Heatwaves, or heat and hot weather that can last for several days, can have a significant impact on society, including a rise in heat-related deaths. Heatwaves are among the most dangerous of natural hazards, but rarely receive adequate attention because their death tolls and destruction are not always immediately obvious. From 1998-2017, more than 166 000 people died due to heatwaves, including more than 70 000 who died during the 2003 heatwave in Europe. 

Symptoms of Hendra virus infection in humans range from mild influenza-like illness to fatal respiratory or neurological disease

There is no specific treatment for human cases of Hendra virus. Intensive supportive care is provided, and the use of monoclonal antibodies is being investigated.

A registered Hendra animal vaccine exists and vaccination is recognised as an effective way to reduce the risk of horses becoming infected and to reduce the likelihood of human exposure

Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health.” Health Promotion Glossary, 1998

 A brief history of Health Promotion

A health promoting school is one that constantly strengthens its capacity as a healthy setting for living, learning and working.

A health promoting school:

WHO's Global School Health Initiative, launched in 1995, seeks to mobilize and strengthen health promotion and education activities at the local, national, regional and global levels. The Initiative is designed to improve the health of students, school personnel, families and other members of the community through schools.

On the different types of taxes, excise taxes are the most important for promoting health because they change the cost of the taxed product relative to other goods.

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)

 Fiscal policies that lead to at least a 20% increase in the retail price of sugary drinks would result in significant  reductions in consumption of such products.

Alcohol

Health promoting schools focus on:

The Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030 is the key guiding document with principles and objectives presented below:
 

Guiding principles

Hendra virus (HeV) infection is a rare emerging zoonosis (disease that can be transmitted to humans from animals) that causes severe and often fatal disease in both infected horses and humans. The natural host of the virus has been identified as being fruit bats of the Pteropodidae Family, Pteropus genus.

WHO works with Member States and partners to support the implementation of the health accounts system towards the goal of countries attaining universal health coverage. Through the Health Accounts Country Platform, WHO provides countries with the accounting framework System of Health Accounts (SHA) 2011, tools and technical support to institutionalize and set up a harmonized, integrated platform for annual and timely collection of health expenditure data.

Health accounts are a way for countries to monitor health spending across multiple streams, regardless of the entity or institution that financed and managed that spending. They allow health administrators to learn from past expenditure and improve planning and allocation of resources throughout the system, thereby increasing efficiency and accountability. The system generates consistent and comprehensive data on health spending in a country, which in turn can contribute to evidence-based policy making.

Raising domestic public funds is essential for universal health coverage (UHC). No country has made significant progress toward UHC without increasing reliance on public revenues. Therefore, domestic tax systems that are essential to support country’s fiscal space expansion are central to the UHC agenda. 

Economic sectors such as transport, agriculture and housing have profound impacts on health. For instance, transport is a major factor in traffic injuries, air pollution and noise, and healthy transport policies can help reduce these risks, as well as promoting walking and cycling. In agriculture, fertilizers and pesticides may boost crop yields, but wise use is important to protect farm workers and consumers from excessive chemical exposure.

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a practical approach used to judge the potential health effects of a policy, programme or project on a population, particularly on vulnerable or disadvantaged groups. Recommendations are produced for decision-makers and stakeholders, with the aim of maximising the proposal's positive health effects and minimising its negative health effects. The approach can be applied in diverse economic sectors and uses quantitative, qualitative and participatory techniques.