Context Low-quality drugs pose a substantial threat to individual and public health. Issues include incorrect labelling, potentially toxic or wrong active ingredients and unacceptably high levels of impurities. Low-quality anti-infective medicines, in particular, pose a potentially global concern as they can lead to the development of antimicrobial resistance, making the…
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…
Context Health care facilities around the world are increasingly threatened by the spread of health care-associated infections and antibiotic resistance, which greatly endanger the safety of patients and place an additional burden on national health care systems. In Guinea in particular, the health system is challenged by numerous socio-economic…
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 The production of high-quality evidence is vital for public health protection, as it helps to identify public health threats on a timely basis and inform evidence-based policy-making. However, in order to generate such evidence countries require substantial health research capacities to analyse the burden of disease, identify 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 Madagascar is facing significant challenges in its health care system, due to the high prevalence of infectious diseases in the country, particularly neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Many of these diseases occur simultaneously and have chronic manifestations, imposing a huge burden on the population. It is therefore vitally important to…