Sepsis contributes significantly to preventable mortality and is the final common pathway to death for severe infectious diseases; it can also arise as a complication of injuries and non-communicable diseases.
Following review of the latest evidence, WHO recommends that TB-LAMP can be used as a replacement for microscopy for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in adults with signs and symptoms
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of TB. It can also be considered as a follow-on test to microscopy in adults with signs and symptoms of pulmonary TB, especially when further testing of sputum smear-negative specimens is necessary.
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These WHO guidelines which were updated in 2018, are valid for any country and suitable to local adaptations, and take account of the strength of available scientific evidence, the cost and resource
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implications, and patient values and preferences.
The 2018 edition of the guidelines includes the revision of the recommendation regarding the use of 80% fraction of inspired oxygen (high FiO2) in surgical patients under general anaesthesia with tracheal intubation and the update of the section on implementation. Between 2017 and 2018, WHO re-assessed the evidence on the use of high FiO2 by updating the systematic review related to the effectiveness of this intervention to reduce SSI and commissioning an independent systematic review on adverse events potentially associated with it. Based on the updated evidence, the GDG decided to revise the strength of the recommendation from strong to conditional.
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The African Region has been experiencing unprecedented health challenges due to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which have compounded the already difficult task the Region was facing in moving towards universal
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health coverage (UHC) attainment.
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Rabies remains an under-reported neglected zoonosis with a case-fatality rate of almost 100% in humans and animals. Dog-mediated human rabies causes tens of thousands
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of human deaths annually despite being 100% preventable. More than 95% of human cases are caused by the bite of a rabies-infected dog. Dog-mediated human rabies disproportionately affects rural communities, particularly children, and economically disadvantaged areas of Africa and Asia, where awareness of the disease and access to appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) can be limited or nonexistent.
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The Guidelines for the Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of Leprosy provide state-of-the-art knowledge and evidence on leprosy diagnosis, treatment and prevention based on a public
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health approach in endemic countries. The target audience of this document includes policy-makers in leprosy or infectious diseases in the ministries of health (especially but not limited to endemic countries), nongovernmental organizations, clinicians, pharmaceutical companies, donors and affected persons
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The WHO Toolkit for the care and support of people affected by complications associated with Zika virus has been developed to serve as a model guide, with the goal of enhancing country preparedness
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for Zika virus outbreaks. The toolkit is intended to provide a systems approach involving public health planners and managers so that the necessary infrastructure and resources can be identified and incorporated as needed, as well as technical and practical guidance for health care professionals and community workers.
The toolkit includes three manuals to provide countries with tools to effectively recognize people affected by Zika virus and deliver comprehensive care and support:
Manual for public health planners and managers
Manual for health care professionals
Manual for community workers
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January 2020 to December 2021
30th World AIDS Day Report
STAR Initiative, Unitaid and World Health Organization December 2018
Millennium Development Goal 8E aims for affordable access to essential medicines. Essential medicines, as defined by WHO, are those that “satisfy the health-care needs of the majority
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of the population” and that should therefore “be available at all times in adequate amounts”. However, there is a category of medicines that faces a unique challenge in terms of availability. These are the medicines governed by the international conventions on narcotic and psychotropic substances. “Controlled medicines” is the common definition for pharmaceuticals whose active principles are listed under the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, such as morphine and methadone; the 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances, such as diazepam and buprenorphine; and the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, such as ergometrine and ephedrine. The conventions list substances in “Schedules” according to their different levels of potential for abuse and harm, and the commensurate severity of control measures to be applied by countries.
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The practical guidance in the operational handbook aims to inform the development or revision of national policies and related implementation guidance on the management of TB in children and adolesc
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ents under programmatic circumstances and at different levels of the health system. The operational handbook can also help countries adequately plan for the uptake of interventions to better address the specific needs of children and adolescents with or at risk of TB. It can contribute to national efforts to build capacity among national and subnational programme managers and among health workers at all levels of the health care system.
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Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is a premalignant lesion that may exist at any one of three stages: CIN1, CIN2, or CIN3. If left untreated, CIN2 or CIN3 (collectively referred to as CIN2+) can progress to cervical cancer. Instead
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of screening and diagnosis by the standard sequence of cytology, colposcopy, biopsy, and histological confirmation of CIN, an alternative method is to use a ‘screen-and-treat’ approach in which the treatment decision is based on a screening test and treatment is provided soon or, ideally, immediately after a positive screening test. This guideline provides recommendations for strategies for a screen-and-treat programme
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This report reviews the current situation in relation to national capacity to address NCDs and the progress made at country level over the past decade. It highlights that, while progress is being made, there is still much work to be done to create the infrastructure, policies, surveillance and
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health systems response that will allow NCDs and their contributing risk factors to be successfully contained and reversed.
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Supplement to the 2016 consolidated Guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for Treating and Preventing HIV infection
HIV Treatment
The new guidelines provide public health guidance on pharmacological agents for managing hyperglycaemia in type 1 and type 2 diabetes for use in primary health-care in low-resource settings. These g
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uidelines update the recommendations for managing hyperglycaemia in the WHO Package of Essential NCD Interventions (WHO PEN) for primary care in low-resources settings, reviewing several newer oral agents as second- and third-line treatment: dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors and thiazolidinediones. The guidelines also present recommendations on the selection of type of insulin (analogue versus human insulin) for adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
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