Global Digital Store – Ebooks and Softwares

Tag: Increase

  • LinkedIn Introduces New “Sponsored Updates”

    LinkedIn recently announced in a blog post that it will be rolling out a new feature called Sponsored Updates. The feature is being hailed as a way to increase the useful content available to users on the site. Currently, content comes from approximately 1.5 million publishers, 300 notable professionals known as Influencers, and about 3 million company pages.

    Read More
    http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=7923

    Views: 0

  • New WHO recommendations to prevent tuberculosis aim to save millions of lives

    Geneva –  New World Health Organization (WHO) guidance will help countries accelerate efforts to stop people with tuberculosis (TB) infection becoming sick with TB by giving them preventive treatment.

    A quarter of the world‘s population is estimated to be infected with TB bacteria. These people are neither sick nor contagious. However, they are at greater risk of developing TB disease, especially those with weakened immunity. Offering them TB
    preventive treatment will not only protect them from becoming sick but also cut down on the risk of transmission in the community.  

    As we mark World TB Day 2020, the disease remains the world’s top infectious killer. In 2018, 10 million people fell ill with TB worldwide and 1.5 million people lost their lives to this disease.

    “COVID-19 is highlighting just how vulnerable people with lung diseases and weakened immune systems can be,“ said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “The world committed to end TB by 2030; improving prevention is key
    to making this happen. Millions of people need to be able to take TB preventive treatment to stop the onset of disease, avert suffering and save lives”.

    Dr Tedros highlighted the importance to continue efforts to tackle longstanding health problems, including TB during global outbreaks such as COVID-19. At the same time, programmes already in place to combat TB and other major infectious diseases
    can be leveraged to make the response to COVID-19 more effective and rapid.

    Although some progress has been made towards targets set at the UN high-level Meeting on TB in 2018, TB preventive treatment has been largely neglected. Global leaders committed to ensuring access to TB preventive treatment to at least 24 million contacts
    of people with active TB and 6 million people living with HIV by 2022.  To date only a fraction of that target has been reached, with countries putting less than 430,000 contacts and 1.8 million people on TB preventive treatment in 2018.

    TB remains the top cause of death among people with HIV. TB preventive treatment works synergistically with antiretroviral therapy to prevent TB and save lives. Reinvigorated efforts by governments, health services, partners, donors and civil society
    will be needed to increase access to TB preventive treatment to the levels targeted.

    The new consolidated guidelines recommend a range of innovative approaches to scale up access to TB preventive treatment:

    • WHO recommends a scale-up of TB preventive treatment among populations at highest risk including household contacts of TB patients, people living with HIV and other people at risk with lowered” immunity or living in crowded settings.
    • WHO recommends an integration of TB preventive treatment services into ongoing case finding efforts for active TB. All household contacts of TB patients and people living with HIV are recommended to be screened
      for active TB. If active TB is ruled out, they should be initiated on TB preventive treatment.
    • WHO recommends that either a tuberculin skin test  or interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) be used to test for TB infection. Both tests are helpful to find people more likely to benefit from TB preventive treatment
      but should not become a barrier to scale-up access. Testing for TB infection is not required before starting TB preventive treatment in people living with HIV, and children under 5 years who are contacts of people with active TB.
    • WHO recommends new shorter options for preventive treatment in addition to the widely used 6 months of daily isoniazid. The shorter options that are now recommended range from a 1 month daily regimen of rifapentine plus isoniazid
      to 3 months weekly rifapentine plus isoniazid, 3 months daily rifampicin plus isoniazid, or 4 months of daily rifampicin alone.

    “As people around the globe come together to commemorate World TB Day, WHO is calling on governments, affected communities, civil society organizations, health-care providers, donors, partners and the industry to unite forces and step up
    the TB response – notably for TB preventive treatment – to ensure no one is left behind,” said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global TB Programme. “The new WHO guidance shows the way forward for millions to rapidly
    access new tools and shorter, safer options for preventive treatment. The time for action is now.”

    TB preventive treatment is an affordable intervention that can prevent families from sliding into poverty and preserve the health and economy of whole communities. WHO anticipates that as new and safer drugs come onto the markets, and as prices
    fall, it will become a highly-cost effective way to save millions of lives.

     

    NOTES FOR EDITORS:

    WORK BY WHO AND PARTNERS

    WHO works closely with Member States including the US Government and technical and funding partners such as UNITAID to enhance access to shorter TB preventive treatment regimens. UNITAID-supported projects such as IMPAACT4TB and Cap-TB projects
    enabled by WHO with partners in Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and
    Zimbabwe are leading the way. The new treatment options are also now more affordable, thanks to the significant price drop of rifapentine – a key drug – facilitated recently by UNITAID, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
    and global biopharmaceutical company Sanofi, along with forthcoming arrangements underway with generic manufacturers.

    MORE ABOUT THE GUIDELINES

    The new consolidated WHO guidelines come with an operational handbook to help guide countries step-by-step as they take TB preventive treatment to scale. This includes guidance on how to prioritize and invest from demand creation for TB prevention
    to supervision and monitoring of the programme.

    The guidelines and operational handbook are also accompanied by an innovative mobile application – Prevent TB –to help health-care workers manage TB preventive treatment in their communities. Its online dashboard allows programme
    managers to visualize and monitor data in real time. The application can be customized by countries to suit their specific settings and is currently being adopted in India and Philippines.

    WORLD TB DAY

    The new guidelines and tools are being released ahead of World TB Day. World TB Day is observed on March 24 each year to raise public awareness and understanding about the world’s deadliest infectious killer – TB and its devastating
    health, social and economic impact on people around the world. Under the theme “It’s Time”, the spotlight this year is on urgently accelerating the TB response to save lives and end suffering.

    Read More
    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/24-03-2020-new-who-recommendations-to-prevent-tuberculosis-aim-to-save-millions-of-lives

    Views: 0

  • Coronavirus: Zamfara Governor Orders Closure Of Government Offices

    Coronavirus: Zamfara Governor Orders Closure Of Government Offices

    Coronavirus: Zamfara Governor Orders Closure Of Government Offices 1

    Coronavirus: Zamfara Governor Orders Closure Of Government Offices 2


    Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has ordered the immediate closure of all government offices in the state.

    The move was to contain the spread of Coronavirus in the state.

    No case of COVID-19 is yet to be confirmed in the state. 

    The Nigeria  Centre for Disease Control had on Monday morning confirmed 36 cases of the virus with one death so far.

    In his directive, Matawalle ordered all civil servants to stay at home.

    However, he stated that health workers, firefighters and radio stations were exempted from the order.

    He said, “I have ordered the immediate shutdown of all government offices, ministries, departments and agencies. 

    “Almajiri schools should also be closed. All state civil servants should remain at home. 

    “Gathering of more than 20 people is banned. 

    “Our hospitals, fire service and radio stations are not affected by this rule.”

    The governor, who described the rapid increase of Covid-19 cases in the country as alarming, advised the people of Zamfara to practice social distancing, avoid large crowds and also take all necessary precautions as directed by the NCDC.
     

    PUBLIC HEALTH

    News

    AddThis

    : 

    Original Author

    : 

    SaharaReporters, New York

    Disable advertisements

    : 
    Coronavirus: Zamfara Governor Orders Closure Of Government Offices
    Read More
    http://saharareporters.com/2020/03/23/coronavirus-zamfara-governor-orders-closure-government-offices

    Views: 0

  • SoftBank to sell up to $41 bn in assets to buy shares, lower debt

    SoftBank to sell up to $41 bn in assets to buy shares, lower debt

    SoftBank Group said Monday it would sell up to $41 billion in assets to finance a stock buyback, reduce debts and increase its cash reserves after weeks of heavy losses in its shares.

    Read More
    https://techxplore.com/news/2020-03-softbank-bn-assets-debt.html

    Views: 0

  • Dracunculiasis eradication: intensifying surveillance amid continued zero human cases in Ethiopia and Mali

    Dracunculiasis eradication: intensifying surveillance amid continued zero human cases in Ethiopia and Mali

    A total of 54 human cases of dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019, with Chad reporting 48 out of the 54 cases.

    In Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and South Sudan, trained volunteers are supporting surveillance and detection of infections in domestic dogs and cats. Surveillance has been heightened, as evidenced by the increase in reports of rumoured human cases which in 2019 peaked at 108 207 out of which 106 678 were investigated within 24 hours.

    “We are working with the broader scientific community to understand the epidemiology of animal infections, mainly in dogs in Chad, where the highest number of human cases were reported in 2019,” said Dr Dieudonné Sankara, who leads WHO’s eradication and elimination team in the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. “Interestingly, there have been no human cases in Ethiopia and Mali, and 4 human cases in South Sudan in 2019, compared with 10 in 2018.”

    In Mali, the number of animals infected with Dracunculus medinensis (the guinea-worm) has decreased from 20 animals in 2018 to 8 dogs and 1 cat in 2019. However, insecurity remains a challenge to freely accessing some endemic areas in Mali.

    Conversely, Chad reported 1935 infections in dogs and 46 in cats in 2019, an increase of 85% from 2018, and a 176% increase among humans.

    Angola reported only 1 human case in 2019. Community-based surveillance is being reinforced mainly in Cunene Province where a case was reported in 2018.

    In South Sudan, integrated surveillance activities have been carried out with the trachoma and onchocerciasis control programmes, in accordance with WHO’s recommendation that programmes collaborate, integrate and co-implement activities, whenever possible, to strengthen surveillance.

    In order to strengthen cross-border surveillance, WHO led a mission to Cameroon in November 2019 to investigate circumstances around an “imported” case in the country’s Far North Region. Discussions were held with the health authorities to establish active surveillance in all villages in the area, including training for application of temephos.[1]  

    Also, in 2019, and with the support of trained field workers, vector control was intensified to larvicide ponds and water sources in more than 400 villages, compared with 72 villages in 2018.

    In late 2019, WHO supported cross-border meetings with officials of national dracunculiasis eradication programmes from Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa; between Ethiopia and South Sudan in East Africa, and between Angola and Namibia in Southern Africa, to share experiences and plan joint surveillance activities across the borders to prevent transmission of the disease.

    The disease

    Dracunculiasis is a crippling parasitic disease caused by infection with D. medinensis, a long, thread-like worm. It is usually transmitted when people drink stagnant water contaminated with parasite-infected water fleas.

    WHO works with Member States and in partnership with The Carter Center and the United Nations Children’s Fund to support efforts to eradicate the disease. WHO provides technical guidance, works with national programmes to coordinate surveillance in dracunculiasis-free areas, and monitors and reports on the progress achieved.

    WHO is the only Organization mandated to certify countries as free of transmission of the disease following the recommendations of the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication.

    Since 1995, WHO has certified a total of 199 countries, territories and areas, including 187 Member States, as free of dracunculiasis transmission.

    [1] Temephos is a cyclopicide used to kill water fleas (cyclops) that carry the infective guinea-worm larvae.

     

    Dracunculiasis eradication: intensifying surveillance amid continued zero human cases in Ethiopia and Mali
    Read More
    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/19-03-2020-dracunculiasis-eradication-intensifying-surveillance-amid-continued-zero-human-cases-in-ethiopia-and-mali

    Views: 0

  • WHO teams with partners to mitigate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in malaria-affected areas

    The rapid spread of COVID-19 is testing the resilience of robust health systems around the world. WHO and its partners are taking measures to mitigate the potential impact of sustained transmission of the coronavirus in malaria-endemic settings –
    particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, which shoulders more than 90% of the global malaria burden.

    To date, a small proportion of the global COVID-19 cases have been identified in malaria-affected countries. However, as of 17 March, 25 countries in the African Region had reported cases of COVID-19, and local transmission of the disease had been detected
    in 6 countries (Algeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa).

    “At this point, we still don’t know what the COVID-19 pandemic will look like in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dr Pedro Alonso, Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme. “But we do know that when public health emergencies have
    hit parts of Africa with weak health systems and high malaria transmission, the impact on malaria disease and death has been very severe.”

    The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, for example, undermined malaria control efforts and led to a massive increase in malaria-related illness and death in the 3 countries.

    Joint action 

    To support malaria-affected countries, WHO has identified the need for a set of inter-related actions among global partners: 

    • generating, using and disseminating accurate information; 
    • mitigating against health system disruptions; and 
    • ensuring the continuity of routine malaria-specific interventions while also providing, where needed, additional emergency measures, such as mass drug administration, in health systems significantly impacted by COVID-19. 

    The Organization convened partners on 17 March to discuss areas of collaboration, coordination and next steps.

    WHO has begun monitoring the evolving geographic location of COVID-19 cases to understand the extent to which the coronavirus and malaria affect the same target groups. This information will reveal who is likely to be at greatest risk, where and when,
    and thus inform the need for malaria-specific interventions to save lives.

    In parallel, WHO is working across the 3 levels of the organization to ensure that any advice intended to curb coronavirus transmission and to guide COVID-19 disease management is appropriate in malaria-affected settings.  

    In recent days, there have been reports of disruptions, as a result of COVID-19, in the production and global supply chains of essential malaria commodities, such as the long-lasting insecticidal nets, diagnostic testing and antimalarial medicines. Coordinated
    efforts are required to ensure the availability of key malaria control tools – particularly in countries with a high burden of the disease – and that efforts to limit transmission of COVID-19 do not compromise access to malaria prevention,
    diagnosis and treatment services. 

    Malaria-affected countries may also experience disruptions in health systems in the coming months. A marked increase in febrile patients seeking treatment for COVID-19 at health facilities, for example, would present a significant challenge for a health
    workforce that may itself be depleted by the disease.

    Policy guidance

    WHO is developing guidance for national malaria control programmes and implementing partners to prepare them for the challenges they may face as result of COVID-19.  Among other areas, the guidance will address the mitigation of stockouts of
    malaria medicines and commodities; the use of preventive malaria therapy for health workers; the deployment of emergency measures in some settings; and the generation of information relating to the geographic distribution and populations affected
    by COVID-19 in malaria-endemic settings.  

    Restrictions around grouping people together – for training, social and behavior change communication activities, fixed-site distribution and clinical care – as well as the restrictions around movement of people in the country, will require
    significant adaptations in order to deliver quality interventions and care.

    All people living in malaria-affected areas are advised to follow same precautions as the general population, including: frequent hand-washing, respiratory hygiene, social distancing, seeking prompt medical care if symptoms arise (cough, fever,
    difficulty breathing), and other WHO-recommended actions. 

    WHO stands ready to work with countries and other stakeholders to mitigate the negative impact of the coronavirus on malaria responses worldwide and, where possible, contribute towards a successful COVID-19 response.  

    About COVID-19

    COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Essential information on the COVID-19 pandemic can be found in
    a dedicated WHO site.

    About malaria

    Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. In 2018, there were an estimated 228 million cases of malaria worldwide and
    405 000 malaria-related deaths. For more on malaria, visit: www.who.int/malaria

    Read More
    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/18-03-2020-who-teams-with-partners-to-mitigate-the-potential-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-in-malaria-affected-areas

    Views: 0

  • How to Substantially Increase Your Social Media Following

    If you?re searching for creative techniques to increase your social media following, but are handicapped by limited resources, then the Microsoft Dynamics case study will come in handy. The huge conglomerate understood that when it came to social media, it was the same as any other company.

    Read More
    http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=14435

    Views: 0

  • How to Kill a Sales Team in 90 Days

    Hanging up from your recent round of Sales Manager weekly meetings you realize something. The sales process you rolled out mid-year to increase sales isn?t working. In as little as one quarter, sales and morale are down. You are considering abandoning the process. Yet last year the sales management program you did implement is producing results. You followed the same program with sales process as you did with sales management. Sure some things are different on your team this year than last year. But how can it turn bad so quick?…

    Read More
    http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=14395

    Views: 0

  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM Receives Updates

    CRM (customer relationship management) can help customers by taking them through business processes in an organized and automated manner which will reduce costs, increase profits and maintain customer loyalty and satisfaction. Microsoft introduced Microsoft Dynamics CRM in 2011 which is a software package to assist customers with sales, marketing and service related information.

    Read More
    http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=14560

    Views: 0