During and after emergencies, people are more likely to suffer from a range of mental health problems. Good news: in spite of their tragic nature, many countries have capitalized on emergency situations to build better mental health systems.

Photo gallery with country examples:
http://www.who.int/features/mental_health/sustaining_mental_health/en/index.html

Photo: WHO/PAHO/Victor Ariscain

You love taking photos and are 14-19 years old? Amateur or professional, enter this ‪#‎photo‬ competition. We want to see health and illness through your eyes! Winners will get a bursary & more.
All you need to know: http://goo.gl/B8OHb0

Photo: UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran

Providing universal - accessible and affordable - health care?
These 6 countries show it's feasible.
What about your country?
#health   #healthcare   #universalhealthcoverage   #UHC   #WHR2013  

Traumatic events and loss are common in people’s lives: witnessing violence, experiencing interpersonal violence, accidents, exposure to war or trauma to a loved one. 
WHO is now releasing new clinical protocols and guidelines to health-care workers to help improve treatment for the #mentalhealth  consequences of #trauma‬  and loss.
Read more: http://goo.gl/5dCgt7

Photo: WHO/PAHO/V. Ariscain

Yocelin breastfed her first child Elard until he was two and a half, and she is determined to breastfeed her new daughter for just as long, because she understands the benefits. “Elard doesn’t get sick, because I gave him only my breast milk. Now, with my second baby, I’ll breastfeed until she is two or three years old.”

Just over half of all babies born in Peru (55%) now begin breastfeeding within an hour of birth. Rates are lower among those born in health facilities, those that are delivered by health professionals, those born in urban areas, and those whose mothers have higher income and education.

“Although #Peru has been a leader in terms of regulations to promote #breastfeeding , we are seeing increases in donations of infant formula to mothers and in marketing and “gifts” to health facility staff and health services from formula makers,” said Fernando Leanes, WHO’s Representative in Peru. “These undermine the successes of the past few decades. WHO, UNICEF and a wide group of NGOs are now working together with the government to step up support for breastfeeding once more.”

Read more: http://www.who.int/features/2013/peru_breastfeeding/en/index.html

#WorldBreastfeedingWeek  

Photo: WHO/Inés Calderon

Decades of neglect and the 2011 conflict have left Libya’s mental health care system in tatters, with only 12 psychiatrists and services highly centralized at the two psychiatric hospitals in the country’s two largest cities, Tripoli and Benghazi. But a new mental health programme is set to transform Libya’s #mentalhealth care system.

Here's how: http://www.who.int/features/2013/mental_health_libya/en/index.html

Photo: National Center for Disease Control/Abd el Razak ben Halim

Research offers proof of the solutions that work best - a case study from Mexico

Before 2003, the right to health care in Mexico was restricted to people in paid employment. In 2003, the country initiated health reforms which aimed to provide health coverage to about 50 million people who used to pay for health services out of their pockets. The country introduced Seguro Popular, a people’s insurance, which assures access to comprehensive health care by law. Researchers wanted to know: did the programme indeed reach the poor?

- Seguro Popular helped poorer households to lower out-of-pocket expenses and catastrophic expenditures by 23%.
- Less than 10 years after the introduction of Seguro Popular, 52 million previously uninsured Mexicans enjoyed state-protected health care.

In 2012, Mexico celebrated the achievement of universal health coverage, meaning that quality health care is now delivered to all in ways that protect users from financial hardship. Insurance schemes like the Mexican one can potentially help achieve universal health coverage in other countries, too.

More case studies about research for universal health coverage can be found in the World Health Report 2013: http://www.who.int/whr/2013/report/en/index.html
The report is available in Chinese, English, French and Spanish.

Photo: WHO/Harold Ruiz

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) antibodies found in camels, yet most human cases do not have a history of direct contact with camels. It is premature to rule out the possibility that animals other than camels might serve as a reservoir or an intermediate host for #MERS  . More studies on MERS both in camels & other animals needed to understand how and from which animals humans get infected. 
Our updated FAQs on Middle East respiratory syndrome: http://goo.gl/BEXnpV #coronavirus  

Photo: WHO/H. Bower

Here are some of our #WorldBreastfeedingWeek infographics in six languages.
Want to see more? Go to each one and click the links for different languages! Help us spread the word!
#breastfeeding  

It’s #World‎Breastfeeding‬Week ! 
Our infographic on how to support #breastfeeding moms now available in six languages: Arabic, Chinese Mandarin, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
Help us share them with your friends and family!

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/meetings/2013/world_breastfeeding_week/en/index.html