The waves of yellow fever transmission in the Region of the Americas in 2016–2018 involved the largest number of human and epizootic cases to be reported in several decades. Yellow fever is a serious viral hemorrhagic disease that poses a challenge for health professionals. It requires early recog...nition of signs and symptoms, which are often nonspecific, and it can mimic other acute febrile syndromes. Early detection of suspected or confirmed cases, monitoring of vital signs, life support measures, and treatment of acute kidney failure continue to be the recommended strategies for case management. This report is the result of discussions among experienced specialists in the Americas on the clinical management of yellow fever patients, especially during outbreaks and epidemics, in the context of current medical and scientific evidence and taking into account the technical guidelines already available in the countries of the Region. It includes flowcharts for initially addressing patients with clinical suspicion of yellow fever and proposes a minimum package of laboratory tests that may be useful in contexts where resources are limited. In addition, it considers aspects of health system organization for dealing with yellow fever outbreaks and epidemics.
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Policy Note #4: Myanmar Health Systems in Transition Policy Notes Series
Protecting people from financial hardship when they fall ill is one of the two key elements of universal health coverage (UHC). In practice, this means that the majority of health care costs have to be met from government ...revenues so that services are provided free or with a small affordable co-payment. The alternative is to rely on pre-payment through some form of insurance, where risks are pooled across all contributors.
The challenge in Myanmar is that at present neither approach is functioning. Government spending is too low to meet people’s health needs and the proportion of the population covered by insurance is negligible. As a result, families face a stark choice in the event of serious illness: either defer treatment and face the consequences, or incur what can amount to catastrophic expenses and a downward spiral of disinvestment and poverty.
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This document provides up-to-date guidance on laboratory studies as well as smallscale (semi-field) and large-scale field trials to assess the efficacy and determine field application rates of new molluscicide products for control of schistosomiasis.
WHO has issued a new recommendation on the length of bladder catheterization following surgical repair of a simple obstetric urinary fistula. Currently the length of catheterization is not standard and ranges from 5 to 42 days. The new guidance recommends a 7–10 day period of bladder catheterizati...on to allow complete healing. Longer periods of catheterization can be inconvenient for the woman, her family and care providers as it is associated with more discomfort and inconvenience. It also increases the risk of infection and erosion related to catheterization; requires more intensive nursing care and costs more per patient.
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Training materials for healthcare workers
This updated glossary for malaria aims to improve communication and mutual understanding within the scientific community, as well as with funding agencies, public health officials responsible for malaria programmes, and policy-makers in malaria-endemic countries
Based on WHO South-East Asia Regional Strategy on Autism Spectrum Disorder
The collaborative framework for implementation of the “WHO South-East Asia Regional Strategy on Autism Spectrum Disorders” articulates to Member States: the nature of autism spectrum disorder and the issues faced by ...PwASD and their caregivers; the foundation on which the Regional Strategy and the collaborative framework is based; desired outcomes against each objective of the ASD Regional Strategy; recommended actions to fulfill each objective; requisite parameters that should govern the recommended actions; and suggested guidelines for monitoring, evaluating and reporting a Member State’s progress towards fulfilling the objectives. It encourages Member States to share best practices and information for promoting cooperation and partnerships for development of effective and sustainable programmes.
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The Capacity Project worked to strengthen HRIS in several low-resource countries to assist decision-makers and human resources managers in identifying and responding to critical gaps in HRH. The findings and recommendations in this report cover the Capacity Project’s implementation of HRIS in Swaz...iland, Rwanda and Uganda.
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This guide focuses on the evaluation of psychosocial programs that are aligned with two main goals: - To promote psychosocial wellbeing by promoting an environment that provides appropriate care, opportunities for development and protects children from exposure to situations that are harmful to thei...r psychosocial wellbeing, and - To respond to psychosocial problems by strengthening social and psychological supports for children who have been exposed to situations that affect their psychological development.
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A practical approach for developing policy and strategy to improve quality of care
The handbook outlines an approach for the development of national policies and strategies to improve the quality of care. Such policy and strategy can help clarify the structures, roles and responsibilities within n...ational quality efforts, support the institutionalization of a culture of quality, and secure buy-in from health system leaders and stakeholders
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The Minimum Standards and Indicators for Community Engagement were developed through an inter‑agency consultation process that engaged a large number of experts from around the world. UNICEF wishes to acknowledge the contribution of all those that participated, and who share a passion for placing ...communities at the centre of development and humanitarian action. The consultation process consisted of a series of interviews, meetings and workshops over an 18‑month period. Representatives from countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America contributed input and feedback based on their experiences of designing, implementing and measuring community engagement approaches
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