BMC Health Services Research BMC series – open, inclusive and trusted201818:251; https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3072-3
As a public good, antimicrobial medicines require rational use if their effectiveness is to be preserved. However, up to 50% of antibiotic use is inappropriate, adding considerable costs to patient care, and increasing morbidity and mortality. In addition, there is compelling evidence that antimicro...bial resistance is driven by the volume of antimicrobial agents used. High rates of antimicrobial resistance to common treatments are currently reported all over the world, both in health care settings and in the community. For over two decades, the Region of the Americas has been a pioneer in confronting antimicrobial resistance from a public health perspective. However, those efforts need to be stepped up if we are to have an impact on antimicrobial resistance and want to quantify said impact.
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The report focuses on several key areas where health outcomes are falling short, and provides insight into ways in which countries can improve the situation for their children and adolescents. Areas in focus include mental health, overweight/obesity and adolescent risk-taking behaviour.
The report ...shows, for example, that:
- mental health remains a neglected subject – only one quarter of countries are collecting data on the number of children treated by a mental health professional;
- half of countries do not regulate the marketing of food to children, despite the fact that childhood obesity rates are high across the Region and physical activity rates are low;
- almost half of countries have no policy that affects the availability of unhealthy foods at school;
- 2 in 5 girls and 1 in 3 boys who are having sex do not protect themselves; and
one third of countries do not offer legal access to contraception without parental consent for those under 18 years of age.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Jun; 15(6): 1279.
Published online 2018 Jun 16. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15061279
The guideline uses state-of-the-art evidence to identify effective policy options to strengthen community health worker (CHW) programme performance through their proper integration in health systems and communities.
Successful delivery of services through CHWs requires evidence-based models for edu...cation, deployment and management of these health workers. The guideline is intended as a tool for national policy makers and planners and their international partners to use in the design, implementation, performance and evaluation of effective community health worker programmes. It contains pragmatic recommendations on selection, training and certification; management and supervision: and integration into health systems and community engagement.
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CONCLUSIONS: The roles performed by CHWs are broad, varied and essential for diabetes and hypertension management. However, basic knowledge about diabetes and hypertension remains poor while training is unstandardised and haphazard. These need to be improved if community-based NCD management is to b...e successful. The potential of peer education as a complementary mechanism to formal training needs as well as support and supervision in the workplace requires further assessment
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Rutstein SE et al. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2017, 20:21579 http://www.jiasociety.org/index.php/jias/article/view/21579 | http://dx.doi.org/10.7448/IAS.20.1.21579
On 17 October 2017, the Ugandan Ministry of Health notified WHO of a confirmed Marburg outbreak of Marburg Virus disease (MVD) in Kween district, Eastern Uganda. The outbreak was officially declared by the Ministry of health on 19 October 2017.
As of 7 November, four cases of MVD have been reported...- two confirmed (dead), one probable (dead) and one suspected. Other patients, previously reported as suspected cases, have since tested negative for the virus.
WHO has been implementing the Emergency Response Plan since 20 October 2017 when the Ministry of Health officially declared the outbreak. The Emergency Response Plan was developed on several assumptions which may now need to be revised.
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BMC Health Services Research (2017) 17:623 DOI 10.1186/s12913-017-2567-7
Community health nurses have the potential to make significant contributions to meet the health care needs of various population groups in a variety of community settings. In order to assess the extent to which CHNs are achieving this potential, WHO conducted a study between 2010 and 2014 that exami...ned the status of community health nursing in 22 countries, 13 of which were experiencing a critical shortage of health care workers. The study revealed that the countries surveyed had the basic and operational framework for optimizing CHN in their health systems as evidenced by the availability of PHC structures to guide interventions. However, challenges were identified related to the education, practice and management of CHNs in these countries. The major challenges identified were: Limited availability of career opportunities; poor worker retention; low recognition for CHNs; inadequate and unsupportive working conditions and environments; absence of educational standards; varying educational entry-level requirements for CHN programmes; and a lack of consensus on the scope of practice for CHNs.
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Ethiopia Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Plan
A two-week mission was conducted by WASH and quality UHC technical experts from WHO headquarters and supported by the WHO Ethiopia Country Office (WASH and health systems teams) in July 2016, to understand how change in WASH services and quality improvements have been implemented in Ethiopia at nati...onal, sub-national and facility levels; to document existing activities; and through the “joint lens” of quality UHC and WASH, to identify and seek to address key bottlenecks in specific areas including leadership, policy/financing, monitoring and evaluation, evidence application and facility improvements. Ethiopia has implemented a number of innovative and successful interventions.
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Guidelines
HIV drug resistance
July 2017
Phiri et al. Human Resources for Health (2017) 15:40
DOI 10.1186/s12960-017-0214-3
WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health, April 2017, 6(1) 8 pp. 211 kB
A toolkit for Implementation. Module 3: Participatory community assessment in maternal and newborn health