good health news from across the world

January 8, 2023 Vera

^{In 2022, Vanuatu eliminated trachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. Above, a young student in Rangusuksuk, Pentecost Island. ©UNICEF/Bobby Shing}

This year, WHO worked with countries and other partners to fight outbreaks and eliminate diseases, while building toward the goal of health for all.

We have selected a few news items from countries as 2022 bright spots:

Milestones: Malawi and Vanuatu eliminate blinding eye infection

^{Trachoma infection mainly affects children in underserved, remote rural communities. Above: children in Malawi. ©WHO}

In 2022, Malawi became the first country in Southern Africa to eliminate trachoma, and Vanuatu became the first Pacific Island country to do so.

“This is a proud moment for Vanuatu,” said Minister of Health Bruno Leingkone. “This combined effort has already saved hundreds of people from lifelong blindness.”

Malawi’s success is the culmination of its multi-pronged Trachoma Action Plan, launched in 2014 and supported by donors, among them Sightsavers and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust.

The two countries join 13 others in the achievement: Cambodia, China, Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Gambia, Ghana, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Togo.

^{Trachoma is the second neglected tropical disease to be eliminated in the archipelago nation of 83 islands, after lymphatic filariasis in 2016. Above: students on Pentecost Island. ©UNICEF/Bobby Shing}

See more about Malawi and
Vanuatu

Related news: WHO Director-General congratulates Togo on becoming the first West African country to eliminate four neglected tropical diseases

Orinoco expedition brings vital health services deep into the Amazon

^{A PAHO team treks to isolated communities in Venezuela to provide health services. ©PAHO}

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) makes three boat excursions a year deep into Venezuela’s rainforest to bring vaccinations and other health services to 22 indigenous ethnic groups.

On its September trip, the PAHO team reached 126 communities and administered thousands of vaccinations for polio, measles/rubella and COVID-19.

“Most people don’t know that inside Venezuela there are communities that are eight days’ travel away (from health services),” said Vicente Baretta, who supported PAHO in the expedition. “Organizing a journey like this presents problems
that cannot be imagined from the outside, such as the need to buy new freezers for each trip, because fifteen days spent wobbling around in a boat usually renders them unfit for use again.”

Some successes in 2022 from WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region

^{A boy displaced by floods in Pakistan visits}

Tuesday, November 22, 2022 | Kaiser Health News

December 12, 2022 Vera

Health Systems, Patient Care Impacted By Rising Claim Denial Rates

Modern Healthcare draws attention to a “significant” rise in denied insurance claims over the past year, which has increased administrative work, reduced hospital cash flow, and delayed patient care. Separately, Axios reports on how medical inflation is affecting big employers.

Modern Healthcare:
Insurance Claim Denial Rates Rising As Health Systems Struggle

Health systems across the country have experienced a significant rise in denied claims over the past year, leading to more administrative work for providers, less cash flow for hospitals and, in some cases, postponed patient care. (Devereaux, 11/21)

Ashburn mom finds a healthy new lifestyle after joining a local gym | News

December 7, 2022 Vera

As a busy mother of three children with a husband who served in the military, like many mothers, Ingrid Herrera-Yee of Ashburn often finds that it is difficult to prioritize her own health and fitness needs.

Last year, Herrera-Yee, 54, said she had high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels and was on the obese side of the body mass indicator (BMI) chart.

Healthcare Boom – Central Florida Health News

November 29, 2022 Vera

AdventHealth to Open New Hospital in Winter Haven; Orlando Health to Expand Into Lakeland

by PAUL CATALA

Healthcare facilities are expanding at an astounding rate to match the population boom and increased need in Central Florida.

AdventHealth is expanding its footprint in Polk County with a new four-story hospital and emergency department off Cypress Gardens Boulevard in Winter Haven. In Lakeland, Orlando Health is expanding, planning a hospital and surrounding campus in the fast-growing South Lakeland area.

This planned construction is further evidence of the growth in Polk County, which expanded from 603,000 residents in 2010 to 753,500 by 2021.

AdventHealth, a Seventh-Day Adventist nonprofit healthcare system headquartered in Altamonte Springs, recently announced its plans for a new, four-story hospital in Winter Haven.

The 42 acres north of Cypress Gardens Boulevard, south of River Lake and west of Cypress Gardens Road will eventually become a medical campus for the 192-bed AdventHealth Winter Haven hospital with an emergency department and 160,000 square feet of medical offices and ancillary facilities.

The AdventHealth expansion plans were given final approval when the Winter Haven City Commission unanimously approved the development November 14.

“The southeast section of Winter Haven is growing in leaps and bounds, and this will make it a lot easier when time is sensitive for medical issues for the citizens to get medical care,” says Winter Haven City Commissioner J.P. Powell.

“It’s necessary. The other alternative was going to Lake Wales or Haines City, and with medical issues. time is of the essence. It will be a real asset.”

According to AdventHealth, the first phase of construction will include a freestanding emergency room that will open before the hospital is completed. Once open, hospital services will include primary care, cardiology, gastroenterology, orthopedic, and urological specialty medical services.

Tim Clark, president and CEO of the AdventHealth Polk Market, has worked at AdventHealth for 19 years in various positions. He started as president and CEO of the Polk Market on June 5. He says the new hospital will bring “whole-person care to residents close to home,” particularly in the southeast section of Winter Haven.

Once completed, the new hospital will be part of a network of AdventHealth centers already operational in areas such as Carrollwood (Tampa), Dade City, Lake Placid, Lake Wales, Sebring, and Wauchula. It will also be among five freestanding offsite AdventHealth emergency rooms, including those in Brandon, Palm Harbor and Tampa’s

Attacks on Health Care Bi-Monthly News Brief: 02 – 15 November 2022 – World

November 26, 2022 Vera

SHCC Attacks on Health Care

The section aligns with the definition of attacks on health care used by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC).

Africa

Burkina Faso

03 November 2022: In Bondokuy village, Mouhoun province, Boucle du Mouhoun region, an ambulance and a motorcycle were seized by suspected JNIM militants. Source: ACLED1

Cameroon

03 November 2022: In Batibo town and subdivision, Northwest region, unidentified perpetrators abducted nine health workers from a government-run hospital. Sources: FX Empire and Reuters

Democratic Republic of the Congo

22 October 2022: In Some village, Mambasa territory, Ituri province, suspected members of rebel group Allied Democratic Forces looted pharmacies during an attack. Source: Radio Moto

07 November 2022: In Djugu territory, Ituri province, the International Committee of the Red Cross restarted their activities in the area after having been suspended since 2001 following the killing of six Red Cross aid workers. Sources: Actualité and Radio Moto

09 November 2022: In Kabasha village, located on the road between Butembo and Beni cities,
North Kivu province, more than 200 heavily armed members of the rebel group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) entered the village and looted the hospital centre of Kabasha before setting it on fire.
A male doctor found at the hospital centre was also kidnapped, while hospital patients were threatened. The perpetrators burnt down fourteen local shops including pharmacies. Sources:
Actualité I, Actualité II, La Prunelle, Radio Moto I, Radio Moto II, and Radio Okapi

Attacks on Health Care in the DRC

At least 25 health workers have been kidnapped in the DRC between 01 January and 20 October 2022. Download the dataset with details on the reported perpetrator and weapons used on HDX. The dataset does not yet include incidents reported in this News Brief. Registered HDX user? Follow us for the latest dataset updates.

Kenya

01 November 2022: Near Mandera town and county, along the Kenya-Ethiopia-Somalia border, al Shabaab militants hijacked a government ambulance that was on its way to the Elwak Referral Hospital, and abducted four men – the driver, two paramedics of the Lafey Health Centre, and a 40-year-old patient – taking them towards Somalia. The medics and the patient were released the next day, while the driver was set free on 03 November. Sources: AA, Al Jazeera, All Africa, Garowe,
Nation, Reuters, The Standard, The Star and Voice of America

Niger

05 November 2022: Between Arlit and Tchibarakaten departments, Agadez

Using a Collective Tactic to Care for Kids With Complex Health problems | Overall health News

July 22, 2022 Vera

Children with sophisticated and serious health-related circumstances, such as diabetic issues, cerebral palsy, congenital coronary heart disorder, neurological problems and more, are, luckily, rare. They signify significantly less than 10% of the population lined by Medicaid. Nevertheless, their treatment accounts for about 40% of these types of paying out, in accordance to the Children’s Hospital Affiliation, and it necessitates an array of scientific specialists, as effectively as coordination across many wellbeing disciplines and outside the house the hospital’s walls.

“Having a multi-disciplinary group assists to just take off some of the load from the health-related service provider simply because there’s so much else that is heading on,” explained Dr. Hilary Frankel, a pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York, through a recent webinar hosted by U.S. News & World Report. “You need to have a whole team,” she mentioned, which also necessitates group-primarily based assistance that may well involve nurse practitioners, social personnel, faculty-centered support providers and far more.

Identifying the greatest treatment system normally commences with defining an individual’s medical problem, in particular if it is progressive, considering the fact that “complex condition” can have quite a few diverse definitions. “It helps make it a minimal bit far more difficult for cross-comparison and developing and transferring very best practices,” reported Dr. Katherine Freundlich, an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at Vanderbilt College School of Drugs who directs relatives, community and referring network engagement for the Plan for Little ones with Medically Sophisticated Wants at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Healthcare facility at Vanderbilt. How conditions are defined can influence how plans and infrastructure to deal with them are constructed, she explained.

It is vital to combine people and their people “into the design, implementation, facilitation and evaluation of systems that are serving them,” said Dr. S. Margaret Wright, a typical pediatrician at Children’s Mercy Kansas Town who provides most important care for kids with professional medical complexity. “We truly see dad and mom and caregivers quite explicitly as our companions.” Children’s Mercy has established up “invaluable” affected person and loved ones advisory councils, she said, and it routinely seeks feed-back from households.

Wherever probable, children’s hospitals and care providers are employing knowledge and inhabitants wellbeing applications to handle individuals with elaborate conditions more correctly. A person stark truth to caring for advanced cases is that so very little of treatment in

Milestones: Malawi and Vanuatu eliminate blinding eye infection

Orinoco expedition brings vital health services deep into the Amazon

Some successes in 2022 from WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region

AdventHealth to Open New Hospital in Winter Haven; Orlando Health to Expand Into Lakeland

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