Urbanization, land use, global trade and industrialization have led to profound and negative impacts on nature, biodiversity and ecosystems across the world. The ongoing depletion of natural resources not only afects environmental conditions but also has an enormous impact on the well-being and secu...rity of societies.
This report provides an overview of the impacts of the natural environment on human health. It presents the ways nature and ecosystems can support and protect health and well-being, and describes how nature degradation and loss of biodiversity can threaten human health.
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Special issue: WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health -Vol. 5, Issue 1, April 2016.This special This issue contains a rich collection of articles, demonstrating the encouraging scientific momentum to address the growing burden of diabetes in t...he region
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The socioeconomic factors and public health inadequacies that facilitated the rapid spread of this infection continue to exist. As it is a new and emerging disease it has not received sufficient coverage yet in the medical curricula of Member States. Specific treatment is not available, and there is... no vaccine for the prevention of chikungunya fever. It has therefore become imperative to develop guidelines, based on the limited clinical experience gathered from managing patients so far, for appropriate management of patients in communities and in health facilities. Experts engaged in managing patients with chikungunya fever in the Region were brought together by the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia to outline guidelines for managing various situations and stages of the disease.
The socioeconomic factors and public health inadequacies that facilitated the rapid spread of this infection continue to exist. As it is a new and emerging disease it has not received sufficient coverage yet in the medical curricula of Member States. Specific treatment is not available, and there is no vaccine for the prevention of chikungunya fever. It has therefore become imperative to develop guidelines, based on the limited clinical experience gathered from managing patients so far, for appropriate management of patients in communities and in health facilities. Experts engaged in managing patients with chikungunya fever in the Region were brought together by the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia to outline guidelines for managing various situations and stages of the disease. This publication is the end result of that exercise and is intended to assist health-care providers in planning and implementing appropriate care to patients with chikungunya fever according to their actual clinical conditions
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Review of International, Regional and National Policies and Legal Frameworks that Promote Migrants and Mobile Populations' Access to Health and Malaria Services in the Greater Mekong Subregion (Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Th...ailand and Viet Nam)
Migrants and mobile populations face many obstacles in accessing equitable essential health care services due to factors such as living and working conditions, education level, gender, irregular migration status, language and cultural barriers, anti-migrant sentiments, and lack of migrant-inclusive health policies among others. Despite significant progress having been made in the context of malaria control in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), human movements can impact malaria transmission patterns and potentially introduce drug-resistant parasites. This legal framework review therefore serves as a guidance document on approaches to address malaria and malaria elimination for migrant and mobile populations (MMPs) in five countries of the GMS.
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Cum să faci ceea ce contează în perioade stresante este un ghid al OMS de gestionare a stresului, pentru a face faţă mai ușor greutăţilor. Acest ghid ilustrat vine în sprijinul implementării recomandărilor OMS pentru gestionarea stresului.
What are the common health problems of refugees and migrants arriving in the European Region?
This publication articulates the WHO Botswana Country Office’s focus and investment needs for the biennium 2022–2023, building on achievements,... networks, and partnerships fostered in 2020-2021.
As the leading health authority within the United Nations system in Botswana, the WHO Country Office has been at the forefront of supporting the government to improve health since 1996. The WHO Country Office supports the Ministry of Health in realizing the health goals the Government of Botswana defines. Acknowledging that as an upper middle-income country, Botswana provides the bulk of its resources for implementing health programmes, the WHO directly brings technical expertise to the table by collaborating with relevant partners. Where the country office has limitations in terms of human resources with the requisite expertise to answer the country’s needs, the regional level and headquarters of the WHO will be mobilized to provide the necessary support.
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[Preface]. For more than forty years Primary Health Care (PHC) has been recognized as the cornerstone of an effective and responsive health system. The Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978 reaffirmed the right to the highest attainable level of health, with... equity, solidarity and the right to health as its core values. It stressed the need for comprehensive health services, not only curative but services that addressed needs in terms of health promotion, prevention, rehabilitation and treatment of common conditions. A strong resolutive first level of care is the basis for health system development [...] The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) has supported the countries in the establishment of interprofessional PHC teams, in the transformation of health education and in building capacity in the strategic planning, and management of human resources for health. Nursing can play a critical role in advancing PHC. New profiles such as the advanced practice nurses, as discussed in this document, can be fundamental in this effort, and in particular, in health promotion, disease prevention and care, especially in rural and underserved areas.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified mental health as an integral component of the COVID-19 response. Its rapid assessment of service delivery for mental, neurological and substance us...e (MNS) disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, on which this report is based, is the first attempt to measure the impact of the pandemic on such services at a global level. The data were collected through a web-based survey completed by mental health focal points at ministries of health between June and August 2020. The questionnaire covered the existence and funding of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) plans, the presence and composition of MHPSS coordination platforms, the degree of continuation and causes of disruption of different MNS services, the approaches used to overcome these disruptions, and surveillance mechanisms and research on MNS data.
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The "Questions and Answers on Prevention and control of Alcohol related harm" has been developed by WHO country office in Viet Nam with technical contribution from national and international experts... in the field. This publication provides scientific evidences on harms of alcohol use to the health of users as well as to others and society at large. It provides WHO recommendations for the most effective prevention measures in Viet Nam and will also help answer questions that policy makers may have on how to develop effective policies for prevention and control of alcohol related harms.
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During the first two years of the project (2019–2020), through a ‘One Health’ approach, comprehensive engagement was established with AMR coordinating committees, WHO regional and country offi...ces and SORT IT partners in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Thirty-seven research studies were launched to inform AMR action plans in target country studies – local research, for local solutions, with local ownership.
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WHO/Europe has launched a new guide, providing support to countries on how to apply behavioural and cultural insights (BCI) for health. It presents... a simple step-wise approach, complemented by a rich collection of detailed considerations, tools and exercises. The guide is the first of its kind, specifically developed for use by public health professionals developing policies, services and communications informed by BCI across health topics.
Some of the most persistent public health challenges involve human behaviour. Using a BCI lens means that health policies, services and communications can be tailored to the needs and circumstances of people and communities, and thereby help combat these challenges. The new Tailoring Health Programmes (THP) guide describes how this can be done.
Building on several topic-specific guides that focused on applying BCI to routine and influenza vaccination and tackling antimicrobial resistance, as well as external evaluations and a rigorous peer-review process, this guide is the result of over a decade of work by WHO/Europe. The THP approach has already been adopted in over 20 countries and has received positive feedback from public health agencies.
“This guide is the culmination of a decade of work involving many colleagues at country, regional and global levels. The guide is our “BCI bible”, guiding our work with and in countries to help tackle persistent health challenges,” said Katrine Bach Habersaat, Regional Advisor for BCI at WHO/Europe.
Karina Godoy, Senior Analyst and National Focal Point for Behavioural Insights at the Public Health Agency of Sweden, who is employing the approach described in the guide across several health projects, comments: “The THP guide is easy to use and at the same time provides detailed guidance and inspiration where needed. We have decided to translate the document into Swedish and use the approach widely”.
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This technical guidance outlines current evidence, knowledge and best practice relating to incidences of violence and injuries among refugees and migrants in the WHO European Region. It highlights k...ey principles, summarizes priority actions and challenges, maps existing international commitments and frameworks and provides practical policy considerations for preventing and responding to such challenges. Specific areas for intervention include ensuring safe passage for migration; addressing causes of violence and injuries in transit and destination countries, including changing norms and values; identifying victims and providing care and protection; investigating and prosecuting perpetrators; and strengthening the knowledge base. While the main intended audience of this technical guidance series are policy-makers across sectors at local, national and regional levels, the contents of this publication will also be of value for health-care practitioners and law enforcement and border protection officials.
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