July 2018
This fourth edition of the Unitaid/WHO market and technology landscape: HIV rapid diagnostic tests for self-testing report summarizes the current HIV testing gap; the challenges facing... efforts to scale up; and the potential role HIV self-testing (HIVST) could play to achieve the United Nation’s 90-90-90 targets. In particular, the report synthesises the existing and emerging market demand and supply of kits.
The information in this report is intended for manufacturers, donors, national programmes, researchers and other global health stakeholders who are exploring the potential role of HIVST.
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Policy Brief. 24 June 2022. This policy brief, one of two on the updated hepatitis C (HCV) guidelines, focuses on the new recommendations on simplified service delivery for a public health approach ...to HCV testing, care and treatment. These recommendations include decentralization, integration and task-sharing, in addition to the use of point-of-care (POC) HCV viral load assays and reflex viral load testing.
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This publication describes the first WHO public-benefit Target Product Profiles (TPPs) for snakebite antivenoms. It focuses on antivenoms for treat...ment of snakebite envenoming in sub-Saharan Africa. Four TPPs are described in the document:
Broad spectrum Pan-African polyvalent antivenoms: products that are intended for widespread utility throughout sub-Saharan Africa for treatment of envenoming irrespective of the species of snake causing a bite. Monovalent antivenoms for specific use cases: for products for a single species (or genus) of snake (e.g., boomslangs or carpet viper antivenoms).
Syndromic Pan-African polyvalent antivenoms for neurotoxic envenoming: products that are intended for treatment of envenoming by species whose venoms are neurotoxic. Syndromic Pan-African polyvalent antivenoms for non-neurotoxic envenoming: products for snakebite envenoming where the effects are largely haemorrhagic, necrotic or procoagulant.
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These guidelines deal specifically with water, sanitation and hygiene, and are designed to be used in schools in low-cost settings in low- and medium-resource countries to:
• assess prevailing situations and plan for required improvements;
• ...develop and reach essential safety standards as a first goal; and
• support the development and application of national policies.
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WHO published guidance for clinicians and health care decision-makers on the use of corticosteroids in patients with COVID-19.
We recommend syst...emic corticosteroids for the treatment of patients with severe and critical COVID-19. We suggest not to use corticosteroids in the treatment of patients with non-severe COVID-19 as the treatment brought no benefits, and could even prove harmful. Treatment should be under supervision of a clinician.
Corticosteroids are listed in the WHO model list of essential medicines, readily available globally at a low cost. WHO encourages countries to maintain sufficient stocks of corticosteroids to treat COVID-19 and the other disease for which they are effective, while not maintaining excessive stocks which could deny other countries access.
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Through technical consultations with countries and partners, WHO has led the development of Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats Module 1: Planning ...dbox">for respiratory pathogen pandemics. Version 1.0. The Module, currently available as an advanced draft, builds on previous pandemic lessons and guidance, and has the following new elements:
It presents an integrated and efficient respiratory pathogen pandemic planning approach covering both novel pathogens and those known to have pandemic potential;
It enables coherence in addressing pathogen-agnostic and pathogen-specific elements for better preparedness;
It gives an organizing framework including operational stages and triggers for escalation and de-escalation between pandemic preparedness and response periods;
It contextualizes 12 IHR (2005) core capacities within the five components of health emergency preparedness, response and resilience (HEPR), from the respiratory threats perspective; and
It describes the critical sectors for respiratory pathogen pandemic preparedness to trigger multisectoral collaboration.
WHO will finalize and publish this Module after a global technical meeting that will be held on 24-26 April 2023.
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Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LNs) constitute a core vector control intervention against malaria. A number of new LN products are under development and will require assessment of risks to humans. This document provides an updated generic model that can be used ...edbox">for the risk assessment of exposure to insecticides of individuals sleeping under LNs and during the washing of nets.
In an Annex, exposures and health risks are described for the conventional treatment or retreatment of nets (ITNs) with an insecticide considering that such practices may still be used in evaluation of ITNs and their use. The generic model does not include the risks associated with the manufacturing of LNs in a factory environment.
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WHO Recommendations 2018 Update
The primary audience for these recommendations includes health professionals ...edbox">who are responsible for developing national and local health care guidelines and protocols (particularly those related to PPH prevention and treatment) and those involved in the provision of care to women and their newborns during labour and childbirth, including midwives, nurses, general medical practitioners and obstetricians, as well as managers of maternal and child health programmes, and relevant staff in ministries of health and training institutions, in all settings.
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The document "Priority medical devices list for the COVID-19 response and associated technical specifications" complements this guideline.
This document provides interim guidance on the quality, performance characteristics and related standards ...of personal protective equipment (PPE) to be used in the context of COVID-19. This includes WHO Priority Medical Devices, specifically: surgical masks, non-surgical masks, gloves, googles, face shields, gowns and N95 masks. It is intended for procurement agencies, occupational health departments, infection prevention and control departments or focal points, health facility administrators, biomedical and materials engineering, PPE manufacturers and public health authorities at both national and facility levels.
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Step-by-step risk management guidance for drinking-water supplies in small communities.
A Provisional Document. The purpose of this manual is to provide guidance to public health professionals tasked with managing a response to viral hepatitis. As every country’s needs are different with respect to its epidemiology and the current le...vel of response, people would use this manual in different ways
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This guideline document lays out the indicators for monitoring the 2016 Political Declaration on ending AIDS. The Global AIDS Monitoring (GAM) process has been often referenced as a benchmark for su...ccessful international accountability mechanisms.
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2nd edition. These guidelines provide guidance on the diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, the use of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection and the care of people living with HIV. They are structu...red along the continuum of HIV testing, prevention, treatment and care
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School health programmes are the most cost-effective way to influence health behaviours in young people. The purpose of this two-part handbook is to support schools as they seek to im...plement interventions in order to reduce the main modifiable risk behaviours for noncommunicable diseases. This Practical application handbook provides advice to schools on providing young people with the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and life skills necessary for making informed decisions, and creating a healthy school environment that can reduce the risk of NCDs
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In 2016, the risk of premature mortality1 from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Ethiopia was 18.3%. The economic costs of NCDs are significant and are due principally to their impact on the non-health sector (reduced workforce and productivity). I...n this study, it is estimated that NCDs cost Ethiopia at least 31.3 billion birr (US$ 1.1 billion) per year, equivalent to 1.8% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Less than 15% of the costs are for health care.
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Contact tracing is a key element of WHO’s recommended approach to control the spread of COVID-19 by breaking the chains of human-to-human transmission.
This document provides guidance to health a...uthorities at all levels to improve the success rate of contact tracing by informing efforts with RCCE principles, evidence and activities, and provides ready-to-use tools for professionals involved in contact-tracing efforts to inform their practices with RCCE principles and likewise improve their success rate.
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