This report presents three scenarios on the impact of COVID-19 in Africa using economic growth forecasts, mortality and efforts to ameliorate impact through social grants. Likely effects are examined on per capita income, poverty and ...tribute-to-highlight medbox">the attainment of selected Sustainable Development Goals targets. Africa’s development trajectory has suffered a severe setback, with extreme poverty rising in all the scenarios. The pandemic threatens Africa in several ways, and the report provides policy recommendations to reduce vulnerability and strengthen resilience.
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The WHO Pharmaceuticals Newsletter provides you with the latest information on the safety of medicinal products and regulatory actions taken by aut...horities around the world.
In addition, this edition includes summary and recommendations from the virtual meeting of the members of the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring (PIDM) and other partners, which was held on 20 October 2022.
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Despite the significant role of vector control in national leishmaniasis control programmes, the programmatic community perceives vector control as the...pan> weakest component of leishmaniasis control strategies in terms of resources, scientific evidence of the usefulness of interventions and capacity for quality-assured implementation. Therefore, the main objective of this manual is to provide practical tools, techniques and procedures to strengthen sand fly control and surveillance in order to improve implementation of leishmaniasis control programmes. The manual provides a rationale for programme managers in different geographical regions on the types of vector control interventions to be used in different epidemiological and environmental settings and also how to measure their impact.
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The Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) provides WHO with rapid and flexible resources to respond to disease outbreaks and other health emergencies. Th...e annual report provides an overview of the use and impact of the Fund over the previous year.
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The new WHO guidelines recommend that people living with HIV be started on antiretrovirals (ARVs) as soon as possible after being diagnosed. Currently, many people living with the virus globally mus...t wait until their CD4 counts fall to 500 to start treatment. According to the WHO, the move to early treatment –or what some have dubbed the “test and treat” model –is backed by the latest research.
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Supplement to the 2016 consolidated Guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for Treating and Preventing HIV infection
HIV Treatment
he WHO South-East Region in 2019 accounted for nearly a million missing TB patients from the estimated incidence. Active case-finding (ACF) or systematic screening for tuberculosis is an important tool to reach out to missing TB patients. When appro...priately implemented, the activity is cost effective, helps to reduce diagnosis and treatment delays, and prevents the spread of the disease. This document presents an analysis of published ACF studies from the Region. It can be used by Member States for effective planning, implementation and monitoring of these activities.
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The WHO standard: Universal access to rapid tuberculosis diagnostics sets benchmarks to achieve universal access to WHO-recommended rapid diagnostics (WRDs), increase bacteriologically confirmed tuberculosis and drug resistance detection, and reduce... the time to diagnosis. WHO-recommended rapid diagnostics are highly accurate, cost-effective, reduce the time to treatment initiation, and impact patient-important outcomes.
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With the increase in frequency of disasters, there is a need to improve early warning systems (EWS) for EA to reduce the risks faced by children and their families. As a consequence, ...tribute-to-highlight medbox">the term early warning, early action (EWEA) has become increasingly common among those responding to slow-onset disasters.
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WHO published the first COVID-19 Strategic Response and Preparedness Plan (SPRP) on 3 February, 2020. This report highlights the main points of progress that were made up to 30 June 2020 under ... class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">the three objectives outlined in the SPRP: scaling up international coordination and support; scaling up country preparedness and response by pillar; and accelerating research and innovation. The report also discusses some of the key challenges faced so far, and provides an update on the resource requirements for the next phase of WHO’s response as part of an unprecedented whole-of-UN approach to the pandemic.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has put significant pressure on health systems all around the world. The d...rastic measures established to contain its spread are creating serious impediments to economic activity (including agrifood systems) and, consequently, to livelihoods and food security and nutrition.
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During the year 2022, COVID-19 continued to be a significant challenge in Eritrea as in many other countries across the world. As COVID-19 devastated communities around ...hlight medbox">the world, WHO worked with the MoH to strengthen the National and Sub-National health systems in order to meet community needs and mitigate the devastation during the pandemic and beyond.
One of the major achievements in the year 2022 was the beginning of the journey towards validation of
the elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B. This is the culmination of years
of commitment and determination by the political leadership, national and international partnerships to
reduce the associated indices to levels that qualify for elimination.
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A training manual for identifying, assessing, preventing and controlling the risks of pandemics in the workplace. This training manual has been developed for both medical and non-medical personnel ...who may be called upon to lead emergency response, (eg epidemic outbreak, etc), ensure effective containment whiles work continues and essential goods and services continue to be supplied.
The manual provides insight into some of the local epidemics experienced in Ghana such as Cholera, Cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) and Influenza(s), the causes, signs and symptoms and preventive measures with a view to increasing knowledge among management, staff and their families as well as immediate communities within which they work.
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Brief review of selected topics
The following pages provide a focus on selected areas in relation to neurology. The specialists who contributed the...n> reviews are listed in the Project Team and Partners
Neurology Atlas (2004)
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This report, examining the mood of a country that holds the top spot in the Fragile States Index, is based on field research conducted in South... Sudan in April and May 2014.
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Chapter 1 provides new data on the latest developments in the global treatment effort, highlighting positive trends as well as aspects that require improvement. Chapter 2 summarizes ...ribute-to-highlight medbox">the impact of the scale-up in reducing AIDS-related mortality and new HIV infections. Chapter 3 examines the sequence of steps in the continuum of care from HIV diagnosis to successful provision of ART services and outlines key supportive innovations. Chapter 4 discusses the implications and anticipated impact of the new "Consolidated guidelines on the use of ARV drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection
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This report provides a review and analysis of the research landscape for three diseases – Chagas disease, human African trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis – that disproportionately afflict poor and remote populations with limited access to ...class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">health services. It represents the work of the disease reference group on Chagas Disease, Human African Trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis (DRG3) which was established to identify key research priorities through review of research evidence and input from stakeholders' consultations.
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Updated Guideline.
The Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment (ETAT) guidelines provide guidance on the most common emergency conditions in children presenting at ...ight medbox">the health facility. These include but are not limited to airway obstruction and other breathing problems; circulatory impairment or shock; severely altered CNS function (coma or convulsive seizures); and severe dehydration which require urgent appropriate care to prevent death.
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TNew data from the World Health Organization reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted malaria services, leading to a marked increase in case...s and deaths.
According to WHO’s latest World malaria report, there were an estimated 241 million malaria cases and 627 000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2020. This represents about 14 million more cases in 2020 compared to 2019, and 69 000 more deaths. Approximately two-thirds of these additional deaths (47 000) were linked to disruptions in the provision of malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment during the pandemic.
As in past years, the report provides an up-to-date assessment of the burden of malaria at global, regional and country levels. It tracks investments in malaria programmes and research as well as progress across all intervention areas. This latest report draws on data from 87 countries and territories with ongoing malaria transmission.
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Medical devices are used for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness and diseases and for rehabilitation. WHO developed guidance on medical device donation in 2011, which has been now reviewed, with new evidence, new references on conside...rations for medical device solicitation and provision, risks associated with inappropriate donations, the responsibilities of donors and recipient, and the steps they should follow before, during and after a donation. It includes three sections: description of major problems that may be faced during the donation process, listing of best practices for donors and recipients and addressing situations requiring special attention. It also has three annexes for further reading: the criteria for the acceptability of a donation, literature review on donations of medical devices between 2010 and 2023 and a flyer. This document is intended to improve the quality of medical devices donations, including medical equipment, single-use medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics, to provide maximum benefit to all stakeholders. The considerations can be used to develop institutional or national policies and regulations for medical devices donations. This document is intended for use by any organization, expert or practitioner involved in the donation, procurement, management of medical devices, including health workers, biomedical engineers, health managers, policymakers, donors, nongovernmental organizations and academic institutions.
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