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Showing results for tags 'Global health'.
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Content ArticleThis editorial in The Lancet Infectious Diseases reflects on the consequences of the infected blood scandal, in which more than 30,000 people in the UK were infected after receiving contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. It examines the systems in place for blood donation and transfusion in low and middle income countries (LMICs) and argues that the chance of a blood scandal coming to light in LMICs is much higher. This is because blood donations in many LMICs go against the WHO recommendation of national blood systems being based on blood supply from voluntary donors. Instead, they rely heavily on paid-for donations and family or replacement donations, which are unsafe due to the higher prevalence of bloodborne infections.
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News Article
Global alert issued over fake Ozempic drugs
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A global alert about fake versions of Ozempic - which has become popular as a way of losing weight - has been issued by the World Health Organization (WHO). The drug is sometimes known as a "skinny jab" despite its main purpose being a treatment for type 2 diabetes. The WHO said the fake medicines could pose a danger to health. The organisation advised people to source the drug only through reputable sources, such as a doctor, rather than obscure sites online or through social media. The active ingredient in Ozempic - semaglutide - helps people with type 2 diabetes control the amount of sugar in their blood. However, the weekly injection also signals to the brain that we're full. So the drug helps people lose weight by reducing the urge to eat. People without diabetes have been getting hold of the drug as a weight-loss medication, which has led to shortages for people with type 2 diabetes and created a market for counterfeit drugs. “[We advise] healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities and the public be aware of these falsified batches of medicines,” said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO assistant director general for essential medicines and health products. "These falsified products could have harmful effects to people’s health," WHO said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 20 June 2024 -
Content ArticleThe Global Strategy for Infection Prevention and Control (GSIPC) vision is that by 2030 everyone accessing and providing healthcare is safe from associated infections. The GPIPC outlines eight strategic directions, providing the guiding framework for country action plans. A Guide to Implementation is being developed to support countries in the development of their national action plans towards the 'vision of 2030'.
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Content ArticleCurrent adverse effects of medical treatment (AEMT) incidence estimates rely on limited record reviews and underreporting surveillance systems. This study evaluated global and national longitudinal patterns in AEMT incidence from 1990 to 2019 using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) framework. It found that although the global population increased 44.6% from 1990 to 2019, AEMT incidents rose faster by 59.3%. The net drift in the global incidence rate was 0.631% per year. The proportion of all cases accounted for by older adults and the incidence rate among older adults increased globally. The high SDI region had much higher and increasing incidence rates versus declining rates in lower SDI regions. The age effects showed that in the high SDI region, the incidence rate is higher among older adults. Globally, the period effect showed a rising incidence of risk after 2002. Lower SDI regions exhibited a significant increase in incidence risk after 2012. Globally, the cohort effect showed a continually increasing incidence risk across sequential birth cohorts from 1900 to 1950. As the global population ageing intensifies alongside the increasing quantity of healthcare services provided, measures need to be taken to address the continuously rising burden of AEMT among the older population.
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News ArticleThe negotiation of a pandemic accord intended to prevent the global disaster seen during Covid-19 should be completed in the next year, WHO have announced. “The amendments to the international health regulations will bolster countries’ ability to detect and respond to future outbreaks and pandemics by strengthening their own national capacities and coordination between fellow states, on disease surveillance, information sharing, and response,” said WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “This is built on commitment to equity, an understanding that health threats do not recognise national borders, and that preparedness is a collective endeavour.” The revised international health regulations includes a commitment to strengthening access to medical products and financing, and stronger, more precise language that should accelerate the detection of health threats and the necessary global action to manage them. “Full implementation of the international health regulations brings the world closer to being safer from pandemic threats. A new pandemic agreement with equity at its heart would further strengthen the rules around and guide international collaboration,” said Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. Read full story Source: BMJ, 4 June 2024
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News Article
Attacks on health workers in conflict zones at highest level ever – report
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Attacks on health workers, hospitals and clinics in conflict zones jumped 25% last year to their highest level on record, a new report has found. While the increase was largely driven by new wars in Gaza and Sudan, continuing conflicts such as Ukraine and Myanmar also saw such attacks continue “at a relentless pace,” the Safeguarding Health in Conflict coalition said. Researchers recorded more than 2,500 incidents of “violence against or obstruction of healthcare” in 2023, including the killing or kidnapping of health workers and the bombing, looting and occupation of hospitals. The coalition called for national and international prosecutions of “war crimes and crimes against humanity involving attacks on the wounded and sick, health facilities and health workers.” Its report highlighted cases of attacks on children’s hospitals and sites running immunisation campaigns, leaving people vulnerable to infectious diseases. It also warned of a new trend in which drones armed with explosive weapons are used to target health facilities. Leonard Rubenstein, of the Johns Hopkins school of public health, who chairs the coalition, said violence inflicted on healthcare workers and facilities had “reached appalling levels”. The report included examples where workers had been deliberately targeted, and others where combatants were reckless or indifferent to the harm caused, he said. “The lack of restraint we are seeing, from the beginning of conflicts, suggests to me that the law on protecting healthcare has had no meaning to combatants.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 May 2024 -
Content ArticleWorldwide, more than 99% of the burden of measles infections and deaths affects populations in low-income and middle-income countries. Measles accounts for 3% of the global mortality of children younger than five years, constituting 90% of deaths from measles, and rubella is the main vaccine-preventable cause of birth defects. Vaccine coverage, both through routine immunisation and supplementary immunisation activities, remains below targets for measles elimination, with considerable heterogeneity between and within countries. This Lancet article looks at how microneedle patches (MNPs) could potentially improve coverage of childhood vaccinations by providing a more thermostable, individual-dose, injection-free vaccine delivery device suitable for administration by local, non-medical personnel. MNPs could also reduce wasted vaccine doses, needle-stick injuries and breaks in the cold chain, as well as making waste management easier.
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Content Article
The theme of this year's World Hand Hygiene Day—which takes place on 5 May—is 'sharing knowledge'. In this blog, hub topic leader Julie Storr looks at the question of why it's still so important to share knowledge about hand hygiene. She highlights the power of sharing knowledge to save lives, the need to address research gaps and that hand hygiene should be integrated into all aspects of frontline care. She also shares tools and resources that can be used to help train and equip frontline healthcare professionals. -
Content Article
On 17 and 18 April 2024, government ministers, high-level representatives and health experts from all over the world gathered in Santiago, Chile for the Sixth Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety. In this long-read article, Patient Safety Learning’s Chief Executive Helen Hughes reflects on the key themes and issues discussed at the event. -
Content Article
World Patient Safety Day 2024
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in WHO
This year’s World Patient Safety Day on 17 September 2024 is focused on the theme “Improving diagnosis for patient safety”. This article explains the aims of the event and the areas it will cover. -
EventuntilIn the context of a multimodal improvement strategy, WHO highlights the importance of training of health workers for sustainable improvement in infection prevention and control (IPC), including hand hygiene. Many countries are demonstrating strong engagement and advancements in scaling-up infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies and actions, but overall, the progress is slow, and gains are at risk. In multiple WHO surveys for example, training and education was the weakest component of IPC programmes around the world both at the national and facility level. With a global workforce of 65 million health workers, this year's campaign focus on training and education and taking action on, for example, hand hygiene can help save lives. Objectives To describe the evidence for the value of IPC and hand hygiene education and training. To outline WHHD 2024 resources and activities. To introduce new products impacting IPC education and training. To promote a shared understanding that IPC education and training should be in place for all health workers to reduce the risk of HAI and AMR, including winners of the WHHD case study submissions. Register
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News Article
WHO launches new toolkit empowering health professionals to tackle climate change
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Climate change presents one of the most significant global health challenges and is already negatively affecting communities worldwide. Communicating the health risks of climate change and the health benefits of climate solutions is both necessary and helpful. To support this, the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with partners has developed a new toolkit designed to equip health and care workers with the knowledge and confidence to effectively communicate about climate change and health. The toolkit aims to fill the gaps in knowledge and action among health and care workers – all those who are engaged in actions with the primary intent of enhancing health, as well as those occupations in academic, management and scientific roles. Despite their recognized trustworthiness and efficacy as health communicators, many health and care workers might not be fully equipped to discuss climate change and its health implications. This toolkit seeks to change that narrative. “Health and care workers play a key role in addressing climate change as a health crisis. Their unique position enables them to raise awareness, advocate for policy changes, and empower communities to mitigate and adapt to climate change,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health. “By engaging in dialogue and action, health and care workers can catalyse efforts to safeguard human health as well as ensuring a resilient and sustainable future for all.” Read full story Source: WHO, 22 March 2024 -
News ArticleWhile the importance of translating evidence into policies and practices is widely acknowledged by evidence producers, intermediaries, users, and funders, there is much less agreement on suitable mechanisms for promoting effective evidence use. As a response, the World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated an extensive and inclusive research priority-setting exercise in Knowledge Translation (KT) and Evidence-informed Policy-making (EIP) through a series of technical consultations. This priority-setting initiative, coordinated by the Evidence to Policy and Impact Unit in WHO’s Science Division, involves national and international researchers, practitioners, and organizations across all WHO regions. Collectively, they will assess the evidence base for effective research utilization in decision-making. The overarching goal of this project is to maximize the impact of KT and EIP research to promote the translation of evidence into effective policies that enhance population health and well-being. Key objectives include: Efficiency and Synergy: Streamlining research efforts in KT and EIP. Strategic Funding: Directing research funding toward identified priority areas. Effective Approaches: Enhancing understanding of evidence use for policy-making. Collaboration: Promoting cross-sectoral collaboration in KT and EIP research. Awareness: Championing for evidence-informed policy-making at all levels. In the first half of the 2024, global experts – selected during an open call – are now actively participating in a series of consultations to identify gaps and opportunities in KT and EIP research. The consultations provide a pivotal opportunity for participants to discuss current research gaps, harmonize terminology and chart a course toward shared priorities. Read full story Source: WHO, 22 March 2024
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Content Article
WHO: Medication with harm – Policy brief (7 March 2024)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Medication
Harm due to medicines and therapeutic options accounts for nearly 50% of preventable harm in medical care. This World Health Organization (WHO) policy brief is a resource for policy-makers, health workers, healthcare leaders, academic institutions and other relevant institutions to help understand the global burden of medication errors, address and prevent medication-related harm at all levels of healthcare, aligned with the strategic plan of the third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm.- Posted
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Content ArticleEvidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) entails identifying, appraising, and mobilising the best available evidence for safe and effective health policy and programmes. EIDM is a mainstay of the World Health Organization’s science-based mandate, and a pivotal steppingstone towards achieving the Triple WHO’s triple billion targets and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This guide and associated tool repository provide WHO staff, Member States and partner organisations with vetted methods and tools to better leverage diverse forms of evidence for more effective policy and practice in the clinical, public health and health system fields. Introducing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary framework to plan and implement evidence-to-policy processes, the guide also aims to foster better collaboration and create synergies among actors and workstreams of the evidence ecosystem.
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Content ArticleThe World Health Organization (WHO) is in the process of establishing a Roster of consultants in the area of patient safety with the main objective of identifying experts from all over the world in different patient safety areas who may support the implementation of the Global Patient Safety Action Plan (GPSAP) 2021-2030 at global, regional, country and institutional levels. The experts with the successful outcome of their application will be placed on the Roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments in the specified area of work, primarily across the seven strategic objectives of the GPSAP 2021-2030. More information can be found in the link below. Closing date for applicants: 3 April 2024.
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EventuntilAs we all know, Patient Safety remains an urgent global public health issue, pertinent to all health systems around the world. Among the most important advances in recent years, the WHO’s publication of the first Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030 stands out, a roadmap that is expected to guide member countries in making decisions and implementing different strategies and measures with the aim of safeguarding the safety of care as a central axis of health policies. The 2023 summit in Montreux marked another milestone in the series. It focused on implementing known measures and interventions. This is crucial to overcome the so-called implementation gap to further advance in strengthening patient safety . The Chile 2024 Summit will delve into how different countries have managed to implement and sustain over time different strategies related to delivering safe health care in the framework of the 7 strategic objectives of the Global Patient Safety Action Plan, key lessons learned in the implementation process, results obtained and upcoming challenges, with the aim of gathering this knowledge and transforming it into national commitments to address concrete actions. This is why the summit 2024 will follow the overarching slogan of “Bringing and maintaining changes in patient safety policies and practices”. Interested participants are welcome to register online https://psschile.minsal.cl/?page_id=945&lang=en#038;lang=en (English) and https://psschile.minsal.cl/?page_id=945 (Spanish) More information about the registration procedure, the programme, and speakers as well as on practical matters can be found on the website and will be continuously updated: https://psschile.minsal.cl/
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EventAt this webinar, WHO will launch two WHO publications on Medication Safety, “Global burden of preventable medication-related harm” and “Policy brief on Medication Without Harm”, to create awareness and to support implementation of the WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm. Register
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Content ArticleA growing awareness of sex and gender bias in evidence has resulted in the development of new tools to address this concern. The Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines and the Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting (GATHER) are two initiatives designed to foster more transparent research and reporting practices that bridge the gender evidence gap. These tools enable researchers to unravel the complexities that underpin health risks and outcomes and generate more accurate and relevant findings that can inform effective and equitable policies for better health outcomes. This Lancet article looks at the World Health Organization's (WHO's) adoption of GATHER and the SAGER guidelines to tackle sporadic and suboptimal reporting of sex and gender data. The authors argue that this move is pivotal within WHO's broader strategic agenda, which it outlined in the Roadmap to Advance Gender Equality, Human Rights and Health Equity 2023–2030, launched in December 2023.
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EventuntilToday, the entire world is working together to address one of history's most terrible public health issues. Humanity has been defeated by a virus and is attempting to restore regular functions while protecting its safety and health. Several tactics and policies have evolved as means of reducing the pandemic's spread and effects, and several are being tested and developed. The information and expertise contained within the field of Public Health are critical in this regard and are regularly revised and updated in the current circumstances. Among the various components of Public Health, Public Health Interventions have become increasingly used in altering public behaviour as a means of limiting disease spread. As a result, the Global Conference on Public Health 2024 (Hybrid Conference) anticipates analysing and evaluating the capabilities of Public Health Interventions in managing the pandemic with the assistance of scholars and specialists in this field. Register
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Content Article
Patient Advocacy Leadership Collective
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in International patient safety
The Patient Advocacy Leadership Collective (PALC) is an innovative hub that provides connectivity, community resources, and tools focused on sustainable capacity building for patient advocates globally. The PALC is an excellent platform with a focus on supporting the growth, development, and leadership of patient advocacy organizations and offers a NextGen Leadership, Mentorship, and Global Health Fellows programme. -
Content Article
WHO Emergency care system framework (2 May 2018)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in WHO
This infographic is a visual representation of the WHO Emergency Care System Framework, designed to support policy-makers wishing to assess or strengthen national emergency care systems. It is the result of global consultations with policy-makers and emergency care providers and provides a reference framework to: characterise system capacity. set planning and funding priorities. establish monitoring and evaluation strategies. -
Content Article
This is part of our series of Patient Safety Spotlight interviews, where we talk to people working for patient safety about their role and what motivates them. Chidiebere is passionate about increasing representation of Black people in all forms of medical literature. In this interview, he explains how lack of representation at all levels of the healthcare system leads to disparities in healthcare experiences and outcomes. He outlines the importance of speaking openly about how racial bias affects patient safety, and argues that dispelling damaging myths about particular patient groups starts with equipping people with accurate health knowledge from a young age. -
News Article
Cancer deaths in UK set to rise by more than 50% by 2050, experts warn
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Deaths from cancer in the UK are set to rise by more than 50% in the next 26 years, stark new estimates suggest. Experts from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have found there were 454,954 new cases of cancer in the UK in 2022 and warned this is expected to rise to 624,582 by 2050. In 2022, 181,807 people died in Britain from cancer, but researchers warned this is expected to rise to 279,004 by 2050 – a 53% increase. The estimates suggest the rising rates of cancer will be driven by the UK’s growing and ageing population. However, researchers have also called for new policies to tackle levels of smoking, unhealthy diets, obesity and alcohol to help lower the expected surge in cases. The study examined cancer data from 115 different countries and estimated global cases would rise by 77 per cent, from 20 million in 2022 to 35 million in 2050. The organisations estimate that cancer deaths around the world will almost double from 9.7 million to 18.5 million in that time. Dr Panagiota Mitrou, director of research, policy and innovation at the World Cancer Research Fund, said the new estimates “show the increased burden that cancer will have in the years to come”. “UK governments’ failure to prioritise prevention and address key cancer risk factors like smoking, unhealthy diets, obesity, alcohol and physical inactivity has in part widened health inequalities,” she added. Read full story Source: The Independent, 1 February 2024 -
Content ArticleIn November 2023, the UK hosted the first global summit on artificial intelligence (AI) safety at Bletchley Park, the country house and estate in southern England that was home to the team that deciphered the Enigma code. 150 or so representatives from national governments, industry, academia and civil society attended and the focus was on frontier AI—technologies on the cutting edge and beyond. In this Lancet article, Talha Burki looks at the implications of AI for healthcare in the UK and how it may be used in medical devices and service provision. The piece highlights the risks in terms of regulation and accountability that are inherent in the use of AI.
