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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Building on the successes and learnings of the 2012 Nutrition Policy, the new Nutrition Policy of the World Food Programme (WFP) reaffirms the organization’s commitment to addressing malnutrition as a primary channel to reach Zero Hunger. The new policy aims to contribute to the elimination of all... forms of malnutrition—including overweight/obesity—and confirms addressing nutrition in emergencies as a central priority
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This topic brief highlights how nutrition and healthy diets support the achievement of education and learning objectives, and explains how intervention benefits can be amplified with a whole-school and systems approach. The recommended actions are informed by the Global Standards for health-promotin...g schools. This evidence-informed resource is intended for national education, health and associated sectors to support the strengthening of national school health programmes.
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This topic brief highlights how nutrition and healthy diets support the achievement of education and learning objectives, and explains how intervention benefits can be amplified with a whole-school and systems approach. The recommended actions are informed by the Global Standards for health-promotin...g schools. This evidence-informed resource is intended for national education, health and associated sectors to support the strengthening of national school health programmes.
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Accessed on 31.03.2023
COUNTDOWN Nigeria has applied a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach to improve equity of Mass Administration of Medicines (MAM) and inform Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) policy through an enhanced community engagement strategy. A situational analysis conducted i...n 2016 identified community engagement as a
bottleneck to achieving equitable coverage of MAM within different and emerging contexts (border, migrant, rural and urban) of Nigeria, related to programmatic, social, political and environmental changes over time See: (Dean et al., 2019), (Oluwole et al., 2019) and (Adekeye et al., 2019)
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This report provides a review and analysis of the research landscape for three diseases – Chagas disease, human African trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis – that disproportionately afflict poor and remote populations with limited access to health services. It represents the work of the disease re...ference group on Chagas Disease, Human African Trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis (DRG3) which was established to identify key research priorities through review of research evidence and input from stakeholders' consultations.
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Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that is responsible for enormous suffering, disability and premature death on every continent. As over 5.8 billion people are at risk of encountering a venomous snake, it is not surprising but no less tragic that almost 7400 people every
da...y are bitten by snakes, and 220–380 men, women and children die as a result, adding up to about 2.7 million cases of envenoming and 8100–138 000 deaths a year.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health challenge, which is recognized as high priority area by the Government of India. The increasing consumption of antibiotics is one of the key drivers of antimicrobial resistance seen in bugs of public health importance. Irrational prescription o...f broad-spectrum antibiotics, poor regulations around sale of antibiotics, self-medication, lack of education and awareness regarding responsible use of antibiotics have been identified as some of the key factors driving antimicrobial resistance in our country. The ‘National Health Policy’ (2017), addresses antimicrobial resistance as one of the key issues and prioritises development of guidelines regarding antibiotic use, limiting the over-the-counter use of antibiotics, restricting the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock, and pharmaco-vigilance including prescription audit inclusive of antibiotic usage in the hospital and community.
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This report provides insight into the work that UNFPA has been doing to tackle FGM across borders in these border areas, where country offices are implementing a wide range of initiatives to address the issue. The information provided in this report is structured into four pillars, namely those list...ed in the regional action plan to eliminate cross-border FGM endorsed by the Governments that participated in the interministerial meeting on ending cross-border FGM held in 2019.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global public health concern and a food safety issue. When pathogens become resistant to antimicrobial agents they can pose a greater human health risk as a result of potential treatment failure, loss of treatment options and increased likelihood and severi...ty of disease.
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Over 6 million people worldwide are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan that causes Chagas disease
(CD). T. cruzi is transmitted by triatomine insects, congenitally, through uncontrolled blood donations and organ transplants,
and via consumption of food or drink contaminated by triatomi...nes.
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This project aimed to reduce the risk of vector-borne infection with Chagas disease by
controlling triatomine bugs, the vectors transmitting the parasite of Chagas disease, and
establishing an epidemiological surveillance system with community participation.
The WHO health advisory provides guidance to countries on adapting all existing preparedness and response plans and procedures for natural hazards such as cyclones, tropical storms, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and potential outbreaks of other diseases to their existing COVID-19 strategic prepared...ness and response plans. It advises countries to sustain all established public health and social measures to prevent and control COVID-19 while simultaneously preparing for responding to and effectively manage other disaster risks and events. It highlights WHO’s call for local, national, regional and global solidarity to support countries and communities with high levels of vulnerability to natural hazards during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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FIND and Standard Diagnostics (SD) have developed a lateral flow rapid diagnostic test (RDT) to screen for
T.b. gambiense HAT that is cheap and easy to use. The tests are packed individually and are stable at 40°C for
up to 25 months; they are performed on fresh blood obtained from a finger prick..., and no instrument or electricity is required. The RDT detects host antibodies to infection in populations that are at risk, or in suspect individuals. Positive cases are subjected to further confirmatory methods to identify HAT patients.
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Cholera which disproportionally impacts poor countries and the most vulnerable continues to affect at least 47 countries across the globe, resulting in an estimated 1.3 – 4 million cases, and 21,000 - 143,000 deaths per year worldwide. In Ethiopia, despite major improvements seen in the increasing... access to healthcare, clean water, and improvement in maternal and child health, the country continues to be significantly affected by cholera outbreaks. From 2015 – 2021 for example, several outbreaks of cholera have occurred in multiple parts of the country resulting in over 105,000 cases and thousands of deaths. Some of the risk factors associated with cholera in Ethiopia include inadequate access to clean water, practice of open defecation, poor household and environmental sanitation, unhygienic latrine and weak sanitation practise among communities.
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El objetivo de este conjunto de herramientas técnicas básicas es delinear una trayectoria para lograr mejoras acumulativas y sostenibles adaptadas a las necesidades específicas de cada país a partir de tres estrategias y objetivos clave: la promoción de la salud para una detección precoz; el d...iagnóstico oportuno; y la gestión integral del cáncer de mama. En este documento se ofrece un marco común que vincula a los responsables de formular políticas, las partes interesadas, la comunidad de atención clínica, los gestores de programas y la sociedad civil con enfoques sistemáticos basados en la evidencia que pueden facilitar el fortalecimiento de los sistemas de salud y reducir las inequidades en la salud de las mujeres a lo largo de su ciclo vital.
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Le cancer du sein est le cancer le plus courant dans le monde et la première cause de mortalité imputable cette maladie chez les femmes. Il touche de façon disproportionnée les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire. L’Initiative mondiale contre le cancer du sein met tout en œuvre pour faire... reculer la mortalité due à cette maladie de 2,5 pour cent par an, ce qui, en vingt ans, pourrait sauver 2,5 millions de vies. Cet ensemble de mesures techniques fondamentales a pour objet de définir les grandes lignes d’une voie qui mènerait à des améliorations progressives et pérennes, adaptées aux besoins spécifiques des pays et reposant sur trois stratégies et objectifs clés : promotion de la santé à l’appui d’une détection précoce, diagnostic en temps voulu et prise en charge globale du cancer du sein. Le présent document propose un cadre commun associant les décideurs politiques, les parties prenantes, le milieu hospitalier, les gestionnaires de programmes et la société civile à une démarche systématique fondée sur des données probantes susceptible de faciliter le renforcement des systèmes de santé et de diminuer les inégalités touchant à la santé des femmes tout au long de leur vie.
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Revised and expanded version of the Guidelines
Chagas disease (CD) is endemic in the Americas, being present in 21 countries, where it affects about 6 million
people.(1) With such relevant numbers of people affected and disability adjusted life years lost, CD is a poverty-related
and poverty-promoting disease.
Although data describe a relevan...t ongoing public health problem for the American continent, significant results
in the interruption of transmission has been achieved by coordinated multi-country programs. In particular, the
Southern Cone Initiative (SCI), officially formalised in November 1991 by the Ministers of Health of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, has shown how a well-designed control program can significantly reduce
CD transmission.(2) Before this initiative, in these countries, there were 11 million infected persons and 50 million at
risk, 62% of the infected individuals of the whole continent.
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The MHPSS MSP is an easy-to-follow intersectoral package, which spells out the activities and actions that all humanitarian actors should put in place in all emergencies for an effective MHPSS response. It speaks to different actors at the global, regional, national, and local levels to plan, coordi...nate and implement an effective MHPSS response.
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