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Use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) is one of the main interventions to prevent malaria, and high ITN use rates are a central goal of malaria programs. The four standard indicators to assess outcomes have assessed the percentage of: 1) households owing at least 1 ITN, 2) population with access to an ITN within their household, 3) households owing at least 1 ITN for every 2 people, and 4) population that used an ITN the previous night.
[UPDATED June 13, 2019] In a study reported on this date in The Lancet, the results of the ECHO (Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) Trial Consortium)study which was designed to determine the relationship between some hormonal contraceptive methods and HIV reported that there is no significant difference in HIV rates between those women who used hormonal contraception and those who did not.
Communication plays a critical role in providing women and their partners with the information needed to inform contraceptive method selection. Recently, framing that information (Strategic Communication Framework for Hormonal Contraceptive Methods and Potential HIV-Related Risks) in a clear, consistent, and complete manner has become challenging as ambiguity around risks associated with use of long-acting progestogen-only injectables remains.
Real-time monitoring (RTM) it is a way to facilitate the timely use of data in order to better inform ongoing programmatic activities. RTM allows for high-quality data – that is timely, relevant, accurate, complete, and specific – to be collected, organized, stored, and managed in efforts to increase data accessibility, data visualization, and data use.
In recent years, development programs have shifted away from vertical programming to initiatives that bring together a combination of topics/approaches within a single program. This shift is reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals, indicating that integrated programming is a priority across the range of global development areas.
In August 2017, Madagascar began experiencing a large outbreak of plague affecting major cities and other non-endemic areas. By the end of October 2017, a total of 1801 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of plague, including 127 deaths, were reported by the Ministry of Health of Madagascar to the World Health Organization (WHO), and 51 of 114 of Madagascar's districts were affected. WHO was producing new outbreak reports every few days.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), “good sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system. It implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life, the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so."
On June 24, 2017, UNICEF and the World Health Organization released a statement that the cholera outbreak in Yemen which began in October of 2016, was "the worst cholera outbreak in the world."
At that time, the outbreak exceeded 200,000 suspected cases, increasing at an average of 5,000 a day. In just a few months, cholera had spread to almost every governorate in Yemen. Since the oubreak began, more than 1,300 people had died – one quarter of them children – and, at the time of this writing, the death toll was expected to rise.
Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy (HTSP) is an intervention to help women and families delay or space their pregnancies in order to achieve the healthiest outcomes for women, newborns, infants and children. According to WHO, qualitative studies conducted by USAID in Pakistan, India, Bolivia, and Peru showed that women and couples are interested in the healthiest time to become pregnant
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of external portions of or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. More than 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone FGM/C according to the World Health Organization. While reports suggest that the rate at which FGM/C is practiced is dropping in some areas, as many as 30 million girls under the age of 15 may still be at risk for the procedure. The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among migrants from these areas to North America and Europe.
[UPDATED July 2017J Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a medication which, when taken daily, can protect those who are not HIV positive avoid HIV infection. It is a critical prevention method for those who are at substantial risk for HIV infection.
