As countries aim to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieving universal health coverage, health inequities driven by racial discrimination and intersecting factors remain pervasive. Inequities experienced by indigenous peoples as well as people of African descent, Roma ...and other ethnic minorities are of concern globally; they are unjust, preventable and remediable.
Health systems themselves are important determinants of health and health equity. They can perpetuate health inequities by reflecting structural racism and discriminatory practices of wider society. For instance, systemic racism, implicit bias, misinformed clinical practice, or discrimination by health professionals contributes to health inequities. However, health systems can also be a leading force for tackling the inequities faced by populations experiencing racial discrimination.
Primary health care (PHC) is the essential strategy for reorientating health systems and societies to become healthier, equitable, effective and sustainable. In 2018, on the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma-Ata, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) renewed the emphasis on PHC with their strategy,
WHO outlines 14 strategic and operational levers for policy-makers to strengthen PHC. Within each lever, there are multiple potential entry points for targeted actions to address racial discrimination, foster intercultural care, and reduce health inequities experienced by indigenous peoples as well as people of African descent, Roma and other ethnic minorities.
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Despite the considerable improvement in global health, millions of people still lack access to quality health services, including access to effective antimicrobial medicines, or are impoverished as a result of health spending. At the same time, antimicrobial resistance – a consequence of overuse a...nd misuse of antimicrobials – is increasingly a barrier to accessing effective care. The declining effectiveness of antibiotics is driven by multiple factors, many of which can be addressed through well functioning primary health care. However, primary health care has not always had much attention in national health sector responses to
antimicrobial resistance, which often focus on tertiary care, laboratory detection and surveillance. The three pillars of primary health care (community engagement, front-line health services including primary care and essential public health, and multisectoral action on wider health determinants) are central not just to Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, but also to an effective response to antimicrobial resistance.
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Each year, WHO’s World malaria report provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of trends in malaria control and elimination across the globe. This year’s report includes, for the first time, a dedicated chapter focused on the intersection between climate change and malaria. As describe...d in the report, climate change is one of many threats to the global response to malaria. Millions of people continue to miss out on the services they need to prevent, detect, and treat the disease. Conflict and humanitarian crises, resource constraints and biological challenges such as drug and insecticide resistance also continue to hamper progress.
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Enfermedades infecciosas como el COVID-19 pueden alterar los entornos donde niños, niñas y adolescentes crecen y se desarrollan. Cambios que desestabilizan a la familia, las amistades, la rutina diaria y la comunidad en general o pueden tener consecuencias negativas en el bienestar, el desarrollo ...y la protección de la niñez y adolescencia. Además, las mismas medidas emprendidas para prevenir y controlar la transmisión del COVID-19 pueden conllevar riesgos de protección en niños, niñas y adolescentes. Las medidas de cuarentena y aislamiento en el hogar, las instalaciones o zonas concretas pueden afectar negativamente a los niños, las niñas y sus familias.
Este documento aspira a brindar apoyo a los profesionales de la protección de la niñez y adolescencia para que puedan responder de manera más eficiente a los riesgos de protección durante la pandemia del COVID-19. En la 1ª Parte se presentan los posibles riesgos en materia de protección de la niñez y adolescencia que puede generar el COVID-19, mientras que en la 2ª Parte se ofrecen opciones programáticas que se adhieren a las normas mínimas para la protección de la niñez y adolescencia en la acción humanitaria (NMPI o CPMS, por sus siglas en inglés) de 2019 y la nota orientativa sobre la protección de la niñez y adolescencia durante brotes de enfermedades infecciosas (enlaces en inglés).
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Myanmar is one of the world’s 22 high tuberculosis (TB) burden countries, and supporting TB control in Myanmar is a global priority. This report reflects the findings, discussions, conclusions and recommendations of the fourth international review mission of the Myanmar National TB Programme (NTP)..., which brought together international and national partners to review progress in TB control and to offer guidance on future TB control directions and efforts.
A high-quality national disease prevalence survey completed in 2010 demonstrated a TB disease burden two to three times higher than anticipated on the basis of previous surveys. In 2011 about 200 000 adults and children will have developed TB, including 20 000 HIV infected and 9000 suffering from MDR-TB, both of which will require additional care and costly treatment. TB remains among the top killers of adults, and more women die of TB than from maternal causes.
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We will soon be piloting a project titled “Integrating Spirituality into Patient Care” that will form “spiritual care teams” to assess and address patients’ spiritual needs in physician outpatient practices within Adventist Health System, the largest Protestant healthcare system ... in the United States.This paper describes the goals, the rationale, and the structure of the spiritual care teams that will soon be implemented, and discusses the barriers to providing spiritual care that health professionals are likely to encounter.Spiritual care teams may operate in an outpatient or an inpatient setting, and their purpose is to provide health professionals with resources necessary to practice whole person healthcare that includes spiritual care.We believe that this project will serve as a model forfaith-based health systems seeking to visibly demonstrate their mission in a way that makes them unique and expresses their values.Not only does this model have the potential to be cost-effective, but also the capacity to increase the quality of patient care and the satisfaction that health professionals derive from providing care.If successful, this model could spread beyond faith-based systems to secular systems as well both in the U.S. and worldwide.
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Du 09 janvier au 08 avril 2024, le Congo a confirmé 19 cas de Mpox dans 04 départements, à savoir : 14 cas dans la Cuvette, 02 cas dans la Likouala, 02 cas dans les Plateaux et 01 cas à Pointe-Noire. Au regard de cette situation, le Gouvernement de la République, via le Ministère de la Santé ...et de la Population, a déclaré, en date du 23 avril 2024, l’épidémie de Mpox conduisant à l’activation du COUSP1 en date du 03 mai 2024 avec la mise en place du Système de Gestion d’Incident (SGI) assorti de toutes ses fonctions essentielles et élargies sous l’approche « Une Seule Santé ». A la 39ème semaine épidémiologique, 1 nouveau cas a été confirmé par le LNSP2 dans le département de Brazzaville, DS de Madibou, dans l’aire de santé de Mansimou, donnant un total de 22 cas confirmés.
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The national mental health policy was introduced in 1995 and has allowed political decision-makers and other actors in society to identify anchor points to initiate a mental health practice adapted to the context and that is close to the community. Today, that policy needs to be revised to meet the ...evolution of the context and adequately respond to the challenges of mental health within the Rwandan community. The mental health program is ensured today by the Mental Health Division on behalf of the health ministry. Its priority mission is to coordinate initiatives in that sector, ensuring the implementation of national policy in mental health as adopted by appropriate authority. This revision of the National Mental Health Policy has the objective to: Promote quality mental health care that aims at reducing morbidity in mental health, appropriate to the context and is accessible to the community.
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Le Burkina Faso a été le premier pays d’intervention de HI en Afrique de l'Ouest. L’association y est enregistrée depuis 1991. Cette année-là, en partenariat avec le Ministère de la Santé, l’association œuvra pour la réhabilitation du Centre National d'Appareillage Orthopédique du Bu...rkina (CNAOB). Elle a par la suite soutenu le développement et la mise en place d'autres centres de réadaptation et d’appareillage à travers le pays. Le spectre des interventions de HI s’est ensuite diversifié au fil des années au Burkina Faso.
Aujourd'hui, HI facilite la mise en place d'un réseau régional de réadaptation fonctionnelle et l'intégration de ce réseau dans le système national de santé. HI forme des professionnels de la santé et de la réadaptation fonctionnelle. Grâce à son projet éducatif, l’association facilite l'accès et le maintien d’enfants handicapés à l’école primaire. Afin d'assurer la pérennité de ce projet, l'organisation forme et sensibilise les personnes qui travaillent dans les secteurs du handicap et de l'éducation inclusive.
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a systematic review and meta-analysis Derek K Chu et al. on behalf of the COVID-19 Systematic Urgent Review Group Effort (SURGE) study authors.
Published: The Lancet June 01, 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016S0140-6736(20)31142-9
'We did a systematic review of 172 observational studies in health-...care and non-health-care settings across 16 countries and six continents... Physical distancing of 1 m or more was associated with a much lower risk of infection, as was use of face masks (including N95 respirators or similar and surgical or similar masks [eg, 12–16-layer cotton or gauze masks]) and eye protection (eg, goggles or face shields)...'
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La implementación de la presente Norma Nacional y Manual de Procedimientos Técnicos de la Leishmaniasis en el país, permitirá al personal de salud del sistema público y privado fortalecer sus capacidades técnicas y operativas a través de la estandarización y unificación de estrategias y acc...iones para mejorar la prevención, atención, control, vigilancia entomológica y epidemiológica de esta enfermedad de manera oportuna y eficiente. Así mismo promoverá el cumplimiento de la Gestión Participativa y de Atención en Salud a través de la participación e involucramiento de la sociedad civil en la adopción de conductas prevenibles y de atención oportuna, así como demandar mayor acceso a la salud a través de la abogacía ante las Autoridades Locales y Municipales para el fortalecimiento en la otorgación de recursos humanos, insumos, infraestructura y medicamentos para este fin.
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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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With its expert practical advice on security in situations of armed conflict, this updated set of guidelines will prove invaluable to humanitarian personnel working at the operational level. Following on from the success of the first edition, published in 1999, it addresses new and developing threat...s such as chemical, biological and nuclear hazards and includes new chapters on, among others, first aid, staying healthy on mission and how international humanitarian law protects humanitarian workers.
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These guidelines provide a framework for effective action to facilitate access to safe and ethical
testing services for different population groups. The implementation of the a comprehensive
approach, known as HIV Testing Services (HTS) is cardinal as an effective package of services
that diminis...hes the impact of the HIV epidemic in our country. All forms of HTS adhere to
the 5Cs: Confidentiality, Counselling, Consent, Correct results and Connection, or linkage
to care, with all based within a human right context. In addition to the 5Cs, however, the
MOHCDGEC emphasizes the use of a variety of approaches to HTS that will reduce the
number of missed opportunities. These include Provider-Initiated Testing and Counselling
testing, Couple counselling and testing, Index testing, and infant and children counselling and
testing in alignment to the revised WHO guidelines. Furthermore, these guidelines accentuate
on the continual provision of integrated HTS service at all levels of the public and private
health service delivery system.
The HTS Providers, managers and other stakeholders
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Colombia is characterized by a fragile and prolonged humanitarian context marked by recurrent multi-hazards affecting its territories and combined with severe structural and systemic challenges within the health system. Recent shocks, including the
COVID-19 pandemic, growing violence within the Col...ombian territories and along the border with Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), and repetitive hydro-meteorological disasters over the last 12 months aggravate such chronic challenges.
In 2022, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance increased by 300 000 due to deteriorating indicators of maternal and child mortality, pregnancy in adolescent girls, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), suicides, sexually transmitted
infections (STIs), gender-based and sexual violence, and communicable diseases. increasing population trends, primarily due to mass migration movements and the persistence of armed conflicts, create access barriers to essential health services, mobility restrictions, and forced displacement, further impacting the health, lives, and well-being of populations in vulnerable situations. In many territories, geographical distance to health facilities and attacks against medical missions hinder providing appropriate healthcare.
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For those with smartphones, you can install the free ‘MSF Guidance’ app by the Open Medicine Project from the app store. It includes the MSF guidelines on Ebola and Marburg virus disease. MSF guidance is an easily searchable app with all the latest MSF clinical protocols and essential drug info...rmation for medical field workers. All content can be downloaded before mission and accessed at any time.
MSF Guidance for Android devices:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.msf.medical.guidelines&hl=en_US&gl=US
MSF Guidance for Apple devices:
https://apps.apple.com/si/app/msf-medical-guidelines/id1282995934
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Según esta investigación, existen muchos y diferentes niveles de comprensión sobre qué significa el género en la práctica de la seguridad, dentro de la amplia esfera de la ayuda humanitaria, del desarrollo y en los entornos operacionales. Los objetivos del presente documento son de generar co...nciencia sobre el género y su relación con la gestión de riesgos de seguridad, y proporcionar enfoques y orientaciones específicos de género a nivel de sedes centrales y de misión/terreno que puedan ser integradas en el marco existente de gestión de riesgos de seguridad y/o complementarlo.
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Young children are especially susceptible to exposure to trauma. Rates of abuse and neglect among this population are staggering. This article presents a review of relevant literature, including research findings specific to early childhood vulnerability to trauma, symptoms associated with traumatic... events, diagnostic validity of early childhood trauma, and treatments for young children. In the past, misconceptions about the mental health of young children have hindered accurate diagnosis and treatment of trauma-related mental illness. Due to the prevalence of trauma exposure in early childhood, counselors are encouraged to become familiar with ways that clients and families are impacted and methods for treatment. Implications for future research also are presented.
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The era of effective antibiotics is coming to a close. In just a few generations, many “miracle medicines”have been beaten into ineffectiveness by the bacteria they were intended to eradicate. Bacteria quickly adapt to the presence of antibacterial agents in order ...to survive. The misuse of antibiotics,which is an international problem, only exacerbates the steady evolution of resistance. In August 2010, the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases posed the question "Is this the end of antibiotics?" documentingthe rapid spread of multidrug-resistant bacteriaand predicting that 10 years remain in the useful life of many agents.
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Introduction The novel Coronavirus (nCoV) epidemic in 2019 -2020 has recently emerged. The route of transmission is not totally known, although it is known that it can spread from person to person, and local health care systems may be ill-equipped to handle a large-scale outbreak. Furthermore, misco...nceptions and misinformation about the disease often spreads rapidly in such epidemics.
In previous epidemics mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) has been identified as a key priority. MHPSS ensures the well-being of the affected populations, and counter-acts the threats to public health and safety that fear, stigmatization and misconception pose. Access to information, knowledge about the disease and how it spreads, make it easier for the affected to feel supported and calm, and to comply with instructions. Furthermore, psychosocial support to staff and volunteers help the operation as work conditions are extremely stressful.
This briefing note provides background knowledge on the MHPSS aspects related to nCoV and suggests MHPSS activities that can be implemented. The messages can be helpful for those in contact with patients or relatives and feel the strain of working and living during the epidemic. The briefing is aimed both at those working in any capacity with those affected by nCoV and for the MHPSS responders who implement MHPSS activities and interventions for everyone affected.
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