situation that is fundamentally inequitable. The challenge is to reduce levels of ineq...uity between different groups in the population and different geographical areas, and most particularly to ensure that health services reach poor and disadvantaged groups, including minorities and those living in conflict-affected areas.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) both in human and veterinary medicine has reached alarming levels in
most parts of the world and has now been recognized as a significant emerging threat to global public
health and food security. In June 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nati...ons
(FAO) passed a resolution on AMR at its governing
Conference. This followed the adoption of counterpart
resolutions on AMR by The World Organisation
for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization
(WHO) in May 20152, and marked the
beginning of a joint effort by the three organizations
to combat AMR globally.
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The new five-year agenda of WHO in Africa, The Africa Health Transformation Programme, 2015–2020: a vision for universal health coverage, is the strategic framework that will guide WHO’s contribution to the emerging sustainable development platform in Africa. It articulates a vision for health a...nd development that aims to address the unacceptable inequalities and inequities that have kept our region lagging far behind others in terms of health indices and enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of life.
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R4D conducted a thorough desk review and qualitative fiscal space analysis, 19 interviews about financing for the three diseases and the extent of alignment between public financial management systems and health policy objectives, and a validation workshop with government officials.
Tanzania’...s disease response faces a triple transition challenge: replacing donor funding, closing the resource gap that would exist even with donor funding, and more efficiently delivering on disease response objectives.
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In health emergencies as in periods of stability, restoring access to primary health-care services is a priority in so far as many health problems can be dealt with by means of preventive care and
conventional therapy. Depending on the context, the ICRC must often take action in this area, taking i...nto account the level of emergency, the involvement of other actors, the possible evolution of the situation and the organization's operational strategies.
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