The 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in western Africa was the longest and most deadly Ebola epidemic in history, resulting in 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, ...highlight medbox">and Sierra Leone. The Ebola virus has been known since 1976, when two separate outbreaks were identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) and South Sudan (then Sudan). However, because all Ebola outbreaks prior to that in West Africa in 2014–2015 were relatively isolated and of short duration, little was known about how to best manage patients to improve survival, and there were no approved therapeutics or vaccines. When the World Heath Organization declared the 2014-2015 epidemic a public health emergency of international concern in August 2014, several teams began conducting formal clinical trials in the Ebola affected countries during the outbreak.
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Early damage assessments indicate that at least 800,000 people could be directly exposed to minor to severe damages, including communication, access, security, loss of livelihoods, infrastructure, and...n> health services could be impacted.
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UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-water (GLAAS)
Nearly half the population of Sierra Leone is under the age of 18 years and the impact ...ss="attribute-to-highlight medbox">of the Ebola crisis on their lives now and on their future opportunities has been far-reaching: no school; loss of family members and friends to the virus; and changing roles and responsibilities in the home and the community.
While the priority now remains meeting the goal of zero cases, the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) is also developing a comprehensive strategy aimed at supporting communities to recover from this crisis, to put the country back on track to meet development targets. The Ebola Recovery Strategy – currently being finalised by the GoSL – represents a potentially transformative framework to support the immediate recovery of children from the crisis and to ensure their place in the future development of Sierra Leone.
To date, there has not been a formal process for children to outline their own priorities for recovery to decision-makers. In mid-March 2015, child-centred agencies conducted a Children’s Ebola Recovery Assessment (CERA) in nine districts across Sierra Leone to create a mechanism for more than 1,100 boys and girls, to discuss issues of concern; assess the impact of the crisis on their roles, responsibilities and future opportunities; and to formulate their recommendations for recovery.
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This first edition of our national neonatal care clinical guidelines is an initiative that aims to ensure that all the neonates in the Kingdom of Eswatini are offered standard, best quality ...ass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">of care and the best possible start in life. The guidelines have been formulated from various global sources and tailored to the needs and health practises of the country. They are designed to serve as a guide to all healthcare providers in the country to provide standardized quality neonatal care.
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Humanitarian crises exacerbate nutritional risks and often lead to an increase in acute malnutrition. Emergencies include both manmade (conflict) and natural disasters (floods, drought, cyclones, ty...phoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc.). Complex emergencies are combinations of both manmade and natural disasters, often of a protracted nature. Millions of people are affected by humanitarian crises every year. The increasing frequency and scale of emergencies requires nutrition to be addressed in all phases of a response.
Crisis situations, whether acute or protracted, impact on a range of factors that can increase the risk of undernutrition, morbidity, and mortality. They may involve: the large-scale destruction of property and infrastructure; the erosion of livelihood strategies and purchasing power; a breakdown of and reduced access to essential services, including health services, water supply, and sanitation; and the displacement of large numbers of people. Emergencies can also disrupt social systems and the quality of care/feeding practices. Household access to food may be negatively affected and people may find themselves in overcrowded settlements with their families divided. As a result, at the individual level, there is often an increased risk of deteriorating health and nutritional status, resulting in a greater likelihood of death.
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Department of AIDS Control
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
The purpose of the review was to assign a cause of death, to ascertain the fac-tors that contributed to the death and to identify any systemic issu...es that could be addressed to prevent future similar deaths. The perinatal mortality audit process in 2019 provided important insights and evidence-based recommendations that can be used both to address system errors and barriers and to identify and praise points of strength. The aim is to pro-vide recommendations for better care for mothers and their infants during pregnancy, childbirth and the neonatal period and improve the quality of care provided throughout the health system.
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Summary of current WHO recommendations and guidance on programmatic approaches
Further Analysis of the 2000, 2005, and 2011 Demographic and Health Surveys. DHS Further Analysi...s Reports No. 83
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In this report a nutrition governance framework was applied to research and analyse the provincial experience with nutrition policy in Pakistan, looking both at chronic and acute malnutrition. Twent...y-one in-depth interviews with key stakeholders were also conducted along with a review of published and grey literature. Findings were validated and supplemented by consultative provincial roundtable meetings. Punjab’s nutritional puzzle is that it has high levels of chronic malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies despite a surplus production of food and a low poverty level. Under-nutrition is mainly linked to insufficient attention to preventive health strategies and to a lack of connection between relevant sectors such as Education, Health, Poverty, Safe Water and Sanitation, and Food. Strategic opportunities are recommended which include cross-party political support and ownership for nutrition, with steering by executive leadership; multi-sectoral action and functional integration of various departments and programmes with the creation of a central convening structure for effective cross-sectoral coordination; broadening of nutritional activities beyond salt iodization and vitamin A coverage; central co-ordination of monitoring and evaluation and effective partnerships between the state and non-state sector around data production, awareness, advocacy, and monitoring.
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Zambia has recognised the Public Health threat of antimicrobial resistance and its impact on morbidity ...and mortality, as well as the subsequent economic consequences. The country has recorded microorganisms which have developed resistance to antimicrobial drugs. Notable among these are; Multidrug Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MDR), Human Immunodeficiency virus resistant to antiretroviral drugs, Plasmodium resistance to antimalarial drugs, and fungal species showing indications of resistance to antifungal drugs. Emergence of “Superbugs” such as Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Extended Spectrum beta-lactam (ESBL) producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) have also been reported.
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The full range and scale of all forms of violence against children are only now becoming visible, as is the evidence ...light medbox">of the harm it does. This book documents the outcomes and recommendations of the process of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children. ‘The Study’ is the first comprehensive, global study on all forms of violence against children.
It builds on the model of the study on the impact of armed conflict on children, prepared by Graça Machel and presented to the General Assembly in 1996, and follows the World Health Organization’s 2002 World Report on Violence and Health.1
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A review of proactive risk assessment and risk management practices to ensure the safety of drinking-water
Based on information gathered from ...118 countries representing every region of the globe, this report provides a picture of WSP uptake worldwide. It presents information on WSP implementation and the integration of WSPs into the policy environment. It also explores WSP benefits, challenges and future priorities.
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Development of one or more vaccines for Neisseria gonorrhoeae is an important objective for sexual and reproductive health worldwide, ...attribute-to-highlight medbox">and for the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
WHO preferred product characteristics (PPCs) provide strategic guidance as to WHO’s preferences for new vaccines in priority disease areas. PPCs are intended to encourage innovation and development of vaccines for use in settings most relevant to the global unmet public health need.
Gonococcal vaccine PPCs describe global public health goals for gonococcal vaccines and preferred parameters pertaining to vaccine indications and target populations, safety and efficacy considerations, and immunization strategies.
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Promoting health and preventing disease is a critical component of the effort required to achieve Universal ...box">Health Coverage (UHC). to date, efforts to achieve UHC have focused mostly on strengthening health systems and their capacities to provide curative care. However, experience from the COVID-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the need for resilient health systems, emphasizing primary health care, including preventive and promotive health and well-being.
Emerging from the eye of the storm as the global health lead agency during the pandemic, WHO is equipped with the required insights and actions for a holistic approach to “building back fairer and better” after COVID-19.
The Healthier Populations (UHP) Cluster in the African Region is designed to support Pillar 3 of WHO’s 13th Global Programme of Work (GPW13) which aims to make 1 billion people healthier by reducing health inequities, preventing diseases and injuries, addressing health determinants, and promoting partnerships for collaborative actions amongst all stakeholders.
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July 2018
This fourth edition of the Unitaid/WHO market and technology landscape: HIV rapid diagnostic tests for self-testing report summarizes the current HIV testing gap; the challenges facing... efforts to scale up; and the potential role HIV self-testing (HIVST) could play to achieve the United Nation’s 90-90-90 targets. In particular, the report synthesises the existing and emerging market demand and supply of kits.
The information in this report is intended for manufacturers, donors, national programmes, researchers and other global health stakeholders who are exploring the potential role of HIVST.
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Diphtheria in the Americas -Summary of the situation.
In 2018, three countries in the Region of the Americas (Colombia, Haiti, and the Bolivarian ...Republic of Venezuela) reported confirmed cases of diphtheria. In 2019, Haiti and Venezuela reported confirmed cases.
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During the year 2022, COVID-19 continued to be a significant challenge in Eritrea as in many other countries across the world. As COVID-19 devastated communities around the world, WHO worked with the MoH to strengthen the National and Sub-National <...span class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">health systems in order to meet community needs and mitigate the devastation during the pandemic and beyond.
One of the major achievements in the year 2022 was the beginning of the journey towards validation of
the elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B. This is the culmination of years
of commitment and determination by the political leadership, national and international partnerships to
reduce the associated indices to levels that qualify for elimination.
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This annual report gives an overview of WHO lesotho Country office's undertakings and achievements in the context of an extraordinary ...attribute-to-highlight medbox">health emergency. As we walk another mile this year, may we embrace all lessonst leanred in the previous year, learn from what did not work so well and take on new opportunities in championing health in the country.
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