This paper summarizes the evidence about the health effects of air pollution from particulate matter and their implications for policy-makers, with the...pan> aim of stimulating the development of more effective strategies to reduce
air pollution and its health effects in the countries of eastern Europe, the Caucasus and central Asia.
more
Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change pp 47–66
This chapter reviews the emerging importance of pollen allergies in relation to ongoing climate change. Allergic diseases have been ...increasing in prevalence over the last decades, partly as the result of the impact of climate change. Increased sensitisation rates and more severe symptoms have been the partial outcome of: increased pollen production of wind-pollinated plants resulting in long-term increased abundance of pollen in the air we breathe; earlier shifts of airborne pollen seasons making occurrence of allergic symptoms harder to predict and deal with efficiently; increased allergenicity of pollen causing more severe health effects in allergic individuals; introduction of new, invasive allergenic plant species causing new sensitisations; environment-environment interactions, such as plants and hosted microorganisms, i.e. fungi and bacteria, which comprise a complex and dynamic system, with additive, presently unforeseeable influences on human health; environment-human interactions, as the consequence of a combination of environmental factors, like air pollution, global warming, urbanisation and microclimatic variability, which create a multi-resolution spatiotemporal system that requires new processing technologies and huge data inflow in order to be thoroughly investigated. We suggest that novel, real-time, personalised pollen information services, like mobile-app risk alerts, must be developed to provide the optimum first line of allergy management.
more
This annual report highlights the work of the WHO from January to June 2021 ( December 2021). The activities featured herein are by no means exhaus...ted but implemented with technical and financial support through WHO in Nigeria; facilitated by its presence at all levels of governance (national, state, local government, and wards).
more
In der Europäischen Union (EU) leben über 500 Millionen Menschen. Die Sicherstellung der Gesundheits- versorgung für diese Menschen entspricht einem der wichtigsten sozialen Grund- und Menschenrechte. Auf
die Gewährleistung haben sich die Staat...en Europas in der Europäischen Sozialcharta des Europarats und die Mitgliedstaaten der EU in der Grundrechtecharta der EU verpflichtet.
more
Countries are making progress toward the global goal of 95% of people living with HIV knowing their status by 2025. However, considerable gaps remain in achieving these goals globally. Men in high HIV burden settings and men from key populations in ...all settings are consistently less likely to know their HIV status than women. Globally, 78% of men ages 15 years and older who are living with HIV are aware of their HIV status, compared with 86% of women with HIV of these ages.
Offering HIV testing services, including HIV self-testing, at formal and informal workplaces has emerged as an effective, acceptable and feasible approach for reaching men. A 2018 World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) policy brief provides key guiding principles for HIVST implementation at workplaces. Building on the 2018 policy brief, this brief captures early experience with HIVST implementation at workplaces and discusses emerging approaches of sustainable financing that can be adapted for HIV self-testing at workplaces.
The primary audiences for this policy brief are ministries of health and labour, national HIV programmes, employers’ organizations, workers’ organizations (labour unions), enterprises, implementing partners, including civil society organizations, and health insurance agencies.
more
Health facilities in the Region of the Americas frequently suffer the effects of health emergencies and disasters, which jeopardize their ability t...o provide services to the population. The STAR-H methodology helps staff responsible for health emergency and disaster risk management to identify and assess risks as part of strategic planning to improve facility preparedness. It is intended to help them develop, with a multi-hazard approach, a response framework with operating procedures to deal with hazards of any type, scale, or frequency; determine roles and responsibilities; facilitate the effective use of resources; undertake strategic planning exercises, and improve the preparedness of facilities to effectively respond to and recover from impacts. This methodology is designed for use in health facilities of any size and capacity, and makes it possible to generate historical reports and national or subnational risk profiles. This information can be used to develop an effective health emergency and disaster risk management program.
more
This document contains guidance for strengthening the disability inclusiveness of MHPSS responses and programmes in emergency settings. It is intended to supplement the IASC Guidelines on Mental Hea...lth and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (2007).
Overall Objective
To consider and address the mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) requirements of persons living in emergency settings with all types of disabilities on an equal basis to the MHPSS requirements of all persons, using a human rights-based approach and implementing social-ecological frameworks.
more
In this version of the compendium, each guidance is coded using the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI).
The compendium ...provides a systematic compilation of published guidance from WHO and other UN organizations on health and environment. Guidance on policies and actions as well as awareness raising and capacity building interventions is presented for all major areas of health and environment. Guidance referring to priority settings for action such as cities and other urban settlements, housing, workplaces and health care facilities is also listed. For greater practical relevance, each guidance is classified according to principally involved sectors, level of implementation and instruments for implementation.
The compilation of guidance for each area of health and environment or priority setting for action is accompanied, as available, by information on main sources, exposure assessment and existing guideline values. Important tools and further resources are presented alongside.
This compilation of published guidance on health and environment highlights that a large number of actions across main topics of health and environment, concerning various sectors, and applicable to various levels are available to improve health and reduce environmental risks. This compendium is intended to serve as a repository and easy-to-use and useful resource for decision and policy makers in health and environment at various levels.
more
Mpox is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the mpox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus closely related to the variola virus that causes... smallpox. Mpox was first discovered in 1958 when outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in monkeys kept for research. The first human case was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox and since then the infection has been reported in a number of African countries. Mpox can spread in humans through close contact, usually skin-to-skin contact, including sexual contact, with an infected person or animal, as well as with materials contaminated with the virus such as clothing, beddings and towels, and respiratory droplets in prolonged face to face contact. People remain infectious from the onset of symptoms until all the lesions have scabbed and healed. The virus may spread from infected animals through handling infected meat or through bites or scratches. Diagnosis is confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of material from a lesion for the virus’s DNA. Two separate clades of the mpox virus are currently circulating in Africa: Clade I, which includes subclades Ia and Ib, and Clade II, comprising subclades IIa and IIb. Clade Ia and Clade Ib have been associated with ongoing human-to-human transmission and are presently responsible for outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while Clade Ib is also contributing to outbreaks in Burundi and other countries.
In 2022‒2023 mpox caused a global outbreak in over 110 countries, most of which had no previous history of the disease, primarily driven by human-to-human transmission of clade II through sexual contact. In just over a year, over 90,000 cases and 150 deaths were reported to the WHO. For the second time since 2022, mpox has been declared a global health emergency as the virus spreads rapidly across the African continent. On 13 Aug 2024, Africa CDC declared the ongoing mpox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS), marking the first such declaration by the agency since its inception in 2017.7 This declaration empowered the Africa CDC to lead and coordinate responses to the mpox outbreak across affected African countries. On August 14, 2024, the WHO declared the resurgence of mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) emphasizing the need for coordinated international response.
As of August 2024, Mpox has expanded beyond its traditional endemic regions, with new cases reported in countries including Sweden, Thailand, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Sweden has confirmed its first case of Clade 1 variant, which has been rapidly spreading in Africa, particularly in DRC. The emergence of this new variant raises concerns about its potential for higher lethality and transmission rates outside Africa.
more
Yemen remains the site of one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. A staggering 23.4 million people — 73 per cent of the population — ...require some form of humanitarian assistance in 2022, the result of seven years of escalating conflict.
Millions have been uprooted from their homes, the economy has collapsed and nearly the entire health system has cratered, allowing preventable diseases, such as cholera and COVID-19, to spread unchecked.
more
Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death globally, particularly among children and young adults. The spread of new pathogens and the thre...at of antimicrobial resistance pose particular challenges in combating these diseases. Major Infectious Diseases identifies feasible, cost-effective packages of interventions and strategies across delivery platforms to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, adult febrile illness, viral hepatitis, and neglected tropical diseases. The volume emphasizes the need to effectively address emerging antimicrobial resistance, strengthen health systems, and increase access to care. The attainable goals are to reduce incidence, develop innovative approaches, and optimize existing tools in resource-constrained settings.
Large File: 136 MB!!!!! Please download from the website link!
more
Many critical questions remain about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in real-world settings. These questions can only be answered in post-introduction vaccine effectiveness studies.This guidance document outlines an approach to leverage exist...ing surveillance systems for Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) to estimate COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) in preventing SARI associated with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 using existing SARI surveillance systems. The approach uses the test-negative design to evaluate VE; cases are SARI patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and controls are SARI patients who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.
more
Guideline for the handling and the disposal of the remains of people who died of COVID-19
This report presents the key findings of the end-of-project assessment of households and
community health volunteers, conducted in 2017 in the Kam...ukunji and Embakasi sub-counties
of Nairobi, Kenya, for a Community Health Volunteers’ Decision Support System (CHV DSS)
intervention project. The report was prepared by the African Population and Health Research
Center (APHRC). The end-line survey was implemented by APHRC. Implementation of the CHV
DSS project is a joint collaboration among several partners, including APHRC, the City County
of Nairobi, sub-county health management teams (Kamukunji and Embakasi), and community
health volunteers. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the donor organization, the County Innovation Challenge Fund
for Kenya.
more
This thematic brief accompanies the Working for Health 2022–2030 Action Plan, serving as a background and rationale to the related actions of the... Working for Health progression model (see Annex). The brief aims to inform Member States, nonstate actors and other users of the Action Plan on the context of health and care workforce education and employment, including the relevant policy landscape, key challenges and future directions.
In doing so, it provides an expanded exploration of the themes beyond what is provided in the Action Plan itself and reflects the topical issues and considerations that shaped its design, including those issues identified in the Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly Resolution WHA74.14 to protect, safeguard and invest in the health and care workforce. The importance of these themes was again emphasized at the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly, when Resolution WHA75.17: Human resources for health was co-sponsored by over 100 Member States, calling for the adoption and implementation of the Working for Health 2022–2030 Action Plan and utilization of the related Global Health and Care Worker Compact.
more
This important issue of Forced Migration Review draws our attention to the current challenges facing displaced Syrians and the continuing search for solutions. ...dbox">The statistics of Syrian displacement are staggering – and the numbers continue to rise. Half of Syria’s population has been displaced: five and a half million are registered refugees and over six million are internally displaced.
more
arrow country studies
Political developments in Myanmar/Burma prompted the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) in 2013 to undertake a small-scale scoping study to re-evaluate and refine its advocacy strategies for sexual ...and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and to strengthen partnerships for advocacy with civil society organisations (CSO) working on SRHR in the country. The study aimed to identify the status of and the potential for SRHR advocacy by CSOs in Central Myanmar/Burma and in Eastern states along the Thai-Myanmar/Burma border, and increase the current knowledge base on SRHR issues, gaps, and challenges.
more
Outstanding child and adolescent TB priorities include the need to: find the missing children with active TB and link them to TB care; prevent TB in children who are in contact with infectious TB ca...ses (through implementation of active contact investigation and provision of preventive treatment); and advance integration within general child health services, including maternal and child health/ reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, HIV, nutrition and other programmes.
more
This Plan envisions a future with the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem as a result of universal access to sexual health and STI prevention services, HPV vaccines, effective screening and precancer treatment services, treatme...nt of invasive cervical cancer, and palliative care. It foresees that all women and girls, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, HIV status, or disability will have timely access to quality cervical cancer prevention, care, and treatment so that they can live in good health throughout the life course and enjoy the health-related human rights.
The goal is to accelerate progress toward the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem in the Americas by reducing incidence and mortality rates by one-third by 2030.
more
Giving Myanmar's displaced their land back
The Norwegian Refugee Council and Displacement Solutions have produced the report "Addressing Myanmar's Unsettled Restitution Gap" to advocate and help ...find ways for displaced people in Myanmar to be able to return home and recover their property and possessions.
more