Interferon-γ Assays - Description and Assessment of a New Tool in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis.
Haür B et al. Interferon-γ-Tests in der ...Pneumologie 2006; 60: 29-44
This volume presents the complex patterns of cancer incidence and death around the world and evidence on effective and cost-effective ways to control cancers. The Disease Control Priorities Volume 3 evaluation of cancer will indicate where cancer treatment is ineffective and wasteful, and offer alte...rnative cancer care packages that are cost-effective and suited to low-resource settings.
Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition: Volume 3
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This publication presents guidance on good practice from the Ayeyarwaddy Delta in Myanmar, outlining the key factors which contributed to the successful implementation and outcome of a range of community-based Disaster Risk Reduction initiatives implemented by the Myanmar Consortium for Community Re...silience (MCCR).
The content was developed over a period of two months between November-December 2015, involving a desk review of MCCR project documents including impact studies, monitoring reports and newsletters. Field visits were undertaken to the Ayeyarwaddy Delta to document the perspectives of key stakeholders at community level, including a total of 93 adults (men and women) and 57 children (girls and boys) from eight communities targeted under the DIPECHO IX project.
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This paper looks at the status of tuberculosis (TB) advocacy
communication and social mobilization (ACSM) activities in selected
national TB control programmes in the WHO African Region. The
findings are from an assessment of TB ACSM activities in Ghana, Kenya,
Lesotho, Malawi and South Africa.
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Disease control, issue 15
The African health monitor
Accessed November 2017
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The Facilitator Training Manual on Workplace Pandemic Preparedness is a guide developed by GIZ and the Ministry of Health to help organizations prepare for and respond to pandemics while ensuring business continuity. It provides structured guidance on training, risk assessment, prevention, and respo...nse strategies for both medical and non-medical personnel.
Key topics include pandemic preparedness and response, covering diseases like Influenza, Cholera, Yellow Fever, and Meningitis, as well as personal hygiene, risk communication, and business continuity planning. The manual emphasizes participatory learning, practical training, and leadership in crisis management, aiming to enhance institutional resilience and ensure workplaces remain safe and operational during health crises.
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PEPFAR Malawi’s Country Operational Plan 2022 (COP22) embodies joint priorities from national and subnational dialogues building on the 2020-2025 National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS. The interagency team has developed a person-centered, district-tailored and Malawi Population-Based HIV Impact Ass...essment (MPHIA)-informed strategy through extensive engagement with Government of Malawi (GoM) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to sustain HIV epidemic control. At the end of COP21, PEPFAR Malawi was commended for contributing to reaching epidemic control in strong collaboration with GoM and stakeholders including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). This includes enrollment of 88% of recipients of care on three or more months of antiretroviral treatment (ART), better outcomes for Malawian children through remarkable efforts in Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programming and progress made towards reaching men with more intentional and focused programming.
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These guidelines have been developed to provide guidance to the Ministry of Health in managing applications for registration of human pharmaceutical products in Rwanda. It was compiled by the Technical Working Group (TWG) on Medicines Evaluation and Registration (MER) of the East African Community M...edicine Regulatory Harmonization (EAC MRH) Project. The group relied on their experiences and knowledge on medicines registration requirements of their individual Countries. World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements of Medicines for Human Use (ICH) and other available literature.
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Prevention, early identification, assessment and intervention in low- and middle-income countries | A Review | CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT
The Health Sector Policy gives general orientations for the sector which are further developed in the various sub-sector policies guiding key health programs and departments. All health sub-sector policies will be updated in line with this new policy. The Health Sector Policy is the basis of nationa...l health planning and the first point of reference for all actors working in the health sector. The overall aim of this policy is to ensure universal accessibility (in geographical and financial terms) of equitable and affordable quality health services (preventative, curative, rehabilitative and promotional services) for all Rwandans. It sets the health sector’s objectives, identifies the priority health interventions for meeting these objectives, outlines the role of each level in the health system, and provides guidelines for improved planning and evaluation of activities in the health sector. A companion Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) elaborates the strategic directions defined in the Health Sector Policy in order to support and achieve the implementation of the policy, and more detailed annual operational plans describe the activities under each strategy.
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With the goal of ending viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, the Regional Action Plan will provide an actionable framework for implementing evidence-based interventions at scale. It will be informed through strategic monitoring of the response, that must be equitable and sustainable an...d allow for innovations for acceleration and reaching out to all in need with health services. A major reduction in prices of newer drugs to potentially cure hepatitis C offers an added opportunity to work towards its elimination.
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Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a growing public health problem in Ghana and other African countries. Strokes and other CVDs have become a leading cause of death due to increasing risk factors such as hypertension. According to the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD), ischaemic heart disease was... the fourth leading cause of death in Ghana in 2016. The prevalence of hyper-
tension, a major risk factor for CVDs, is increasing rapidly and ranges from 19% to 48%, according to the Ghana Health Service Annual Report, 2017, due to rising life expectancy and the increasing prevalence of contributing factors such as overweight/obesity. Early diagnosis and adequate management of the risk factors can reduce the fatal consequences of CVDs.
At the heart of improving risk assessment and management of CVDs are nationally approved guidelines, which facilitate standardisation of care approaches.
These guidelines developed by experts from all levels of health care and stakeholders capture all recommended approaches and necessary information for clinicians and other healthcare workers on CVDs. They also serve as a practical guide for assessing and managing the most important CVDs prevalent in Ghana and can be used at all levels of care namely health facilities without a doctor; with a general practitioner and with a physician specialist.
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The Zambia Population Based HIV impact assessment of 2016, reported the prevalence of viral hepatitis in Zambia as ranging between 5.6% among adults aged 15 to 59% in the general population, and 7.1% among HIV infected individuals. It is estimated that the majority of persons with chronic hepatitis ...B and/ or hepatitis C are unware of their infection and do not benefit from promotive, preventive and curative services designed to reduce onward transmission. Zambia introduced hepatitis B virus vaccine to the routine Under 5 vaccination schedule in 2005. Preliminary results from the ZAMPHIA indicate that hundreds of infections have been abated in children since then. However, its also clear that we continue to miss key opportunities to prevent transmission, diagnose and treat infections, prevent serious disease, and in many cases cure people. In addition, high risk groups inter alia health care workers still have limited access to the vaccine.
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(August 28 – October 10, 2017)
A nutrition and mortality assessment using SMART methodology was applied and the survey covered 15 statistical (14 districts plus 1) domains countrywide. The main objective of the survey was to assess the current nutrition status of the population, especially ch...ildren 6-59 months old and women of reproductive age (15-49 years of age). The survey also looked at the major contextual factors contributing to undernutrition such as infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices; food security indicators; water, sanitation and hygiene indicators; and health situation in Sierra Leone
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New assessment guidelines for measuring the overall impact of mental health problems in Latin America have served as a catalyst for countries to review their mental health policies. Latin American countries have taken various steps to address long-standing problems such as structural difficulties, s...carce financial and human resources, and social, political, and cultural obstacles in the implementation of mental health policies and legislation. These policy developments, however, have had uneven results. Policies must reflect the desire, determination, and commitment of policy-makers to take mental health seriously and look after people’s mental health needs. This paper describes the development of mental health policies in Latin American countries, focusing on published data in peer-reviewed journals, and legislative change and its implementation. It presents a brief history of mental health policy developments, and analyzes the basis and practicalities of current practice.
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8 January 2021
Sequencing enabled the world to rapidly identify SARS-CoV-2 and develop diagnostic tests and other tools for outbreak management. Continued genome sequencing supports the monitoring of the disease’s spread and evolution of the virus. Accelerated integration of genome sequencing int...o the practices of the global health community is required if we want to be better prepared for the future threats. This document provides guidance for laboratories on maximizing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing now and other emerging pathogens in the future.
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A sanitary inspection is a simple, on-site evaluation (traditionally using a checklist) to help identify and support the management of priority risk factors that may lead to contamination of a drinking-water supply. Sanitary inspections are a well-established and widely-applied practice. They can su...pport water safety planning, and in some contexts, may be a simplified alternative to water safety plans.
This publication presents the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) sanitary inspection packages. These packages update the sanitary inspection forms in WHO’s 1997 Guidelines for drinking-water quality. Volume 3: surveillance and control of community supplies. With more than 25 years of practical experience with the application of sanitary inspections, these packages have been developed from a comprehensive evidence review and established good practices.
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Despite some improvements, current levels of air pollution still pose a considerable risk to the environment and to human health in the WHO European Region. One issue of concern is that monitoring of particulate matter is very limited in the countries of eastern Europe, the Caucasus and central Asia.... This paper summarizes the evidence about the health effects of air pollution from particulate matter and presents the policy implications, the aim being to stimulate policy-makers to develop more effective strategies to reduce air pollution and its health effects in those countries.
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The report discusses the epidemiological and social aspects of ageing, health and functional changes experienced with ageing, the impact of physical activity, assessment of the nutritional status of older persons, and nutritional guidelines for healthy ageing.
In 2014, GHS/NACP, with support from UNICEF and other partners, conducted a situation analysis on paediatric HIV care and treatment in Ghana. The purpose of this analysis was to identify the gaps within the current delivery of paediatric HIV care and support system and develop a road map for effecti...ve implementation of Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) and to increase paediatric antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage. The analysis identified gaps such as lack of task shifting on ART services, low paediatric ART coverage, and poor linkage of ART, EID, and PMTCT services with other RCH - immunization and nutrition services.
In view of the findings of the analysis, it was recommended that an Acceleration Plan for Paediatric HIV Services be developed to address the barriers and bottlenecks identified during the assessment. At the current pace of paediatric HIV Services, it can be extrapolated that paediatric ART coverage will increase from 26% to only about 40% by 2020; Ghana will, therefore, fall short of the global target of 90-90-90 (UNAIDS concept).
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In response to a call by the United Nations Secretary-General and the Governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, an international team conducted an Ebola Recovery Assessment.The aim was to contribute towards laying the foundation for short-, medium- and long-term recovery while the medical eme...rgency response continues to tackle the epidemic.
This summary report is based on a full report as well as three detailed reports submitted to each of the three governments as contributions to their national recovery planning processes.
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