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Launch of new global estimates on levels of physical activity in adults: ”1 in 4 adults are inactive” new global estimates shows.
1 in 4 adults are inactive
5 SEPTEMBER 2018 – New data published in The Lancet Global Health today show that more than one in four adults globally (28% or 1.4 billion people) are physically inactive. However this can be as high as one in three adults inactive in some counties.
The paper, authored by four World Health Organization experts, reports data that update 2008 estimates on levels of activity and, for the first time, reports trend analyses showing that overall, the global level of inactivity in adults remains largely unchanged since 2001.
Women were less active than men, with an over 8% difference at the global level (32% men vs 23%, women). High income countries are more inactive (37%) compared with middle income (26%) and low income countries (16%).
These data show the need for all countries to increase the priority given to national and sub-national actions to provide the environments that support physical activity and increase the opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, to be active every day.
The new Global Action Plan on Physical Activity sets the target to reduce physical inactivity by 10% by 2025 and 15% by 2030.
Regular physical inactivity increases peoples risk of poor health, including cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer and diabetes, falls, as well as mental health conditions. Publication of levels of participation in children and young people are forthcoming.
WHO is working with Google to share health advice through new and innovative platforms
Countries in WHO SEAR resolve to make essential medical products accessible, affordable to all
Countries in WHO South-East Asia Region resolve to make essential medical products accessible, affordable to all
(WHO SEARO MEDIA CENTRE) SEAR/PR/1670
New Delhi, 4 September 2018: Member countries of WHO South-East Asia Region today committed to make essential medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and medical devices affordable and accessible to all, both within the Region and beyond.
“Access to safe, effective and affordable medical products vital to prevent sufferings and impoverishment resulting from high out-of-pocket expenses on healthcare by families, especially the poor,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, said, as health ministers and officials of the 11 Member countries signed the ‘Delhi Declaration’ to improve access to essential medical products.
Medical products are a major component of out-of-pocket health care spending which has pushed 65 million people into poverty in the WHO South-East Asia Region.
Though significant efforts have been made by countries in recent years, as improving access to essential medicines is a WHO flagship priority programme in the Region since 2014, challenges remain in providing the right medical products at the right time to those in need.
To overcome challenges, the Delhi Declaration calls for allocation of sufficient financial resources by countries, as part of overall health financing strategies, to reduce out-of-pocket payments of families on essential medicines.
The declaration calls for strengthening national policies, regulation, supply chain management, and capacity to leverage intellectual property and trade for public health, to improve access to medicines and vaccines.
Signing the declaration at the Seventy-first Regional Committee Session of WHO South-East Asia Region, Member countries committed to developing an effective, transparent and participatory mechanism for regional price negotiation and pooled procurement to ensure accessibility and affordability of essential medical products for life threatening and rare diseases.
The Member countries committed to strengthen regulatory cooperation and collaboration to improve availability, quality and safety of essential medical products through the South-East Asia Regulatory Network (SEARN).
With the Region emerging as a major manufacturer of essential medical products especially generic medicines, Member countries agreed to leverage this strength to improve accessibility and affordability both within the Region and beyond.
The Member countries committed to developing an essential medical products list, in particular essential diagnostics list, for improved patient care, affordability of quality tests, and greater capacity to diagnose diseases during outbreaks and strengthened capabilities of national laboratories.
The declaration also emphasized on more appropriate use of antibiotics; and innovation and investment in R&D including for neglected diseases, and affordable medical products.
The Member countries agreed to ensure universal accessibility and affordability of essential medical products by 2030, as part of achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and the health related goals of SDG 2030 agenda.
The Regional Committee is held annually and is hosted by one of the 11 Member countries or the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office.
Congratulation #Nepal ??for having eliminated #trachoma and for the control of #rubella transmission.
Congratulations #SriLanka for the control of #rubella transmission.
Congratulations #Maldives for achieving the control of #rubella and congenital rubella syndrome.
Congratulations #DPRKorea for the elimination of #measles
Congratulations #Bhutan for the controlling the transmission of #rubella virus.
Congratulation #Bangladesh for achieving the control of #rubella disease.
Congratulation #TimorLeste for having eliminated #measles and having controlled the transmission of #rubella
WHO is working with Google to share health advice through new and innovative platforms: WHO is working with Google as part of the Organization’s broader ambition to engage closely with the digital world to promote and protect the health of all people. Through the Google Fit app, WHO is looking to reach more people with its recommendations on physical activity, and showing why moving more is good for health.
Developing advice for better public health, and sharing this with all people, are priorities for the World Health Organization.
WHO is demonstrating this is numerous ways.
In 2018, WHO launched Global action plan on physical activity to help make more people active for a healthier world.
WHO is also leading the global agenda on digital health.
At the Seventy-first World Health Assembly, governments recognized the potential of digital technologies to improve public health, promote universal health coverage and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
In bringing both streams together, WHO is working with Google to share health advice through new and innovative platforms. This is part of WHO’s broader ambition to work closely with the digital world to promote and protect the health of all people.
Through the Google Fit app, WHO is looking to reach more people with its recommendations on physical activity, and showing why moving more is good for health.
For improved health, WHO recommends that adults, aged 18-64, should each week do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity, aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both.
Being physically active – from walking to work to cycling to school – can benefit health in many ways, from preventing hypertension, overweight and obesity, to improving mental health and overall well-being and quality of life.
DOWNLOAD NOW: Google Fit: Health and Activity Tracking (ANDROID)
WHO announces landmark changes in MDR-TB treatment regimens
17 AUGUST 2018, GENEVA – Major improvement in treatment outcomes and quality of life of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are expected, following key changes in MDR-TB treatment announced by WHO on 17th August 2018.
The first important change is a new priority ranking of the available medicines for MDR-TB treatment, based on a careful balance between expected benefits and harms. Treatment success for MDR-TB is currently low in many countries. This could be increased by improving access to the highest-ranked medicines for all patients with MDR-TB.
The second important change is a fully oral regimen as one of the preferred options for MDR-TB treatment, with injectable agents proposed to be replaced by more potent alternatives such as bedaquiline (the first-ever medicine to be developed specifically for the treatment of MDR-TB). Injectable agents cause pain and distress to patients, with many experiencing serious adverse effects that often lead to treatment being interrupted.
“The treatment landscape for patients with MDR-TB will be dramatically transformed for the better with the announcement today,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Deputy Director-General for Programmes. “Building on the available new data, and with the involvement of a large number of stakeholders, WHO has moved forward in rapidly reviewing the evidence and communicating the key changes needed to improve the chances of survival of MDRTB patients worldwide. Political momentum now needs to urgently accelerate, if the global crisis of MDR-TB is to be contained.”
The WHO rapid communication aims to encourage and prepare countries to implement the upcoming new consolidated, updated and more detailed WHO policy guidelines on MDR-TB treatment which will be released later this year. WHO is also establishing a multi-stakeholder Task Force to coordinate support to national TB programmes in their rapid transition to the key changes envisaged.
An evidence-driven process
The announcement follows an in-depth assessment of the latest evidence on the efficacy and safety of medicines available to treat MDR-TB by an independent panel of experts convened by WHO. The outcomes of the meeting, held 16-20 July, also have major and immediate implications for countries, donors and technical partners as clinical care, national diagnostic and treatment policies, medicine and diagnostic procurement strategies, and training plans will require rapid review and adaptation.
The meeting was the culmination of an extensive process initiated by WHO in 2017. Following WHO’s public call for data, anonymized individual patient records from clinical trials, observational studies and national TB programmes were incorporated into a global database hosted by McGill University, Canada under contract with WHO. International standards for data analyses by the McGill group ensured high confidence in the findings and enabled WHO to rapidly communicate the key changes.
“Evidence-based interventions are essential for optimal clinical care of patients and effective public health service delivery,” said Professor Holger Schünemann, Director of Cochrane Canada and member of the International GRADE Working Group, who chaired the expert panel meeting. “WHO is a leader in ensuring that its policies and guidelines meet the highest scientific standards, which should generate full trust by its member states and other stakeholders.”
MDR-TB – a global public health crisis
TB is among the oldest diseases known to mankind, yet remains one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide today, as well as the leading global infectious disease killer. About 600,000 new cases of MDR-TB (or other rifampicin-resistant TB) emerge each year and about 240,000 people die of these forms of TB each year according to WHO estimates.
MDR-TB is a major driver of antimicrobial resistance worldwide and threatens hard-earned gains made in the global TB response over the past twenty years. Diagnosis and treatment of MDR-TB remain a major challenge, with only one in four affected people currently being detected and even fewer being treated successfully.
Moving forward
“We would like to thank countries, technical partners, donors, civil society and other key TB stakeholders for their contribution that has culminated in these positive changes for MDR-TB patients,” said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global TB Programme. “We now ask for their urgent support to national TB programmes in their transition to new MDR-TB treatment regimens.”
Accelerated efforts to address the MDR-TB crisis will contribute to accelerating action to end the global TB epidemic. Heads of State, Government and other global leaders are poised to gather at the first-ever United Nations High-level Meeting on TB in New York on 26 September 2018.
Download: Rapid Communication: Key changes to treatment of multidrug- and rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB)
World Humanitarian Day 2018 #NotATarget: World Humanitarian Day Every is observed on 19 August every year. World Humanitarian Day brings citizens of the world together to rally support for people living in crises and to pay tribute to the aid workers who help them.
Emergencies cause immense suffering for millions of people – usually the world’s poorest, most marginalized and vulnerable individuals. Humanitarian aid workers, including health care workers, strive to provide life-saving assistance and long term rehabilitation to disaster-affected communities, regardless of where they are in the world and without discrimination based on nationality, social group, religion, sex, race or any other factor.
“Health is a fundamental human right, and attacks on health care are a blatant violation of that right.” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO.
“Around the world, conflict is forcing record numbers of people from their homes, with over 65 million people now displaced. Children are recruited by armed groups and used to fight. Women are abused and humiliated. As humanitarian workers deliver aid and medical workers provide for those in need, they are all too often targeted or treated as threats.” — UN Secretary-General, António Guterres
Approved Organogram of Ministry of Health & Population, Nepal
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Maternal, Newborn and Child HealthNational Plan, Policy & GuidelinesPublic HealthResearch & Publication
Right to Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Act 2075
Right to Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Act 2075
The Right to Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Act, 2075 (2018)
- Chapter-1 Preliminary
- Chapter-2 Right to Reproductive Health
- Chapter-3 Safe Motherhood and Newborn Baby
- Chapter-4 Safe Abortion
- Chapter-5 Morbidity
- Chapter-6 Budget Appropriation and Grant for Motherhood and Reproductive Health
- Chapter-7 Offence and Punishment
- Chapter-8 Miscellaneous
Date of Authentication: 2075/6/2 (18 September 2018)
Act Number 9 of the year 2075 (2018)
An Act Made to Provide for the Right to Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health
Preamble: Whereas, it is expedient to make necessary provisions on making motherhood and reproductive health service safe, qualitative, easily available and accessible, in order to respect, protect and fulfill the right to safe motherhood and reproductive health of the women conferred by the Constitution of Nepal,
Now, therefore be it enacted by the Federal Parliament.
The House of Representatives in its meeting on August 15, 2018 approved the Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Bills, 2075.
RSS: The House of Representatives had approved unopposed the proposal seeking consideration on the Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Bills, 2075. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population, Upendra Yadav, had presented the proposal. Putting their views on the theoretical aspects of the bill, MPs complained that a mechanism for the implementation of the reproductive rights was not put in place. They also suggested including provisions in the bill for assigning at least one doctor in places having a population of 1,000. The lawmakers said that it would be possible to implement the safe motherhood and reproductive rights only when education and health services are free.
They also said that foreign investment should not be allowed in the education and health sectors and that maternity leave should be given to women working in the agriculture sector and as domestic workers. The lawmakers also demanded providing nutritious food to the poor and vulnerable sections of society.
Responding to the questions raised by MPs during the discussions on the proposal, DPM Yadav said the bill has been presented keeping in mind the health of the mother and the child. He said the bill would help in reducing abortions and uncontrolled births. The Health Minister also expressed the belief that the bill would help reduce the maternal and child mortality rate.
He also shared on the occasion that a basic health center and birthing center would be set up at each ward of the local level.
Victims of vaccination to be given compensation: The Imminisation Rule, 2015, which recently came into effect, has stipulated a provision of compensation or medical treatment to the victim if vaccination causes adverse impacts on the person’s health or results in maiming or death.
According to Rule 18 of the law published in Nepal Gazette on August 6, the concerned victim of immunisation or his/her kin may file a complaint with the Advisory Committee through the District Public Health Office for compensation within seven days of such incident. “On receipt of complaint, the committee shall forward it to the probe panel within seven days,” the rule states. The panel shall conduct a thorough investigation into the case, record statement of the party related to the victim and collect evidences to ascertain whether or not the victims should be provided medical treatment or compensation. If the panel deems it necessary to provide compensation to the victim, the amount shall be fixed on the basis of the severity of the impact on health. “The panel shall have to submit its report, accompanied by its decisions, to the Advisory Committee within 35 days,” the law says. The committee shall provide the compensation amount as recommended by the panel to the concerned victim or his/her kin within 15 days. In the case of maiming, the concerned health institution shall bear the victim’s medical expenses. Similarly, the law has it mandatory for parents and guardians to get all children in their custody immunised. As per the rule, the vaccines to be given to children should be pre-qualified by the World Health Organisation and meet all the prescribed requirements. Any health institution desirous of operating immunisation service shall have to submit an application to the concerned DPHO for licence. However, it is not applicable in the case of government health institutions. The health institutions licensed to operate immunisation service shall be required to make arrangements of separate vaccination room, refrigerators exclusively for vaccines, safe disposal of vaccine vials and bio-medical waste, free vaccine as specified for immunisation service and publication of immunisation schedule, among others.
The licence issued to health institutions shall be cancelled in case of violation of the law. The rule also requires health institutions to maintain a detailed record of persons immunised by them. The concerned DPHO shall carry out monitoring of immunisation service operated by health institutions to ensure that they have abided by the rules.
Himalayan News Service Kathmandu, August 11: Original link
National Immunization Schedule, Nepal (Revised)
Fractional Dose of Inactivated Polio Vaccine-fIPV
The International Youth Day is commemorated every year on the 12 August. The theme for IYD2018 is “Safe Spaces for Youth”. 12 August was first designated International Youth Day by the UN General Assembly in 1999, and serves as an annual celebration of the role of young women and men as essential partners in change, and an opportunity to raise awareness of challenges and problems facing the world’s youth.
Safe Spaces for Youth
Youth need safe spaces where they can come together, engage in activities related to their diverse needs and interests, participate in decision making processes and freely express themselves. While there are many types of spaces, safe spaces ensure the dignity and safety of youth. Safe spaces such as civic spaces enable youth to engage in governance issues; public spaces afford youth the opportunity to participate in sports and other leisure activities in the community; digital spaces help youth interact virtually across borders with everyone; and well planned physical spaces can help accommodate the needs of diverse youth especially those vulnerable to marginalization or violence.
Ensuring that safe spaces are inclusive, youth from diverse backgrounds especially those from outside the local community, need to be assured of respect and self-worth. In humanitarian or conflict prone settings for example, youth may lack the space to fully express themselves without feeling uncomfortable or unwelcome. Similarly, without the existence of safe space, youth from different race/ethnicity, gender, religious affiliation or cultural background may feel intimidated to freely contribute to the community. When youth have safe spaces to engage, they can effectively contribute to development, including peace and social cohesion.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically Goal 11, emphasizes the need for the provision of space towards inclusive and sustainable urbanization. Furthermore, the New Urban Agenda (NUA) reiterates the need for public spaces for youth to enable them to interact with family and have constructive inter-generational dialogue. Additionally, the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) which is the UN framework for youth development, prioritizes the provision of “leisure activities” as essential to the psychological, cognitive and physical development of young people. As more and more youth grow in a technologically connected world, they aspire to engage deeper in political, civic and social matters, and the availability and accessibility of safe spaces becomes even more crucial to make this a reality.