This document aims to provide interim guidance for microbiology and virology experts, other laboratory professionals, laboratory managers, infectious disease programme managers, public health professionals and other stakeholders that provide primary
...
, confirmatory or advanced testing for SARS-CoV-2, including genomic sequencing, or are involved in making decisions on establishing or scaling up capability and capacity to detect and characterize circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants.
more
Despite recommendations on the marketing of commercial baby and toddler foods, two new reports from WHO find widespread evidence of inappropriate promotion and poor nutritional quality of foods for infants and young children across the WHO European
...
Region. To address these issues and help countries implement nutrition recommendations, a nutrient profile model is proposed to guide decisions on promotion and nutrition quality of baby foods.
more
This document provides guidance on interventions to prevent vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks in the context of mass population movement resulting from the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
Ukrainian decentralization reform has increased and democratized local government responsibility for health care at the level of local government closest to communities and has increased regional an
...
d local government responsibility for public health. Decentralization affects health system reform in three important areas: health financing, individual health services and public health.
more
An all-hazards tool for hospital administrators and emergency managers.
The World Health Organization Regional Office
...
for Europe has developed the Hospital emergency response checklist to assist hospital administrators and emergency managers in responding effectively to the most likely disaster scenarios. This tool comprises current hospital-based emergency management principles and best practices and integrates priority action required for rapid, effective response to a critical event based on an all-hazards approach
more
Calls for greater implementation research (IR) capacity came in the wake of compelling evidence that implementation strategies are critically important for the dissemination and facilitation of evid
...
ence-informed policies and interventions to tackle noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), thereby improving outcomes for both individuals and populations. However, at present, implementation of evidence-based interventions and policies is challenged by a gap in lack of academic research on how these cost–effective recommended interventions can be implemented in the context of local settings, especially those of low and middle-income.
more
Recommendations for health care professionals – the experience from Latvia
Urbanization, land use, global trade and industrialization have led to profound and negative impacts on nature, biodiversity and ecosystems across the world. The ongoing depletion of natural resources not only afects environmental conditions but also has an enormous impact on the well-being and secu
...
rity of societies.
This report provides an overview of the impacts of the natural environment on human health. It presents the ways nature and ecosystems can support and protect health and well-being, and describes how nature degradation and loss of biodiversity can threaten human health.
more
9 April 2020
WHO has published the guidance “Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) when COVID-19 disease is suspected” This document is intended for clinicians taking care of hospitalized adult and paediatric patients
...
with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) when COVID-19 infection is suspected. Optimized supportive care should be provided to ensure the best possible chance for survival of COVID-19 patients as described in the WHO guidance:
1. Management of severe COVID-19 requires oxygen therapy and monitoring. Supplemental oxygen therapy should be given immediately to patients with SARI and respiratory distress, hypoxaemia or shock.
2. Management of critical COVID-19 (acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)) requires advanced oxygen/ventilatory support.
more
A stated objective of WHO’s European Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2020 is to ensure better information and knowledge for service planning, development, monitoring and evaluation, including requesting Member States to report on the indicato
...
rs in the Plan.
Progress towards achieving the internationally agreed mental health objectives and targets is monitored in the periodic WHO Mental Health Atlas, which collates global information on mental health policies, resources and services.
This booklet provides a snapshot of the situation in countries in the WHO European region with regard to a number of core mental health targets and indicators, derived from the WHO’s Mental Health Atlas 2017.
more
This checklist helps to identify the necessary measures to be implemented to mitigate infection transmission among travellers and ground-crossing staff in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It features key questions and considerations for gauging
...
the capacity of responding to COVID-19 transmission risks and informing on reducing them at and around ground crossings. It does so in the form of a structured questionnaire. The guidance will have particular relevance for National International Health Regulations Focal Points and competent authorities at the point of entry, including relevant representatives of ground crossing authority/ies of the country such as public health authorities, and representatives from other sectors, including law enforcement, customs and migration.
more
Mental health conditions affect one in 10 people at any one time and account for a large proportion of non-fatal disease burden. There is a high degree of comorbidity between mental health conditions such as depression and other noncommunicable dise
...
ases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and alcohol-use disorders. Mental disorders share common features with other NCDs, including many underlying causes and overarching consequences, their high interdependency and tendency to co-occur, and their predilection to being best managed using integrated approaches.
more
Depression is a leading cause of non-fatal disease burden worldwide, with a lifetime prevalence of 9% among European adult men and 17% among European adult women.
The task at hand requires substantial investments in preventive mental health care, but the potential benefits can be equally rewarding.
...
After all, mental wellbeing is a key resource for learning, productivity, participation and inclusion. Investing in proactive care to promote, protect and sustain mental health in the population is therefore likely to offer good value for money.
more
The most frequent health problems of newly arrived refugees and migrants include accidental injuries, hypothermia, burns, gastrointestinal illnesses, cardiovascular events, pregnancy- and delivery-related complications, diabetes and hypertension. Female refugees and migrants frequently face specific
...
challenges, particularly in maternal, newborn and child health, sexual and reproductive health, and violence. The exposure of refugees and migrants to the risks associated with population movements – psychosocial disorders, reproductive health problems, higher newborn mortality, drug abuse, nutrition disorders, alcoholism and exposure to violence – increase their vulnerability to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)
more
What are the common health problems of refugees and migrants arriving in the European Region?
This leaflet provides support and advice for adults who are recovering from COVID-19. It can be used by individuals after hospitalization from the illness and those in the community who did not need hospitalization. The leaflet can complement care r
...
eceived from health care professionals. This is the second edition of the leaflet that was originally published mid 2020 that includes updates to sections and new topics, encompassing what we have learnt about the condition and recovery in the last year. The leaflet was written by rehabilitation professionals in consultation with people recovering from COVID-19. Although references are not shown for ease of reading, the advice is evidence-based. There is still much we don’t know about post-COVID-19 recovery, and evidence is fast emerging.
Available in different languages
more