28 January 2021. The purpose of this document is to provide interim guidance on laboratory biosafety related to the testing of clinical specimens ...>of patients.
more
This e-course will guide you through the essentials of latest existing WHO guidelines and policy recommendations on drug-resistant TB. You will also learn more about the rationale behind the WHO recommendations for the management ...ute-to-highlight medbox">of DR-TB, implementation considerations for different regimens for eligible patient groups, adjunctive treatment, the active TB drug safety monitoring and management framework, and the analysis and interpretation of performance indicators.
The main focus of the e-course is programmatic; clinical aspects are only discussed when relevant to specific topics.
more
This report is one of the first major products of the newly established Precision Public Health Metrics unit of the UCN cluster ...ute-to-highlight medbox">of the WHO Regional Office for Africa. The report presents national trends in communicable and non-communicable disease burden and control in the WHO African region. It tracks progress made with respect to disease burden reduction, elimination and eradication. It also highlights major emerging threats, opportunities and priorities in the fight against commu- nicable and non-communicable diseases in the region. It covers the period 2000-2022, but for some indicators, information is available only up to 2021.
The report shows the number of reported cases for malaria and vaccine preventable diseases (meningitis, measles, yellow fever, pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, and polio); disease incidence due to HIV, tuberculosis and four major noncommunicable diseases (cardiovas- cular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respira- tory diseases).
more
This document is an evidence-based policy for the implementation of sound tuberculosis (TB) infection control by all stake- holders. It recommends a combination of measures aimed at reducing the ris...k of TB transmission within populations. The emphasis is on early and rapid diagnosis, and proper management of TB patients.
more
This manual focuses on the availability and clinical use of oxygen therapy in children in health facilities by providing the practical aspects for health workers, biomedical engineers, and administrators. It addresses the need for appropriate detect...ion of hypoxaemia, use of pulse oximetry, clinical use of oxygen and delivery systems and monitoring of patients on oxygen therapy.
more
In preparing this paper, the Pharmacovigilance Group of the Pan American Health Organization’s Pan American Network for Drug Regulatory Harmonization (PANDRH) adopted the perspective of PAHO/WHO, ...which considers Pharmacovigilance, an essential component of public health programs. Its intention was to facilitate the development of pharmacovigilance systems in the Region of the Americas and improve, strengthen, and promote the adoption of good practices to improve safety for patients and the general population, based on the needs of the Region.
Document also available in Spanish and Portuguese!
more
This treatment guideline is intended to assist clinicians in the Behavioral Health department in treatment planning and service delivery for patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It may also assist clinicians treating ...ribute-to-highlight medbox">patients who have some of the signs and symptoms of PTSD but who do not meet the full criteria of PTSD. The treatment guideline is not intended to cover every aspect of clinical practice, but to focus specifically on the treatment models and modalities that clinicians in our outpatient treatment setting could provide. These guidelines were developed through a process of literature review and discussion amongst clinicians in the Behavioral Health department and represent a consensus recommendation for service provision for this disorder. The guideline is intended to inform both clinical and administrative practices with the explicit goals of outlining treatment that is: effective, efficient, culturally relevant and acceptable to clinicians, program managers, and patients.
more
The present Consolidated guidelines include a comprehensive set of WHO recommendations for the treatment and care of DR-TB, derived from these WHO guidelines documents. The consolidated guidelines i...nclude policy recommendations on treatment regimens for isoniazid-resistant TB (Hr-TB) and MDR/RR-TB, including longer and shorter regimens, culture monitoring of patients on treatment, the timing of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in MDR/RR-TB patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), use of surgery for patients receiving MDR-TB treatment, and optimal models of patient support and care.
more
This manual is a resource for Health Counselors working in Family Physician Clinics (FPC) as part of the MANAS program. This program is for common mental disorders like depression and anxiety seen in primary health care facilitie...slike the FPC; since depression is the commonest disorder within this group of stress related mental health problems, in the manual we refer to these problems simply as ‘Depression’. The aim of the MANAS program is to integrate the recognition and treatment of Depression into routine primary health care.In the MANAS program, a range of effective treatments will be provided for patients with Depression. These treatments are matched to the individual requirements of patients to both improve the effectiveness of the treatments and to use the limited resources efficiently.
more
The report and an accompanying series of studies show the global uptake of the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist in its first ten years since its launch and recommend ways th...e Checklist can be more effectively used to improve surgical safety for millions at risk.
The report found that uptake has been remarkably positive: the Checklist has been adopted in almost 90% of operating rooms in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI), a country-level measure of health, education, and standard of living. It was referenced by at least 139 (70%) of the world's countries and is included as a national standard by the health ministries of at least 20 countries. The Checklist has also had beneficial qualitative impact, introducing a culture of safety and improved communication within surgical teams, increasing patient trust, and improving job satisfaction.
more
Scientists have known for more than half a century that patients could develop resistance to the drugs used to treat them. Alexander Fleming, who is credited with creating the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928, cautioned ...to-highlight medbox">of the impending crisis while accepting his Nobel prize in 1945: “There is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant.” Since then antibiotics have proved one of the most effective interventions in human medicine. Sadly, the overuse and misuse of this precious resource have brought us to a global crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). To address this crisis nearly seven decades after Fleming’s lecture the first UN general assembly meeting on drug resistance bacteria was convened in September 2017.
more
The EAPC White Paper addresses the issue of spiritual care education for all palliative care
professionals. It is to guide health care professionals involved in teaching or training of palliative c...are and spiritual care; stakeholders, leaders and decision makers responsible for training and education; as well as national and local curricula development groups.
The EAPC white paper points out the importance of spiritual care as an integral part of palliative care and suggests incorporating it accordingly into educational activities and training models in palliative care. The revised spiritual care education competencies for all palliative care providers are accompanied by the best practice models and research evidence, at the same time being sensitive towards different develop-ment stages of the palliative care services across the European region.
Conclusions: Better education can help the healthcare practitioner to avoid being distracted by their own fears, prejudices, and restraints and attend to the patient and his/her family. This EAPC white paper encourages and facilitates high quality, multi-disciplinary, academically and financially accessible spiritual care education to all
palliative care staff.
more
Addressing comorbidities and risk factors for TB is a crucial component of Pillar one of the End TB Strategy, which focuses on integrated patient-c...entred care and prevention, including action on TB and comorbidities. The Framework for collaborative action on TB and comorbidities aims to support countries in the evidence-informed introduction and scale-up of holistic people-centred services for TB, comorbidities and health-related risk factors, with the goal of comprehensively addressing TB and other co-existing health conditions. It should be used in conjunction with relevant WHO guidelines. The Framework is intended for use by people working in ministries of health, other relevant line-ministries, policymakers, international technical and funding organizations, researchers, nongovernmental and civil society organizations, as well as primary care workers, specialist health practitioners, and community health workers who support the response to TB and comorbidities in both the public and private sectors.
more
Those who clean are the first line of defense against health care-associated infections (HAIs), and support efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Strengthening the training of this im...portant group can contribute to resolving many of today’s public health challenges. This is important given that cleaning both surfaces and hands is vital to control the transmission of a number of HAIs.
This two-part training package targets those who clean heath care facilities.
The Trainer’s Guide takes the user through how to prepare, deliver and sustain an effective training for those who clean. The Modules and Resources provides instructions, definitions, photographs, posters and specific illustrations of recommended practices
The package can be used by those who deliver environmental cleaning training programmes and/or those with a background in IPC including ministries of health, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, experts working in Quality of care, IPC and environmental cleaning/ Water, sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Health facility IPC focal points and onsite cleaning supervisors
more
Development finance institutions owned by European governments and the World Bank Group are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on expensive for-profit hospitals in the Global South that block ...patients from getting care, or bankrupt them, with some even imprisoning patients who cannot afford their bills. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of these same hospitals denied entry to patients suffering from the virus or sold intensive care beds at eyewatering prices to the highest bidder. These development institutions have woefully inadequate safeguards, invest via a complex web of tax-avoiding financial intermediaries, and offer little to zero evidence on the impacts their investments are having. Oxfam is calling on rich-country governments and the World Bank Group to immediately halt their spending on for-profit private healthcare, and for an urgent independent investigation to be conducted into all active and historic investments.
more
Trustworthy, evidence-based health guidelines form the basis of national policies affecting both patients and health-care workers. Emphasizing the link between robust evidence and people’s trust i...n their health systems, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe said at the launch event, “Trust and transformation are key words for us, especially when we talk about improving and strengthening our health systems. Transformation should first and foremost serve the interests of patients and health-care workers”.
While it is not always easy to demonstrate the immediate effect of guidelines on people’s health, there is no viable alternative to utilizing guidelines based on the best available evidence.
Yet, developing robust guidelines remains a challenge for most countries. “Guidelines need to be both simple to use and timely, they need to address people’s real needs, especially at the local level, and should ultimately reflect the resources available,” said Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, Director, Country Health Policies and Systems, WHO/Europe. “This means that any successful guideline needs to be adjusted and adapted to local contexts and realities.”
more
The war in Gaza has resulted in many hundreds of spinal cord injuries (SCI), which will have a devastating impact on those injured and their families for the rest of their lives.
The optimal mana...gement of SCI requires effective pre-hospital care, early specialized imaging (using CT or MRI) and in many cases early surgical interventions by a highly specialised neurosurgical team. Surgery requires many hours of use of a sterile operating room environment and supportive critical care capacity, as well as intensive post-operative care – none of which is currently possible due to the ongoing war, destruction, and disruption of health services in Gaza.
An alternative to surgery is conservative management – this requires intensive nursing care under full spinal precautions for many weeks in order to allow for bone and soft tissue healing and prevent further injury to the spinal cord. The patient is unable to move independently in bed during this period. Those caring for the patient need to be able to safely reposition them every 2 hours, and manage all their bowel and bladder care needs. The patient needs good nutrition and hydration at all times, as well as access to medication to support bowel care, manage pain (including neuropathic pain). A caregiver must remain with the patient to be trained to provide ongoing care and assist with daily care.
more
A systematic approach to holistic wound care is essential for the delivery of high quality wound care. Holistic wound assessment considers the whole person and should comprise the components of the ...generic wound assessment minimal data set. Therefore holistic assessment is key to gathering information on the
patient and their wound. This information should be documented at each review so that it can act as a baseline against which wound progress can be tracked and used to guide management decisions.
Inaccurate or lack of assessment can result in appropriate care and delays in healing, unnecessary patient suffering, poor outcomes and the inappropriate use of resources
more
This guidance should be followed if an unlicensed medicine is prepared in
a registered pharmacy. The preparation of an unlicensed medicine (for
example unlicensed methadone, or menthol in aqueous cream) in a pharmacy is called ‘extemporaneous ...preparation’.
The guidance should be read alongside the standards for registered pharmacies. These aim to create and maintain the right
environment, both organizational and physical, for the safe and effective practice of pharmacy.
By following this guidance, the pharmacy will:
• demonstrate that it meets our standards, and
• provide assurances that the health, safetyand wellbeing of patients and the public are safeguarded
Responsibility for making sure this guidance is followed lies with the pharmacy owner. If the registered pharmacy is owned by a ‘body
corporate’, the directors have responsibility.
Those responsible for the overall safe running of the pharmacy need to take into account the nature of the pharmacy and the range of services
already provided and, most importantly, the needs of patients and members of the public.
more
Around the world, nurses are working under enormous pressure providing care to sick and dying patients during the pandemic. Many are faced with increased stress, and other negative effects on their mental health. They are also faced with the possibi...lity of infection and death from COVID-19. Before the pandemic there was a global shortage of nurses, but this is likely to be exacerbated by the increased demands of caring during COVID-19 as well as the usual care of non-COVID patients.
more