The humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) has further worsened over the past six months. Election-related violence that broke out in mid-December 2020 has had a devastating effect on civilians. Thousands of people have been forced to flee, human rights violations have surged, ...hundreds of schools and dozens of hospitals have been forcibly closed and food prices have skyrocketed. This deterioration occurred in an already alarming context, with more than half of the population (2.8 million people) in need of humanitarian assistance and protection and 1.9 million people in acute need. In the past five years, there have never been as many people in humanitarian distress in CAR as today.
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As a lower-middle-income country (LMIC), South Africa (SA) bears
the burden of maternal and neonatal mortality similar to other sub-
Saharan African countries. According to the Saving Mothers Report
2017/19, there has been a progressive and sustained reduction
in institutional maternal mortality... (iMMR) in the past three triennia
(2010-2019), from 320 per 100,000 live births to 120 per 100,000 live
births.
According to the Rapid Mortality Survey, the country’s infant mortality
rate has declined from 29 deaths per 1000 live births in 2014 to 25
deaths per 1,000 live births in 2018. The institutional neonatal death
rate showed a slight decrease from 12,7 deaths per 1,000 live births in
2016 to the current level of 12 per 1,000 live births and has remained
static at this level for the past three years (saDHIS).
Working towards the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of reducing maternal mortality to below 70 per 100 000 live births and neonatal mortality to 12 deaths per 1000 live births, South Africa aims to reduce institutional maternal mortality, neonatal mortality and stillbirths by 50% by 2030.
This Maternal, Perinatal and Neonatal Health Policy provides a
framework for the delivery of quality, comprehensive, and integrated
MNH services and will guide the development and review of guidelines
and related MNH interventions, including strengthening of the service
delivery platform, governance, leadership and accountability for
the provision of quality MNH services, development of advocacy
messages, and guiding civil society priorities and community
initiatives. The policy will also guide the development and review of
academic curricula and the setting of research priorities.
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Globally, approximately 56.8 million people are in need of palliative care
services; 78% of them living in low and middle-income country yet only
about 12% have their needs being met causing great suffering for many.
Energy use in the home is a vital and ubiquitous feature of human society. Energy
is used for a wide variety of purposes, including cooking, space heating, light-
ing, small-scale income generation, various household tasks, and entertainment.
The policy brief focuses on four key areas for intervention - air pollution, energy, transport and food systems. Air pollution causes 7 million deaths annually, and is a leading cause of both NCDs and climate change, thus all interventions to reduce air pollution have a positive impact on both human... and planetary health. In the energy sector, transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is if vital importance to improving health, with mortality rates due to coal-generated electricity 1,000 times higher than for wind-generated electricity.
Promoting active transport such as walking and cycling in place of motorised transport has the dual benefit of reducing both air pollution and physical activity. Livestock production alone accounts for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, with added emissions from food which are highly process and transported over long distances, and thus locally sourced plant based diets both prevent NCDs and promote human and planetary health.
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Briefing Note no. 80 November 2015
In 1997, the Fiftieth World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA50.29 on the elimination of
lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem. Preliminary guidance from WHO printed in 2011 referred to “verification” as the official process by which the achievements of the Global Programme to El...iminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) would be confirmed. For the sake of harmonization, the terminology now used for elimination of lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem is “validation”. In 2015, the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases endorsed standardized processes for confirming and acknowledging success for all neglected tropical diseases targeted for eradication, elimination of transmission, or elimination as a public health problem.
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This Tailoring Antimicrobial Resistance Programmes (TAP) process assists Member States in initiating and undertaking projects to address the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in their countries. AMR is a complex problem requiring unique, context-specific solutions. This TAP Toolbo...x contains a series of exercises and is aligned with the stages outlined in the TAP Quick Guide. The Toolbox is designed to be used by a TAP working group as they work through the stages outlined in the TAP Quick Guide. The exercises and tools presented in this Toolbox have been abridged and adapted from the TAP Manual which will be available soon.
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L'importance de systèmes de surveillance de la mortalité robustes ne peut être surestimée à une époque marquée par des défis sanitaires mondiaux croissants, où les menaces sanitaires pèsent lourd et la dynamique des populations continue d'évoluer. Des données précises et opportunes sur ...la mortalité sont essentielles pour identifier les tendances et détecter les menaces émergentes pour la santé, évaluer l'impact des interventions et orienter les décisions politiques fondées sur des données probantes.
Ce cadre décrit une approche holistique pour renforcer les systèmes de surveillance de routine de la mortalité, en tenant compte des facteurs contextuels uniques et des défis auxquels sont confrontés les pays africains. Il souligne l'importance d'établir des mécanismes de collecte de données efficaces, d'améliorer la qualité et l'exhaustivité des données et de promouvoir le partage des données et la collaboration entre les parties prenantes.
De plus, le cadre reconnaît le rôle central de la technologie dans l'intégration des données provenant de sources de données fragmentées sur la mortalité. Il met en évidence le potentiel des méthodes innovantes de capture de données, des analyses avancées et des systèmes de notification en temps réel pour améliorer la précision, l'efficacité et l'actualité des données sur la mortalité.
Le cadre continental de surveillance de la mortalité s'aligne sur la mission et l'objectif stratégique d'Africa CDC en servant d'élément fondamental dans le renforcement des systèmes de santé publique, l'amélioration des capacités et des capacités de surveillance des maladies, l'élaboration de politiques et d'interventions fondées sur des données probantes et la promotion de la collaboration et de la coordination entre les pays africains pour relever les défis sanitaires et améliorer les résultats sanitaires sur le continent.
La mise en œuvre réussie de ce cadre nécessite un engagement collectif et des efforts concertés de la part des gouvernements, des établissements de santé et de la communauté internationale. Nous espérons que ce document servira de catalyseur pour un changement transformateur, permettant aux pays de mettre en place des systèmes de surveillance de la mortalité résilients qui protègent la santé publique, sauvent des vies et contribuent à la prise de décision fondée sur des données probantes.
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Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases and their risk factors are an increasing public health and development challenge in Kazakhstan. This report provides evidence through three analyses that NCDs reduce economic output and ...discusses potential options in response, outlining details of their relative returns on investment. An economic burden analysis shows that economic losses from NCDs (direct and indirect costs) comprise 2.3 trillion tenge, equivalent to 4.5% of gross domestic product in 2017. An intervention costing analysis provides an estimate of the funding required to implement a set of policy interventions for prevention and clinical interventions. A cost–benefit analysis compares these implementation costs with the estimated health gains and identifies which policy packages would give the greatest returns on investment. For example, the salt policy package achieved a benefit-to-cost ratio of 118.4 over 15 years, a return of more than 118 tenge for every 1 tenge invested.
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This Quick Reference Handbook of Selected Congenital Anomalies and Infections is a companion tool to Birth defects surveillance: a manual for programme managers, and is intended for use by front-line health care professionals who are diagnosing and collecting data on congenital defects and infection...s. When used in conjunction with the manual, the tools in this handbook will help the reader to: identify an initial list of congenital anomalies to consider for monitoring;describe the tools needed to define and code identified cases; define specific congenital anomalies under surveillance.
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Effective implementation of WHO PEN, combined with other very cost effective population-wide interventions, will help even resource constrained settings to attain the global voluntary targets related to reduction of premature mortality and preventionof heart attacks and strokes.
The first case of COVID-19 was reported in Mozambique on 22 March 2020. As of 26 May, Mozambique had 194 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 168 were locally transmitted. The country’s capital, Maputo, and the province of Cabo Delgado are currently the epicentres of the outbreak in Mozambique, w...ith Pemba and Afungi registering more than 50 percent of the overall cases. Other provinces affected are Manica, Inhambane, Gaza, Tete and Sofala.
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The "Stories from the field" document by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean shares effective strategies from the Eastern Mediterranean Region for addressing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health challenges, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights regio...nal success stories in mitigating NCDs and mental health conditions through innovative, country-specific interventions. The report emphasizes multisectoral collaboration, community engagement, and resilience in public health responses. It aims to inspire further action and knowledge-sharing to enhance health outcomes in challenging settings across the region.
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Resource Kit for Field workers