Despite its rich culture, great economic potential, high level of education and last but not least its sheer size – it is the largest state whose borders lie entirely within Europe and is 1.7 times the
...
size of the Federal Republic of Germany – Ukraine seems far away in perception and awareness. Publications on recent dramatic events, such as the Ukraine conflict or the Crimea crisis, have done little to change this. In fact, the armed conflict in the eastern Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk, which has been ongoing since February 2014, is still a burdening feature of many political and economic difficulties destabilizing the country. News coverage of health issues in Ukraine has recently been dominated by highly critical reports on the handling of the Covid 19 pandemic. This pandemic exacerbated existing weaknesses in the Ukrainian health care system, but at least it did not create any new ones.
more
This report summarizes the latest scientific knowledge on the links between exposure to air pollution and adverse health effects in children. It is
...
intended to inform and motivate individual and collective action by health care professionals to prevent damage to children’s health from exposure to air pollution.
Air pollution is a major environmental health threat. Exposure to fine particles in both the ambient environment and in the household causes about seven million premature deaths each year. Ambient air pollution alone imposes enormous costs on the global economy, amounting to more than US$ 5 trillion in total welfare losses in 2013.
This public health crisis is receiving more attention, but one critical aspect is often overlooked: how air pollution affects children in uniquely damaging ways. Recent data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) show that air pollution has a vast and terrible impact on child health and survival. Globally, 93% of all children live in environments with air pollution levels above the WHO guidelines (see the full report, Air pollution and child health: prescribing clean air. More than one in every four deaths of children under 5 years of age is directly or indirectly related to environmental risks. Both ambient air pollution and household air pollution contribute to respiratory tract infections that resulted in 543 000 deaths in children under the age of 5 years in 2016.
more
School health programmes have been demonstrated to be 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 implement interventions aimed at reducing the main modifiable risk behaviours for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) . The background provided in this Introduction handbook and the approaches and advice outlined in the Practical application handbook focuses 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
more
Responses to epidemics, emergencies and disasters raise many ethical issues for the people involved, including public health specialists and polic
...
y makers. This training manual provides material on ethical issues in research, surveillance and patient care in these difficult contexts.
more
The integrated Global Action Plan for Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD)
A resource for pesticide registrars and regulators.
The WHO urged governments to restrict access to
...
highly toxic pesticides used for self-poisoning . Other effective interventions include education, youth intervention programs and follow-up of people at risk—and better data. Only 80 out of 183 WHO member states reported high-quality vital registration data in 2016
more
The document at hand presents key findings from a project undertaken globally between July 2014 and May 2015 to assess progress made by UNHCR country and regional operations
...
to effectively protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) asylum-seekers and refugees. Globally, 106 offices, or roughly 90% of eligible country and regional operations, participated in the assessment. The key findings are presented along the following axes: legal, cultural and social context; outreach activities; displacement conditions; asylum and durable solutions; training on issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI); operational guidelines and advocacy efforts.
more
Supplement to the 2016 consolidated Guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for Treating a
...
nd Preventing HIV infection
HIV Treatment
more
This document adopts a health determinants framework for examining the evidence related to women’s poor mental health. From this perspective, pub
...
lic policy including economic policy, socio-cultural and environmental factors, community and social support, stressors and life events, personal behaviour and skills, and availability and access to health services, are all seen to exercise a role in determining women’s mental health status. Similarly, when considering the differences between women and men, a gender approach has been used. While this does not exclude biological or sex differences, it considers the critical roles that social and cultural factors and unequal power relations between men and women play in promoting or impeding mental health. Such inequalities create, maintain and exacerbate exposure to risk factors that endanger women’s mental health, and are most graphically illustrated in the significantly different rates of depression between men and women, poverty and its impact, and the phenomenal prevalence of violence against women.
more
The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of Buruli ulcer (Mycobacterium ulcerans infection) for
...
the medical and scientific communities and the general public alike.
more
This Technical Brief focuses on current principles and approaches to Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) management, highlighting key constraints, gaps in knowledge and areas still lacking consensus. It is intended
...
to inform ongoing debates among practitioners, national partners, donors and analysts on what information and evidence on best practices are currently available, where the gaps are, and priorities for going forward.
more
This module introduces the “Vaccinator’s Manual”, a guideline for vaccinators. The aim of the
...
manual is to update EPI guidelines to include all the changes since the third edition of the Vaccinators Manual (2008)
more
The purpose of this handbook is to provide guidance to Member States on the practical aspects of
...
maintaining sanitary standards at international borders at ports, airports, and ground crossings (points of entry) as set out in the International Health Regulations (2005). It provides technical advice for developing a comprehensive programme for systematic monitoring of disease vectors and integrated vector control at points of entry. This includes standardizing procedures at points of entry and ensuring a sufficient monitoring and response capacity with the necessary infrastructure for surveillance and control of vectors. In addition, this handbook to serves as reference material for port health officers, regulators, port operators, and other competent authorities in charge of implementing the IHR (2005) at points of entry and on conveyances.
more
A Guide to the Application of the WHO Multimodal Hand HygieneImprovement Strategy and the “My
...
Five Moments for Hand Hygiene”Αpproach
more
WHO needs US$2.54 billion to provide life-saving assistance to millions of people around the world facing health emergencies. WHO’s Health Emerge
...
ncy Appeal is a consolidation of WHO’s priorities and financial requirements for 2023 to carry out health interventions in emergency and humanitarian responses. The number of people in need of humanitarian relief has increased by almost a quarter compared to 2022, to a record 339 million. WHO is responding to an unprecedented number of intersecting health emergencies: climate change-related disasters such as flooding in Pakistan and food insecurity across the Sahel in the greater Horn of Africa; the war in Ukraine; and the health impact of conflict in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and north eastern Ethiopia – all of these emergencies overlapping with the health system disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreaks of measles, cholera, and other killers. Contributions to the appeal can be fully flexible, flexible across a region, or flexible within a country appeal.
more
This document contains guidance for strengthening the disability inclusiveness of MHPSS responses and programmes in emergency settings. It is intended to
...
supplement the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (2007).
Overall Objective
To consider and address the mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) requirements of persons living in emergency settings with all types of disabilities on an equal basis to the MHPSS requirements of all persons, using a human rights-based approach and implementing social-ecological frameworks.
more
The preparedness strengthening team deployed to Ghana focused on specific objectives in order to assist
...
the country in becoming as operationally prepared as possible to detect, investigate and report potential EVD cases effectively and safely and to mount an effective response to prevent a larger outbreak. To accomplish this goal, the team conducted “scoping” activities, stakeholder meetings, site visits and a “table-top” simulation exercise to determine what systems were in place and what aspects of preparedness could be strengthened.
It is organized in 10 components of the WHO consolidated checklist for EVD preparedness: 1) planning and coordination; 2) epidemiological and laboratory surveillance; 3) rapid response teams; 4) contact tracing; 5) points of entry; 6) laboratory; 7) case management; 8) infection prevention and control; 9) social mobilization and risk communication; 10) budget.
more
The handbook is the first comprehensive collection of practical tips for journalists on how to r
...
eport on GBV in the context of Syria crisis, building upon internationally recognised ethical principles. It gives an overview of techniques to guarantee the safety, confidentiality and dignity of survivors, their families and communities. It includes terms, ethical questions and practical concerns associated with covering GBV, as well as an overview of some of the organisations involved in both combatting GBV and providing support services for survivors.
more
First Global Patient Safety Challenge Clean Care is Safer Care
The WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care provide health-care workers (HCWs), hospital administrators and health authorities w
...
ith a thorough review of evidence on hand hygiene in health care and specific recommendations to improve practices and reduce transmission of pathogenic microorganisms to patients and HCWs. The present Guidelines are intended to be implemented in any situation in which health care is delivered either to a patient or to a specific group in a population. Therefore, this concept applies to all settings where health care is permanently or occasionally performed, such as home care by birth attendants.
more
Final Evaluation
The project objectives were to promote the conservation, sustainable use and cultivation of endangered medicinal plants in Zi
...
mbabwe, by demonstrating effective models at the local level, and developing a legal framework for the conservation, sustainable use, and equitable sharing of benefits from medicinal plants at the national level. After one year of implementation, the project rationale, indicators and targets were reviewed in order to make them more rigorous as per the new GEF focus on project impact. New indicators and targets were developed in December 2004. The project is composed of five closely linked output areas that have been allocated to different implementing partners to take a lead in. These include the National Herbarium and Botanical Gardens (Output 1), the University of Zimbabwe School of Pharmacy (Output 2), the Southern Alliance for Indigenous Resources (SAFIRE), a regional NGO (Output 2 and 4), and the Attorney General‟s Office (Output 5).
more