Three classess of tests are now recommended in the latest consolidated guideles on tests for tuberculosis infection. It includes for the first-time a new class of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen-based skin tests (TBSTs), and the two existing clas...ses of tests: the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs).
IGRAs and TBSTs use Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex specific antigens and represent a significant advancement to TST which has been used for over half a century.
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International commitment to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem worldwide is supported by resolution WHA51.11 of the World Health Assembly .1 Important progress towards this goal has been made by harnessing the mostly informal relationships that exist between partners including Member Stat...es, the World Health Organization (WHO), academic institutions, donors and nongovernmental organizations. Recognizing that work remains to be done and that the 2020 target2 for elimination is rapidly approaching, in February 2015 the WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases convened a group of academic institutions that had for many years helped WHO to implement its mandate on trachoma and to work towards establishing a Network of WHO collaborating centres (WHOCCs) for Trachoma. The report of that meeting has been published.
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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...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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This publication provides an overview of UN Women’s commitments to the humanitarian community guided by the “UN Women strategic plan 2022–2025”. It highlights areas where UN Women has a unique advantage in advancing gender equality and the e...mpowerment of women and girls across the humanitarian–development–peace nexus, and in contributing to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee priorities, including localization and accountability to affected people.
The strategy adopts a two-pronged approach:
strengthening accountability towards gender commitments in coordination and implementation of UN-led humanitarian and refugee responses, and
strengthening comprehensive protection and livelihoods support to crisis-affected women and girls.
While taking these approaches, UN Women prioritizes amplifying women’s voices, leadership, and agency as a critical and enabling cross-cutting area.
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WHO has published the first-ever guidance on the clinical management of diphtheria. The only previously available guidance was an operational protocol. The new guidance followed the rigorous process for developing guidance at WHO.
It addresses the use of Diphtheria Antitoxin (DAT) in the treatmen...t of diphtheria. There is a worldwide shortage of DAT and evidence based recommendations on the use of DAT were requested by many Member States.
The guidance also includes new recommendations on antibiotics. In patients with suspected or confirmed diphtheria, WHO recommends using macrolide antibiotics (azithromycin, erythromycin) rather than penicillin antibiotics.
This clinical practice guideline has been rapidly developed recognizing the global increase in diphtheria outbreaks. Outbreaks of diphtheria in Nigeria, Guinea and neighbouring countries in 2023 have highlighted the urgent need for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of diphtheria. Given the sporadic nature of outbreaks, many clinicians in the affected regions have never managed acute diphtheria and its related complications. Diphtheria remains a neglected disease and vaccination is the top priority. At the same time, for patients with diphtheria, access to antibiotics, DAT and supportive care can be lifesaving.
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One of the first steps in developing a multisectoral action plan (MSAP) is to use a situation analysis to provide a comprehensive assessment of the health needs, prevailing risks and the context of the area to which the plan will apply. This will h...elp countries, regions, provinces or cities intending to create a multisectoral action plan to align with the global commitments on targeting the four major NCDs: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases.
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The purpose of this document is to offer guidance to Member States on quarantine measures for individuals in the context of COVID-19. It is intended for those responsible for establishing local or national policy for quarantine of individuals, and a...dherence to infection prevention and control measures.
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The module is currently available in English, French, Nepali, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish
These guidelines have been extracted from the WHO manual Surgical Care at the District
Hospital (SCDH), which is a part of the WHO Integrated Management Package on Emergency
and Essential Surgical Care (IMPEESC).
Refer for details on anaesthesia,... head, gunshot and landmine injuries in chapters
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UNICEF Child Alert | February 2018
Back in Myanmar, an estimated half million Rohingya remain largely sealed off in their communities and displacement camps, fearful that the violence and horr...or that had driven so many of their relatives and neighbours to fl ee would engulf them too.
Today, there are an estimated 720,000 Rohingya children in southern Bangladesh and Myanmar’s Rakhine State, in dire need of humanitarian assistance and protection – and looking to the outside world for help.
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16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence campaign ended on 10 December. A series of events organized by UNHCR and other agencies operating in the Rohingya response increased attention on issues in particular affe...cting women and girls: The Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commisisoner and camp authorities strongly collaborated with the agencies to
demonstate Bangladesh’s commitment to ending gender-based violence for refugees
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This briefing paper provides an overview of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for people planning, commissioning or providing HIV prevention activities in the UK. It does this by reviewing thirty key questions about PrEP and how it might be implemente...d in the UK.
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Three billion people – 40 per cent of the world’s population – do not have a place in their homes to wash their hands with water and soap. Three quarters of those who lack access to water and ...soap live in the world’s poorest countries and are amongst the most vulnerable: children and families living in informal settlements, migrant and refugee camps, or in areas of active conflict. This puts an estimated 1 billion people at immediate risk of COVID-19 simply because they lack basic handwashing facilities.
The Hand Hygiene for All initiative aims to move the world towards this goal: supporting the most vulnerable communities with the means to protect their health and environment. It brings together international partners, national governments, public and private sectors, and civil society to ensure affordable products and services are available, especially in disadvantaged areas, and to enable a culture of hygiene.
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This summary assesses the current state of evidence on each approach in tabular form, providing: the definition and objectives; evidence of effectiveness; operational considerations (e.g., training, staffing, ...ox">and logistics); cost considerations and evidence on cost-effectiveness; operational successes and challenges; and areas for future research and learning. This document is not intended to endorse any particular approach. Rather, it aims to objectively present the state of the existing evidence on each approach, so as to inform decision-making among practitioners looking to further test, refine and implement such approaches.
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Rabies is fatal, vaccine-preventable disease responsible for an estimated 59,000 human deaths each year. Most cases are transmitted by dogs, and most deaths occur in underserved populations in Africa and...span> Asia. Approximately 40% of deaths occur in children.
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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 for reform. The report’s clear conclusion is that the st...atus 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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For each medicine the Formulary provides information on use, dosage, adverse effects, contraindications and warnings, supplemented by guidance on selecting the right medicine for a range of conditions
A consolidated set of reproductive health kits for use by humanitarian agencies. These kits are intended to speed up the provision of appropriate reproductive health services in emergency and refugee situations.
Resilience has rapidly become one of the most prominent objectives for the development sector, so ascertaining how best to measure it is an essential task for practioners working in monitoring and evaluation. In this discussion paper, the main insig...hts emerging from the series of large-N Effectiveness Reviews, a set of quantitative studies that aim to evaluate impact and generate learning from a random sample of Oxfam’s projects are outlined. It is also considered how this measurement approach may adapt as ideas about resilience change both within Oxfam and in the development sector at large
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Purpose: This research study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the services provided by CBR programmes in Jordan.
Method: This was a mixed- methods investigation. A survey was carried out with 47 participants (stakeholders and volunteers) f...rom four CBR centres in Jordan. It comprised 18 questions that collected both qualitative and quantitative data with both closed- and open-ended questions. The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS Version 22.0. Qualitative data were analysed through thematic content analysis and open coding to identify emergent themes.
Results: 40.4% of the participants evaluated the effectiveness of CBR services as low. This mainly stemmed from the lack of efforts to increase the local community’s knowledge about CBR, disability and the role of CBR programmes towards people with disabilities.
Conclusions: A proposal was offered concerning the priorities of CBR programmes in Jordan. Efforts need to be directed at promoting livelihood and empowerment components in order to actualise the principles of CBR, mainly by promoting multispectral collaboration as a way of operation.
Implications: This study was inclusive of all types of disability. Barriers to the effectiveness of services may stem from accessibility issues to the families of persons with disabilities (hard to reach) or from CBR services themselves (hard to access). The culturally specific evaluative tool in this study was of “good” specificity and sensitivity, this evaluative instrument can be transferrable to measure the impact of CBR programmes in other settings.
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