Publications

TB is infectious and spreads through the air. A third of the world's population has been infected by TB bacteria but only one in 10 will fall ill. For those with active TB, the symptoms may be mild for many months, leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment, while spreading the disease to others. Most people with TB can be cured by taking a six-month course of drugs. If treatment is incomplete, TB can come back, often, in a more resistant form. People with TB also suffer discrimination and stigma, rejection and social isolation. While there has been major progress in fighting TB, more needs to be done. About 3 million people are "missed" each year by health systems and many therefore do not get the TB care that they need and deserve. Many of the missed will die, some will get better, others will continue to infect others.

Background and Process ● 50–55% of adults living with HIV globally are women. ● The World Health Organization (WHO) 2006 guidelines "Sexual and reproductive health of women living with HIV/AIDS" need to be updated. ● This values and preferences survey was created to inform the Guideline update process. ● The survey was led, informed and run by women living with HIV, including: two of the coordinating team; all 14 of the Global Reference Group;1 and six of the leaders of the focus group discussions.

The Health Master Plan 2016-2025 provides strategic direction and guidance to all partners in health and collaborative sectors to further develop policies, plans, and programs to improve the health of the population. A review of the Health Master Plan 2006-2015 was carried out in 2014 and the new Health Master Plan 2016-2025 was formulated. Emphasis was made on the lessons learned from the implementation of the preceding plan and focus was given to new priorities while sustaining the achievements of the previous plan. This process was a collaborative and a consultative effort by national stakeholders. Consecutive meetings and discussions were carried out with stakeholders including public and private sectors as well as participation from political parties, Non-Governmental states, independent commissions and authorities, international development agencies and public in general.

This annual report of the Department of Health reviews the health of our community, introduces the Department’s health services, highlights our work in that year and outlines our future work. In 2013, emerging communicable diseases continued to be one of the threats to the health of our community. The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome remained active in the Middle East while over a hundred cases of human infection of avian influenza A (H7N9) were also recorded in the Mainland with sporadic imported cases reported locally. In response to these challenges, the Department implemented various measures to guard against the threats of these diseases. With the conjoint efforts of the Department and the community at large, Hong Kong was free from local outbreak of these emerging communicable diseases. Reducing the impact of non-communicable diseases is also an important area of work of the Department. Tobacco control and reduction of alcohol-related harm have been public health priorities in Hong Kong.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) 2014–2018 for Myanmar provides a coherent medium-term vision of WHO’s technical cooperation, and defines its strategic framework for working in and with the country. It aligns closely with the priorities of the National Health Policy, Strategies and Plans and is harmonized with efforts of the United Nations (UN) system for country development. The present CCS is built on the experience and achievements of the previous CCS 2008–2011 and takes into consideration the emerging country situation. It also follows the guidance of Twelfth General Programme of Work (GPW), which provides a six-year (2014–2019) vision for the Organization. GPWs set a global health agenda for all stakeholders and establish a strategic, results-based and accountable framework for WHO. The Twelfth GPW comprises five, as opposed to a previous 13, programmatic categories and one administrative category.

Reproductive health is fundamental to individuals, families and the social and economic development of communities and the nation. The goal of this strategy is to develop the health sector to improve the health of the people of Maldives, especially women and children. This document provides a template to develop specific plans and to make funding decisions. It also emphasizes that ensuring the health of women and children involves a cross-sectoral approach whereby Ministry of Health must work with sectors outside of Reproductive health. All interventions for Reproductive health should be made available with the highest standard of quality and safety, and services should be delivered according to evidence-based best practices. Addressing needs and community views, particularly those of women, on the quality of service provision is key to ensuring improved quality and increased access and utilization at all levels. Involvement of communities can improve acceptance to health services.

There are nearly 70 million child brides in the world today, and more than 15 million girls marry each year. Around the world, there are a number of programs and many organizations that are working to prevent child marriage and provide support to married girls. Through the assessment of four promising programmes run by CARE (Ethiopia), BRAC (Bangladesh), Save the Children (Egypt) and Pathfinder International (India), the paper highlights the critical role that girl-centred programming plays in catalysing a process of empowerment that enables her to make important decisions that affect the rest of her life – including when and whom to marry. Successful programmes were found to catalyse empowerment by allowing girls to undergo an internal transformation by building their self-awareness of rights, increasing their self-efficacy and enhancing their life aspirations. Increasing opportunities and alternatives to child marriage aids this self-transformation.

The Ministry of Health developed the National Strategic Plan for Reproductive Health in Myanmar (2014-2018) to ensure an effective and coordinated response to reproductive health needs in the country. This strategic plan and upcoming operational plans provide the framework from which to advocate reproductive health priorities, engage in annual planning, and mobilise the resources necessary for effective action. The strategic Plan on Reproductive Health builds on a initiatives undertaken to serve the health needs of the population of Myanmar. Included among these are the National Population Policy (1992), the National Health Policy (1993), which was followed by formulation of the Myanmar Reproductive Health Policy (2002). The National Comprehensive Development Plan - Health Sector (2010-2011 to 2030-2031) and the National Health Plan (2011-2016) are the overarching frameworks for the Strategic Plan on Reproductive Health (RH). 

An increase in poverty is a palpable phenomenon throughout Pakistan especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. This perception seems to be supported by the World Development Indicators (WDIs) 2013 report which states that “Sixty percent of Pakistan's population is living below the poverty line” according to the US two dollar per day poverty measure. The poverty in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) may be attributed to a decade of militancy, insurgency and terror-related activities, compounded by natural disasters such as floods. This mapping study presents the findings from an extensive review of the literature on social protection literature produced during the last seven years. It is also informed by a survey conducted in all the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between April and to June 2013. The study was commissioned by the ILO Pakistan.

The Maternal Health Thematic Fund is UNFPA’s flagship programme for accelerating improved maternal and newborn health and the only one of its kind in the UN system that focuses on a key area of reproductive health while intensively contributing to strengthening health systems. The MHTF enables a targeted response to maternal mortality and morbidity across several dimensions, using sound evidence and state of the art knowledge while contributing to build the capacity of countries to create a functioning health system. This annual report highlights the Fund's critical contributions in 2014: from the training of 16,000 midwives, to supporting 10,000 surgical fistula repairs, to the finalization of national surveys on emergency obstetric and neonatal care, to South-South collaboration to improve maternal death surveillance and response, to the piloting of activities for first-time young mothers, a new focus area for the Fund.