The report underscores that sexual and reproductive health and rights are often the first to be sacrificed during epidemics and that the gains of the past decade must be protected. The report also makes it clear that scarce resources must be focused on the most marginalized women and girls, includin...g sex workers, gender diverse people, women in prison and migrants and others without proof of employment or residence.
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: interim guidance, 17 February 2021
This document provides interim guidance on the management of the blood supply in response to the pandemic outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It emphasizes the importance of being prepared and responding quickly and outlines key actions and measures that... the blood services should take to mitigate the potential risk to the safety and sufficiency of the blood supplies during the pandemic.
It should be read in conjunction with WHO Guidance for National Blood Services on Protecting the Blood Supply During Infectious Disease Outbreaks, which provides general guidance on the development of national plans to respond to any emerging infectious threats to the sufficiency or safety of the blood supply.
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This document provides a decision-making framework for implementation of mass treatment interventions, active case-finding campaigns and population-based surveys for neglected tropical diseases in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A two-step approach is proposed: a risk–benefit assessment, to ...decide if the planned activity should proceed; and an examination of a list of precautionary measures that should be applied with the aim of decreasing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 associated with the activity, and strengthening the capacity of the health system to manage any residual risk. This guidance note is intended to health authorities, NTD programme managers and their supporting partners.
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The report finds that, as of 3 November, in 87 countries with age-disaggregated data, children and adolescents under 20 years of age accounted for 1 in 9 of COVID-19 infections, or 11 per cent of the 25.7 million infections reported by these countries. More reliable, age-disaggregated data on infect...ion, deaths and testing is needed to better understand how the crisis impacts the most vulnerable children and guide the response
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This resource includes posters with key messages for older adults on how to take care of their well-being and how they can provide support to those around them during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. It includes instructions for facilitators of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) on how ...to conduct guided conversations with older adults using these posters.
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This document provides interim guidance on the management of the blood supply in response to the pandemic outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It emphasizes the importance of being prepared and responding quickly and outlines key actions and measures that the blood services should take to mit...igate the potential risk to the safety and sufficiency of the blood supplies during the pandemic.
It should be read in conjunction with WHO Guidance for National Blood Services on Protecting the Blood Supply During Infectious Disease Outbreaks, which provides general guidance on the development of national plans to respond to any emerging infectious threats to the sufficiency or safety of the blood supply.
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Many African countries were amongst the most rapid to respond to the emerging threat of COVID-19, implementing large-scale interventions at very early stages of their epidemic. As demonstrated in this document using very simple models, this rapid mobilization and timeliness of implementing control m...easures is likely to be an important determinant of their success. Indeed, as these measures were relaxed, subsequent waves of disease have been observed in many countries including South Africa, Kenya, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where such waves have severely impacted the health system by straining the supply of oxygen and ICU beds and inflicting a heavy toll on healthcare workers, often necessitating the re-imposition of control measures.
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1 in 3 countries are not taking action to help students catch up on their learning post-COVID-19 school closures
Mental health recommendations for the child and adolescent population one year after the start of the covid-19 pandemic. UPDATE 2021
Round 3: Key informant findings from 129 countries, territories and areas - Quarter 4 2021
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 dis...ruptions 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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Clinical guidelines for the care of persons with suspected tuberculosis and and follow-up of diagnosed cases, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 health crisis, community pharmacists had an enhanced role in supporting health-care systems that were overburdened by managing seriously ill patients. This study was undertaken to determine the patterns of community supply of antiviral and antibacterial agents from community phar...macies during the COVID-19 pandemic in selected countries in eastern Europe and central Asia. Nine countries – Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, North Macedonia, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – participated in this cross-sectional study.
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Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 79 (2022)104033
En la Región de las Américas, las poblaciones están envejeciendo y se está experimentando una rápida transición demográfica. El índice de envejecimiento, que refleja el tamaño de los grupos de mayor edad por 100 en comparación con los menores de 15 años, demuestra claramente el aumento de... las personas de 60 años o más. En comparación con las tendencias mundiales, la Región tendrá un mayor número de personas de 60 años o más que de menores de 15 años para el 2030, aproximadamente 25 años antes que el promedio mundial. La pandemia de COVID-19 ha dado pie a una crisis de salud sin precedentes en todo el mundo. Sus efectos en las personas mayores y aquellas con enfermedades subyacentes han puesto de manifiesto los desafíos de abordar sus necesidades durante una emergencia de salud pública. Dada esta transición demográfica, es fundamental reflexionar acerca de la preparación de los sistemas y servicios con vistas a atender las necesidades de este grupo de población, incluidas la mejora de la planificación para casos de emergencia y la protección de las personas mayores.
Esta publicación forma parte de una serie titulada La Década del Envejecimiento Saludable en las Américas: situación y desafíos
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Infectious disease epidemics pose a threat to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) both directly—by worsening women’s and children’s health outcomes—and indirectly—by reducing their access to services.1–4 Greater investment is therefore needed to mitigate the negative... effects of COVID-19 and avoid a reversal of recent gains in RMNCH coverage and outcomes.1 However, COVID-19 has reduced household and government budgets,5 and there are concerns about the extent to which resources have been diverted away from RMNCH.
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