A successful email marketing campaign requires a diligent and thoughtful approach to the entire email marketing process. This white paper contains strategies and actionable steps to help B2B and B2C marketers deliver integrated and measurable email marketing campaigns in today’s quickly changing online landscape.
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To support executive decision-making, corporations need the proper strategic and marketing planning framework and informational processes, including a dynamic feedback loop which converts global news articles and other content into strategic intelligence which confirms or challenges corporate and business unit assumptions about the changing external environment.
This article describes a new integrated solution: A Real-Time Market Planning Management Solution which enables organizations to quickly build a robust planning framework aligned with a knowledge-building process.
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Substantial progress has been made during the past decade to prevent and control schistosomiasis (also known as bilharziasis) globally. The disease affects more than 230 million people, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Progress is mainly due to large-scale periodic treatment of affected populations with praziquantel, the only medicine recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) against all forms of schistosomiasis. Regular treatment cures mild symptoms and prevents
progression to severe, chronic disease.
“Through progressive scale-up of periodic large-scale treatment
to control morbidity in many endemic countries, we are closer to
achieving the minimum target of 75% global coverage of all school‐aged
children,” said Dr Amadou Garba Djirmay, who leads WHO’s global schistosomiasis control programme. “But
if we want to achieve elimination, we must go a step further to
introduce snail control in hot spots and in areas targeting elimination.
This is bound to increase impact and accelerate progress towards
interruption of transmission.”
Expansion of treatment is largely supported by donated praziquantel from Merck KGaA of up to 250 million tablets annually. In 2018, almost 78 million children were treated, representing 63% of all school‐aged children eligible for treatment.
Schistosomiasis is an acute, chronic parasitic disease caused by infection with trematode worms of the genus Schistosoma. It is prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas, especially in poor, rural communities that have little or no access to
safe drinking‐water and basic sanitation. Infection is transmitted when people suffering from schistosomiasis contaminate freshwater sources when evacuating urine and faeces containing the parasite’s eggs.
Once an egg comes into contact with fresh water, it releases miracidia (hatchlings) which enter a snail and produce hundreds of cercariae (larvae) daily. The cercariae enter the human body on contact with the skin and develop into adult worms.
Besides treatment with praziquantel, eliminating snail hosts and improving sanitation are important methods for sustainable prevention of the disease. Dam and irrigation projects are known to be potential sites for outbreaks of the disease. Snail management,
often achieved through mollusciciding, can help to reduce transmission by eliminating these intermediate snail hosts.
In 2017, the World Health Assembly – WHO’s decision making body – adopted resolution WHA70.16 on the Global Vector Control
Response, calling on Member States to develop or adapt national vector control strategies and operational plans. The strategy aims to reduce by at least 40% the incidence of vector borne diseases, including schistosomiasis, by 2025.
In response, WHO is reinforcing snail control as part of its strategic approach to achieve the target of eliminating schistosomiasis as a public health problem and, ultimately, the goal of elimination of transmission. Snail control will complement mass
treatment campaigns and sustain the public health impact of this core intervention.
To facilitate implementation of snail control, in 2019 WHO published on specific, standardized procedures and criteria for efficacy
testing and evaluation and in 2017 a manual on the use of molluscicides in the field. WHO is also planning to strengthen capacities
of health staff in medical malacology in order to reinforce snail control activities in countries.
In the past, molluscicides (particularly niclosamide1 based products) were widely used in schistosomiasis control programmes. For example, in China programmes largely relied on snail control for over 30 years to overcome the disease as a public
health problem. In other parts of the world, however, snail control programmes were gradually discontinued and competencies faded away.
“Snail control is a crucial component of the global schistosomiasis elimination strategy,” said Dr Rajpal Yadav, Scientist, WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. “It
is time we look for new snail control products that are cost–effective
and of low risk to humans and the environment. Some efforts are being
made to explore molluscicide compounds from plants, marine algae and
microorganisms.”
An integrated control strategy involving mass treatment with praziquantel, snail control and environmental modification, wider access to sanitation and safe water, economic and environmental development, health education and poverty-alleviation can greatly
contribute to sustainable control and elimination of schistosomiasis.
WHO’s new road map on neglected tropical diseases for 2021–2030, due to be launched later this year, advocates enhanced financial and political support to achieve the target of interruption of transmission. Additional research to address gaps,
develop tools and optimize the impact of existing programmes with snail control will complement the core strategic approach.
There are two major forms of schistosomiasis – intestinal and urogenital.
Intestinal schistosomiasis usually results in diarrhoea and blood in the stool; enlargement of the liver and of the spleen and portal hypertension are common in advanced cases.
Urogenital schistosomiasis is characterized by the presence of blood in the urine. Chronic infection results in fibrosis of the bladder and ureter that can evolve to hydronephrosis and create conditions for bladder cancer.
In women, urogenital schistosomiasis can cause vaginal bleeding, pain during sexual intercourse and nodules in the vulva, a condition now described as female genital schistosomiasis. In men, urogenital schistosomiasis can induce disease in the seminal
vesicles and prostate.
1Limitations with the use of formulations based on niclosamide include restrictions on the usage of water immediately after application and temporary toxicity to non-target aquatic organisms including
fish, amphibians and invertebrates.
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https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/25-03-2020-schistosomiasis-elimination-refocusing-on-snail-control-to-sustain-progress
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At this unique time in history when the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes stands in solidarity with governments and communities as they seek to maintain health services
and continue to address the needs of patients suffering from HIV and tuberculosis (TB).
Despite being preventable and treatable, tuberculosis remains the world’s biggest infectious killer and the leading cause of death among people living with HIV (PLHIV), responsible for 32% of the 770 000 lives lost to HIV in 2018. People
living with HIV are far more vulnerable (nearly 20 times more) to TB infection than people without HIV and are three times more likely to die during TB treatment.
While there are proven interventions that reduce TB deaths – such as provision of TB preventive treatment, adoption of novel diagnostics for earlier TB diagnosis and linkage to treatment, and antiretroviral therapy (ART) – we are far behind
in scaling these up, and diagnostic and treatment gaps remain, with only half of estimated TB cases among PLHIV reaching care in 2018, only half of estimated PLHIV with TB receiving ART, and less than half of PLHIV new on ART initiating TB preventive
treatment in a subset of countries which reported globally.
On this World TB Day, WHO highlights two key interventions to reduce unnecessary TB deaths among PLHIV:
As the new Director for the Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes, I support current efforts to continue and to take to scale TB activities. It’s Time for solidarity!
HIV programmes are encouraged to ensure that TB preventive treatment, including shorter WHO-recommended regimens, with updated guidance launched today, are provided to all eligible PLHIV as part of a routine package of care, including provision of ART, and that treatment completion is ensured.
In recent months, WHO has also released guidelines for use of a bedside urine TB-LAM test to accelerate earlier TB diagnosis, with significantly expanded eligibility criteria. As this test is “point of care” with the potential for earlier
TB diagnosis and treatment initiation, HIV programmes should consider these recommendations as they enhance strategies for TB diagnosis among PLHIV, including as part of a routine package of advanced HIV care.
It’s Time to urgently scale up TB preventive treatment and TB diagnosis and strengthen referral and linkages to TB treatment at HIV service delivery points in all countries and continue to scale-up ART among PLHIV with TB. This applies to all populations
at risk, including children, pregnant women and marginalized groups, to ensure no one is left behind.
WHO calls for continued collaboration in countries across health programmes for harmonized and integrated policies and service delivery, and engagement with communities and other sectors. Unless HIV programmes scale up interventions to close these
gaps in prevention, diagnosis and treatment both for TB and HIV, countries and their development partners will not meet our common target: a 75% reduction in TB deaths among PLHIV between 2010 and 2020. HIV mortality cannot be reduced without addressing
the leading cause: tuberculosis.
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https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/24-03-2020-world-tb-day-2020-it-s-time-for-solidarity
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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.
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KOTA TINGGI: The Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM) needed more than 12 hours to extinguish the blaze at the Pengerang Integrated Complex’s diesel hydro treating (DHT) unit last night.
Johor JBPM operations commander Pauzan Ahmad said this was because the blaze was too intense and the pressure from the DHT piping system was too strong.
“There were too many pipes at the scene, while those which were leaking were 15 feet high.
“So, we had to do some cooling first to stabilise the situation,” he told a press conference, here today.
Pauzan said that it was only when the pressure from the pipes began to subside that they were able to start searching for the victims and found the first body at 3.56am.
The second and third bodies were discovered at 4am, followed by the fourth (9.12am) and fifth (12.42pm).
“The fourth body was found on fourth level of the unit’s platform while the others were found on the ground floor,” he said.
He said, after that, they carried out “flushing” to remove any material inside the pipes before allowing the forensic team to go in and begin their investigations.
Meanwhile, he said the firefighting operation involved 107 officers and personnel from six Fire and Rescue Stations, including from Sebana Cove, Bandar Penawa, Pasir Gudang and Larkin. – Bernama
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https://www.thesundaily.my/local/firemen-take-12-hours-to-put-out-pengerang-blaze-XC2136819
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Twenty-five years ago, two global events – the International Conference on Population and Development and the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing – formally recognized that women’s health and reproductive choices cannot be separated from the social context of their lives.
Now, researchers have created a dataset which brings together national surveys from 74 countries, representing 3 million women. For the first time, it allows them to describe trends in demand/use of modern contraceptives alongside social and economic indicators.
The data is published in The Lancet Global Health and is authored by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the World Health Organization.
It shows that, over time, women are more likely to have their demand for modern contraception met in countries where gender equality and their educational opportunities improve.
Trends in sexual activity and demand for use and use of modern contraceptive methods in 74 countries: a retrospective analysis of nationally representative surveys finds that met need for modern contraception is strongly correlated with positive shifts in social structures.
For every 0.1-point increase in a country’s gender development index, it found a 6.7% rise in women who were sexually active and did not want to conceive. Of those women, an additional 13.5% used modern methods to prevent a pregnancy.
Expectations of every girl’s right to education also made a difference. Each extra year in schooling is linked to an increase of 2.3% in demand, and a 4.7% increase in use of modern contraceptive methods.
“This study shows how every woman must negotiate her reproductive autonomy within the social framework in which she lives, responding to barriers and opportunities as they emerge,” says Dr Lale Say, one of the authors of the study and Unit Head at WHO and HRP.
“Gender equality is both a precondition and a driving force for securing women’s reproductive health and rights – as well as the sustainable development targets, which are our best chance for delivering health and well-being for all.”
Overall, the data reinforce global trends: more time spent sexually-active and single, postponement of parenthood, and the near-universal desire for smaller families.
The study also highlights where action is needed at country-level to avoid family planning services falling behind demand.
Out of the 74 countries analyzed, 42 showed an increase in demand for contraception. Only 37 countries show an increase in use of a modern method to prevent pregnancy.
Although unmet need for contraception declined in 34 countries, it increased in 14 countries. Significantly more progress is needed, and faster, to ensure each girl and woman is able to access the sexual and reproductive health services she needs.
Gender equality can affect contraceptive use in many ways. From the personal and political degree to which women are free to choose their sexual activity, to accessing family planning services it can also shape any power imbalances within personal relationships. This study supports recent efforts by WHO to adopt a broader, integrated concept of sexual and reproductive health – and to translate it into a framework for policy and practice.
The authors argue that family planning targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will not be met without a profound shift: from focus on ‘access to contraception’, to broader aspects of sexual health and social context.
Since reproductive health and women’s empowerment are intertwined, trends in contraceptive use can also reveal progress towards another global target: progress towards gender equality.
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https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/10-03-2020-the-unmet-need-for-social-context-in-family-planning
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Photovoltaic elements are usually found on rooftops—after all, that’s where solar irradiation is highest. However, as researchers at the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP have discovered, PV elements on facades can be a useful way to supplement the power supply. If appropriately designed, they can be attractively integrated and deliver 50 percent more energy than existing types of wall-mounted PV elements. Even concrete walls are suitable.
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Researchers from the University of California San Diego, University of Texas at Austin, Stanford University and Mozilla have developed a new framework to improve web browser security. The framework, called RLBox, has been integrated into Firefox to complement Firefox’s other security-hardening efforts.
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