Specific action sheets offer useful guidance on mental health and psychosocial support and cover the following areas coordination assessment monitoring and evaluation protection and human rights standards human resources community mobilisation and support health services education dissemination of i...nformation food security and nutrition shelter and site planning and water and sanitationthe guidelines include a matrix with guidance for emergency planning actions to be taken in the early stages of an emergency and comprehensive responses needed in the recovery and rehabilitation phases
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In March 2020 the IASC Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support uniting 57 humanitarian organizations as member issued the Interim Briefing Note Addressing Mental Health and Psychosocial Aspects of COVID-19 Outbreak. This document has proven to be very useful in the response and has... till now been translated in 24 languages. It covers a set of recommended activities as well as messages for different target groups.
The current document is an annex to the Interim Briefing Note and is meant to support the MHPSS operational response within the various sectors of humanitarian work. Approaches and interventions to MHPSS are not confined to one sector, but need to be integrated within many existing sectors and clusters.This document contains a wealth of operational information and practical approaches that can be used for humanitarian programming in health, SGBV, community-based protection, nutrition, camp management and camp coordination.
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Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a growing public health problem in Ghana and other African countries. Strokes and other CVDs have become a leading cause of death due to increasing risk factors such as hypertension. According to the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD), ischaemic heart disease was... the fourth leading cause of death in Ghana in 2016. The prevalence of hyper-
tension, a major risk factor for CVDs, is increasing rapidly and ranges from 19% to 48%, according to the Ghana Health Service Annual Report, 2017, due to rising life expectancy and the increasing prevalence of contributing factors such as overweight/obesity. Early diagnosis and adequate management of the risk factors can reduce the fatal consequences of CVDs.
At the heart of improving risk assessment and management of CVDs are nationally approved guidelines, which facilitate standardisation of care approaches.
These guidelines developed by experts from all levels of health care and stakeholders capture all recommended approaches and necessary information for clinicians and other healthcare workers on CVDs. They also serve as a practical guide for assessing and managing the most important CVDs prevalent in Ghana and can be used at all levels of care namely health facilities without a doctor; with a general practitioner and with a physician specialist.
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Suicide is largely preventable. Unlike for many other health issues, the tools to significantly reduce the most tragic loss of life by suicide are available. With collective action to acknowledge and address this serious problem, as well as commitment to effective interventions, supported by politic...al will and resources, preventing suicide globally is within reach. Importantly, it is a
national suicide prevention strategy that allows communities to come together, and begin to tackle suicide and the issues specific to their needs without stigmatization.
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New research published today shows that older, disabled and injured Syrian refugees are paying a double toll as a result of the conflict. The report, released by Handicap International and HelpAge International, provides new data showing how much these vulnerable refugees are struggling to meet thei...r specific needs
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Despite growing evidence on the impact of psychosocial support interventions, there is an urgent need for a stronger evidence base on approaches that effectively support children affected by armed conflict. To contribute to this evidence base, and building on a pilot study conducted in Uganda in 200...9, War Child conducted an exploratory outcome evaluation of its psychosocial support intervention ‘I DEAL’ in South Sudan and Colombia in 2012. The objective of the evaluation was to explore the outcomes that I DEAL achieves for children and the factors that influence the achievement of those outcomes to further inform and strengthen the intervention
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The following document outlines the principles, objectives and strategies of a national policy for the protection of orphans and other vulnerable children in Rwanda. The propositions constitute a first step towards a comprehensive framework, which will assist the Government and its partners to plan,... implement and monitor projects and programmes in favour of orphans and other vulnerable children.
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This study of Adolescent Boys and Young Men highlights the importance of engaging adolescent boys and young men in sexual and reproductive health and rights (srhr) and gender equality. This paper establishes a conceptual framework for engaging adolescent boys and young men. It reviews current resea...rch on boys’ and young men’s specific risks and realities in relation to their general health status, violence, sexuality and sexual and reproductive health, media violence, sexual exploitation, and other vulnerabilities.
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Conflicts and disasters, including pandemics, affect women and men in all their diversity differently, and women and girls often suffer the most. Crisis-related hardships combine and compound pre-existing disadvantages, for example, they often cause women’s working conditions to worsen while incre...asing their overall workload and care responsibilities. At the same time, crises can give rise to changes that enable women to take up roles that were previously available only to men, and crises can open opportunities to address existing gender-based discrimination and violations of rights.
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Rising levels of inflation, debt and macrofiscal tightening are putting expenditures on the social sectors including health under immense scrutiny. Already, there are worrying signs of reductions in social sector investments. However, even before the pandemic, evidence showed the significant returns... on investments in health equity and its social determinants. Emerging data and trends show that these potential returns have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic - investments in social determinants can mitigate widespread reductions in human capital and the increasing likelihood of costly syndemics, while promoting access to healthcare innovations that have thus far been inequitably distributed. Therefore, we argue that, despite immediate fiscal pressures, this is exactly the time to invest in health equity and its broader social determinants, as the returns on such investments have never been greater.
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The prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancers has been on the increase in Kenya in the recent past. This has been occasioned by changes in social and demographic situation in the country. The life expectancy... in the country is improving, while the country is developing at a rapid pace. This has resulted in people living more years and at the time adopting lifestyles that have negative impacts on their health. This increase in diabetes and other non-communicable diseases has given rise to a double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases in Kenya
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Guidelines for the Management of common childhood Illness. 2nd edition
These guidelines focus on the management of the major causes of childhood mortality in most developing countries, such as newborn problems, pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, meningitis, septicaemia, measles and related conditions, ...severe acute malnutrition and paediatric HIV/AIDS. It also covers common procedures, patient monitoring and supportive care on the wards and some common surgical conditions that can be managed in small hospitals.
A smart phone and tablet application is available from the Apple or Google Play Store.
Special attention is drawn to the following sections, which are particulary relevant within the COVID-19 context:
Chapter 4: information on cough and difficulty in breathing, pneumonia and bronchiolitis;
Chapter 10: information on essential supportive care including feeding, fluid and oxygen provision;
Annex 1: information on related practical procedures.
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Produced by UNICEF and IRC, with the support of the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ) and the generous funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Caring for Child Survivors of Sexual Abuse (CCS) Resource Package (Second Editi...on, 2023) is a revision of the original CCS Guidelines and associated Training (First Edition, 2012). The Second Edition offers an up-to-date global technical guidance on providing a model of quality care for children and families affected by sexual abuse in humanitarian settings. The new resources include both revised and content additions based on practitioner feedback, the most recent evidence and learning. In particular, the Guidelines aim to bring a stronger focus on gender inequality, intersectionality, as well as the connections between the best interests of the child and a survivor-centered approach.
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It estimates that there have been 228,000 additional deaths of children under five in these six countries [Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka] due to crucial services, ranging from nutrition benefits to immunisation, being halted.
It says the number of children being tr...eated for severe malnutrition fell by more than 80% in Bangladesh and Nepal, and immunisation among children dropped by 35% and 65% in India and Pakistan respectively...
It also estimates that there have been some 3.5 million additional unwanted pregnancies, including 400,000 among teenagers, due to poor or no access to contraception...
The interruption to health services also affected those suffering from other diseases - the report predicts an additional 5,943 deaths across the region among adolescents who couldn't get treated for tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid and HIV/Aids.
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At present at least 2.2 billion people around the world have a vision impairment, of whom at least 1 billion have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed. The world faces considerable challenges in terms of eye care, including inequalities in the coverage and qua...lity of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation services; a shortage of trained eye care service providers; and poor integration of eye care services into health systems, among others. The World report on vision aims to address these challenges and galvanize action.
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This document provides an overview of key considerations for the provision of the HIV continuum of care in the context of displaced people from Ukraine in the EU/EEA. This document has two aims: firstly, to outline what is known of the Ukrainian HIV epidemic, and secondly, to use the HIV continuum o...f care as a framework to set out suggestions based on published evidence and expert opinion on the management of the HIV continuum of care, with special consideration for people living with HIV from Ukraine. The document will also address the needs of those at risk of acquiring HIV. The main findings of this document were presented during an ECDC webinar, ‘Key considerations on the continuum of HIV care for refugees from Ukraine,’ hosted on 19 May 2022.
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Towards Sustainable Community Health and Social Welfare Services
Leaving No One Behind. This Operational Guideline for Community-Based Health Services (CBHS)
in line with the CBHS Policy Guideline map an integrated and coordinated
national approach to community-based health services in Tanzania. ...The
approach builds on and furthers national priorities for decentralization,
community empowerment and strengthened systems for expansion of
access to essential health services at the village level and below.
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22.9% of surveyed Syrian refugees aged 2 years and above had disabilities (1,374 persons out of 6,003 persons): 13.8% in Azraq camp, 23.5% in Irbid and 30.5% in Zaatari camp. Understanding disability as the level of difficulties a person is facing when performing basic activities that could put him/...her at risk of not participating in society, the prevalence of disability found by the study was markedly higher than the existing disability statistics at around 2-3% to less than 10%, many of which used questions focusing on a person’s medical conditions or impairments.
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Nearly 800 women die every day from preventable maternal causes, and in 2022 alone, an estimated 2.3 million newborns died. For every maternal death, countless more women endure life-altering injuries, infections, and disabilities related to childbirth.
Maternal deaths are concentrated in the poo...rest regions and conflict-affected areas. In 2020, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for nearly 70% of all maternal deaths, with just 22 countries responsible for 81% of the global total. Humanitarian crises and fragile health systems exacerbate these challenges, with maternal mortality rates in crisis-affected areas often double the global average. The barriers to progress are multifaceted, including inadequate funding, poor-quality healthcare, harmful gender and social norms, and critical gaps in data and accountability.
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Manual for use in primary care.
There is substantial evidence for the benefits of screening and brief intervention in primary health care for alcohol problems. However, there is a need for screening and brief interventions with cross-cultural relevance for substances other than alcohol or tobacco,... such as cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine and opiates.
The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) was developed for the World Health Organization (WHO) by an international group of substance abuse researchers to detect and manage substance use and related problems in primary and general medical care settings. Primary health care professionals are well-positioned to provide interventions targeted to all substances irrespective of their legal status.
The ASSIST screening test version 3.0 is available in English and in 10 other languages (Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Portugüse, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian).
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