The arrival of COVID-19 in Afghanistan has brought heartache to millions of people who are now battling a deadly pandemic while simultaneously fighting for their survival amid poverty, disaster and war. Over my three years as Humanitarian Coordinator, I have marvelled at the resilience of the people... of this country to cope with the hardships of life in the world’s deadliest conflict – but even this remarkable strength is now being tested by the health, social and economic consequences of COVID-19. The virus is spreading across the country with frightening speed. Every province is now impacted, and people are understandably frightened.
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Extreme heat events (EHEs) are a leading cause of weather-related injury and death in the United States, and under a changing climate, these meteorological episodes are predicted to increase in both frequency and intensity. Prolonged heat exposure from EHEs places an increased strain on the heart an...d may lead to heat-related illness if the cardiovascular system fails to properly thermoregulate internal body temperature. Every individual is susceptible to heat-related illness, however, those with reduced cardiovascular function and pre-existing cardiovascular diseases are at a greater risk for morbidity and mortality during EHEs. This document gives an overview of our current understanding of heat exposure and its impact on cardiovascular health outcomes, an overview of the medications that may exacerbate heat-related cardiovascular illness, and asummary of the interaction between extreme heat and air pollutants, and their collective impact on cardiovascular health. Additionally, this document summarizes epidemiologic evidence and identifies gaps in the extant peer-reviewed literature on the effectiveness of strategies and interventions to protect against heat-related cardiovascular disease and death. This information is intended to aid health departments and other health professionals in understanding and responding to the impacts of heat exposure on cardiovascular health.
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The Facilitator’s Guide for the basic-needs based Response Options Analysis and Planning (ROAP) is a step-by-step guide comprising tools and templates to carry out a multi-sectoral response analysis and planning of response options, in a sudden-onset or chronic crisis.
Being that so, the Guide i...s conceived to be applied hand in hand with the BNA Guidance and Toolbox, and other assessments methodologies. It is expected to assist in analysing data from different sources - including humanitarian staff’ own
knowledge and experience on the sector, cash, protection matters - to come up with response decisions
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Census Report Volume 4-B
In the 2014 Census, early-age mortality was measured from the responses to two simple retrospective questions on childbearing addressed to ever-married women aged 15 and over. These questions referred to how many live children they had ever given birth to, and how many ...had died (or survived). Adult mortality was measured by using a question on the number of household members who had died during the 12 months preceding the Census.
According to the 2014 Census, infant and child mortality, which comprises under-five mortality, was high compared to other countries in the region. Previous estimates indicated a rapid decline during the 1960s and 1970s, with a substantial deceleration starting in the early 1980s. The decline has accelerated again during recent years.
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Abstract: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic psychological disorder that can develop after exposure to a traumatic event. This review summarizes the literature on the epidemiology, assessment, and treatment of PTSD. We provide a review of the characteristics of PTSD along with associa...ted risk factors, and describe brief, evidence-based measures that can be used to screen for PTSD and monitor symptom changes over time. In regard to treatment, we highlight commonly used, evidence-based psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies for PTSD. Among psychotherapeutic approaches, evidence-based approaches include cognitive-behavioral therapies (e.g., Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive Processing Therapy) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. A wide variety of pharmacotherapies have received some level of research support for PTSD symptom alleviation, although selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have the largest evidence base to date.
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El Niño conditions persisting during the 2015/16 planting season have caused the worst drought in 35 years in Southern Africa, resulting in a second consecutive failed harvest. This has created severe food shortages and compounded existing vulnerabilities. Since July 2016, Namibia and Botswana have... declared national drought emergencies, in addition to the declarations made earlier by Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Madagascar issued a letter of solidarity with the SADC Appeal, and Mozambique has maintained a red alert in affected areas.
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This Guide contains information, guidelines, diagrams and other materials addressed to medical practitioners who are engaged in the treatment of casualties of chemical weapons. It is made available to the public for information purposes, but is not intended to be used by the public. All decisions re...garding patient care must be made with a healthcare provider and consider the unique characteristics of each patient.
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This Case Study explores flood forecasting systems from the perspective of its position within the flood warning process. A method for classifying the different approaches taken in flood forecasting is introduced before the elements of a present-day flood forecasting system are discussed in detail. ...Finally, the state of the art in developing flood forecasting systems is addressed including how to deal with specific challenges posed.
The target group of this case study are decision makers in disaster risk management and/or water management. The case study should help to understand some hydrologic basics of the flood forecast and assist in the administration and implementation of an appropriate flood warning system in a specific environment, to find the best solution for a region.
Best solutions depend mainly on quality and availability of data, the areas and/or points of interest, catchment properties, cross border catchments, and financial capabilities with special consideration of flood forecast.
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Post-traumatic symptoms in Ghanaian children. Thesis for Master of Philosophy in Peace and Conflict Studies (PECOS). This study investigated whether Ghanaian children exposed to low intensity warfare experience symptoms of PTSD as described in the DSM-IV. It also aimed to find out if there are cultu...rally-specific ways of displaying the symptoms and in dealing with the trauma.
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"The aim of this book remains as for the first edition, namely to provide an initial point of ready
reference for the identification of hazards and precautions for dangerous chemicals. It is targeted
not only at those in the chemical and process industries, but also anyone likely to work with
che...micals within industry and in the service sector, e.g. hospitals, universities, research laboratories,
engineering, agriculture, etc. "
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A manual for health care providers.
This manual provides expert guidance on the laboratory techniques and procedures used in the diagnosis of Buruli ulcer, a disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Aimed at laboratory technicians and scientists working on this disease, the manual details the exac...t procedures to follow when performing a range of diagnostic tests. Recommended procedures, intended for use throughout the health system, are presented at levels appropriate for peripheral, district and central services and in accordance with the varying resources, skills and equipment typically found in countries where Buruli ulcer is endemic.
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A discussion paper on the scope of the problem, its drivers, and strategies for moving forward for policy, practice, and research
In many protracted emergencies, the prevalence rates of global acute malnutrition (GAM) regularly exceed the emergency threshold of > 15% of children with acute malnutri...tion (< -2 weight-for-height z-scores (WHZ) or with nutritional edema), despite ongoing humanitarian interventions. The widespread scale and long-lasting nature of “persistent GAM” means that it is a policy and programming priority.
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2nd edition, July 2021. This WHO and HRP guideline is designed to help countries make faster progress, more equitably, on the screening and treatment of cervical cancer. It includes some important shifts in WHO’s recommended approaches to cervical screening, and includes a total of 23 recommendati...ons and 7 good practice statements.
Among the 23 recommendations, 6 are identical for both the general population of women and for women living with HIV and 12 are different and specific for each population.
Among the 7 good practice statements, 3 are identical for both the general population of women and for women living with HIV and 2 are different and specific for each population
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4th edition
The WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual (LBM) has been in broad use at all levels of clinical and public health laboratories, and other biomedical sectors globally, serving as a de facto global standard that presents best practices and sets trends in biosafety.
LBM encouraged countries t...o accept and implement basic concepts in biological safety and to develop national codes of practice for the safe handling of biological agents in laboratories within their geographical borders.
This fourth edition of the manual builds on the risk assessment framework introduced in the third edition. A thorough, evidence-based and transparent assessment of the risks allows safety measures to be balanced with the actual risk of working with biological agents on a case-by-case basis.
This novel evidence- and risk-based approach will allow optimised resource use and sustainable laboratory biosafety and biosecurity policies and practices that are relevant to their individual circumstances and priorities, enabling equitable access to clinical and public health laboratory tests and biomedical research opportunities without compromising safety.
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This publication presents the Agenda for the Americas on Health, Environment, and Climate Change 2021–2030 (the Agenda). The Agenda is a call to action to the health sector to lead the charge to address environmental determinants of health in the Americas. The Pan American Health Organization (PAH...O) will work with Member States to achieve its goal and objective to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages using a sustainable and equitable approach that places a priority on reducing health inequity. The Agenda has been developed under the umbrella of the WHO Global Strategy on Health, Environment, and Climate Change, and builds upon the commitments set forth in the Sustainable Health Agenda for the Americas 2018–2030 and the PAHO Strategic Plan 2020–2025. The Agenda was developed in consultation with the Technical Advisory Group and through a consensus-driven decision-making process with Member States during the 2019–2020 period. Looking toward the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3, the Agenda focuses on: improving the performance of environmental public health programs and institutions; fostering environmentally resilient and sustainable health systems; and promoting environmentally healthy and resilient cities and communities. Its implementation will be context-specific, based on the needs and realities of the countries. It will benefit countries and territories by promoting good governance practices, strengthening the leadership and coordination roles of the health sector, fostering cross-sectoral action, focusing on primary prevention, and enhancing evidence and communication. It will facilitate access to human, technical, and financial resources necessary to address environmental determinants of health and ensure that the Region is fully engaged in global health, environment, and climate change processes and agreements. The objective of the Agenda is to strengthen the capacity of health actors in the health and non-health sectors to address and adapt to environmental determinants of health (EDHs), prioritizing populations living in conditions of vulnerability, in order to meet Outcome 18 of the PAHO Strategic Plan 2020–2025 directly and several other outcomes of the Plan indirectly. To address and adapt to the challenges of EDHs in the Region, an integrated and evidence-informed approach within the health sector and across sectors will be needed, one enabled, and supported by good governance practices, adequate management mechanisms, high-level political will, and adequate human, technical, technological, and financial resources.
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These WHO guidelines which were updated in 2018, are valid for any country and suitable to local adaptations, and take account of the strength of available scientific evidence, the cost and resource implications, and patient values and preferences.
The 2018 edition of the guidelines includes the re...vision of the recommendation regarding the use of 80% fraction of inspired oxygen (high FiO2) in surgical patients under general anaesthesia with tracheal intubation and the update of the section on implementation. Between 2017 and 2018, WHO re-assessed the evidence on the use of high FiO2 by updating the systematic review related to the effectiveness of this intervention to reduce SSI and commissioning an independent systematic review on adverse events potentially associated with it. Based on the updated evidence, the GDG decided to revise the strength of the recommendation from strong to conditional.
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Climate change (CC) impacts on health outcomes, both direct and indirect, are sufficient to jeopardize achieving the World Bank Group’s visions and agendas in poverty reduction, population resilience, and health, nutrition and population (HNP). In the last 5 years, the number of voices calling for... stronger international action on climate change and health has increased, as have the scale and depth of activities. But current global efforts in climate and health are inadequately integrated. As a result, actions to address climate change, including World Bank Group (WBG) investment and lending, are missing opportunities to simultaneously promote better health outcomes and more resilient populations and health sectors. Accordingly, with the financial support of the Nordic Development Fund (NDF), the World Bank Group set out to develop an approach and a 4-year action plan, outlined in this paper, to integrate health-related climate considerations into selected WBG sector plans and investments.
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Draft Working Discussion Paper
Available in: English, French, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Thai, Korean, Tajik, Vietnamese, Uzbek
http://www.who.int/disabilities/cbr/guidelines/en/