The WHO operational handbook on tuberculosis: tuberculosis preventive treatment is the companion, implementation guide to the 2020 WHO guidelines on TB preventive treatment.[1] Just as these guidelines are the first to be released under the rubric of the WHO consolidated TB guidelines, this handbook... will be the first in a modular series of practical guides meant for the implementers of various aspects of the programmatic management TB.
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Creating a common approach ro regulation, educational preparation and practice: future direction for nursing & midwifery development in the African Region
his guidance provides interim guidance for the integration of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virologic and genomic surveillance, from sentinel site case enrolment and sampling to the eventual sharing of the virus sequence data, a process known as end-to-end surveillance. This guidance builds on experience...s and lessons learned as countries adapted their influenza surveillance systems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and reviews new evidence to provide guidance on end-to-end surveillance. The guidance includes new algorithms and strategies to adapt sentinel systems to make them resilient and agile for addressing global and national surveillance needs for influenza and COVID-19.covid-
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This guide is intended to promote a global health sector response to FGM for the provision of high-quality prevention and care services to women and girls at risk of FGM or living with the consequences of FGM. It also aims to support the systematic ...development of pre-service and in-service FGM content for midwifery and nursing education curricula which are relevant to context and need. This document could also be used for training materials of other cadres of health-care providers.
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Road safety is an issue that does not receive anywhere near the attention it deserves – and it really is one
of our great opportunities to save lives around the world
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is described as a situation when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites
change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder or impossible to treat,
and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.1 AMR in recent years has... become
a global priority in public health due to its widespread consequences and increasing occurrence from
time to time. AMR has a formidable impact where the existing antibiotics and other antimicrobial
medicines become ineffective, and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat.
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This collection of case studies on risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) from 18 different country/area level public health partners in the WHO European Region provides evidence of numerous results achieved and lessons learned sin...ce the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. RCCE has not traditionally been an area where evidence of challenges and solutions was documented. With this compendium, we wanted to collect and share this evidence to support decision-making in this area of work.
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This short document summarizes the key content of the WHO report Reducing the harm from alcohol by regulating cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotion. It outlines the way that alcohol is being marketed across national borders – often by digital means – and often regardless of t...he social, economic or cultural environment in receiving countries. It highlights how increasingly sophisticated advertising and promotion techniques, including linking alcohol brands to sports and cultural activities, sponsorships and use of e-mails, SMS and social media, are being used to increase customer loyalty and gain new customers. The summary also explains that young people and heavy drinkers are increasingly targeted by alcohol advertising, often to the detriment of their health, and highlights the need for more effective national regulations and better international collaboration.
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The development of this target product profile (TPP) was led by the WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) following standard WHO guidance for TPP development. In order to identify and prioritize diagnostic needs, a WHO NTD Diagnostics Technical Advisory Group (DTAG) was form...ed, and different subgroups were created to advise on specific NTDs, including a subgroup working on the human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) diagnostic innovation needs. This group of independent experts included leading scientists, public health officials and endemic-country end-user representatives. Standard WHO Declaration of Interest procedures were followed. A landscape analysis of the available products and of the development pipeline was conducted, and the salient areas with unmet needs were identified.
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The Operational guide: use of referral laboratories for the analysis of foodborne hazards in the Pacific aims to strengthen the food analysis capacity of Pacific Island countries and areas by identifying national and reference laboratories capable of testing for priority foodborne hazards. The Pacif...ic Island countries and areas are often vulnerable to food safety incidents and emergencies due to their geographical distribution and dependence on food imports. The guide outlines key considerations for selecting referral laboratories and submitting samples to them, enabling continuous improvement of food safety systems and providing safe food for all. The target audiences are health and food safety authorities.
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Driving progress towards rabies elimination: Results of Gavi’s Learning Agenda on rabies and new WHO position on rabies immunization
The 2023 Country Presence Report provides an overview of what WHO does in countries to advance towards the SDGs and implement GPW13, how we do it, with whom we work, and what is needed to overcome challenges for achieving results and impact in countries.
This publication is part of WHO 75th anniversary and aims to capture key successes in public health globally and in Namibia. It includes contributory messages from the Head of State, Prime Minister and the Minister of ...light medbox">Health and Social Services.
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This publication describes the first WHO public-benefit Target Product Profiles (TPPs) for snakebite antivenoms. It focuses on antivenoms for treatment of snakebite envenoming in sub-Saharan Africa. Four TPPs are described in the document:
Broad spectrum Pan-African polyvalent antivenoms: products ...that are intended for widespread utility throughout sub-Saharan Africa for treatment of envenoming irrespective of the species of snake causing a bite. Monovalent antivenoms for specific use cases: for products for a single species (or genus) of snake (e.g., boomslangs or carpet viper antivenoms).
Syndromic Pan-African polyvalent antivenoms for neurotoxic envenoming: products that are intended for treatment of envenoming by species whose venoms are neurotoxic. Syndromic Pan-African polyvalent antivenoms for non-neurotoxic envenoming: products for snakebite envenoming where the effects are largely haemorrhagic, necrotic or procoagulant.
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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 deploying vaccines in a pandemic situation is a complex endeavour, beset with multiple challenges at a...ll 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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World Health Organization. (2022). Toolkit for developing a multisectoral action plan for noncommunicable diseases: module 4: developing an implementation plan.
At the end of 2023, WHO convened our first-ever annual WHO Stakeholder Review Conference for Prevention and Response to Sexual Misconduct. Aimed at joint learning and frank discussion on challenges faced in the achieving zero tolerance for all forms of sexual misconduct by aid workers, the Conferenc...e brought together Member States, Civil Society Organizations, United Nations Agencies and Programmes, academia and media joined by WHO personnel. A set of recommendations to support all agencies are documented in the Conference Report. In addition, WHO’s Director-General hosted a social engagement segment on the evening of Day 1 to further underscore the centrality of a victim and survivor-centred approach, to celebrate progress however small, and to reaffirm commitment and renew energy for the journey ahead. The Conference took place on 30 November and 1 December 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland
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