This report is not a country scorecard. Rather, its purpose is to act as a compass to guide progress towards health in the SDGs.
There has been a significant improvement in the state of health in the region with healthy life expectancy - time spent in full health - in the region increasing from 50....9 years to 53.8 between 2012 and 2015 - the most marked increase of any region in the world.
What is making Africans sick is changing. The top killers are still lower respiratory infections, HIV and diarrhoeal disease and countries have routinely focused on preventing and treating this trio, often through specialized programmes. The payoff has been significant declines in deaths due to these diseases. There has been a 50% reduction in the burden of disease caused by what have been the top 10 killers since 2000 and death rates have dropped from 87.7 to 51.1 deaths per 100,000 persons between 2000 and 2015...
Chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer are now claiming more lives with a person aged 30 to 70 in the region having a one in five chance of dying from a noncommunicable disease (NCDs).
Countries are specifically failing to provide essential services to two critical age groups – adolescents and the elderly...
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A systematic literature review of education systems in low-and middle income countries commissioned by CBM
Mounting an effective international humanitarian response to a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) event, especially if the response is undertaken on an ad hoc basis, would be extremely difficult and would pose many risks to the responders. The International Committee of the Red Cro...ss (ICRC) has created a competency-based capacity to respond to at least small-scale CBRN events, including a deployable capability to undertake operational activities. This involves informed assessments of CBRN risks, timely and competent decisions on how to respond, and effectively mobilizing appropriate resources to implement these decisions, through the creation of an emergency roster. In addition to the acquisition of technical expertise and material resources, the creation of such capacity requires the application of central processes, ensuring systematic management of CBRN response (including risk-based decision-making), standing operational procedures, and availability of and access to the necessary resources. Implementation of the ICRC's CBRN response framework as described in this article should be considered by any agency or other stakeholder preparing for international humanitarian assistance in CBRN events – especially if such events are related to armed conflict.
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Poor quality health services are holding back progress on improving health in countries at all income levels.
Today, inaccurate diagnosis, medication errors, inappropriate or unnecessary treatment, inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities or practices, or providers who lack adequate training an...d expertise prevail in all countries.
The situation is worst in low and middle-income countries where 10 percent of hospitalized patients can expect to acquire an infection during their stay, as compared to seven percent in high income countries. This is despite hospital acquired infections being easily avoided through better hygiene, improved infection control practices and appropriate use of antimicrobials.. At the same time, one in ten patients is harmed during medical treatment in high income countries.
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(Health Systems in Transition, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2014)
Les programmes de planification familiale sont une solution gagnant-gagnant ; le bien-être de chaque femme et des enfants est amélioré, et l'économie nationale et l'environnement en tirentles bénéfices
This report shows that frontier agriculture is a viable complement to conventional agriculture, particularly in Africa and countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV).
Discussions about climate change often focus on the future, but millions of children are experiencing its devastating impacts now. The scale of the crisis is huge, and growing fast. It is children that will bear the brunt of climate change, yet its impact on them is understudied, their voices are no...t being heard, and current solutions are woefully inadequate. It is a perfect storm that we must stop in its path – before it is too late.
Available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic
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Viral hepatitis is defined as inflammation of the liver cells due to viral infection. The burden of liver disease in South Africa is mostly underestimated as viral hepatitis, in particular chronic infection, is a silent and neglected cause of morbidity and mortality. However, the burden of disease i...s likely substantial given the prevalence of chronic viral hepatitis. This burden is further compounded by the lack of screening and access to care and treatment as well as inadequate disease surveillance, human and financial resources.
The National Guidelines for the Management of Viral Hepatitis were developed, with the purpose to:
inform healthcare workers in the public and private sectors about the disease, its epidemiology in South Africa and current methods of diagnosis and therapy
strengthen the healthcare response to viral hepatitis
empower communicable diseases workers and stakeholders to make informed decisions regarding appropriate and cost effective interventions
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The objective of Health in the Americas: Overview of the Region of the Americas in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic is to respond to the need to address important public health issues in an increasingly timely manner, while serving as a platform with a close focus on specific issues of regional ...importance. This 2022 edition is the second in its new format, providing an overview of the analysis, as well as an in-depth description of the key issues related to COVID-19 in the Region of the Americas. This overview is supported by the Health in the Americas+ virtual platform, which offers interactive resources for data analysis and allows for the comparison of information disaggregated by subregions and countries.
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This checklist is an operational tool to help national authorities develop or revise national respiratory pathogen (inclusive of influenza and coronaviruses) pandemic preparedness plans.
The KNAP 2018 - 2022 is the second National Nutrition Action Plan that operationalizes the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy 2012 and its implementation framework (NFNSP-IF) 2017–2022.
An ALNAP Guide. Pilot Version.
This pilot guide is intended to help evaluation managers to commission and oversee, and team leaders to conduct, RTEs of humanitarian operational responses. Drawing on a synthesis of existing good practices, it sets out a flexible approach that can be adapted to a var...iety of contexts. While it concentrates on the particular problems posed by RTEs undertaken within a few months of the start of an emergency response, it addresses how such RTEs can also feed into on-going operations. While the guide focuses on RTEs, some of the advice applies to all evaluations.
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This is a pre-deployment training, tailored specially to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, offered to WHO personnel, consultants, and key partners. The material covered in modules 1-4 is applicable and useful to frontline response workers, national and international. Only Module 5, which focuses on... operational aspects - the code of conduct for international civil servants and human resources arrangements for WHO deployees, are specifically geared to all internationally recruited personnel and to WHO deployees respectively
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This document was prepared in response to a need to review and potentially update the current recommendations for the antibiotic treatment of both inpatient and outpatient management of severe acute malnutrition (SAM). The current recommendations (Table 1) are based on guidelines published in 2013 i...n the WHO Pocketbook for Hospital Care for Children, and the 2013 update on SAM (outpatient management). The global threat of increasing antimicrobial resistance and new data on efficacy and safety profiles requires a re-review of the current evidence to ensure recommendations are the most appropriate. The evidence base for the use of antibiotics in children presenting with uncomplicated SAM has been recently enlarged.
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This is a report from a National, representative household survey carried out in Botswana in 2012 – 2014. The study was carried out on behalf of the Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled Persons (FFO), Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SASFOD) and Botswana Federation of Disab...led People (BOFOD). The study was led by Professor Tlamelo Mmatli of the University of Botswana, in collaboration with SINTEF Technology and Society. The study would not have been possible without a strong commitment from the Office of the President of Botswana and support from the Central Statistical Office. The study presents a broad picture of the situation among individuals with disability and households with disabled members in Botswana. It offers comparison with individuals without disability and households without disabled members, between provinces and between genders and locations (urban/rural). The study reveals that households with disabled members and individuals with disability score lower on a range on indicators on level of living.
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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in the treatment and care of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This report examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to NCD medicines, and the policies and strategies implemented by countries and health sys...tems to anticipate and mitigate stresses across NCD medicine supply chains. The full range of upstream and downstream impacts are investigated, including: manufacturing; procurement, importation and last mile delivery; patient-level effects through affordability and availability; and the effects on NCD medicine availability by category of disease. The report culminates in recommended actions and interventions for key stakeholders in the NCD pharmaceutical supply chain, including governments, regulatory authorities, manufacturers and the private sector; as well as directions for future research for improving access and supply chain access resilience.
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