Reports of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) microorganisms are increasing globally, threatening to render existing treatments ineffective against many infectious diseases. In Africa, AMR has already been documented to be a problem for human immunodefic...iency virus (HIV) and the pathogens that cause malaria, tuberculosis (TB), typhoid, cholera, meningitis, gonorrhoea and dysentery. Recognizing the urgent need for action, the 2016 United Nations (UN) General Assembly approved a resolution to ensure sustained and effective global action to address AMR.
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TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, second only to COVID-19, and drug...-resistant TB strains are still a major concern. In the fight against TB, urgent investment is critical, especially in the context of the ongoing pandemic.
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The goal of this Global Action Plan is to articulate synergistic actions that will be required to prevent HIVDR from undermining efforts to achieve global targets on health ...-highlight medbox">and HIV, and to provide the most effective treatment to all people living with HIV including adults, key populations, pregnant and breastfeeding women, children and adolescents. The Global Action Plan has five strategic objectives: 1) prevention and response; 2) monitoring and surveillance; 3) research and innovation; 4) laboratory capacity; and 5) governance and enabling mechanisms.
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The Global status report on violence prevention 2014, which reflects data from 133 countries, is the first report ...ht medbox">of its kind to assess national efforts to address interpersonal violence, namely child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner and sexual violence, and elder abuse. Jointly published by WHO, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the report reviews the current status of violence prevention efforts in countries, and calls for a scaling up of violence prevention programmes; stronger legislation and enforcement of laws relevant for violence prevention; and enhanced services for victims of violence.
You can download summaries in different languages, single chapters and graphics
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9 June 2021
Since its launch, GLASS has expanded in scope and coverage and as of May 2021, 109 countries ...x">and territories worldwide have enrolled in GLASS. A key new component in GLASS is the inclusion of antimicrobial consumption (AMC) surveillance at the national level highlighted in this fourth GLASS report.
The fourth GLASS report summarizes the 2019 data reported to WHO in 2020. It includes data on AMC surveillance from 15 countries and AMR data on 3 106 602 laboratory-confirmed infections reported by 24 803 surveillance sites in 70 countries, compared to the 507 923 infections and 729 surveillance sites reporting to the first data call in 2017.
The report also describes developments over the past years of GLASS and other AMR surveillance programmes led by WHO, including resistance to anti-human immunodeficiency virus and anti-tuberculosis medicines, antimalarial drug efficacy.
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A summary of the national drug situation
A summary of the national drug situation
A summary of the national drug situation
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are of increasing concern for society and national governments, as well as globally due to their high mortality rate. The... main risk factors of NCDs can be classified into the categories of self-management, genetic factors, environmental factors, factors of medical conditions, and socio-demographic factors.
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This protocol establishes the principles and definitions of a surveillance system devised by the... WHO Health in Prisons Programme (HIPP) to monitor the evolution of COVID-19-related epidemiological data in prisons and other places of detention and to report the main measures adopted to prevent, control and manage the spread of the disease.
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The Event-based Surveillance Framework is intended to be used by authorities and agencies responsible for
surveillance and response. This framewo...rk serves as an outline to guide stakeholders interested in implementing
event-based surveillance (EBS) using a multisectoral, One Health approach. To that end, the document is arranged
in interlinked chapters and annexes that can be modified and adapted, as needed, by users.
This is a revised version of the original “Framework for Event-based Surveillance” that was published in 2018. This
framework does not replace any other available EBS materials, but rather builds on existing relevant or related
documents and serves as a practical guide for the implementation of EBS in Africa. This framework is aligned with
the third edition of the WHO Joint External Evaluation for the following indicators: strengthened early warning
surveillance systems that are able to detect events of significance for public health and health security (Indicator
D2.1); improved communication and collaboration across sectors and between National, intermediate and local
public health response levels of authority regarding surveillance of events of public health significance (Indicator
D2.2); and improved national and intermediate-level capacity to analyse data (Indicator D2.3). As countries begin
to implement and demonstrate EBS functionality they will ensure an increase in JEE scores and progress towards
meeting the requirements outlined in the IHR3F
Additionally, in African Union Member States that have adopted the Integrated Disease Surveillance and
Response (IDSR) strategy, this document is a complement to and can enhance the implementation of IDSR,
especially for the 3rd edition (2019) that includes components related to EBS.
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Tuberculosis (TB) is, and should be, a curable disease; however, each year significant numbers of patients acquire or develop drug-resistant ...TB, which has a much lower cure rate. Patients with drug-resistant TB have a high prevalence of symptoms; hence, staff caring for these patients should have some familiarity with palliative care, so that general palliative care principles are available to all patients. The timely identification, and addressing, of adverse events occurring during the treatment course is considered as general palliative care for those receiving curative treatment. This publication summarizes the general palliative care approach, which is recommended for use in settings and services that occasionally treat palliative care patients, but do not provide palliative care as the main focus of their work. The review focuses on 18 high TB priority countries of the WHO European Region.
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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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This publication aims to provide examples of better palliative care practices for older people to help those involved in planning and supporting care-oriented services most appropriately <...span class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">and effectively. Examples have been identifi ed from literature searches and from an international call for examples through various organizations, including the European Association of Palliative Care and the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society. Some examples consider how to improve aspects within the whole health system; specifi c smaller examples consider how to improve palliative care education, support in the community, in hospitals or for specifi c groups of people, such as people in nursing homes and people with dementia and their families. Some examples await rigorous evaluation of effectiveness, and more research is needed in this fi eld, especially the cost–effectiveness and generalizability of these initiatives.
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The World Heart Federation (WHF) Roadmap series covers a large range of cardiovascular conditions. These Roadmaps identify potential roadblocks and... their solutions to improve the prevention, detection and management of cardiovascular diseases and provide a generic global framework available for local adaptation. A first Roadmap on raised blood pressure was published in 2015. Since then, advances in hypertension have included the publication of new clinical guidelines (AHA/ACC; ESC; ESH/ISH); the launch of the WHO Global HEARTS Initiative in 2016 and the associated Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) initiative in 2017; the inclusion of single-pill combinations on the WHO Essential
Medicines’ list as well as various advances in technology, in particular telemedicine and mobile health. Given the substantial benefit accrued from effective interventions in the management of hypertension and their potential for scalability in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), the WHF has now revisited and updated the ‘Roadmap for raised BP’ as ‘Roadmap for hypertension’
by incorporating new developments in science and policy. Even though cost-effective lifestyle and medical interventions to prevent and manage hypertension exist, uptake is still low, particularly in resource-poor areas. This Roadmap examined the roadblocks pertaining to both the demand side (demographic and socio-economic factors, knowledge and beliefs, social relations, norms, and
traditions) and the supply side (health systems resources and processes) along the patient pathway to propose a range of possible solutions to overcoming them. Those include the development of population-wide prevention and control programmes; the implementation of opportunistic screening and of out-of-office blood pressure measurements; the strengthening of primary care and a greater focus on task sharing and team-based care; the delivery of people-centred care and stronger patient and carer education; and the facilitation of adherence to treatment. All of the above are dependent upon the availability and effective distribution of good quality, evidencebased, inexpensive BP-lowering agents.
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A survey was conducted in countries in all six WHO regions and focused on the building blocks that are considered prerequisites to combat antimicrobial resistance: a comprehensive national plan, lab...oratory capacity to undertake surveillance for resistant microorganisms, access to safe, effective antimicrobial medicines, control of the misuse of these medicines, awareness and understanding among the general public and effective infection prevention and control programmes.
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The five hepatitis viruses have different epidemiological profiles, and their impact, duration, and transmission route also vary. ...ibute-to-highlight medbox">The most common transmission routes contributing to the spread of hepatitis are exposure to infected blood via blood transfusion or unsafe injection practices, consumption of contaminated food and drinking water, and transmission from mother to child during pregnancy and delivery. Also, unsafe injection practices, including the use of unsterile needles and syringes, serve as a major pathway for the spread of hepatitis B and C, and reducing transmission of both diseases requires addressing these practices.
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The 2020 recommendations for the programmatic management of TB preventive treatment are the firs...t to be released under the rubric of WHO consolidated TB guidelines (Module 1 – Prevention). The WHO consolidated TB guidelines will gradually group all TB recommendations and will be complemented by matching modules of a consolidated operational handbook. [1] The handbook will provide practical advice on how to put in place the recommendations at the scale needed to achieve national and global impact. The first handbook module in the series will be on the programmatic management of TB preventive treatment and will accompany the 2020 guidelines.
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This World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) joint guidelines production aims at harnessing the contributio...n of employers and workers towards the control of TB. It covers all the practical steps involved in establishing TB control activities, including (for large employers) starting and running a workplace TB control programme. They are intended for use in all countries in which TB incidence is high and the target audience for the guidelines includes employers, employee organizations, NTP managers, and agencies providing technical support for TB control.
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One of the most important ways we feel we can help to reduce the burden of cancer in Africa is t...o work with African cancer advocacy organisations to help educate and advocate about cancer in their countries. To this end in 2010 we designed with our partners, 13 posters for use in Africa
giving health and lifestyle tips on how to avoid cancer and highlighting the early warning sign and symptoms of common cancers in Africa
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