Bull World Health Organ 2020;98:773–780
Universal health coverage (UHC) depends on a strong primary health-care
system. To be successful, primary health care must be expanded at community and household levels as much of the world’s population still lacks access to health facilities for basic... services. Abundant evidence shows that community-based interventions are effective for improving health-care utilization and outcomes when integrated with facility-based services. Community involvement is the cornerstone of local, equitable and integrated primary health care.
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CHWs demonstrated social commitment and purpose in the short term observed. The evaluation of the training of CHWs revealed that most demonstrated the necessary skills for referrals to prevent complications, caring for newborns and their mothers at home immediately after discharge from health care c...enters. CHW upskilling training on maternal-newborn services should be prioritized in the most affected areas.
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This publication is part of WHO 75th anniversary and aims to capture key successes in public health globally and in Namibia. It includes contributory messages from the Head of State, Prime Minister and the Minister of Health and Social Services.
This UNHCR guidance note provides comprehensive recommendations for the prevention and control of malaria in refugee settings worldwide. Aligned with the WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria, it outlines strategies to ensure access to effective prevention, diagnosis and treatment, implement sus...tainable transmission reduction measures and strengthen surveillance systems. The document is intended as a practical resource for humanitarian actors, public health officials and partners involved in planning and implementing malaria programmes in refugee operations, with the aim of reducing malaria-related morbidity and mortality among vulnerable populations.
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Over nine years of protracted and violent conflict in Syria has decimated its health system,killed an estimated 586,000 people and forcibly displaced more than half the 22 million pre-war population from their homes. As of June 2020, a total of 6.2 million Syrians (of whom 40% are children) are inte...rnally displaced (IDPs) and 5.5 million are refugees. Over half of Syria’s population (11.7 million) are in-need of humanitarian aid across the whole of Syria
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Since December 2016, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has affected Peru, causing heavy rainfall, floods, landslides, hail and electric storms. Although the impact has been particularly serious in the northern coastal regions, levels of affectation are reported in all 24 of the country’s de...partments.
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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) declared a Yellow Fever (YF) outbreak and activated a multi-sectoral Emergency Operations Centre for coordination of Yellow Fever response on 12 November 2020. The outbreak, which mainly affected three states of Delta, Enugu and Bauchi, already recorded ...a total of 222 suspected cases 19 confirmed cases and 76 deaths between 1 and 11 November 2020.
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The IFRC Psychosocial Centre has published a guidance note providing an overview of the psychosocial consequences of virus outbreaks, with a focus on mpox, and outlines key considerations for MHPSS programming.
The current mpox outbreaks present numerous challenges for responding National Societi...es. A key issue is addressing stigma as individuals infected, or suspected of having mpox may experience social ostracization, discrimination, and even violence. In many African communities, where cultural and social norms are vital to community health, considering the cultural and psychosocial implications of virus outbreaks is integral for effective disease management. In addition, Red Cross Red Crescent staff and volunteers may be personally exposed and working in complex environments with rumours and misinformation generating fear and anxiety. This guidance addresses the key mental health and psychosocial support implications of the ongoing mpox crisis.
Guleed Dualeh, MHPSS Advisor
This guidance note is intended for Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies and IFRC departments who may be responding to mpox in their country, or region. It includes guidance on:
Common reactions and behaviours in epidemics
Caring for staff and volunteers in health emergencies
Integration of MHPSS considerations for into health responses
Links to existing relevant materials
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Vaccines contribute to the battle against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by preventing infections and thereby reducing antimicrobial use and the incidence of disease from resistant pathogens. By preventing infection transmission, vaccines extend population protection by also reducing the risk of inf...ection among the unvaccinated (herd immunity). A first comprehensive study found that
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The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have newly developed "Caring for Child Survivors of Sexual Abuse Guidelines" for health and psychosocial providers in humanitarian settings - “CCS Guidelines”. The CCS Guidelines are based on global resear...ch and evidence-based field practice, and bring a much-needed fresh and practical approach to helping child survivors, and their families, recover and heal from the oftentimes devastating impacts of sexual abuse. The guidelines walk the reader through the core knowledge, attitude and skill competencies required for service providers to effectively care for children and families affected by sexual abuse. In addition, the guidelines outline how to provide case management and basic psychosocial care for child survivors, as well as best practices for coordinating care.
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Digital health technology can make health systems more efficient and sustainable, facilitating the provision of high-quality
care across a wide range of contexts and for diverse population health needs. The pace of innovation in digital health is
rapid and constant, with new interventions bein...g developed, implemented, tested and refined against a diversity of contexts,
constraints and challenges to address a variety of health and health system needs.
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This “living paper” contributes to the global knowledge on how countries are responding to the pandemic by documenting real-time actions in a key area of response – that is, social protection measures planned or implemented by governments.
This document outlines Rwanda's policy on non-communicable diseases. The overall goal of NCDs Policy is to alleviate the burden of NCDs and their risk factors and protect Rwandan population from premature morbidity and mortality related to NCDs. This policy was developed through a series of consulta...tive meetings and workshops of NCDs' core team members of MOH and RBC, National Technical Working Group (TWG), all implementing and non implementing partners and other development partners. This policy was developed in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Vision 2020, Rwanda Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II) of 2013-18 and NCDs Global Action Plan 2013-2020 and national Health Policy. This policy focuses on of the following NCDs: Cardiovascular diseases, Chronic Pulmonary Diseases (CPD), Cancers, Diabetes, injuries and disabilities, oral, eye and kidney diseases.
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This manual provides a framework for morbidity management and disability prevention of patients affected by NIDs and gives specific guidance for the proper care of patients suffering from chronic conditions caused by lymphatic filariasis, leprosy, trachoma, and Chagas disease. It is intended to be u...sed mainly by health care workers at the primary health care level, but health workers at more complex and specialized levels may also find it useful.
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A national faecal examination of 27 729 schoolchildren from 395 schools carried out in
2008 indicated that intestinal parasitic worms affected an estimated five million (56.8%)
children in Kenya. Existing evidence shows that worm infections lead to reduced literacy
levels due to impaired growth a...nd physical fitness.
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Zambia has about 1.2 physicians, nurses, and midwives per 1000 population while the minimum acceptable density threshold is 2.3 per 1000 population. The estimated shortage of doctors, nurses and midwives in Zambia is about 14,960. However, with the projected population growth the deficit more than d...oubles disproportionately to, 25,849 in 2020, and 46,549 in 2035, at the current rate of HRH production. Worryingly, the human resources for health crisis has persisted for over 20 years. The efforts before and leading up to the development and implementation of the 2013 – 2016 National Training Operational Plan (NTOP) and the National Human Resources for Health Strategic Plan (2011 – 2016) yielded certain achievements, however, the HRH numbers and skill-mix gap remained disturbingly enormous.
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The objective of the evaluation is to understand whether the CHW program has achieved its intended objectives, thus contributing to the overarching objectives defined in the HSSP III of improving the health status of the population by “Ensuring universal accessibility of quality health services fo...r all Rwandans”.
This evaluation has focused on CHWs, who are selected, trained and deployed by the MoH to deliver a defined set of tasks at community level. CHWs are the central element of the Community Health Policy and of the community health strategy plan (CHSP) of the MoH.
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This document draws on scientific evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic and from prior public health research on behaviour change, with the purpose of empowering African Union Member States to promote widespread adoption of masks in the general population. This document complements existing Africa CDC... technical guidance on the community use of face masks.
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A workshop of “first mover” countries to exchange experience and identify wider policy implications for the WHO European Region
The World Health Organization (WHO) European Region continues to be severely affected by diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), obesity and, in some countries, ...micronutrient deficiencies.
In order to drive further progress on improving dietary intake and food product improvement, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Public Health England and the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) co-convened a workshop of “first mover” countries in March 2019.
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AMR is a serious and growing global problem. A WHO report released in 2014 stated that this serious threat is no longer a prediction for the future it is happening now in every region of the world and has potential to affect anyone, of any age in any community – a real threat to the public health.... The coming together of the various important stakeholders to develop this document is the testimony of their agreement of how serious is the issue at hand and their intentions to combat AMR is translated into an Action Plan. WHO also reported that there are about 2 million people in the US are infected with the AMR organism while 23,000 die annually from AMR infections. Fiji is just 10 hours journey away from the United States of America therefore Fiji must act now to keep our population safe from AMR organisms.
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