In many low- and middle-income countries, there is a wide gap between evidencebased recommendations and current practice. Treatment of major CVD risk factors remains suboptimal, and only a minority of patients who are treated reach their target levels for blood pressure, blood sugar and blood choles...terol.
In other areas, overtreatment can occur with the use of non-evidence-based
protocols. The aim of using standard treatment protocols is to improve the quality
of clinical care, reduce clinical variability and simplify the treatment options,
particularly in primary health care. Standard treatment protocols can be developed by preparing new national treatment guidelines or by adapting or adopting international guidelines.
The Evidence-based protocols module uses hypertension and diabetes screening
and treatment as an entry point to control cardiovascular risk factors, prevent target organ damage, and reduce premature morbidity and mortality. A comprehensive risk- based approach for integrated management of hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol is included in the Risk-based CVD management module.
This module includes clinical practice points and sample protocols for:
1. hypertension detection and treatment
2. type 2 diabetes detection and treatment
3. identifying basic emergencies – care and referral.
HEARTS emphasizes adaptation, dissemination, and use of a standardized set of
simple clinical-management protocols, which should be drug- and dose-specific,
and include a core set of medications. The simpler the protocols and management tools, the more likely they are to be used correctly, and the higher the likelihood that a programme will achieve its goals.
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Procurement and supply management activities are fundamental to consistent and reliable access to essential medicines and health products. To reduce the impact of CVD, action needs to be taken to improve prevention, diagnosis, care and management of CVD diseases. Affordable essential medicines and t...echnologies to manage CVD disease must be available where and when they are required. Medicines and technologies need to be managed appropriately to ensure that the correct medicines are selected, procured in the right quantities, distributed to facilities in a timely manner, and handled and stored in a way that maintains their quality. This needs to be backed up by policies that enable sufficient quantities to be procured in order to reduce cost inefficiencies, ensure the reliability and security of the distribution system, and encourage the appropriate use of these health products. In order to avoid stock-outs and the disruption of treatment, all related activities need to be conducted in a timely manner, with performance continually monitored, and prompt action taken in response to problems that may arise. Additionally, medication must be dispensed correctly and used rationally by the healthcare provider and patient alike. The purpose of this guide is to explain the necessary steps.
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Many low-resource settings have a shortage of physicians and health workers. (1) In order to provide patient-centred continuous care more effectively, primary care systems can include team-based care strategies in their clinic workflows and protocols. Team-based care uses multidisciplinary teams (wh...ich may involve new staff, or the shifting of tasks among existing staff). Teams can include patients themselves, primary care physicians, and other allied health professionals, such as nurses, pharmacists, counsellors, social workers, nutritionists, community health workers, or others. Teams reduce the burden on physicians by utilizing the skills of trained health workers. Strong evidence shows that team-based care is effective in improving hypertension control among patients in a cost-effective way. (2) Some amount of task shifting/team-based care is already taking place in many settings; this module provides further guidance on how to maximize this approach for greater impact.
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Covid19 - Standard Operating Procedures – UNHAS ROSS
This SOP defines WFP Aviation/UNHAS procedures to be followed when operating in areas affected by the current outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This SOP will be communicated to UNHAS staff, Operators, and user organisations.
Acco...rding to World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus),
Coronaviruses (COVID-19) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
COVID19 – SOP v.1, 2 Apr 2020
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30 January 2020
This document outlines the standard operating procedures for detection and response to case/s of suspected novel coronavirus disease (2019-nCoV) in South Africa. The content of this document should inform provincial preparedness plans.
It highlights how proven digital innovation can be replicated to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Africa. It also estimates investment required to implement such high impact solutions.
The Actions for Heroes Guide is developed by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC MHPSS RG) to accompany reading the children’s storybook My Hero is You, How kids can fight COVID-19! Available in English, French, ...Spanish and Ukranian
https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/iasc-reference-group-mental-health-and-psychosocial-support-emergency-settings/actions-heroes-guide-heart-heart-chats-children-accompany-reading-my-hero-you-how-kids-can-fight
The storybook My Hero is You explains how children can protect themselves, their families and their friends from the coronavirus and how to manage difficult emotions when confronted with our new and rapidly changing reality. The storybook has been translated into 135+ languages and multimedia adaptations have been made.
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For health care providers.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest maternal mortality in the world. According to estimates by the United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (UN MMEIG)1 in September 2017, while the African Region had recorded a significant decline in maternal mortali...ty rate (MMR) of 37.8% between 2000 and 2017, 66% of the 295 000 maternal deaths reported globally occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. The African Region is also noted to have an extremely high MMR, estimated at 542 per 100000 livebirths, with an average annual rate of reduction of 2.9%.
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This document, Programme and curriculum development guide, presents a systematic approach to developing programmes and curricula for implementation of the family planning (FP) and comprehensive abortion care (CAC) competencies,and the theory behind the approach. Specifically, the aim is for effectiv...e implementation of these competencies in the context of pre-service education and training, post-graduate studies and continuing professional development (CPD). This guide is designed for programme and curriculum developers who are preparing or revising formal education and training programmes and curricula for the FP and CAC workforce.
This guide proposes a new FP and CAC Educational Design Model for programme and curriculum development. This model can support competency-based education (CBE) for current and future FP and CAC services, with a pre-service training pathway of at least 12 months, and can also support in-service training. CBE provides the most effective means to orient educational programmes and curricula towards effective health services that meet population health needs, and this Educational Design Model provides a guide for linking the competencies required to provide a range of health services
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This sourcebook aims to detail why health needs to be part of urban and territorial planning and how to make this happen. It brings together two vital elements we need to build habitable cities on a habitable planet: 1) Processes to guide the development of human settlements – in this document ref...erred to as “urban and territorial planning (UTP)”; and 2) concern for human health, well-being and health equity at all levels – from local to global, and from human to planetary health.
This sourcebook identifies a comprehensive selection of existing resources and tools to support the incorporation of health into UTP, including advocacy frameworks, entry points and guidance, as well as tools and illustrative case studies. It does not provide prescriptions for specific scenarios – these should be determined by context, people and available resources.
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Since 2000, concerted efforts by national programmes, supported by public–private partnerships, nongovernmental organizations, donors and academia under the auspices and coordination of the World Health Organization (WHO), have produced important achievements in the control of human African trypan...osomiasis (HAT). As a consequence, the disease was targeted for elimination as a public health problem by 2020. The Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly endorsed this goal in resolution WHA66.12 on neglected tropical diseases, adopted in 2013.
National sleeping sickness control programmes (NSSCPs) are core to progressing control of the disease and in adapting to the different epidemiological situations. The involvement of different partners, as well as the support and trust of long-term donors, has been crucial for the achievements.
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National Guidelines on Nutrition, Care, Support, and Treatment (NCST) for Adolescents and Adults
These guidelines are intended to:
• Establish a consistent set of nutrition interventions and recommendations aimed at managing and preventing undernutrition and overnutrition in adolescents and ad...ults, with a focus on people with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) patients.
• Provide simple and clear guidance to service providers and managers on how to implement the nutrition interventions and recommendations at the various health care delivery contact points.
• Provide a framework for policymakers and development partners to use when planning nutrition interventions for adolescent and adults.
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The standards define 10 key competencies for health and care workers to support self-care in their clinical practice as well as the specific, measurable behaviours that demonstrate those competencies, focusing on people-centredness; decision-making; effective communication; collaboration; evidence-i...nformed practice, and personal conduct.
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Hypertension is referred to as a “silent killer”. Most people with hypertension are unaware of their condition as in most cases, they experience no warning signs or symptoms hence they are not identified or treated. Hypertention is associated with a number of conditions, disability, and causes o...f death. These include: strokes; myocardial infarction; end-stage renal disease; congestive heart failure; peripheral vascular disease and blindness. According to Stats SA, in 2017, hypertensive disorders resulted in 19 900 deaths with a further 44 357 deaths associated with cerebrovascular diseases and other heart diseases. This means around 30% of all deaths in 2017 were associated with increased blood pressure.
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The World Heart Federation (WHF) Roadmap series covers a large range of cardiovascular conditions. These Roadmaps identify potential roadblocks and their solutions to improve the prevention, detection and management of cardiovascular diseases and provide a generic global framework available for loca...l adaptation. A first Roadmap on raised blood pressure was published in 2015. Since then, advances in hypertension have included the publication of new clinical guidelines (AHA/ACC; ESC; ESH/ISH); the launch of the WHO Global HEARTS Initiative in 2016 and the associated Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) initiative in 2017; the inclusion of single-pill combinations on the WHO Essential
Medicines’ list as well as various advances in technology, in particular telemedicine and mobile health. Given the substantial benefit accrued from effective interventions in the management of hypertension and their potential for scalability in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), the WHF has now revisited and updated the ‘Roadmap for raised BP’ as ‘Roadmap for hypertension’
by incorporating new developments in science and policy. Even though cost-effective lifestyle and medical interventions to prevent and manage hypertension exist, uptake is still low, particularly in resource-poor areas. This Roadmap examined the roadblocks pertaining to both the demand side (demographic and socio-economic factors, knowledge and beliefs, social relations, norms, and
traditions) and the supply side (health systems resources and processes) along the patient pathway to propose a range of possible solutions to overcoming them. Those include the development of population-wide prevention and control programmes; the implementation of opportunistic screening and of out-of-office blood pressure measurements; the strengthening of primary care and a greater focus on task sharing and team-based care; the delivery of people-centred care and stronger patient and carer education; and the facilitation of adherence to treatment. All of the above are dependent upon the availability and effective distribution of good quality, evidencebased, inexpensive BP-lowering agents.
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The Global Asthma Report (GAR) 2022, prepared by the Global Asthma Network (GAN), is the fourth such report (others 2011, 2014, 2018). GAN builds upon the work of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (T...he Union) to monitor asthma and improve asthma care, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
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Bonchial asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease in the world. In Kenya, it has been estimated that about 7.5% of the Kenyan population, nearly 4 million people, are currently living with asthma. Many cases tend to be underdiagnosed and undertreated which leads to high levels of morbid...ity and avoidable deaths. The consequences of poorly controlled asthma, including physical, mental, social, and economic impacts, are magnified in the poor on account of poor access to asthma services and sub-optimal quality of those services. With these guidelines, Kenya's Ministry of Health aims to work towards embedding asthma care in Universal Health Care (UHC) to ensure that quality asthma services are available in primary care settings with
referral networks strengthened for those who may require secondary and tertiary care. These national asthma guidelines will also ensure that treatment for asthma is standardized in both the public and the non-state health care sector.
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