Ghana's attempt to regulate health care waste management started in 2002 with the development of guidelines on health care waste manage-ment by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2006, the Ministry of Health developed the health care waste policy and guidelines. This guidance document im...proved health care waste management in the country.
With support from the UNDP-GEF medical waste management project, the Ministry of He lth has revised the existing National Health Care Waste Management (HCWM), policy and guideline, 2006 and has produced two separate documents- A National Health Care Waste Management Policy and a National Guideline for Health Care Waste Management
countrywide. This policy is replacing the 2006 policy and introduces new technical and administrative policy issues to enhance waste management in health care facilities.
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Short Version
This clinical practice guideline was developed in order to provide recommendations for the management of critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 in intensive care units (ICUs).
Our spiritual health profoundly impacts our physical health, well-being, and quality of life. Just as medical professionals care for our bodies and minds, spiritual care practitioners care for our spirits. The increasing need for spiritual care makes these practitioners even more crucial. However, m...any of us have limited access to quality, professional spiritual care. At times of struggle, this lack of spiritual care can have a negative impact on our health and well-being.Investigators and researchers are creating a growing body of evidence for the innumerable benefits of professional spiritual care, yet many people still do not have a lot of accurate information about these practitioners. To create this publication, the six largest healthcare chaplaincy organizations in North America collaborated to share the facts about spiritual care and practitioners’ roles, training, and standards.By providing evidence and dispelling myths, the thousands of spiritual care practitioners represented by these organizations hope to increase access to spiritual care for the benefit of all.
accessed July 2020
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Through the unrivalled outreach of the CatholicChurch we are able to bring together localknowledge at the grassroots level with thecombined expertise and resources of a globalnetwork.
accessed July 2020
Available in Englisch, French and Portuguese
La información actualizada sobre numerosos países ha hecho posible estimar el hambre en el mundo con mayor precisión este año. En particular, los datos a los que se ha tenido acceso recientemente han permitido revisar la serie completa de estimaciones anuales de la subalimentación correspondien...tes a China desde el año 2000, lo cual ha dado lugar a una importante variación a la baja de la serie relativa al número de personas subalimentadas en el mundo. No obstante, la revisión confirma la tendencia sobre la que se ha informado en ediciones anteriores: el número de personas afectadas por el hambre a nivel mundial ha ido aumentando lentamente desde 2014
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Primary health care offers a cost–effective route to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). However, primary health-care systems are weak in many low- and middle-income countries and often fail to provide comprehensive, people-centred, integrated care. We analysed the primar...y health-care systems in 20 low- and middle-income countries using a semi-grounded approach. Options for strengthening primary health-care systems were identified by thematic content analysis. We found that: (i)despite the growing burden of noncommunicable disease, many low- and middle-income countries lacked funds for preventive services; (ii)community health workers were often under-resourced, poorly supported and lacked training; (iii)out-of-pocket expenditure exceeded 40% of total health expenditure in half the countries studied, which affected equity; and (iv)health insurance schemes were hampered by the fragmentation of public and private systems, underfunding, corruption and poor engagement of informal workers. In 14 countries, the private sector was largely unregulated. Moreover, community engagement in primary health care was weak in countries where services were largely privatized. In some countries, decentralization led to the fragmentation of primary health care. Performance improved when financial incentives were linked to regulation and quality improvement, and community involvement was strong. Policy-making should be supported by adequate resources for primary health-care implementation and government spending on primary health care should be increased by at least 1% of gross domestic product. Devising equity-enhancing financing schemes and improving the accountability of primary health-care management is also needed. Support from primary health-care systems is critical for progress towards UHC in the decade to 2030.
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Este documento presenta una actualización de las recomendaciones interinas de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud para la gestión de los casos de COVID-19 en los servicios de salud. La lista de dispositivos médicos prioritarios en el contexto de la COVID-19 proporciona normas mínimas, desc...ripciones técnicas y especificaciones para el manejo de pacientes con sospecha o confirmación de infección por coronavirus en los distintos niveles del entramado asistencial y puntualmente para todas las etapas de atención.
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La Región de las Américas se caracteriza por su riqueza multiétnica y multicultural. Sin embargo, los pueblos indígenas, los afrodescendientes y otros grupos étnicos se enfrentan en muchas ocasiones a la discriminación y la exclusión, lo que genera inequidades en el ámbito de la salud. Las c...aracterísticas específicas de los pueblos indígenas y los afrodescendientes, generalmente alejados de los servicios de salud, los convierten en poblaciones vulnerables. Este impacto puede mitigarse si estos grupos participan desde el inicio en cualquier decisión que afecte a su salud con el apoyo del sector de la salud, e incorporan medidas de prevención y se articulan con la red de servicios de salud en el caso de padecer los efectos de la COVID-19 en sus territorios.
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In the time of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), sex and drug use will continue, regardless of physical distancing orders and policies. People who previously met in community gathering venues such as bars and clubs may now meet in different sites, ones that are “hidden” or less accessible. This, i...n turn, may hinder efforts to reach them with prevention interventions, such as condoms, lubricants, and needle–syringe programmes. With the widespread loss of livelihood and fewer employment opportunities, transactional sex, sex work and sexual exploitation may increase. Anxiety about the pandemic and personal vulnerability also may lead to some disruption in community cohesion, and to changes in the social and sexual norms that influence behaviour.
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Right now, we are facing an unpredictable and highly dynamic situation as a global community. However, as we have seen from the solidarity, support and power of communities in the HIV epidemic and already in communities responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the response must not be fear and stigma. W...e need to build a culture of solidarity, trust and kindness. Our response to COVID-19 must be grounded in the realities of people’s lives and focused on eliminating the barriers people face in being able to protect themselves and their communities. Empowerment and guidance, rather than restrictions, can ensure that people can act without fear of losing their livelihood, sufficient food being on the table and the respect of their community. Ultimately it will give us a more effective, humane and sustainable response to the epidemic.
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This report reviews the latest evidence on what works to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination through key programmes to reduce stigma and discrimination and increase access to justice in the six settings of focus for the Global Partnership. It includes guidance for national governments and k...ey stakeholders on how stigma and discrimination harm; how the stigmatization process operates and how we can stop it; key principles of stigma- and discrimination-reduction efforts; an overview of common intervention approaches; recommendations based on the latest evidence for reducing HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the six settings; and an overview of considerations for monitoring the success of the programmatic interventions recommended for each setting.
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BMJ Global Health2020;5:e002914. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002914
The evidence produced in mathematical models plays a key role in shaping policy decisions in pandemics. A key question is therefore how well pandemic models relate to their implementation contexts. Drawing on the cases of Ebola and in...fluenza, we map how sociological and anthropological research contributes in the modelling of pandemics to consider lessons for COVID-19. We show how models detach from their implementation contexts through their connections with global narratives of pandemic response, and how sociological and anthropological research can help to locate models differently. This potentiates multiple models of pandemic response attuned to their emerging situations in an iterative and adaptive science. We propose a more open approach to the modelling of pandemics which envisages the model as an intervention of deliberation in situations of evolving uncertainty. This challenges the ‘business-as-usual’ of evidence-based approaches in global health by accentuating all science, within and beyond pandemics, as ‘emergent’ and ‘adaptive’.
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Germany’s overall response to COVID-19 has been evaluated as reasoned and sound. Nonetheless, it has exposed weaknesses and blindspots in the German healthcare system regarding the inclusion of migrant groups. For instance, marginalised groups such as labour migrants and asylum-seekers are not con...sidered for tailored measures in the government’s response to COVID-19. On the other hand, certain efforts to include migrant groups, such as the provision of information in numerous languages, are unprecedented in the German context. They may point to increasing accommodation for diversity.
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Introdução: Em março de 2020, a Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) declarou que o surto de COVID-19, doença causada por um novo coronavírus, passava a constituir uma pandemia, dada a velocidade e escala de transmissão da doença. A Região das Américas é caracterizada por uma riqueza mult...iétnica e multicultural. No entanto, povos indígenas, afrodescendentes e outros grupos étnicos, muitas vezes, sofrem discriminação e exclusão, e isso leva a desigualdades de saúde. A COVID-19 pode ter um maior impacto em certos grupos da população, como povos indígenas e afrodescendentes. Em 2017, os Estados Membros da Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde (OPAS) aprovaram a primeira Política de Etnia e Saúde (documento CSP29/7, Rev.1), baseada no reconhecimento de diferenças entre grupos étnicos, bem como em seus respectivos desafios, necessidades e contextos históricos. A política também reforça a necessidade de uma abordagem intercultural, fundamentada na igualdade e no respeito mútuo, para melhorar os desfechos de saúde e avançar em direção à saúde universal. A OPAS prioriza a etnia como uma questão de caráter transversal no gerenciamento de emergências e desastres. Isso está refletido em uma série de regulamentos, como o Plano de Ação 2016-2021 para a Redução do Risco de Desastres e outros manuais, diretrizes e iniciativas.
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El propósito de este documento es proporcionar orientación sobre la limpieza y desinfección de las superficies ambientales en el contexto de COVID-19. Esta orientación está destinada a los profesionales de la salud, los profesionales de la salud pública y las autoridades sanitarias que están ...elaborando y aplicando políticas y procedimientos operativos estándar (POE) sobre la limpieza y desinfección de las superficies ambientales en el contexto de COVID-19.
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