Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi.
AMR occurs when bacteria,... viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.
Antimicrobials - including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics - are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.
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The development of this draft Proposed programme budget 2022–2023 comes at a unique moment for WHO. The world is in the grip of the coronavirus disease<.../span> (COVID-19) pandemic and faces health, social and economic consequences on an unprecedented scale. Although it is not known when the COVID-19 pandemic will end, recent encouraging vaccine results, in addition to the examples of countries that have achieved good results through public health measures, hold out the prospect of better days ahead. The full impact of the pandemic cannot yet be determined. But whatever its implications, the Secretariat will rise to the challenge and is ready to adapt so that it is fully equipped to support Member States for any eventuality in the future – to make sure that the world will never again have to face this kind of crisis.
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The World Heart Federation (WHF) has been advocating globally for stronger
legislation and policy regarding cardiovascular disease (CVD) for many years. Now, as focus shifts from global to national... progress, we call on members and colleagues to advocate for greater action on CVD in your local settings. This ‘Road to 2018 Toolkit’ provides World Heart Federation members with information
and specific, practical tools to support national CVD advocacy, especially around the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2018.
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About one fourth of the world’s population is estimated to have been infected with the tuberculosis (TB) bacilli, and about 5–10% of those infected develop TB ... medbox">disease in their lifetime. The risk for TB disease after infection depends on several factors, the most important being the person’s immunological status. TB preventive treatment (TPT) given to people at highest risk of progressing from TB infection to disease remains a critical element to achieve the global targets of the End TB Strategy, as reiterated by the second UN High Level Meeting on TB in 2023. Delivering TPT effectively and safely necessitates a programmatic approach to implement a comprehensive package of interventions along a cascade of care: identifying individuals at highest risk, screening for TB and ruling out TB disease, testing for TB infection, and choosing the preventive treatment option that is best suited to an individual, managing adverse events, supporting medication adherence and monitoring programmatic performance
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Women and Health Initiative Working Paper No. 1. Women and Health Initiative
Improving maternal health in the context of the sub-Saharan African HIV epidemic requires greater understanding of the... relationships between HIV disease and maternal morbidity and mortality, integrated and effective responses by the health system, and a social context which promotes quality care and encourages use of MCH and HIV services. Advancing the proposed research agenda will make an invaluable contribution by generating needed evidence for policy and practice that improves the maternal health of women who are living with HIV, as well as those who are not. Bringing together maternal health and HIV researchers, policy-makers and program implementers to reduce HIV-related maternal morbidity and mortality and improve the HIV response for women represents an opportunity and a challenge.
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This brief update on tuberculosis (TB) in the African region covers the state of TB in the WHO African region, strategic priorities and targets and the impact of COVID-19 on essential services. This... is followed by key figures for the region, the role of WHO in country support and, recognizing the importance of diagnosis and drug susceptibility testing, a focus onstrengthening laboratory networks and the regional laboratory and diagnostic objectives. A brief update of the state of the science and how this is funded across the African region is provided, before closing with challenges and opportunities,strategic directions and a brief discussion of funding concerns. Discussions around the drivers of the disease, and issues of the poverty, inequality and stigma that continue to plague those living with TB are fully recognized, but are outside the scope of this report.
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The goal of the draft global action plan is to ensure, for as long as possible, continuity of successful treatment and prevention of infectious ...an class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">diseases with effective and safe medicines that are quality-assured, used in a responsible way, and accessible to all who need them.
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SDG target 3.3: by 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, waterborne diseases... and other communicable diseases.
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Overwhelming evidence shows that a range of health concerns—mental illness, substance dependence, HIV/AIDS, and noncommunicable diseases—affect prisoners disproportionately. But, while incarcera...tion poses risks to health—including inadequate nutrition and exposure to violence—prisons also present important opportunities to promote health and risk reduction that need to be tapped.
Some recommended remedies:
Health ministries, not ministries of justice, should manage health care responsibilities
Ensure that testing is available, but not mandatory, for infectious diseases
Make prison health part of the broader public health agenda
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Growing evidence indicates that large proportions of children around the world experience physical, sexual and emotional violence every year, with enormous implications for human rights, public health and economic and social development.1 Over the l...ast five years, national governments and Together for Girls – a global public-private partnership comprising UNICEF,
other United Nations (UN) agencies, the United States (US) Government and various private sector agencies – have worked to mobilize and sustain a global movement to end violence against children, with a focus on sexual violence against girls.
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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 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 toolkit for pharmacists.
Emerging data show that medication errors and adverse events cause significant harm to patients’ health and
well-being. It is estimated that the burden of adverse events due to medicines is now comparable to that ... class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">of
widespread diseases, such as malaria or tuberculosis.1 The impacts of medication errors also represent a
burden for health systems, with the annual cost associated with medication errors estimated at USD 42 billion
worldwideharm
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Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) experience a high disease burden for epilepsy, a chronic neurological condition.The authors evaluate the cost-effectiveness of community health workers (CHWs...) to improve adherence to medication for epilepsy in South Africa. They found that utilizing CHWs to improve medication adherence was cost-effective.
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Disinfection of drinking-water supplies has been one of the most significant public health advancements of the last century with respect to reducin...g waterborne disease.
Although chlorine has been used as the disinfectant of choice for public drinking-water supplies for the past century, a number of emerging or alternative compounds are used or are being considered for the disinfection of drinking-water.
This series reviews the state of the knowledge on the application, efficacy and toxicity of bromine, iodine and silver as drinking-water disinfectants.
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Applying the evidence of what works from HIV-related stigma and discrimination in six settings to the COVID-19 response
This brief provide evidence-informed guidance to countries on the intersection of...pan> stigma related to HIV and COVID-19 in national responses.
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Refugee protection in the country is provided within the framework of these international and national refugee laws as well as the core international human rights treaties that have been ratified by... the country. Continued insecurity within neighbouring states has resulted in sustained refugee movements, either directly as a result of internal conflict and human rights abuses or as a result of conflict related to competition for scare natural resources and drought related food insecurity.
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The primary audience of these recommendations includes healthcare providers who are responsible for developing national and local health protocols (particularly those related to hypertensive disorde...rs of pregnancy), and those directly providing care to pregnant women and their newborns, including midwives, nurses, general medical practitioners, obstetricians, obstetric physicians, managers of maternal and child health programmes, and relevant staff in ministries of health, in all settings.
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In view of the ongoing political, peace and reconciliation, administrative and economic reforms as well as plans to establish the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) in 2018, WFP extended the current Protracted Relief and Reco...very Operation (PRRO 200299), launched in January 2013, by two years to include 2016 and 2017, with approved budget USD 343 million. To echo this extension and provide a more appropriate response to the country's rapid and multi-pronged transition, WFP adopted a transition strategy with gradually reduced emphasis on humanitarian assistance and greater focus on early recovery and development interventions. WFP's strategic engagement in-country was driven by the overarching goal to assist Myanmar to achieve the national Zero Hunger Challenge by 2025, and was guided by three priorities: emergency preparedness and response; nutrition; and provision of social safety nets.
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In many countries neonatal tetanus is responsible for half of all neonatal deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases and for almost 14% of al¡ in...fant deaths. It is estimated that in the 1970s more than 10,000 newborns died annually from neonatal tetanus in the Americas. Neonatal tetanus is prevented by immunization and/or assuring clean delivery and post-delivery practices.
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This guide provides a comprehensive overview of essential information related to immunization, including technical information about vaccines, a review of immunization program management best practi...ces, guidance on the delivery of immunization services, monitoring and evaluation, disease surveillance, and the role of behavior change.
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