Context Namibia faces a number of public health challenges that threaten the health security of the country. Public health systems need to be able to respond to various, often simultaneously occurring health threats and emergencies. To function well, a single focal point that coordinates the public health activities of…
Context Vaccinations constitute a powerful public health measure for preventing millions of deaths every year. Effective immunisation programmes are crucial for resilient and sustainable health-care systems and global health security. National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) provide sustainable, evidence-based, country-specific recommendations to ministries of health to support them in their…
Context Madagascar is facing significant institutional and structural challenges in its public health system, due to limited resources and capacities, contributing to the burden of disease in the country. With the numerous epidemics and pandemics caused by polio, plague and, in recent times, COVID-19, the current infrastructure and workforce are…
Context Pathogens with outbreak potential, including zoonotic types, pose severe hazards to public health. This threat gets aggravated when, simultaneously, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs, decreasing options or making it even impossible to treat. For both occurrences, laboratory surveillance is key – either regarding the investigation of pathogens with epidemic potential…
Context The strengthening of national public health institutions (NPHIs) is an essential component of global health protection. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and Robert Koch Institute (RKI) have been working together on issues related to global health security for more than a decade. In 2019, a…
Context In recent years, there have been efforts to upscale HIV treatment and prevention in the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including conducting studies among men who have sex with men (MSM). One commonly used method to recruit participants for these studies has been respondent-driven sampling. However, this…
Context Numerous international infectious disease outbreaks in recent decades have demonstrated that emerging infectious diseases are a major threat to public health. In Sri Lanka, a tropical island characterised by its rich biodiversity and abundance of wildlife, there is a particularly high risk of viral spillover events. However, the country’s…
Context The treatment of tuberculosis (TB) is complex and often requires patients to follow long and extensive treatment protocols. This is especially true of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), which is one of the most urgent problems facing TB control in Eastern Europe. As any interruption of treatment can jeopardise effective (DR-)…
Context Despite important progress in therapy and prevention, HIV and viral hepatitis are still a major health threat in the WHO European Region. In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released action plans with specific targets to eliminate and control these diseases, which are being translated…