Strategic communication is at the heart of public health and more important than ever in the digital age. Using communication strategically requires expertise, skills and resources to plan, implemen...t and evaluate interventions that encourage governments to implement policies that improve people’s lives and well-being, that empower health workers to deliver the best care possible, and that encourage people to take actions that protect and improve their health and that of their family and community. This Regional Action Framework on Communication for Health (C4H) aims to support Member States in implementing the C4H approach. It outlines steps to be taken by WHO and Member States to use C4H to achieve shared public health goals in the Western Pacific.
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2nd edition. This new edition provides policy-makers, programme managers and health-service providers with the latest evidence-based guidance on clinical care. It includes information on how to establish and strengthen services, and outlines a ... class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">human-rights-based approach to laws and policies on safe, comprehensive abortion care. This guidelines is available in English; French, Spanish; Japanese; Russian; Portuguese; Romanian and Ukrainian
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Ensuring mental health and well-being has become a worldwide imperative and an important target of the Sustainable Development Goals. But in all countries around the world, our response has been woefully insufficient, and we have made
little progre...ss to advance mental health as a fundamental human right.
One in ten people are affected by a mental health condition, up to 200 million people have an intellectual disability and an estimated 50 million people have dementia. Many persons with mental health conditions, or psychosocial, intellectual, or cognitive disabilities lack access to quality mental health services that respond to their needs and respect their rights and dignity.
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As part of the Mental Health Gap Action Programme, WHO has developed training manuals (Training of trainers and supervisors training manual and Training of health-care providers training manual) to ...support implementation of the mhGAP Intervention Guide for mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) disorders in non-specialized health settings, version 2.0. These manuals can be used to build capacity among non-specialist health-care providers in the assessment and management of people with priority MNS conditions in low resource settings.
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A new mobile learning courses developed by CapacityPlus lead partner IntraHealth International offer specialized guidance on care and prevention for health workers in Ebola-affected areas, delivered... through SMS text messages or through interactive voice response on simple mobile phones. The reources will be available on the IntraHealth International website
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The key updates include: content update in various sections based on new evidence; design changes for enhanced usability; a streamlined and simplified clinical assessment that includes an algorithm for...an> follow-up; inclusion of two new modules
- Essential Care and Practice that includes general guidelines and Iminterventions and implementation module to support the proposed interventions by necessary infrastructure and resources; and, revised modules for Psychoses, Child and Adolescent Mental and Behavioural Disorders and Disorders due to Substance Use
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This Interim Guidance outlines how key public health and social measures needed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread and the impact of the disease can be adapted for use in low capacity and humanit...arian settings. The recommendations outlined here need to be adjusted to the scale of transmission, context and resources, in order to achieve the objective of managing COVID-19, namely to reduce transmission and facilitate the detection and management of infected and exposed individuals within the population. The Guidance is intended for humanitarian and development actors of all operational levels working with communities ocal authorities involved in COVID-19 preparedness and response operations in these settings, in support of national and local governments and plans. Additional considerations for support to residents of urban informal settlements and slums are available in Annex 1.
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Fully functioning water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and health care waste management services are a critical aspect of infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, and ensuring patient safety and quality of care. Such services are also essentia...l for creating an environment that supports the dignity and human rights of all care seekers, especially mothers, newborns, children and care providers.
WASH and waste services are also critical for preventing and effectively responding to disease outbreaks. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in these basic services (Box 1). These gaps threaten the safety of patients and caregivers, and have environmental consequences, especially as a result of large increases in plastic health care waste. In short, WASH is a critical foundation for improving quality across the health system (1).
Many facilities lack plans and budgets for WASH, which has impacts on IPC. This lack of services, and of systems to improve them, compromises the ability to provide safe and quality care, and places health care providers and those seeking care at substantial risk of infection and loss of dignity. Unhygienic health care facilities without drinking water or functional toilets are also a disincentive to seeking care and undermine staff morale – these factors can have a critical impact on controlling infectious disease outbreaks.
Climate change and its impacts on WASH and health services, gender-specific needs, and equity in service provision and management all require rigorous attention, adaptable tools and regular monitoring.
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The Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Service Package for Men and Adolescent Boys has been developed to support providers of sexual and reproductive h...ealth (SRH) services to increase the range and quality of services to meet the specific and diverse needs of men and adolescent boys. This package focuses specifically on the provision of such services integrated
within clinical and non-clinical contexts and follows a gender-transformative approach. It covers men and adolescent boys in all their diversity and takes a positive approach to SRH, seeing this not just as the absence of disease, but the positive expression of one’s gender, sex and sexuality. In doing so, this service package contributes to efforts to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as prioritized in the Sustainable Development Goals. This package is in no way intended to detract from the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and adolescent girls, nor to divert resources, funding or attention from much-needed SRH services and programmes for women and adolescent girls.
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The aim of the WHO QualityRights tool kit is to support countries in assessing and
improving the quality and human rights of their mental health and social care facilities.
The tool kit is based o...n an extensive international review by people with mental disabilities
and their organizations. It has been pilot-tested in low-, middle- and high-income
countries and is designed to be applied in all of these resource settings.
In this tool kit, the term ‘people with mental disabilities’ can include those with mental,
neurological or intellectual impairments and those with substance use disorders.
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Healthy communities rely on well-functioning ecosystems. They provide clean air, fresh water, medicines and food security. They also limit disease and stabilize the climate. But biodiversity loss is happening at unprecedented rates, impacting ...class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">human health worldwide, according to a new state of knowledge review of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and WHO.
The report synthesizes the available information on the most important inter-linkages between biodiversity, ecosystem stability, and epidemic infectious diseases such as the Ebola virus; and the connection between biodiversity, nutritional diversity and health. It also covers the potential benefits of closer partnerships between conservation and health, from improved surveillance of infectious diseases in wildlife and human populations, to promoting access to green spaces to promote physical activity and mental health. It also highlights the many areas in which further research is needed.
The Joint report hopes to provide a useful reference for the Sustainable Development Goals and post-2015 development agenda, which represents an unique opportunity to promote integrated approaches to biodiversity and health by highlighting that biodiversity contributes to human well-being, and highlighting that biodiversity needs protection for development to be sustainable.
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The executive summary of the WHO Global oral health status report presents a snapshot of the most recent data on major oral diseases, risk factors, health system challenges and opportunities ...lass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">for reform. The report’s clear conclusion is that the status of global oral health is alarming and requires urgent action. The report will serve as a reference for policy-makers and an orientation for a wide range of stakeholders across different sectors to guide advocacy towards better prioritization of oral health in global, regional and national contexts. In addition, the report provides, as a separate online resource, the first-ever country oral health profiles for all 194 WHO Member States, giving unique insights into key areas and markers of oral health that are relevant for decision-makers.
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This manual is to assist health care providers and laboratory scientists to diagnose mycobacterium ulcerans disease (Buruli ulcer). The manual aims to achieve a better understanding of the clinical presentation and its diagnosis. The methods describ...ed are tailored to various levels of care and available resources to improve the diagnosis and surveillance of the disease.
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Responding to Outbreaks of Antimicrobial-resistant Pathogens in Health-care Facilities: Guidance for the Western Pacific Region is developed following requests from Member States in the Western Paci...fic Region for additional information and support in managing AMR outbreaks. It aims to provide: a step-by-step guide for health-care facilities to respond to AMR outbreaks; a practical resource for health-care workers to support AMR outbreak response in low- and middle-income countries; and practical guidance to implement effective AMR outbreak response policies and procedures in clinical settings.
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The Lancet Countdown is an international collaboration that independently monitors the health consequences of a changing climate. Publishing updated, new, and improved indicators each year, the Lancet Countdown represents the
consensus of leading ...researchers from 43 academic institutions and UN agencies. The 44 indicators of this report expose an unabated rise in the health impacts of
climate change and the current health consequences of the delayed and inconsistent response of countries around the globe—providing a clear imperative for accelerated action that puts the health of people and planet above all else.The 2021 report coincides with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), at which countries are facing pressure to realise the ambition of the Paris Agreement to keep the global average temperature rise to 1·5°C and to
mobilise the financial resources required for all countries to have an effective climate response. These negotiations unfold in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic—a global health crisis that has claimed millions of lives, affected livelihoods and communities around the globe, and exposed deep fissures and inequities in the world’s capacity to cope with, and respond to, health emergencies. Yet, in its response to both crises, the world is faced with an unprecedented opportunity to ensure a healthy future for all.
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This checklist is intended to heighten the awareness and sensitivity of personnel to the importance of cultural diversity and cultural competence in human service settings. It provides concrete examples to demonstrate values and engage in practices ...that promote a culturally diverse and culturally competent service delivery system fo rchildren with disabilities or special health care needs and their families.
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The "WHO Package of Essential Noncommunicable (PEN) Disease Interventions for Primary Health Care" provides a set of cost-effective, evidence-based interventions to address noncommunicable diseases ...(NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, and cancers. Designed for implementation in primary healthcare settings, especially in low-resource environments, the package includes protocols for screening, diagnosis, treatment, and management of these diseases. The document emphasizes an integrated approach, supporting universal health coverage by empowering healthcare workers with practical tools to improve NCD care. It aims to reduce premature mortality from NCDs and enhance global health equity.
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The Quadripartite Organizations – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH..., founded as OIE), and the World Health Organization (WHO) – collaborate to drive the change and transformation required to mitigate the impact of current and future health challenges at the human–animal– plant–environment interface at global, regional and country level.
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The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) has been coordinating sector wide reforms that aim to improve equity and quality of maternal and child health services. As part of these efforts, ... the ministry is also exerting concerted efforts to improve availability and use of quality RMNCH pharmaceuticals. Management of RMNCH pharmaceuticals has had significant challenges such as poor availability of essential pharmaceuticals and wastages of valuable resources as pharmacy professionals were not demonstrating the required knowledge, skill and attitude towards availing the pharmaceuticals and ensuring their rational medicine use.
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This manual is addressed to health care providers dealing with Mycobacterium ulcerans disease (Buruli ulcer). The manual aims to achieve a better understanding of the disease, its clinical presentation and its surgical management. The manual is aime...d particularly at district health care providers. A comprehensive protocol, adapted to each form and stage of the disease, is presented together with comments on the levels of resources and capabilities necessary
to shorten the length of treatment, to prevent complications and to minimize undesired sequelae and thus to obtain the best possible outcome for each patient. Some sections include advice relevant to surgeons (e.g. relating to bone infection). However, the level to which particular comments are intended to apply should be clear from the context.
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