Monitoring the safety of medicine use in children is of paramount importance since during the clinical development of medicines only limited data on this aspect are generated through clinical trials. ...Use of medicines outside the specifications described in the license (e.g. in terms of formulation indications contraindications or age) constitutes off-label and off-license use and these are a major area of concern. These guidelines are intended to improve awareness of medicine safety issues among everyone who has an interest in the safety of medicines in children and to provide guidance on effective systems for monitoring medicine safety in pediatric populations. This book will be of interest to all health care professionals medicine regulatory authorities pharmacovigilance centres academia the pharmaceutical industry and policy-makers. Systems for monitoring medicine safety are described in Annex 1. Pharmacovigilance methods and some examples of recent information on adverse reactions to marketed medicines are discussed in Annex 2.
Sets out the scientific rationale for the development of national nutrition and feeding recommendations for infants and young children in Europe. Although major emphasis is placed on recommended ...intakes for specific nutrients, the book also offers advice on a range of additional factors that contribute to good feeding practices and need to be addressed in national policies. Particular attention is given to conditions in countries of the former Soviet Union, where recommendations on infant nutrition and feeding practices are outdated and urgently require revision. Intended for use by policy-makers and nutrition experts in European countries, the book responds to a number of traditional dietary practices that have adverse effects on nutritional status, particularly in relation to iron deficiency anaemia. Recommendations and advice also take into account mounting evidence that optimum infant and young child feeding can reduce the risk of some of the most prevalent adult diseases, including cardiovascular disease, in European populations. The book has twelve chapters. The first outlines nutrition-related health problems in young children and reviews what is known about feeding practices, duration of exclusive breast-feeding, and introduction of complementary foods in countries of the former Soviet Union. Subsequent chapters set out recommended nutrient intakes for energy and macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals. To provide a standard for assessing the adequacy of diets, recommended nutrient intakes issued by the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and WHO are presented and compared. For each nutrient, recommended intakes are further explained through the inclusion of information on the nutrient's physiological function, food sources, requirements, and the health consequences of both insufficient and excessive intakes. A separate
chapter is devoted to recommendations for the control of iron deficiency, which remains an important health problem throughout Europe. Breast-feeding and alternatives are covered in the most extensive chapter, which reviews the latest data on the many nutritional and non-nutritional benefits of breast-feeding, and discusses the importance of maternal nutrition, practical aspects of breast-feeding, and situations where alternatives may be preferable or necessary. Chapter eight, on complementary feeding, answers a number of questions about the physiological need for complementary foods and the timing of their introduction, and lists some of the best foods to prepare for infants. Subsequent chapters underscore the importance of caring practices as fundamental determinants of good nutrition and feeding, and offer advice on the interpretation of measures of attained growth as a tool for assessing nutritional status. A brief chapter on dental health explains the need to limit the intake of sugar, provide daily tooth care, and ensure appropriate fluoride intake. The book concludes with a chapter on food safety, which includes advice on the prevention of diarrhoea and food- and water-borne diseases.
This pocket book is for use by doctors, senior nurses and other senior health workers who are responsible for the care of young children at the first referral level in developing countries. It ...presents up-to-date clinical guidelines which are based on a review of the available published evidence by subject experts, for both inpatient and outpatient care in small hospitals where basic laboratory facilities and essential drugs and inexpensive medicines are available. In some settings, these guidelines can be used in the larger health centres where a small number of sick children can be admitted for inpatient care.
Records the conclusions and recommendations of a study group commissioned to explore the use of home-based care as a strategy for coping with the growing number of individuals in need of long-term ...care. Addressed to policy-makers the report responds to striking demographic and epidemiological changes that have created an urgent need to expand the availability of cost-effective chronic care. These changes include the growing population of elderly persons and the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on social networks and health services. With these problems in mind the report aims to help policy-makers in both industrialized and developing countries understand the options available for providing long-term care in the home or family setting. Throughout the report examples from different countries and lists of key questions are used to help policy-makers think through problems and solutions and learn from the experiences of others. Issues discussed range from the importance of avoiding over-medicalization of long-term care through the need to recognize that caregivers also need support to the great danger that home care may be used to justify abdication of public or government responsibility. The report has six concise sections. The first explains the growing need for long-term care and introduces some of the factors that need to be considered when developing policies and programmes. The implications of home-based care for caregivers as well as for the chronically ill are also briefly discussed. Target groups and scope are considered in section two which lists some of the most common elements of home-based long-term care. The third and most extensive section sets out fundamental principles of long-term care services applicable to different health and social systems. Topics covered include responsibilities at the national district and community level the
importance of ensuring that caregivers who are most often women are not overwhelmed and the specific needs faced by countries at different stages of economic development. A section on financing identifies five basic approaches and offers advice on cost-containment and priority setting including a list of the most common measures used to limit costs. The remaining sections outline needs in terms of material and human resources. A summary of conclusions stresses the important finding that primary health care systems in developing countries can form the basis for sustainable cost-effective long-term care. Developing countries are further advised not to adopt the strategies that have evolved in industrialized countries which often segregate age groups and provide separate health and social services for acute and long-term care.
This report contains a progress report on the new procedures for updating the Model list of essential medicines and the development of the WHO Essential Medicines Library. It presents additions and ...changes to the Model List including recommendations. Annexes include the revised Model List of Essential Medicines and a list of all items on the Model List sorted according to their 5-level Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ACT) classification codes.
WHO and UNICEF jointly developed this global strategy to focus world attention on the impact that feeding practices have on the nutritional status, growth and development, health, and thus the very ...survival of infants and young children. The strategy is the result of a comprehensive two-year participatory process. It is based on the evidence of nutrition's significance in the early months and years of life, and of the crucial role that appropriate feeding practices play in achieving optimal health outcomes. The strategy is intended as a guide for action; it identifies interventions with a proven positive impact, it emphasizes providing mothers and families the support they need to carry out their crucial roles, and it explicitly defines the obligations and responsibilities in this regards of governments, international organizations and other concerned parties.
This newly revised publication provides new treatment recommendations for a comprehensive management of patients with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the broader context of control, ...prevention and care programmes for STIs and HIV. Covers both the syndromic approach to the management of patients with STI symptoms, and the treatment of specific STIs. Also provides information on the notification and management of sexual partners and on STIs in children.