This report presents an overview of the transition process in Azerbaijan, some sustainability aspects and challenges stemming from donor withdrawal from TB-related activities, along with recommendations on how to overcome transition-related difficu
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lties and ensure sustainability.
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Self-care interventions are among the most promising and exciting new approaches to improve health and well-being, both from a health systems perspective and for people who use these interventions. The
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World Health Organization (WHO) uses the following working definition of self-care: Self-care is the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health- care provider
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This country cooperation strategy (CCS) outlines how the World Health Organization (WHO) will work with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic over the
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next five years (2024–2028), supporting the implementation of the five-year health sector development plans and the Health Sector Reform Strategy 2021–2030 to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic experienced substantial economic growth in the 30 years prior to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, contributing to reduced poverty and significant progress toward the SDGs. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought this development to a halt. It was anticipated that the COVID-19 recovery and the tremendous population growth in recent years would provide opportunities for a shift toward more sustainable and inclusive development in the years ahead. In 2023, however, the contrary was the case. Rural residents, including many ethnic minorities, continued to face marginalization because of limited access to education, health care and economic opportunities.
Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks, the country has made significant improvements in health. Nonetheless, progress has been uneven and not everyone has benefited from these achievements. In the mountainous region, many people lack access to quality health care because of the unequal distribution of well-trained health-care workers. Preventable deaths due to poor-quality health care for children and newborns, infants and mothers remain a concern, as do communicable diseases such as sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis. The increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases and the health impact of worsening climate change further heighten the need for strengthened and resilient health systems, which are at risk due to an underfunded health sector and weak economy.
This CCS aims to address remaining and future challenges as well as health needs while creating an impact that is sustainable. It identifies three strategic priorities and nine deliverables (Table 1) to support the attainment of the national vision of Health for all by all, as articulated in the 9th Health Sector Development Plan 2021–2025. It contributes to the country’s goals to achieve universal health coverage, graduate from least developed country status by 2026 and attain SDGs by 2030.
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Program Implementation Manual (PIM)
The Save One Million Lives Program for Results (SOML PforR) is a Federal Government of Nigeria maternal and child health program, supported by the World Bank
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, which provides incentives based on achievement of results (health outcomes) and helps to drive institutional processes needed to achieve these results.
This Program Implementation Manual provides a description of the program and operational guidelines for effective implementation. The Manual contains guidelines and procedures relating to disbursements and fund flows, institutional arrangements, financial management as well as monitoring and evaluation, while providing clear definition of the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders.
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As the Americas undergo profound demographic change and there are more persons aged 65 years or older than children younger than 5 years, it is crucial to recognize that national immunization programs must be redesigned to ensure comprehensive prote
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ction for individuals across the lifespan. By adopting a life course approach (LCA) to immunization, vaccination programs can be tailored to close immunity gaps at different stages of life. The life course approach foresees the establishment of multiple strategies to reduce missed opportunities for vaccination according to age group. This technical document explains the key concepts of the LCA with a focus on immunization by vaccination, as well as the underlying biological mechanisms that require the application different vaccines at different life stages according to changes to the immune system and in the epidemiological situation of a community.
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Namibia is no exception to the growingglobal concern on the increasing burden of NCDs. Namibia is an upper middle income country with fast economic growth since independence in 1990.
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The country is bearing the double burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases and rapid urbanization. There is also high income inequality among the population.
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This document is produced by the Humanitarian Country Team and the United Nations Resident
Coordinator’s Office in Mozambique, with the support
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of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The projects reflected here support the national government. It covers the
period from November 2018 to June 2019. The Plan has been revised in March 2019 to incorporate the
immediate response to needs arising from the impact of Cyclone Idai.
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Guidelines for Good Clinical Laboratory Practices (GCLP) outlines the principles and procedures to be followed by medical laboratories involved in clinical research and/or patient care so as to provide quality data which can be used for health resea
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rch and patient treatment. As the use of laboratory tests (often expensive) are increasingly becoming a part of medical diagnosis and research, generation of quality data would be a cost-effective and ethically sound strategy.
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Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak
Mpox continues to affect people around the world. A new framework released today by WHO will guide health authorities, communities and other stakeholders in preventing and controlling mpox outbreaks, eliminating human-to-human transmission of
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the disease, and reducing spillover of the virus from animals to humans.
Mpox is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV). It can cause a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever. Most people fully recover, but some get very sick. The virus transmits from person to person through close, including sexual, contact. It also has animal reservoirs in east, central and west Africa, where spillovers from animals to humans can occasionally occur, sparking further outbreaks.
There are two different clades of the virus: clade I and clade II. Clade I outbreaks are deadlier than clade II outbreaks.
A major emergence of mpox linked to clade II began in 2017, and since 2022, has spread to all regions of the world. Between July 2022 and May 2023, the outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. While that outbreak has largely subsided, cases and deaths continue to be reported today, illustrating that low-level transmission continues around the world.
Currently, there is also a major outbreak of clade I virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where cases have been on the rise for decades. Since the beginning of the year, over 6500 cases and 345 deaths have been reported in the DRC. Almost half of these are among children under the age of 15 years.
The Strategic framework for enhancing prevention and control of mpox (2024–2027) provides a roadmap for health authorities, communities, and stakeholders worldwide to control mpox outbreaks in every context, advance mpox research and access to countermeasures, and to minimize zoonotic transmission.
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This Clinic Supervisor’s Manual is helpful for focusing managers on the key elements of integrated primary health care as they simultaneously integrate new interventions for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. This tool contains 12 sections. Sect
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ion 1 explains how to use the manual. Section 2 helps the clinic supervisors organize their supervisory visit. The remainder of the sections focus on a number of key areas during a clinic supervision visit.
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This Eye health strategic plan presents the Ministry of Health’s five
year proposed strategies for eye care in Kenya. It sets the strategic
direction for
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the National Eye Health Care System and presents
information on the priorities, objectives and indicators that the
Ministry has adopted especially with regard to the main eye diseases
and conditions in the country and health system strengthening.
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UNHCR’s Public Health Strategy 2021-2025 is based on the lessons learnt, and builds on the achievements, of the Global Strategy for Public Health
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2014-2018.
Progress was made on policies favouring inclusion and integration into national systems3 with 92% of 48 operations surveyed reporting refugees having access to national primary health care facilities under the same conditions as nationals and 96% reporting refugees having access to all relevant vaccines under the same conditions as nationals. While many refugee hosting countries have policies that allow refugees to access national health services, many face partial access, prohibitive out-of-pocket expenditures and other barriers including distance to facilities, language and provider acceptance. Furthermore, more work is needed on strengthening these systems to be able to meet the needs of both host communities and refugees.
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This Guideline, the first for the country, draws from national health sector reforms and integration agenda as outlined in the key national strateg
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ic documents. The Guide applies lessons learnt from the SRH/HIV Linkages project and its scale-up; other national experiences and from regional and global evidence and guidance on high-impact interventions that promote sustainable, equitable and effective delivery of health services to achieve Universal Health coverage.
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Member States have requested WHO policy guidance on how to facilitate the implementation of national AMS activities in an integrated and programmatic approach. This policy guidance responds to that demand from Member States and is anchored in public
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health guiding principles in the human health sector. It aims to provide a set of evidence-based and pragmatic recommendations to drive comprehensive and integrated AMS activities under the purview of a central national coordination unit, National AMR steering or coordinating committees or other equivalent national authorities.
Available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese
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A guide to increasing coverage and equity in all communities in the African Region
Expanded Programs on Immunization (EPI) is responsible for vaccines and vaccination to control, eliminate and eradicate vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs). Havi
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ng strong immunization systems to deliver vaccines to those who need them most will play a significant role in achieving the health, equity and economic objectives of several global development goals.
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This guidance is intended to be one stop shop to improve the quality and effectiveness of health interventions in emergency, to respond to the most frequent scenarios and conditions.
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The main document contains the most common elements to be found in emergencies. As much as possible they are one page tables on one topic each with the key elements that ensure quality in column 2 of the table. Column 1 is about key information. Column 3 contains suggested indicators and column 4 helps decision making. This is a document to consult as needed, not really to read from front to last page
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Addressing comorbidities and risk factors for TB is a crucial component of Pillar one of the End TB Strategy, which focuses on integrated patient-centred care and prevention, including action on TB and comorbidities.
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The Framework for collaborative action on TB and comorbidities aims to support countries in the evidence-informed introduction and scale-up of holistic people-centred services for TB, comorbidities and health-related risk factors, with the goal of comprehensively addressing TB and other co-existing health conditions. It should be used in conjunction with relevant WHO guidelines. The Framework is intended for use by people working in ministries of health, other relevant line-ministries, policymakers, international technical and funding organizations, researchers, nongovernmental and civil society organizations, as well as primary care workers, specialist health practitioners, and community health workers who support the response to TB and comorbidities in both the public and private sectors.
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This publication by UNAIDS, UNDP and the International Organisation for Migration examines various dimensions related to migration and HIV and AIDS.
2nd edition. The 2018 Roadmap incorporates an additional critical population: adolescents. Despite making up 1 in 6 of the world’s people, adolescents have been largely overlooked as global moment
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um to address TB has grown. Spanning the ages of 10–19 years, adolescents are both at risk of TB and represent an important population for TB control. They often present with infectious TB and frequently have multiple contacts in congregate settings, such as schools and other educational institutions. Nevertheless, few countries capture TB data in suitably age-disaggregated ways to allow full understanding of its impact in this group and even fewer provide the adolescent-friendly services our young people need to access diagnosis and care.
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