In disaster preparedness, the participation of women, children, older people, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and other minority groups and sectors is important because they are the most vulnerabl
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e against disasters. Inclusive disaster preparedness provides technical and logical frameworks that assimilate the most vulnerable sectors in a community and enhances their capacity against future disasters.
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Update of the Mental Health Gap Action Programme
(mhGAP) Guideline for Mental, Neurological and Substance use Disorders May 2015
The aim of the operational framework is to ensure 1) accurate collection, handling, shipment and storage of specimens collected in countries implementing HIV drug resistance surveillance; and 2) the
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availability of quality-assured HIV genotyping laboratory services producing comparable and reliable results at the national, regional and global levels.
This publication updates the WHO HIVResNet HIV drug resistance laboratory operational framework published in 2017 and reflects technical and strategic developments over the past three years.
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the most complex and long-standing humanitarian crises in Africa. By the end of 2020, some 940,421 Congolese refugees and asylum seekers were hos
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ted across the African continent. Ongoing conflicts in eastern DRC, as well as intercommunal violence, continue to cause forced displacement within the DRC and into neighbouring countries, along with tragic loss of human life and destruction of communities.
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Terminology used to describe the transmission of pathogens through the air varies across scientific disciplines, organizations and the general public. While this has been the case for decades, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the
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terms ‘airborne’, ‘airborne transmission’ and ‘aerosol transmission’ were used in different ways by stakeholders in different scientific disciplines, which may have contributed to misleading information and confusion about how pathogens are transmitted in human populations.
This global technical consultation report brings together viewpoints from experts spanning a range of disciplines with the key objective of seeking consensus regarding the terminology used to describe the transmission of pathogens through the air that can potentially cause infection in humans.
This consultation aimed to identify terminology that could be understood and accepted by different technical disciplines. The agreed process was to develop a consensus document that could be endorsed by global agencies and entities. Despite the complex discussions and challenges, significant progress was made during the consultation process, particularly the consensus on a set of descriptors to describe how pathogens are transmitted through the air and the related modes of transmission. WHO recognizes the important areas where consensus was not achieved and will continue to address these areas in follow-up consultations.
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The immediate objective of the country visit to Senegal was to build upon the public health preparedness already in place and to ensure that systems are available to investigate and report potential
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EVD cases and to mount an effective response to prevent a larger outbreak. The joint team for strengthening preparedness for EVD was composed of representatives of Senegal’s Ministry of Health, WHO, CDC, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the European Centres for Disease Prevention and Control, the Erasmus Medical Centre, Netherlands, and John Hopkins University, USA.
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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
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and other stringent public health and social measures. As the pandemic develops further, it will be a core measure to manage further waves 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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This publication gives a broad vision of what a comprehensive approach to cervical cancer prevention and control means. In particular, it outlines the complementary strategies for comprehensive cervical cancer prevention
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and control, and highlights the neners. This new guide updates the 2006 edition and includes the recent promising deve
ed for collaboration across programmes, organizations and partl-
opments in technologies and strategies that can address the gaps between the needs for and availability of services for cervical cancer prevention and control.
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Eight years after Super Typhoon Haiyan, the most destructive storm to ever hit the Philippines, Super Typhoon Rai brought similar torrential rains, violent winds, mudslides, floods and storm surges to central parts of the Philippines, leaving a wide
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path of destruction and debris in its wake. While not as powerful as Haiyan in terms of wind strength, evidence shows that Rai damaged houses, infrastructure and livelihoods on a comparable scale or in even greater numbers. Most striking, Rai damaged 1.57 million homes, 500,000 more than Haiyan, across 11 of the Philippines 17 regions, with around 180,000-200,000 people still displaced – either still in evacuation centers or staying with friends, family or other temporary housing.
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WBCSD Vision 2050 sets out the goal to achieve the highest attainable standard of health and wellbeing for everyone by 2050, calling for a world in which: people live healthy lives; societies promote and
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protect health; everyone has access to robust, resilient and sustainable healthcare services; and all workplaces promote health and wellbeing. Business has a significant role to play in realizing this vision, thereby creating healthier and happier societies and building business resilience.
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Public health emergencies, including pandemics, highlight the need for health systems and services that are prepared, resilient and ready to respond to health security threats. Endorsed by Member St
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ates in 2023, the Asia Pacific Health Security Action Framework (APHSAF) is designed to engage multisectoral actors in health security, and to reflect the complex nature of current and future public health emergencies. The Framework presents six interconnected, multisectoral domains of work that together form a comprehensive, multi-hazard health security system — emphasizing the One Health approach. The Framework also supports progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage while meeting the responsibilities and obligations of the International Health Regulations (2005).
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This publication addresses the management of war wounds by non-specialist surgeons in situations where resources and expertise are limited. It is intended to be a pratical guide whether or not the surgeon has a special training in orthopaedic trauma
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.
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The document is intended to facilitate the detection, evaluation and management of incident EVD cases in Germany. It primarily addresses public health service staff and health care workers in hospit
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als, outpatient clinics and emergency services in Germany. It is a work in progress, intended to evolve over time. Updated 14 August 2015
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This report highlights key achievements registered by the Ministry of Health, affiliated institutions, implementing agencies both at central and decentralized levels in 2013-2014. Generally, the Health Sector accomplishments
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and programs routine data for 2013-2014 confirm that Rwanda maintains its progress towards the realization of health-related MDGs and national health targets as well.
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The current SEARVAP (South-East Asia regional vaccine action plan) describes a set of regional goals and objectives for immunization and control of vaccine-preventable diseases for 2016 – 2020
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and highlights priority actions, targets and indicators that address the specific needs and challenges of countries in the Region.
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In March 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, to be a pandemic, due to the speed and scale of transmission.
WHO and public health
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authorities around the world are taking action to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Certain populations, such as those with disability, may be impacted more significantly by COVID-19. This impact can be mitigated if simple actions and protective measures are taken by key stakeholders.
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6 July 2021. Three new nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) classes are endorsed by WHO and included.
The latest operational handbook includes the new classes recommended by WHO. It aims at facilitating the implementation of the WHO recommendatio
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ns by the Member States, technical partners, and others involved in managing patients with TB and DR-TB. The operational handbook provides practical information on existing and new tests recommended by WHO, step-by-step advice on implementing and scale-up testing to achieve local and national impact and lastly, model diagnostic algorithms, which are updated to incorporate the latest recommendations. An overview of budgetary considerations and information sheets on each of the newly recommended tests is provided.
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This report presents an assessment of the institutional readiness to detect, prevent and address health issues associated with ASGM and aims to provide an input to the Ministry of Health (MISAU) to
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define key priorities in the Public Health Strategy on ASGM. Based on the consultation of representatives of MISAU as well as various other ministries and stakeholder groups concerned with ASGM, the report assesses institutional capacity strengths and challenges in the public health sector and identifies key stakeholders relevant for the development and implementation of a public health strategy for the ASGM sector.
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WHO needs US$2.54 billion to provide life-saving assistance to millions of people around the world facing health emergencies. WHO’s Health Emergency Appeal is a consolidation of WHO’s priorities and financial requirements for 2023 to carry out h
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ealth interventions in emergency and humanitarian responses. The number of people in need of humanitarian relief has increased by almost a quarter compared to 2022, to a record 339 million. WHO is responding to an unprecedented number of intersecting health emergencies: climate change-related disasters such as flooding in Pakistan and food insecurity across the Sahel in the greater Horn of Africa; the war in Ukraine; and the health impact of conflict in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and north eastern Ethiopia – all of these emergencies overlapping with the health system disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreaks of measles, cholera, and other killers. Contributions to the appeal can be fully flexible, flexible across a region, or flexible within a country appeal.
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During the 17 years since Surgical approaches to the urogenital manifestations of lymphatic filariasis was first published, there has been heightened awareness of the physical, economic and emotional burden of the genitourinary manifestations of fil
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ariasis. With the impetus to provide better guidance for care of those suffering from LF, this update was both warranted and timely.
At the outset, the Committee noted that barriers continue to exist in care of patients affected by LF-associated morbidity. These barriers include lack of information for patients as well as for many healthcare providers, including general surgeons and others within health systems
This update offers a new consensus of the Committee regarding the staging of hydroceles caused by LF, also known as “filariceles”. It recommends integrating LF surgery with other efforts to strengthen surgical care by assessing health facilities for their surgical readiness using the WHO surgical assessment tool or “SAT”. It also recommends integratinghernia surgery with hydrocele surgery and integrating standards for prevention of surgical site infection (SSI).
The update revises recommendations for standard procedures and processes, offers an algorithm for diagnosis (including the use of ultrasound) and discusses postoperative care. It recommends collecting data using the staging and grading system described by Capuano and Capuano along with other metrics for public health management of LF.
A multifaceted approach has therefore been recommended to coordinate public health outreach with national surgical planning and local health systems to include supporting partners such as nongovernmental organizations. Surgical camps with mobile teams, as well as training of personnel at DCP3 “first level” or WHO Level II hospitals (depending on region and resources), have important roles for reducing LF morbidity.
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