COVID-19 has heavily emphasized how contact tracing is crucial for managing outbreaks, and as part of the strategy for adjusting, and eventually lifting, lockdowns
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and other stringent public health and social measures. As the pandemic develops further, it will be a core measure to manage further waves of infection. In early June 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an online global consultation on contact tracing in the context of COVID-19, looking at the lessons of the pandemic to date; known and emerging best practices; and the measures necessary for urgent implementation, scale-up, maintenance and enhancement of contact tracing activities.
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he global architecture for providing development assistance for health (DAH)
has become increasing complex in the last decade, with many new funding agencies entering the
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health sector.
This study presents a detailed picture of European Union (EU) and EU member state originating DAH
between 2006 and 2009; with a sp
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WHO, in partnership with the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has published
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global standards for prosthetics and orthotics. Its aim is to ensure that prosthetics and orthotics services are people-centred and responsive to every individual’s personal and environmental needs. The standards advocate for the integration of prosthetics and orthotics services into health services, under universal health coverage. Implementation of these standards will support countries to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and towards the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
The standards provide guidance on the development of national policies, plans and programmes for prosthetics and orthotics services of the highest standard. The standards are divided into two documents: the standards and an implementation manual. Both documents cover four areas of the health system:
policy (governance, financing and information);
products (prostheses and orthoses);
personnel (workforce);
and provision of services.
The Standards have been developed through consultation with experts from around the globe via a steering group, development group and external review group.
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This is the first global report on epilepsy summarizing the available evidence on the burden of epilepsy and the public health response required at
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global, regional and national levels.
The reports highlights major gaps in awareness, diagnosis, treatment, and health policies through a series of appalling numbers. With around 50 million people affected worldwide, epilepsy is one of the most common and serious brain disorders. Nearly 80% of people with epilepsy live in low-income and middle-income countries
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat that requires urgent
collaborative action within and among countries. As a result of the worldwide reports of the increasing rates of AMR to hospit
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al and community-acquired infections and in the agricultural sector, the Global Action Plan on AMR was adopted in 2015. T
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Vaccines are powerful weapons in the fight against pandemic viruses as shown by responses to both the 2009 H1N1 influenza and the COVID-19 pandemics. However, planning for accessing, allocating and
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deploying vaccines in a pandemic situation is a complex endeavour, beset with multiple challenges at all levels – local, regional and global. The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners have prepared this revised guidance document to assist countries update their national deployment and vaccination plans (NDVPs) by leveraging global learnings from past pandemic responses, including the recent COVID-19 vaccination effort. The development and testing of a NDVP would not only advance pandemic preparedness efforts but would also have benefits in terms of increasing national capabilities to manage other health emergencies which require emergency vaccination campaigns.
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This guidance document provides basic broad principles for a spokesperson
of any health authority on how to respond to vocal vaccine deniers.
The suggestions are based on psychological research on persuasion,
on research in public
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health, communication studies and on WHO risk
communication guidelines.
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The purpose of these guidelines is to help health workers to participate in the process of continuous surveillance of safety and efficacy of the pharmaceutical products which are used in clinical
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practice, thus help to achieve the ultimate goal to make safer and more effective treatment available to patients. This guideline addresses specifically the issues on what to report, why to report, when to report, where to report and how to report.
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This paper provides information to assist World Bank and GFDRR staff in affecting disability-inclusive DRM. It is based upon desk reviews of existing practice, as well as consultations with experts
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in the field of disability-inclusive DRM. The paper:
- Illustrates promising practices related to disability-inclusive DRM;
- Identifies key gaps in knowledge and practices;
- Identifies value-added areas for GFDRR and the World Bank, including specific actions they can take to advance the disability and social inclusion agenda in DRM;
It includess:
- Relevant guiding international policy frameworks;
- Disability inclusion in the priorities of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction;
- Illustrations of promising practices in disability-inclusive DRM;
- An annex of resources related to disability and DRM.
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Improvements in water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and wastewater management in all sectors are critical elements of preventing infections and red
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ucing the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as identified in the Global Action Plan to combat AMR. Yet, at present, WASH and wastewater management actors and improvement actions are under-represented in AMR multi-stakeholder platforms and national action plans (NAPs). This WHO/FAO/OIE technical brief on WASH and wastewater management to reduce the spread of AMR provides a summary of evidence and rationale for WASH and wastewater actions within AMR NAPs and sector specific policy to combat AMR. Evidence and actions are presented in the domains of; coordination and leadership, households and communities, health care facilities, animal and plant production, manufacturing of antimicrobials, and surveillance and research.
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Lancet Glob Health 2022 Published Online May 24, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00185-1
Many commercial actors use a range of coordinated and sophisticated strategies to protect busines
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s interests— their corporate playbook—but many of these strategies come at the expense of public health. To counter this corporate playbook and advance health and wellbeing, public health actors need to develop, refine, and modernise their own set of strategies, to create a public health playbook. In this Viewpoint, we seek to consolidate thinking around how public health can counter and proactively minimise powerful commercial influences.
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Mental health problem is one of the growing major public health issues in the Asia Pacific region. It contributes to the high number of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), morbidity
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and mortality in the region. It is expected that leading mental health problems will occur in the low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) and majority of the countries which comes under this category are in the Asia Pacific region. In addition, mental health problem hamper the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly MDG 1, MDG 4 and MDG 5. The most common mental health problems in the region are depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, suicidal behaviour and substance abuse disorder. Several modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors were identified for the cause of these major mental health issues. Interventions, programmes and policies need to be designed in order to curb mental health problems at all levels.
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This paper provides case studies of several food product improvement policies from across the WHO European Region. The aim is to share country experience, assess the various merits of the different approaches, discuss lessons learned, and provide gu
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idance for best practice that may be more widely applicable across the European Region.
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This report on progress achieved in the WHO European Region and Member States in implementing the European food and nutrition action plan 2015–2020 presents selected epidemiological data on the nu
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tritional status of populations throughout the Region and on implementation of policies recommended in regional and global frameworks to promote healthy nutrition and prevent obesity. The data contained in the report are derived from the responses of Member States to the WHO Global nutrition policy review questionnaire.
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ABSTRACT
More than 500 million people worldwide live with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Health systems today face fundamental challenges in delivering optimal care due to ageing populations, healthcare workforce constraints, financing, availability
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and affordability of CVD medicine, and service delivery.
Digital health technologies can help address these challenges. They may be a tool
to reach Sustainable Development Goal 3.4 and reduce premature mortality from
non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by a third by 2030. Yet, a range of fundamental barriers prevents implementation and access to such technologies. Health system governance, health provider, patient and technological factors can prevent or distort their implementation.
World Heart Federation (WHF) roadmaps aim to identify essential roadblocks on the pathway to effective prevention, detection, and treatment of CVD. Further, they aim to provide actionable solutions and implementation frameworks for local adaptation. This WHF Roadmap for digital health in cardiology identifies barriers to implementing digital health technologies for CVD and provides recommendations for overcoming them.
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The State of the world’s nursing 2020 report provides the latest, most up-to-date evidence on and policy options for the global nursing workforce.
Combination file of all the documents related to the national guidelines for accreditation, supervision and regulation of ART clinics in India. Documents included:
National Guidelines for Accreditation, Supervision & Regulation of ART Clinics in I
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ndia | Preliminary Pages | Corrigendum | Chapter 1 - Introduction, Brief history of ART and Requirement of ART Clinics | Chapter 2 - Screening of Patients for ART - Selection Criteria and Possible Complications | Chapter 3 - Code of Practice, Ethical Considerations and Legal Issues | Chapter 4 - Sample Consent Forms | Chapter 5 - Training | Chapter 6 - Future Research Prospects | Chapter 7 - Providing ART Services to the Economically Weaker Sections of the Society | Chapter 8 - Establishing a National Database for Human Infertility | Chapter 9 - Composition of the National Accreditation Committee | Bibliography
| Members of the Expert Group for Formulating the National Guidelines for Accredation, Supervision and Regulation of ART Clinics
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This analytical report reviews and discusses the potential role and influence of political commitment in implementing endorsements and conducting p
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olicy in the field of tuberculosis (TB) prevention and care. It promotes discussion by comparing and analysing the extent to which selected international commitments, set out in declarations and other committal documents between 2000 and 2018, may have translated into sustainable action. This reflection is relevant and timely, as the United Nations high-level meeting (UNHLM) on TB recently took place, offering countries the opportunity to take stock of progress made, refocus efforts, and step up global commitments to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of eliminating TB by 2030
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In recognition of the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), its increasing threat to human, animal and plant health, and the need for
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a One Health approach to address this issue, the 39th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) agreed it was important for the food safety community to play its part and re-established the ad hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TFAMR) ). The objectives of the Task Force were
to revise the current Codex Code of Practice to Minimise and Contain Antimicrobial Resistance and to develop new guidance on surveillance programmes relevant to foodborne AMR.
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The key to a lasting world free of all forms of poliovirus lies in rapidly interrupting all remaining endemic transmission of WPV in the endemic areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is the only way to ensure that such strains do not re-emerge glo
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bally through international spread. It lays the cornerstone for the eventual cessation of all oral polio vaccine use, in order to eliminate the long-term risks associated with variant poliovirus strains, which is the GPEI’s top operational priority. The target for certifying the
world free of all WPV remains end-2026.
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