The document outlines essential steps and provides guidance to countries on the adoption and deployment of c-IPTp so that it is integrated into the existing health system. It draws upon best practices and lessons learned from pilot implementation experiences in eight African countries and targets st...akeholders at the national level that are involved in the provision of maternal and child services, including national and local policymakers and implementers of malaria, maternal health, child health, reproductive health and community health programmes, and nongovernmental and other organizations.
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This manual is designed to provide comprehensive malaria case management training for health workers at all levels, including clinical, nursing, dispensing, laboratory and records staff. The training covers the use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and the treatment of severe malaria. The fiv...e-day training programme includes interactive modules supported by job aids. The ideal group size is 20–30 participants, supported by a team of three trainers. Trainers should thoroughly review the manual, including the 'Adult Learning Techniques' module, and follow the 'Facilitator's Guide', while participants should use the 'Simplified Participant's Guide'. The training includes pre- and post-tests to assess knowledge improvement. Continuing Medical Education (CME) is encouraged after the training, and resources are provided in the appendix.
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This Implementation Kit (I-Kit), developed by the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), which is funded by USAID and based at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, offers structured guidance for improving social and behavioural change communication (SBCC) strategies relat...ed to malaria in pregnancy (MiP). Designed for programme managers and stakeholders, the toolkit addresses critical communication gaps in MiP programming, particularly among service providers. It provides tools to help users integrate MiP into situation analyses, segment audiences, define behavioural objectives and draft strategic communication plans.
MiP poses a significant public health challenge, contributing to maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa. Although effective interventions exist, such as the use of insecticide-treated nets, intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) and timely diagnosis and treatment, their implementation remains inconsistent. The I-Kit supports more effective SBCC planning and implementation, with the aim of increasing the uptake and impact of these interventions and ultimately reducing malaria-related deaths and illness among pregnant women and newborns.
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Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) is essential for the effective control, prevention and elimination of malaria. The 2018–2030 Strategic Framework for Malaria SBCC guides countries and partners in strengthening capacities, refining strategies and sharing best practices, all of which... are aligned with the WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria. Despite progress, malaria continues to threaten billions of people, and success hinges on access to interventions and behavioural change. This framework emphasises advocacy, technical guidance and tools to ensure that SBCC is prioritised and resourced as an essential element in the global fight against malaria.
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This document by Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) highlights the significant burden of malaria on children worldwide, emphasizing the need for effective prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies. It reviews current challenges and progress in combating pediatric malaria, advocating for conti...nued research and investment to reduce malaria-related morbidity and mortality in children, especially in high-burden regions.
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WHO recommends artemisinin-based combination therapies for treating uncomplicated malaria, alongside studies to monitor treatment effectiveness. Given the threat of antimalarial resistance, including partial resistance in several African countries, molecular tools are vital for tracking resistance. ...In 2015, WHO launched the External Quality Assessment scheme for nucleic acid amplification testing to ensure reliable lab results. Coordinated by WHO and operated by the United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service for Parasitology, the scheme provides quality-controlled specimens and reports to help improve testing accuracy. Experts recently discussed expanding the scheme to include antimalarial resistance markers.
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Fragile Beginnings. The Fragile Beginnings series examines the growing body of research on the unique vulnerabilities of children: in utero and at birth, during infancy and childhood and throughout adolescence. Its purpose is to enable evidence-based advocacy and action on children’s environmental... health
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This document highlights the latest WHO recommendations designed to optimize health outcomes, streamline delivery and address persistent barriers to prevention and care. It especially focuses on people often left behind in service delivery, including adolescents and young people, key populations and... people with advanced HIV disease. The guidance emphasizes integration, simplification, choice and equity.
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Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) (e.g., cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases) and mental health conditions (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, depression, anxiety, autism spectrum disorders) are the world’s leading cause of preventable illness..., disability, and death. This report examines the dangers posed by current and rising rates of noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions (NMHs) in South America, beyond their health risks, by demonstrating their considerable negative impact on economic growth. An analytical model was developed that projects the macroeconomic effects of NMHs over the period 2020–2050 in ten South American countries: Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The results showed that the macroeconomic impact of NMHs in South America indicates significant economic shortfalls resulting from NMHs. Overall, the total GDP loss due to NMHs in South America amounts to USD 7.3 trillion (2022 international USD) over the period 2020–2050
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Antibiotic Stewardship (AS) is a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials to improve patient outcomes, reduce microbial resistance, and decrease the spread of multi-drug resistant organisms. In clinical settings, stewardship activities focus on measuring and improving ...how antibiotics are prescribed by clinicians and used by patients. Improving antibiotic prescribing involves implementing effective strategies to modify prescribing practices to align them with evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis and management.
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The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 118 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover the following events:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Togo
Measles in Chad
Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Little is known about foreign aid provided by private donors. This paper contributes to closing this research gap by comparing the allocation of private humanitarian aid to that of official humanitarian aid awarded to 140 recipient countries over the 2000-2016 period. We construct a new database tha...t offers information on the country in which the headquarters of private donors are located to test whether private donors follow the aid allocation pattern of their home country. Our empirical results confirm that private aid “follows the flag.” This finding is robust against the inclusion of various fixed effects, estimating instrumental variables models, and disaggregating private aid into corporate aid and NGO aid. Donor country-specific estimations reveal that private aid from China, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States “follow the flag.”
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The Arab region in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) represents a substantial area of the terrestrial landmass encompassing several countries and ecosystems. This area is generally drier and warmer compared to the rest of the world and has extreme resource limitations that are highly vulnerabl...e to a changing climate, geopolitical instability and land degradation (Slimani & Aidoud, 2004). Agriculture (crops and livestock) is a critical source of employment and a potential option for engaging rural youth. However, environmental degradation coupled with declining and variable agricultural productivity may pose a massive challenge already beset by instability and declining oil reserves (Tagliapietra, 2017). The Arab region is also subjected to short and long-duration climate extreme events, and the overall impact of their cascading effects on ecosystems, societies and economies is still an open question. Climate change, along with post-war geopolitical complexities, has greatly affected the Arab region in terms of its economy and social balance. Climate change has penetrating effects on the region’s agriculture sector and hence its economy. These are mainly manifested via changes in water resources and extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves and a drastic decline in precipitation.
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Operational Guidelines for the national and district health workers & planners.
These new approaches include use of selective chemotherapy, Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs), Zinc for treatment of cholera in children and complementary use of OCV
About one fourth of the world’s population is estimated to have been infected with the tuberculosis (TB) bacilli, and about 5–10% of those infected develop TB disease in their lifetime. The risk for TB disease after infection depends on several factors, the most important being the person’s im...munological status. TB preventive treatment (TPT) given to people at highest risk of progressing from TB infection to disease remains a critical element to achieve the global targets of the End TB Strategy, as reiterated by the second UN High Level Meeting on TB in 2023. Delivering TPT effectively and safely necessitates a programmatic approach to implement a comprehensive package of interventions along a cascade of care: identifying individuals at highest risk, screening for TB and ruling out TB disease, testing for TB infection, and choosing the preventive treatment option that is best suited to an individual, managing adverse events, supporting medication adherence and monitoring programmatic performance
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The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been facing a sociopolitical and economic situation that has negatively impacted social and health indicators. There have been intensified population movements both within the country and to other countries, particularly to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,... Costa Rica, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. Since 2017, an estimated 5.2 million Venezuelans have migrated to other countries, including an estimated 4.3 million who have gone to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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These standards for the quality of paediatric care in health facilities form part of normative
guidance for improving the quality of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health care.
In view of the importance of the continuum of both the life-course and service delivery (1),
these standards bu...ild on the Standards for improving the quality of maternal and newborn
care in health facilities (2), during labour, childbirth and the early postnatal period.
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