This report offers a summary of the provided support and recommendations on priority activities for IPC improvement at national and facility levels. The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted areas for improvement in the IPC programme at national and facilit...y levels. Improvements in the IPC programme were achieved during the acute phase of the pandemic response. WHO will continue to support the Ministry Health of Ukraine and the Public Health Centre, as well as health facility managers and health-care providers, on the next steps to ensure the sustainability of progress achieved and to further enhance IPC in health-care settings.
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This new plan has been developed to build on successes made and lessons learnt from implementation of the two initial plans and to provide a short to medium term strategic anchor against which preparedness and response plans to the corona virus disease...an> COVID-19 epidemic in the country should focus on for the period June 2021 to June 2022.
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Strengthening surveillance for Variant of Concern (VOC) Omicron (B.1.1.529): technical brief and priority actions for member states World Health Organization Headquarters, 28 November 2021
The Executive Board at its 150th session noted an earlier version of this report.1 The present report provides an update on the implementation of the Strategic Action Plan on Polio Transition (2018–2023)2 at the start of 2022, within the context of the coronavirus ...ht medbox">disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
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Yaws is targeted for eradication by 2030, using a strategy based on mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin. New diagnostics are needed to aid eradication. Serology is currently the mainstay for yaws diagnosis; however, inaccuracies associated with current serological tests makes it difficu...lt to fully assess the need for and impact of eradication campaigns using these tools. Under the recommendation of the WHO Diagnostic Technical Advisory Group (DTAG) for Neglected Tropical Diseases(NTDs), a working group was assembled and tasked with agreeing on priority use cases for developing target product profiles (TPPs) for new diagnostics tools.
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The article "Non-communicable diseases, injuries, and mental ill-health in Africa: the role of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention" examines the role of the Africa CDC in addressin...g non-communicable diseases (NCDs), injuries, and mental health across the continent. It highlights how Africa CDC, originally focused on communicable disease response, has expanded its mandate to include NCDs and mental health, driven by the high mortality and morbidity associated with these conditions.
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As our world changes, so too does the burden of disease. Globalisation, evolving trade and consumption patterns, and increased access to life-saving medical care are just some of the factors that have transformed the global health landscape.
Fact Sheet, May 2018.
Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus (it is transmitted from animals to humans) and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people. In infected people, it causes a range of illnesses from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory ...illness and fatal encephalitis. The virus can also cause severe disease in animals such as pigs, resulting in significant economic losses for farmers
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The updated List of Essential Diagnostics contains 46 general tests that can be used for routine patient care as well as for the detection and diagnosis of a wide array of disease conditions, and 69 tests intended for the detection, diagnosis and mo...nitoring of specific diseases.
The List is divided into two sections depending on the user and setting: one for community settings, which includes self-testing; and a second one for clinical laboratories, which can be general and specialized facilities.
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The strategic priorities of the CCS 2014–2018 are:
(1) Strengthening the health system.
(2) Enhancing the achievement of communicable disease control targets.
(3) Controlling the growth of the noncommunicable ...to-highlight medbox">disease burden.
(4) Promoting health throughout the life course.
(5) Strengthening capacity for emergency risk management and surveillance systems for various health threats.
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The objectives of the meeting were:
1. To update the current status of the disease transmission, country capacities and plans for tackling the disease.
2. To understand the epidemiology includin...g disease distribution and risk, the models
for estimating under-detection, the geographical variations of in clinical presentation,
the roles of domestic and wild animal reservoirs and the subsequent different
transmission patterns and control approaches, including vector control.
3. To update current research and development efforts for improving diagnostic and
treatment tools.
4. To define the goals for achieving the control of r-HAT, the need for a multisectoral
approach and to discuss the strategy for controlling r-HAT and the coordination
mechanisms.
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Natural disasters often increase morbidity and mortality rates. Taking appropriate measures to maintain environmental health helps to reduce or eliminate the risks of preventable disease and death. Such measures contribute not only to the health of ...individuals in and near disaster-stricken areas, but they also contribute to decreasing the high costs of providing emergency health services in the aftermath of disaster.
This document is divided into several parts. The first section primarily addresses the effects of natural disasters on environmental health conditions and services. In the second section, environmental health measures are described that should be undertaken in each of three time frames: the predisaster, disaster, and postdisaster periods.
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The World Health Organization is issuing a "roadmap" to guide and coordinate the international response to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa.
The aim is to stop ongoing Ebola transmission worldwide within 6–9 months, while rapid...ly managing the consequences of any further international spread. It also recognizes the need to address, in parallel, the outbreak’s broader socioeconomic impact.
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The summary of the infection prevention and control (IPC) measures is for anyone providing direct and non-direct care to patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) in health-care facilities (HCFs). Essential IPC measures are also... included in the Table which can be used as a stand-alone tool.
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Malaria is a prevalent cause of febrile illnesses in areas with high transmission, and its clinical presentation overlaps with initial signs of Ebola disease. For this reason, the effectiveness of the Ebola response in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leo...ne can be optimized through the deployment of targeted measures to reduce the number of fever cases due to malaria
WHO recommends specific adaptations in the diagnosis of malaria and in LLIN distribution in countries heavily affected by the Ebola outbreak and mass drug administration using artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) in areas where transmission of both Ebola and malaria is high and access to malaria treatment is very low.
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What are the local beliefs and practices around illnesses and death, the transmission of disease and spirituality, which affect decision-making (around health-seeking behaviour, caring for relatives and nature of burials) and can inform effective be...haviour change interventions for preventing Ebola in Sierra Leone?
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Full Report.
In response to a call by the United Nations Secretary-General and the Governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, an international team conducted an Ebola Recovery Assessment. The aim was to contribute towards laying the foundation for short-, medium- and long-term recovery while ...the medical emergency response continues to tackle the epidemic. This report is a contribution to ongoing efforts by the Governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to design their national Ebola virus disease recovery strategies
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Cholera epidemics continue to be a major public health problem in many countries around the
world. When epidemics strike, they can spread rapidly. The disease can also evolve quickly;
patients with severe ...">disease can die of dehydration hours after showing the first symptoms of
cholera.
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This Global Plan builds on the previous edition, which laid out priority actions for 2018-2022, informed by global commitments member states endorsed at the 2018 United Nations High-Level Meeting (UNHLM) on TB. The resource needs estimates from this... Global Plan include resources needed for implementing TB care and prevention and R&D into new tools. This Global Plan has already informed the Global Fund Investment Case and the 2022 G20 deliberations on TB. It will serve as a key document for inspiring and aligning global advocacy efforts, such as for the upcoming UNHLM on TB in 2023.
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Reducing the humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas is a key priority for the United
Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), civil society and an increasing number of Member States.
The Unite...d Nations Secretary-General has expressly called on parties to conflict to avoid the use in populated areas of
explosive weapons with wide-area effects.
While the use of explosive weapons in populated areas may in some circumstances be lawful under international
humanitarian law (IHL), empirical evidence reveals a foreseeable and often widespread pattern of harm to civilians,
particularly from explosive weapons with wide-area effects.
Many types of explosive weapons exist and are currently in use. These include air-delivered bombs, artillery projectiles,
missiles and rockets, mortar bombs, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Some are launched from the air and
others are surface launched. Whilst different technical features dictate their accuracy of delivery and explosive effect,
these weapons generally create a zone of blast and fragmentation with the potential to kill, injure or damage anyone
or anything within that zone. This makes their use in populated areas – such as towns, cities, markets and camps for
refugees and displaced persons or other concentrations of civilians – particularly problematic. The problems increase
further if the effects of the weapon extend across a wide-area either because of the scale of blast that they produce; their
inaccuracy; the use of multiple munitions across an area; or a combination thereof.
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