Globally, more than 3 million new cases and 10 000 deaths have been reported in the week of 26 December 2022 to 1 January 2023. This represents a reduction in weekly cases and deaths of 22% and 12%, respectively. In the last 28 days (5 December 2022 to 1 January 2023), over 14.5 million cases and ov...er 46 000 new fatalities were reported globally – an increase of 25% and 21%, respectively, compared to the previous 28 days. As of 1 January 2023, over 656 million confirmed cases and over 6.6 million deaths have been reported globally.
In this edition, we include:
The COVID-19 epidemiological update at the global and regional levels.
An update on the circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) and Omicron subvariants under monitoring.
An update on hospitalizations and ICU admissions related to COVID-19.
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This Quick Reference Handbook of Selected Congenital Anomalies and Infections is a companion tool to Birth defects surveillance: a manual for programme managers, and is intended for use by front-lin...e health care professionals who are diagnosing and collecting data on congenital defects and infections. When used in conjunction with the manual, the tools in this handbook will help the reader to: identify an initial list of congenital anomalies to consider for monitoring;describe the tools needed to define and code identified cases; define specific congenital anomalies under surveillance.
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The Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report – Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000 - 2020 – presents estimates on household access to safely managed drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services over the past five years, and assesses progress toward achieving the s...ixth sustainable development goal (SDG) to ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030’.
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Recommendations for a public health approach
HIV/AIDS Programme
These guidelines provide evidence-based guidance on the use of peripartum antiviral prophylaxis in HBsAg-positive pregnant women for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HBV.
Results of rapid assessment
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide while the demand for mental ...ht medbox">health is increasing, according to a new WHO survey. The survey of 130 countries provides the first global data showing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on access to mental health services and underscores the urgent need for increased funding.
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Since the launch of the 2012–2020 World Health Organization (WHO) road map for the control, el...im-ination and eradication of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) (1), considerable progress against NTDs has been made. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of people requiring interventions against NTDs globally fell by 600 million, and 42 countries, areas and territories eliminated at least one NTD (2). In January 2021, a new NTD road map for 2021–2030 (2) was launched, setting future targets and mile-stones for 20 diseases and disease groups. The road map also sets cross-cutting targets, including for strengthened capacity of national health systems to deliver interventions through existing infrastructure.
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Accountability for the global health sector strategies, 2016–2021
WHO/CDS/HIV/19.7
his guidance provides interim guidance for the integration of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virologic and genomic surveillance, from sentinel site case enrolment and sampling to the eventual sharing of the virus sequence data, a process known as end-to-e...nd surveillance. This guidance builds on experiences and lessons learned as countries adapted their influenza surveillance systems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and reviews new evidence to provide guidance on end-to-end surveillance. The guidance includes new algorithms and strategies to adapt sentinel systems to make them resilient and agile for addressing global and national surveillance needs for influenza and COVID-19.covid-
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WHO six-year strategy for the health sector and community capacity development.
Guidelines for national programmes and other stakeholders, for annexes see http://www.who.int/tb/publications/2012/tb_hiv_policy_9789241503006/en/
Testing and diagnosis of hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) infection is the gateway for access to both prevention and treatment services, and is a crucial component of an effective response to the hepatitis epidemic. Early identification of persons with... chronic HBV or HCV infection enables them to receive the necessary care and treatment to prevent or delay progression of liver disease. Testing also provides an opportunity to link people to interventions to reduce transmission, through counselling on risk behaviours and provision of prevention commodities (such as sterile needles and syringes) and hepatitis B vaccination.
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Guidelines
June 2017
HIV strategic information for impact
WHO would like to express its gratitude and appreciation to all Member States that provided information to the WHO survey on policies and activities at the national level in the area of antimicrobial resistance. The contribution of staff in WHO Regional...pan> and Country Offices has been invaluable: in gather-ing original data and information from Member States, in supporting the process of aggregation of these data; and in reviewing the regional analysis of the findings that reflect the country situation at the point when the survey was conducted. The support and commitment of the members of the WHO Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance, comprising WHO staff from Headquarters and Regional Offices has, is also acknowledged.
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Interim Guidance October 2022. This addendum addresses some of the methodological aspects of VE evaluations that have been learned during the past year, as well as those that have become relevant in the current epidemiological setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. ...box">For some of the COVID-19 vaccine methodology issues there are still insufficient data to make a recommendation, in which case different options for approaching VE evaluations are presented.
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This recommendation is an update of one of the 49 recommendations that were published in the WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience. The recommendation was developed initially using the standardized operating proce...dures described in the WHO handbook for guideline development.
In summary, the process included: (i) identification of priority question and outcomes; (ii) retrieval of evidence; (iii) assessment and synthesis of the evidence; (iv) formulation of recommendation; and (v) planning for the implementation, dissemination, impact evaluation and updating of the recommendation. This recommendation was identified by the Executive Guideline Steering Group (GSG) as a high priority for updating in response to new evidence on this question.
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The development of this draft Proposed programme budget 2022–2023 comes at a unique moment for WHO. The world is in the grip of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and faces ...ttribute-to-highlight medbox">health, social and economic consequences on an unprecedented scale. Although it is not known when the COVID-19 pandemic will end, recent encouraging vaccine results, in addition to the examples of countries that have achieved good results through public health measures, hold out the prospect of better days ahead. The full impact of the pandemic cannot yet be determined. But whatever its implications, the Secretariat will rise to the challenge and is ready to adapt so that it is fully equipped to support Member States for any eventuality in the future – to make sure that the world will never again have to face this kind of crisis.
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These WHO guidelines which were updated in 2018, are valid for any country and suitable to local adaptations, and take account of the strength of available scientific evidence, the cost and resource implications, and patient values and preferences.
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The 2018 edition of the guidelines includes the revision of the recommendation regarding the use of 80% fraction of inspired oxygen (high FiO2) in surgical patients under general anaesthesia with tracheal intubation and the update of the section on implementation. Between 2017 and 2018, WHO re-assessed the evidence on the use of high FiO2 by updating the systematic review related to the effectiveness of this intervention to reduce SSI and commissioning an independent systematic review on adverse events potentially associated with it. Based on the updated evidence, the GDG decided to revise the strength of the recommendation from strong to conditional.
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It provides guidance on care for use in resource-limited settings or in settings where families with sick young infants do not accept or cannot access referral care, but can be managed in outpatient settings by an appropriately trained ...attribute-to-highlight medbox">health worker. The guideline seeks to provide programmatic guidance on the role of CHWs and home visits in identifying signs of serious infections in neonates and young infants.
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Sepsis contributes significantly to preventable mortality and is the final common pathway to death for severe infectious diseases; it can also arise as a complication of injuries and non-communicable diseases.