This technical brief provides practical information on planning for the introduction and scale-up of integrated tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes services. The target audience are ministries of health, national programmes or relevant departments responsible for TB, NCDs and primary health care, policy-makers and relevant stakeholders in countries that prioritize TB and diabetes in addressing TB and comorbid conditions and the social determinants of health.
Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death globally, particularly among children and young adults. The spread of new pathogens and the threat of antimicrobial resistance pose particular challenges in combating these diseases. Major Infectious Diseases identifies feasible, cost-effective packages of interventions and strategies across delivery platforms to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, adult febrile illness, viral hepatitis, and neglected tropical diseases. The volume emphasizes the need to effectively address emerging antimicrobial resistance, strengthen health systems, and increase access to care. The attainable goals are to reduce incidence, develop innovative approaches, and optimize existing tools in resource-constrained settings.
The update of the Guidelines for Treatment of Drug-susceptible Tuberculosis and Patient Care is important in the context of the End TB Strategy, which recommends treatment and patient support for all people with TB. This update aims to use the best available evidence on the treatment of drug-susceptible TB and interventions to ensure adequate patient care and support in order to inform policy decisions made in these technical areas by national TB control program managers, national policy-makers, and medical practitioners in a variety of geographical, economic, and social settings. The objectives of these updated guidelines are to provide updated recommendations based on newly emerged evidence on the treatment of drug-susceptible TB and patient care as well as provide a summary of changes in the new guidelines with all the existing and valid WHO recommendations on the treatment of drug-susceptible TB and TB patient care. The key audience for these guidelines are policy-makers in ministries of health or managers of national TB programs who formulate country-specific TB treatment guidelines or who plan TB treatment programs. In addition, health professionals - including doctors, nurses, and educators working both in government services and nongovernmental organizations, such as technical agencies that are treating patients and organizing treatment services - will find these guidelines to be useful.
The emergence of extensively drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, especially in countries with a high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus, is a serious threat to global public health and jeopardizes efforts to effectively control the disease. This publication offers updated recommendations for the diagnosis and management of drug-resistant tuberculosis in a variety of geographical, economic and social settings, and the recording of data that enables the monitoring and evaluation of programs.--Publisher's description.
"On the occasion of World Health Day 2016, WHO issues a call for action on diabetes, drawing attention to the need to step up prevention and treatment of the disease. The first WHO Global report on diabetes demonstrates that the number of adults living with diabetes has almost quadrupled since 1980 to 422 million adults. This dramatic rise is largely due to the rise in type 2 diabetes and factors driving it include overweight and obesity. In 2012 alone diabetes caused 1.5 million deaths. Its complications can lead to heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and lower limb amputation. The new report calls upon governments to ensure that people are able to make healthy choices and that health systems are able to diagnose, treat and care for people with diabetes. It encourages us all as individuals to eat healthily, be physically active, and avoid excessive weight gain."--Publisher's description.
While much progress has been made on achieving the Millenium Development Goals over the last decade, the number and complexity of global health challenges has persisted. Growing forces for globalization have increased the interconnectedness of the world and our interdependency on other countries, economies, and cultures. Monumental growth in international travel and trade have brought improved access to goods and services for many, but also carry ongoing and ever-present threats of zoonotic spillover and infectious disease outbreaks that threaten all. Global Health and the Future Role of the United States identifies global health priorities in light of current and emerging world threats. This report assesses the current global health landscape and how challenges, actions, and players have evolved over the last decade across a wide range of issues, and provides recommendations on how to increase responsiveness, coordination, and efficiency â€" both within the U.S. government and across the global health field.
Cardiovascular, respiratory, and related conditions cause more than 40 percent of all deaths globally, and their substantial burden is rising, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Their burden extends well beyond health effects to include significant economic and societal consequences. Most of these conditions are related, share risk factors, and have common control measures at the clinical, population, and policy levels. Lives can be extended and improved when these diseases are prevented, detected, and managed. This volume summarizes current knowledge and presents evidence-based interventions that are effective, cost-effective, and scalable in LMICs.
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
"Given the absence of international guidelines on the joint management and control of TB and diabetes, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (the Union) identified key questions to be answered and commissioned systematic reviews of studies addressing those questions. A series of expert consultations were organized to assess the findings of the systematic reviews and a guideline group was established to develop this provisional collaborative framework. The framework aims to guide national programmes, clinicians and others engaged in care of patients and prevention and control of diabetes and TB on how to establish a coordinated response to both diseases, at organizational and clinical levels. The framework is based on evidence collated from systematic reviews and existing guidelines on the diagnosis and management of TB and diabetes. The systematic reviews confirmed the weak evidence base for the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of collaborative interventions. The framework is therefore provisional; several of its recommendations are provisional pending better evidence. In order to provide advice on how to fill the knowledge gaps, the framework includes a list of priority research areas."--Page vii-viii.
