Every year, an estimated 15 million babies are born preterm – before 37 weeks of pregnancy. That is more than 1 in 10 live births. Approximately 1 million children die each year worldwide due to complications from their early birth. Those that survive often face a lifetime of ill-health including ...disability, learning difficulties, and visual and hearing problems.
Half of the babies born at or below 32 weeks (2 months early) die in low-income settings, due to a lack of feasible, cost-effective care, such as warmth, breastfeeding support, and basic care for infections and breathing difficulties. In high-income countries, almost all these babies survive.
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For the first time WHO and UNICEF bring together the data on sanitation coverage and investment, and how it impacts health, economies, and the environment. Citing evidence on what works from successful countries and global guidelines, WHO and UNICEF call for strong government leadership and investme...nt in resilient sanitation services. The report charts an ambitious way forward following the SDG6 global acceleration framework themes of governance, financing, capacity development, data and information, and innovation to achieve universal access to safe sanitation.
Read the full publication report here: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240014473.
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The WHO Quality Health Services: a planning guide focuses on actions required at the national, district and facility levels to enhance quality of health services, providing guidance on implementing key activities at each of these three levels. It highlights the need for a health systems approach to ...enhance quality of care, with a common understanding on the activities needed by all stakeholders. The guide articulates the key actions required to improve the quality of health services for the entire population. It recognizes that the path varies for each country, district and facility – stimulating the reader to consider multiple factors and entry points for action. This planning guide is for staff working at all levels of the health system (i.e. national, district and facility) who have a role in enhancing the quality of health services. It is also relevant to all stakeholders initiating and supporting action at facility, district and/or national levels both in the public and private sectors.
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The World Health Organization organized a Consultation of National Leprosy Programme managers, partners and affected persons to discuss the draft Global Leprosy Strategy, 2021--2030. This virtual event took place from 26 to 30 October 2020. It was attended by more than 450 stakeholders. Contribution...s were shared through 70 presentations made by stake holders from all Regions. The presentations covered the key strategic approaches: global context, challenges in countries, contact tracing and post exposure prophylaxis, disability care, interruption of transmission and elimination of disease, stigma and d iscrimination, research. In addition to numerous comments received through the chat box and by email, the conclusions and recommendations of this Consultation will guide finalizing the post 2020 Global Leprosy Strategy.
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Humanity & Inclusion has published a report on November 20, on the difficulties children with disabilities face in accessing education in the world’s poorest countries.
This guide is available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese
This guide consolidates COVID-19 guidance for human resources for health managers and policy-makers at national, subnational and facility levels to design, manage and preserve the workforce necessary to manage the COVI...D-19 pandemic and maintain essential health services.
The guide identifies recommendations to protect, support and empower health workers at individual, management, organizational and system levels.
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Tuberculosis (TB) prevention is essential for reaching the End TB targets in the South-East Asia Region (SEAR) of World Health Organization (WHO)1. The targets of 80% reduction in TB incidence rate and 90% reduction in TB mortality by 2030 (compared to 2015 levels) can be achieved only with addition...al interventions aimed at preventing TB, according to epidemiological modelling studies commissioned by the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office (WHO SEARO). Optimal implementation of TB preventive treatment (TPT) is a critical intervention to accelerate reduction in TB burden in the SEA Region, which bears nearly 43% of the global TB burden. TPT by itself has the potential to reduce the overall annual TB incidence rates by 8.3% (95% CrI 6.5–10.8) relative to 2015.
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Lancet Glob Health 2020Published OnlineDecember 10, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30460-5
Healthy maternal nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding, and optimal infant and young child nutrition are critical for appropriate growth and development, as well as reducing the risk of developing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), for both mothers and children. On 7–8 November 2018 the WHO Regional Of...fice for Europe convened an international conference of key stakeholders to discuss good practices and share experiences on these important issues.
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Calls for greater implementation research (IR) capacity came in the wake of compelling evidence that implementation strategies are critically important for the dissemination and facilitation of evidence-informed policies and interventions to tackle noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), thereby improving ...outcomes for both individuals and populations. However, at present, implementation of evidence-based interventions and policies is challenged by a gap in lack of academic research on how these cost–effective recommended interventions can be implemented in the context of local settings, especially those of low and middle-income.
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9 September 2020
In a snapshot, fair allocation of vaccines will occur in the following way:
An initial proportional allocation of doses to countries until all countries reach enough quantities to cover 20% of their population
This document is also available in Arabic | Chinese | French | R...ussian | Spanish | Portuguese
A follow-up phase to expand coverage to other populations. If severe supply constraints persist, a weighted allocation approach would be adopted, taking account of a country’s COVID threat and vulnerability.
The document is a final working document and may be adjusted in the future as new information about the vaccines and the epidemiology of COVID-19 becomes available.
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Working Document Nov. 2020
The COVAX Supply and Logistics workstream lead by UNICEF, Gavi and WHO have released a working copy of the COVID-19 Vaccination, Country Readiness & Delivery: Supply and Logistics Guidance. Countries might find this Guide useful when developing and strengthening their sup...ply chain strategies to receive, store, distribute and manage the COVID-19 vaccines and their ancillary products, in line with their national deployment and vaccination plan (NDVP). The document also provides links to the different tools and resources to aid countries in performing assessment, planning and capacity-building activities.
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Prepared by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response for the WHO Executive Board, January 2021
“The world was not as prepared as it should have been, and it must do better,” concludes a WHO panel reviewing the pandemic response "
In fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings, delivery of quality health services faces significant challenges, including disruption of a routine health service organization and delivery systems, increased health needs, complex and unpredictable resourcing issues, and vulnerability to multi...ple public health crises. Despite the difficulty of addressing quality in such settings, the necessity for action is acute, given the significant health needs of the populations in these environments and the increasing numbers of people for whom such settings are home.
This manual has been developed to provide a starting point for multi-actor efforts and actions to address quality of care in the most challenging settings. This includes practical approaches to action planning and implementation of a contextualised set of quality interventions.
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COVID-19 has heavily emphasized how contact tracing is crucial for managing outbreaks, and as part of the strategy for adjusting, and eventually lifting, lockdowns and other stringent public health and social measures. As the pandemic develops further, it will be a core measure to manage further wav...es of infection. In early June 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an online global consultation on contact tracing in the context of COVID-19, looking at the lessons of the pandemic to date; known and emerging best practices; and the measures necessary for urgent implementation, scale-up, maintenance and enhancement of contact tracing activities.
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BMJ Global Health2020;5:e001980. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2019-00198