The Mapping Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use Partnership (MAAP) project has conducted a multi-year, multi-country study that provides stark insights on the under-reported depth of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis across Africa and lays out urgent policy recommendations to addr...ess the emergency.
MAAP reviewed 819,584 AMR records from 2016-2019, from 205 laboratories across Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. MAAP also reviewed data from 327 hospital and community pharmacies and 16 national-level AMC datasets.
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Caregivers provide invaluable service and support to patients in health facilities. In many health systems, caregivers (often members of the patient’s family or friends) are responsible for providing basic care for a patient, including providing food and drinks, cleaning clothes and bed linen, as ...well as supporting basic activities for daily living, such as washing or using the toilet. Small children and infants who are dependent on caregivers for performing essential daily activities require similar assistance while being treated in a health care facility. Such care is also a priority for people approaching the end of life, as patients and relatives increasingly spend time together at this critical stage.
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This flipbook is for community health workers to use to educate their communities about Zika, how it is spread, the effects of the virus, what to do if infected, and how to prevent Zika.
The Mapping Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use Partnership (MAAP) project has conducted a multi-year, multi-country study that provides stark insights on the under-reported depth of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis across Africa and lays out urgent policy recommendations to addr...ess the emergency.
MAAP reviewed 819,584 AMR records from 2016-2019, from 205 laboratories across Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. MAAP also reviewed data from 327 hospital and community pharmacies and 16 national-level AMC datasets.
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Antibiotics, also known as antimicrobial drugs, are medicines that can kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria to cure infections in people, animals and sometimes plants. Antibiotics are medicines for bacterial infections (such as pneumococcal pneumonia or staphylococcal bloodstream infections); anti...microbial drugs that are effective against viruses are usually called antiviral drugs (such as those for influenza, HIV and herpes). Not all antibiotics are active against all bacteria. There are more than 15 different classes of antibiotics that differ in their chemical structure and their action against bacteria. An antibiotic may be effective against only one or multiple types of bacteria.
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These guidelines outline the minimum operational guidance for infection prevention and control (IPC) in ambulances transferring suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. Ambulance staff should be trained in the procedures outlined here as part of their induction and prior to starting work. They are ...to be supported by their operating organization with available personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning materials. These guidelines are subject to adaptation according to the specific operational context. Standard infection control precautions must be used with all patients.
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Arabic Version of Simple instructions on how to use a face mask
The Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library is collecting COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) research articles and compiling them into an easily accessible and downloadable database to help researchers find the latest COVID-19 research
This database is updated every day, Monday through Friday, by systematica...lly searching various bibliographic databases and hand searching selected grey literature sources including preprints from bioRxiv, medRxiv, chemRxiv, and SSRN. The methodology is posted on the website.
You can search the database of citations by author, keyword (in title, author, abstract, subject headings fields), journal, or abstract when available. DOI, PMID, and URL links are included when available.
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On 13 August 2024, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared the ongoing Mpox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS). This was followed the next day by the World Health Organization (WHO), which extended the alert internationally as a public ...health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). After these declarations, many countries have made efforts to mobilize resources to introduce or expand laboratory testing, surveillance, and response activities. In particular, as the number of suspected cases surges in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, and the Central African Republic, and an increasing number of new countries report cases, there is an urgent need to implement testing to strengthen the Mpox response. However, access to appropriate quality assured diagnostics is a challenge. There is limited information on important characteristics, such as available test kits’ performance and ability to detect relevant clades.
To address the challenge of mpox access in the continent, the Africa CDC Diagnostic Advisory Committee (DAC) met in Kigali from 19-23 August 2024 to review the available evidence on molecular tests for Mpox and to shortlist tests that may be useful for Mpox testing in countries. The shortlist aims to provide guidance to Africa CDC, countries and partners on appropriate high-quality molecular tests to procure and use for the mpox response.
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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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People with Guinea worm disease (GWD) have no symptoms for about 1 year. Then, the person begins to feel ill. Symptoms can include the following:
Slight fever
Itchy rash
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Dizziness
A blister then develops. This blister can form anywhere on the skin. However, the blis...ter forms on the lower body parts in 80%–90% of cases. This blister gets bigger over several days and causes a burning pain. The blister eventually ruptures, exposing the worm. The infected person may put the affected body part in cool water to ease the symptoms or may enter water to perform daily tasks, such as fetching drinking water. On contact with water, the worm discharges hundreds of thousands of larvae into the water.
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The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Biosafety and Biosecurity Initiative was launched by the Africa CDC in April 2019 with the aim of strengthening the African Union (AU) Member States’ biosafety and biosecurity systems and enabling them to comply with national and i...nternational requirements for biosafety and biosecurity including the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), and United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 and the multi-country Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). The World Health Organization (WHO) Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and the Global Health Security Index report confirmed the known capacity gaps in biosafety and biosecurity among Africa Union Member (AU).
The regional consultations by Africa CDC conducted between 2019-2021 highlighted the deficiency or limited availability of standardized and regionally recognized training programs in the continent, limiting biosafety and biosecurity capacity building efforts in the region. In response, Africa CDC working with AU Member States developed a home grown, implementable and accessible professional training and certification program that is both recognized and endorsed by AU Member States. The Regional Training and Certification Program for Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals, for African Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals (RTCP-BBP) has four (4) areas of specialization, namely
- Selection, Installation, Maintenance and Certification of Biological Safety Cabinets
- Biorisk Management
- Design and Maintenance of Facilities Handling High Risk Pathogens (Biocontainment Engineering)
- Biological Waste management
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Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication is an approach to communicating effectively during emergencies. These principles are used by public health professionals and public information officers to provide information that helps individuals, stakeholders, and entire communities make the best possible ...decisions for themselves and their loved ones. CERC recognizes that during emergencies, we work under impossible time constraints and must accept the imperfect nature of our choices. CERC draws from lessons learned during public health emergencies and research in the fields of public health and emergency risk communication.
The CERC program consists of 1) training, 2) resources, and 3) shared learning.
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The CDC's "About Cholera" webpage provides essential information on cholera, an intestinal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It highlights that cholera is primarily spread through contaminated water and food, leading to severe diarrhea, dehydration, and potentially death if untreate...d. Individuals in areas with unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene are at the highest risk. The page emphasizes the importance of early and proper treatment, such as rehydration therapy, to improve survival rates. Preventative measures include using treated water, practicing good hygiene, and vaccination, especially for travelers to regions where cholera is prevalent.
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Antimicrobials are medicines, including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics, that are used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals, and plants. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) arises when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to these medicines, ren...dering them ineffective and making infections more difficult to treat. This resistance increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability, and death. Although AMR is a natural phenomenon driven by genetic
changes in pathogens, it is significantly accelerated by human activities such as the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in healthcare, agriculture, and animal husbandry.
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Biosafety involves the implementation of containment principles, technologies and practices to prevent unintentional exposure to biological agents. Biosecurity involves the protection, control and accountability of biological materials and information related to these materials and dualuse research,... to prevent their unauthorized access, loss, theft, misuse, diversion or intentional release.
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Initial public health responses to control the pandemic focused on promoting protective behaviors among the general population, including frequent hand washing, physical distancing and the use of face masks in public spaces However, many saw these only as interim measures to reduce the spread of the... virus and hopes for a return to a sense of ‘ rested on the development of a safe and effective vaccine.
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ECDC launched the HEPSA (Health Emergency Preparedness Self-Assessment) tool, in order to support countries in improving their level of public health emergency preparedness. The tool is worksheet-based and is targeted at professionals in public health organisations responsible for emergency planning... and event management. It consists of seven domains that define the process of public health emergency preparedness and response: 1) Pre-event preparations and governance; 2) Resources: Trained workforce; 3) Support capacity: Surveillance; 4) Support capacity: Risk assessment; 5) Event response management; 6) Post-event review; 7) Implementation of lessons learned.
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Climate change, increasing population densities, and intensified globalisation in trade, travel and migration are among the most important factors shaping the 21st century. Each impacts upon population health and the risk of infectious disease, particularly those originating at the human-animal-envi...ronmental interface. The recognition that many risk drivers of infectious disease fall outside of the typical domain of the health sector creates the challenge of identifying and pursuing priorities for cross-sectoral action aimed at strengthening global health security. In response, the One Health concept has emerged, as have related initiatives addressing Planetary Health and Biodiversity and Human Health. From a public health perspective and operationally speaking, the One Health approach offers great potential, emphasising as it does cooperation and coordination between multiple sectors. Yet despite having been a focal point for discussion for over a decade, numerous challenges facing the implementation of One Health preparedness strategies remain. While some are technical, related to the requirement for innovative early warning systems or new vaccines, for example, others are institutional and cultural in nature, given the transdisciplinary nature of the topic. There have thus been calls to address One Health from multiple perspectives, from ecology to the social sciences. In order to further explore this issue and to identify priority areas for action for strengthening One Health preparedness in Europe, ECDC convened an expert consultation on 11–12 December 2017.
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Biosafety involves the implementation of containment principles, technologies and practices to prevent unintentional exposure to biological agents. Biosecurity involves the protection, control and accountability of biological materials and information related to these materials and dualuse research,... to prevent their unauthorized access, loss, theft, misuse, diversion or intentional release.
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