In recent years, Rwanda has been on the fast track to achieve major health improvements for its entire population. With the support of government agencies and various non-governmental partners, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has endeavored to decentralize Rwanda’s health system and bring health serv...ices closer to the people. Guided by multitude of national and international development frameworks, Rwanda’s healthcare successes include the establishment of a community health insurance scheme (mutuelle de santé), a system of cooperative-financed community health workers in every village, and interventions for researching, preventing, and treating diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria.
As the MoH continues to design innovative means to reach and surpass its prescribed health outcome targets, it will hold as core principles the integration of service provision, the increase in healthcare capacity, and the attainment of sustainable funding sources. Rwanda is committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and has declared Family Planning (FP) a national priority for poverty reduction and socioeconomic development of the country. Modern contraceptive use has more than quadrupled from 2005 to 2010, rising from 10% to 45%, but the government’s Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy calls for an increase the modern contraceptive prevalence to 70% by 2016. While structural changes in health care and supply chains have led to noteworthy improvements in FP and other services, there are still many challenges that must be overcome. As such, a strategic plan is needed to coordinate FP efforts around a well-defined set of objectives and responsibilities.
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The Terre des hommes Child Protection Psychosocial Training Manual has been developed for use in the field
in order to train animators who work with children and other child protection programme staff. It has
been written in response to the needs which exist in Terre des hommes child protection pr...ogrammes,
and should be used as a practical tool alongside the Child Protection: Manual for Intervention in Humanitarian
Crisis, previously produced by Terre des hommes.
The modules in this manual have been grouped according to the following categories:
• Level 1: Facilitating a training
• Level 2: Basic concepts for intervention
• Level 3: Animator’s competencies
Each module is laid out under the following headings:
• What is it?
• Why is it useful?
• How can I use it?
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Armed conflicts and natural disasters cause significant psychological and social suffering to affected populations. The psychological and social impacts of emergencies may be acute in the short term, but they can also undermine the long-term mental health and psychosocial well-being of the affected ...population. These impacts may threaten peace, human rights and development. One of the priorities in emergencies is thus to protect and improve people’s mental health and psychosocial well-being.
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Neonatal tetanus (NT), a severe newborn illness from the toxigenic strains of Clostridium tetani, persists in middle- and low-income countries due to non-sterile childbirth practices. Unlike smallpox and polio, tetanus cannot be eradicated: Clostridium tetani spores exist in the environment, and ani...mal reservoirs. However, elimination as a public health issue is achievable through widespread tetanus vaccination, clean deliveries, and proper umbilical cord care. The goal of eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) as a public health problem is considered met when all municipalities in a country have an annual incidence rate of NT of less than 1 case per 1000 live births. The Region of the Americas achieved the maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination (MNTE) target in 2017 when elimination was validated in the Republic of Haiti. Yet maintaining this progress requires continued efforts. High vaccination coverage, booster doses in countries lacking them, hygienic practices, and strong maternal and child health services are key. The Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) integrated maternal and neonatal immunization platform further strengthens this fight against early childhood diseases.
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A sanitary inspection is a simple, on-site evaluation (traditionally using a checklist) to help identify and support the management of priority risk factors that may lead to contamination of a drinking-water supply. Sanitary inspections are a well-established and widely-applied practice. They can su...pport water safety planning, and in some contexts, may be a simplified alternative to water safety plans.
This publication presents the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) sanitary inspection packages. These packages update the sanitary inspection forms in WHO’s 1997 Guidelines for drinking-water quality. Volume 3: surveillance and control of community supplies. With more than 25 years of practical experience with the application of sanitary inspections, these packages have been developed from a comprehensive evidence review and established good practices.
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2nd edition, July 2021. This WHO and HRP guideline is designed to help countries make faster progress, more equitably, on the screening and treatment of cervical cancer. It includes some important shifts in WHO’s recommended approaches to cervical screening, and includes a total of 23 recommendati...ons and 7 good practice statements.
Among the 23 recommendations, 6 are identical for both the general population of women and for women living with HIV and 12 are different and specific for each population.
Among the 7 good practice statements, 3 are identical for both the general population of women and for women living with HIV and 2 are different and specific for each population
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The Covid-19 pandemic has so far infected more than 30 million people in the world, having major impact on global health with collateral damage. In Mozambique, a public state of emergency was declared at the end of March 2020. This has limited people's movements and reduced public services, leading ...to a decrease in the number of people accessing health care facilities. An implementation research project, The Alert Community for a Prepared Hospital, has been promoting access to maternal and child health care, in Natikiri, Nampula, for the last four years. Nampula has the second highest incidence of Covid-19. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of Covid-19 pandemic Government restrictions on access to maternal and child healthcare services. We compared health centres in Nampula city with healthcare centres in our research catchment area. We wanted to see if our previous research interventions have led to a more resilient response from the community.
METHODS: Mixed-methods research, descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective, using a review of patient visit documentation. We compared maternal and child health care unit statistical indicators from March-May 2019 to the same time-period in 2020. We tested for significant changes in access to maternal and child health services, using KrushKall Wallis, One-way Anova and mean and standard deviation tests. We compared interviews with health professionals, traditional birth attendants and patients in the two areas. We gathered data from a comparable city health centre and the main city referral hospital. The Marrere health centre and Marrere General Hospital were the two Alert Community for a Prepared Hospital intervention sites.
RESULTS: Comparing 2019 quantitative maternal health services access indicators with those from 2020, showed decreases in most important indicators: family planning visits and elective C-sections dropped 28%; first antenatal visit occurring in the first trimester dropped 26%; hospital deliveries dropped a statistically significant 4% (p = 0.046), while home deliveries rose 74%; children vaccinated down 20%.
CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated the negative collateral effects of Covid-19 pandemic Government restrictions, on access to maternal and child healthcare services, and highlighted the need to improve the health information system in Mozambique.
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A National Service Programme for All Children with Special Needs and their Families
In Myanmar, we estimate that at least 40% of children require ECI services for short to longer periods of time. At present, 35.1% of Myanmar children are moderately to severely stunted; all of these children are l...ikely to have one or more developmental delays. In addition, at least 5% to 12% of the nation’s children will be identified to have disabilities, chronic diseases or atypical behaviours.
Over time, approximately 70% of the children who will be served will improve in their development, attain expected levels of development for their age, and will consolidate their gains within one to two years. Other children, approximately 30%, will have lifelong disabilities or other conditions, and ECI services usually greatly improve their development and help them to achieve their full potential.
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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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Small drinking-water supplies commonly experience operational, managerial, technical and resourcing challenges that impact their ability to deliver safe and reliable services. The needs and opportunities associated with these supplies therefore warrant explicit consideration in policies and regulati...ons.
These Guidelines, specifically tailored to small water supplies, build on over 60 years of guidance by the World Health Organization (WHO) on drinking-water quality and safety. They focus on establishing drinking-water quality regulations and standards that are health based and context appropriate; on proactively managing risks through water safety planning and sanitary inspections; and on carrying out independent surveillance. The guidance is intended primarily for decision-makers at national and subnational levels with responsibility for developing regulatory frameworks and support programmes related to these activities. Other stakeholders involved in water service provision will also benefit from the guidance in this document.
Designed to be practical and accessible, these Guidelines offer clear guidance that is rooted in the principle of progressive improvement. State-of-the-art recommendations and implementation guidance are provided, drawn from a comprehensive evidence review and established good practices. Additionally, case examples are provided from countries and areas around the world to demonstrate how the guidance in this publication has been implemented in practice in a wide variety of contexts.
Together with WHO’s 2024 Sanitary inspection packages – a supporting tool for the Guidelines for drinking-water quality: small water supplies, these Guidelines update and supersede WHO’s 1997 Guidelines for drinking-water quality. Volume 3: surveillance and control of community supplies. Key changes to this updated publication include a greater focus on preventive risk management and a broader range of small water supplies covered, including those managed by households, communities and professional entities.
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The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator’s Country Readiness and Delivery workstream has released guidance on developing a national deployment and vaccination plan (NDVP) for COVID-19 vaccines. This course is intended to help national and sub-national focal points in countries develop the ND...VP and prepare for COVID-19 vaccine introduction.
Available in English and Macedonian
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A stated objective of WHO’s European Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2020 is to ensure better information and knowledge for service planning, development, monitoring and evaluation, including requesting Member States to report on the indicators in the Plan.
Progress towards achieving the int...ernationally agreed mental health objectives and targets is monitored in the periodic WHO Mental Health Atlas, which collates global information on mental health policies, resources and services.
This booklet provides a snapshot of the situation in countries in the WHO European region with regard to a number of core mental health targets and indicators, derived from the WHO’s Mental Health Atlas 2017.
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The WHO End TB Strategy aims to end the global TB epidemic by 2030, in alignment with Goal 3 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN committed to ending the TB epidemic through adoption of WHO’s End TB Strateg...y and the UN SDGs in 2014 and 2015, respectivel
Almost half of the deaths worldwide caused by TB in 2019 occurred in the WHO South-East Asia Region, home to around a quarter of the global population. Maintaining robust progress in this Region is therefore essential if the global goal of ending the TB epidemic is to be realized. Despite substantial gains made in the Region, the threat to
health worldwide posed by the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to reverse these gains and eclipse the focus on the global TB emergency.
While continuing to tackle COVID-19-related challenges, countries will need to rapidly and urgently deploy supplementary measures to address the large numbers of missed cases, poor treatment outcomes and, potentially, a higher TB burden.
The Regional Strategic Plan towards Ending TB in the Region 2021–2025 clearly articulates priority interventions, analyses the challenges, bottlenecks and opportunities, and focuses on implementation considerations in the Region.
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At the threshold of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) era, this document captures the remarkable achievements by Member States towards achieving MDGs 4 and 5. It acknowledges new opportunities in the post-2015 phase shaped by the SDGs and the Global Strategy for women’s, children’s and adoles...cents’ health and presents an advanced state of preparedness in the Region. This also highlights the region’s renewed commitment for a more inclusive and more dynamic flagship action for ending preventable maternal, newborn and child mortality as well as to improve women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and wellbeing in the South-East Asia Region.
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There are 3 main forms of leishmaniases: visceral (the most serious form because it is almost always fatal without treatment), cutaneous (the most common, usually causing skin ulcers), and mucocutaneous (affecting mouth, nose and throat).
Leishmaniasis is caused by protozoan parasites which are tra...nsmitted by the bite of infected female phlebotomine sandflies.
The disease affects some of the world’s poorest people and is associated with malnutrition, population displacement, poor housing, a weak immune system and lack of financial resources.
An estimated 700 000 to 1 million new cases occur annually.
Only a small fraction of those infected by parasites causing leishmaniasis will eventually develop the disease.
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The document contains a set of indicators that can be used for monitoring traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) systems in a country.
The core indicator set consists of 16 indicators that were considered essential and collectively able to provide information on T&CM inputs, processes and ou...tputs. A longer list of reference indicators is also available for countries that wish to monitor more indicators or that want to consider alternative metrics that would better suit each country’s T&CM situation, priorities and monitoring capacities.
Each core and reference indicator is accompanied by a set of metadata. This provides information on the indicator rationale, definitions, data elements (numerator, denominator and data disaggregation), frequency of measurement, and data sources. It is a guide towards more standardized data measurement as well as data interpretation.
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The spillover of infectious agents from animals to humans in recent decades has had a significant impact on the health of humans, animals, and our environment. To minimize the impact of future pandemic threats, the Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN) was established in 2011 to dev...elop the next generation of skillful and competent One Health (OH) workforce with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development and its One Health Workforce project.
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The psychological impacts in face of public health crisis.
It is understandable for people to experience the fear and
anxiety in face of uncertainty; they can help us cope with
the situation in short term. Yet, if the fear and anxiety
turn to a long-term condition or become very intense,
they w...ould not help people, but rather lower one’s ability
to adapt and cope with
the crisis.
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The COVID-19 pandemic affects older people disproportionately, especially those living in long-term care facilities (LTCF) with significant impact on mortality and morbidity. Concerted action is needed to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 by enhancing infection prevention and control (IPC) measures wi...thin LTCF. The COVID-19 IPC course for LTCF consists of 4 training modules to be used in conjunction with the LTCF communication toolkit and preparedness checklist. This package is tailored for LTCF and based on WHO's in-depth technical guidance on IPC.
This course is also available in the following languages: Bahasa Indonesia - Nederlans
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This infographic includes the question why we should include children in health research