The meningitis road map has been designated as a flagship global strategy of the WHO’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work, 2019–2023 and is a...n essential component in achieving universal health coverage.
The road map will reinforce and combine with wider initiatives, such as those aimed at strengthening primary health care and health systems, increasing immunization coverage, improving global health security, fighting antimicrobial resistance and advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities. It will complement other global control strategies, such as those addressing sepsis, pneumonia, tuberculosis and HIV. Implementation will be a challenge for all countries across the world, but especially in resource-poor settings where the burden of meningitis is greatest. The targets for the visionary and strategic goals will be adapted to regional and local contexts.
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This report presents data and outlines best practices and policies that can put governments on the path to providing every child with ...attribute-to-highlight medbox">the best start in life. It outlines the neuroscience of early childhood development (ECD), including the importance of nutrition, protection and stimulation in the early years. And it makes the case for scaling up investment, evaluation and monitoring in ECD programmes. The report concludes with a six-point call to action for governments and their partners to help maximize the potential of the children who will build the future – by making the most of the unparalleled opportunities offered by the early moments in life.
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Internally displaced children are twice invisible in global and national data. First, because internally displaced people (IDPs) of all ages are often unaccounted for. Second, because age-disaggregation of any kind of data is limited, ...ttribute-to-highlight medbox">and even more so for IDPs.
Planning adequate responses to meet the needs of internally displaced children, however, requires having at least a sense of how many there are and where they are. This report presents the first estimates of the number of children living in internal displacement triggered by conflict and violence at the global, regional and national levels.
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4th edition
The WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual (LBM) has been in broad use at all levels of clinical and public health laboratories, and other bi...omedical sectors globally, serving as a de facto global standard that presents best practices and sets trends in biosafety.
LBM encouraged countries to accept and implement basic concepts in biological safety and to develop national codes of practice for the safe handling of biological agents in laboratories within their geographical borders.
This fourth edition of the manual builds on the risk assessment framework introduced in the third edition. A thorough, evidence-based and transparent assessment of the risks allows safety measures to be balanced with the actual risk of working with biological agents on a case-by-case basis.
This novel evidence- and risk-based approach will allow optimised resource use and sustainable laboratory biosafety and biosecurity policies and practices that are relevant to their individual circumstances and priorities, enabling equitable access to clinical and public health laboratory tests and biomedical research opportunities without compromising safety.
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Vitamin D deficiency is thought to be common among pregnant women, particularly during the winter months, and has been found to be associated with an increased risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational dia...betes mellitus, preterm birth, and other tissue-specific conditions.
This guideline is intended for a wide audience including policy-makers, their expert advisers, and technical and programme staff at organizations involved in the design, implementation and scaling-up of nutrition actions for public health.
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2016-2018 Early implementation,
This report presents 2015 data on the consumption of systemic antibiotics from 65 countries and areas, contributing to our understanding of how antibiotics are used ...in these countries. In addition, the report documents early efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) and participating countries to monitor antimicrobial consumption, describes the WHO global methodology for data collection, and highlights the challenges and future steps in monitoring antimicrobial consumption.
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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 ...highlight medbox">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 over 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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WHO has published the first-ever guidance on the clinical management of diphtheria. The only previously available guidance was an operational proto...col. The new guidance followed the rigorous process for developing guidance at WHO.
It addresses the use of Diphtheria Antitoxin (DAT) in the treatment of diphtheria. There is a worldwide shortage of DAT and evidence based recommendations on the use of DAT were requested by many Member States.
The guidance also includes new recommendations on antibiotics. In patients with suspected or confirmed diphtheria, WHO recommends using macrolide antibiotics (azithromycin, erythromycin) rather than penicillin antibiotics.
This clinical practice guideline has been rapidly developed recognizing the global increase in diphtheria outbreaks. Outbreaks of diphtheria in Nigeria, Guinea and neighbouring countries in 2023 have highlighted the urgent need for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of diphtheria. Given the sporadic nature of outbreaks, many clinicians in the affected regions have never managed acute diphtheria and its related complications. Diphtheria remains a neglected disease and vaccination is the top priority. At the same time, for patients with diphtheria, access to antibiotics, DAT and supportive care can be lifesaving.
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• provide scientific information on the safety, efficacy, and quality control/ quality assurance of widely used medicinal plants, in order to facilitate their appropriate use in Member States;
... provide models to assist Member States in developing their own mono- graphs or formularies for these or other herbal medicines; and
• facilitate information exchange among Member States.
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The global emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is posing a threat to human health. Putting resources into the containment of AMR – including surveillance – is one of ...te-to-highlight medbox">the highest-yield investments a country can make to mitigate its impact. In 2015, WHO launched the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS), the first global collaborative effort to foster AMR surveillance in bacteria causing acute infections. As of December 2018, 71 countries are enrolled in GLASS. The aim of this report is to document participation efforts and outcomes across these countries, and highlight differences and constraints identified to date. This report follows on from the first GLASS Report – Early implementation 2016-17, published in January 2018, and drawing on data from GLASS first data call in 2017.
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Based on research by a team of Nepalese and international experts, this report carries an analysis of the five key elements in the sector - land, b...asic services, housing finance, building materials and construction technologies, and labour. It gives an assessment
of how these components are governed by policy, institutional and legal frameworks, and how they are linked with one another and other urban policies.
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Guidelines for Good Clinical Laboratory Practices (GCLP) outlines the principles and procedures to be followed by medical laboratories involved in clinical research ...ht medbox">and/or patient care so as to provide quality data which can be used for health research and patient treatment. As the use of laboratory tests (often expensive) are increasingly becoming a part of medical diagnosis and research, generation of quality data would be a cost-effective and ethically sound strategy.
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Based on the survey, five principles for deinstitutionalization were identified: community-based services must be in place; the health workforce must be committed to change; political support at ...an class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">the highest and broadest levels is crucial; timing is key; and additional financial resources are needed.
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Road safety is an issue that does not receive anywhere near the attention it deserves – and it really is one
of our great opportunities to save lives around ...dbox">the world
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The 2023 meeting of the WHO Clinical Consortium on Healthy Ageing (CCHA) was the group’s ninth gathering ...ox">and took place in Geneva 5–7 December 2023. The meeting was structured around seven panels, with a series of technical presentations, plenary discussions and group work, and a final session outlining the work programme for 2024.
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This update of the Guidelines for poison control, entitled Guidelines for establishing a poison centre, reflects the development of the role of poi...son centres in public health and the sound management of chemicals, described in section 1, and the opportunities provided by new technology. Assessments carried out under the IHR show
continuing gaps in capacity for managing chemicals (2). In particular, many countries still lack access to poison
centre services (3). There is therefore demand for updated guidance.
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Module 12:
Adolescents and young adults
July 2018
Module 12: Adolescents and young adults. This module is for people who are interested in providing PrEP services to older adolescents ...class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">and young adults who are at substantial risk for HIV. It provides information on: factors that influence HIV susceptibility among young people; clinical considerations for safety and continuation on PrEP; ways to improve access and service utilization; and inclusive monitoring approaches to improve the recording and reporting of data on young people.
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The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closures around the world, affecting almost 1.6 billion students. The effects of even short disruptions in a ch...ild’s schooling on their learning and well-being have been shown to be acute and long lasting. The capacities of education systems to respond to the crisis by delivering remote learning and support to children and families have been diverse yet uneven.
This report reviews the emerging evidence on remote learning throughout the global school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic to help guide decision-makers to build more effective, sustainable, and resilient education systems for current and future crises.
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The executive summary of the WHO Global oral health status report presents a snapshot of the most recent data on major oral diseases, risk factors,... health system challenges and opportunities for reform. The report’s clear conclusion is that the status of global oral health is alarming and requires urgent action. The report will serve as a reference for policy-makers and an orientation for a wide range of stakeholders across different sectors to guide advocacy towards better prioritization of oral health in global, regional and national contexts. In addition, the report provides, as a separate online resource, the first-ever country oral health profiles for all 194 WHO Member States, giving unique insights into key areas and markers of oral health that are relevant for decision-makers.
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Developmental disabilities are common. Yet, children with developmental disabilities have been neglected in health systems planning and policy provisions for health and continue to experience stigma...tization, institutionalization, barriers to access health care and inequalities in health and education outcomes.
Using findings from research and practice and guided by the tenets of international human rights conventions, this WHO-UNICEF Global Report on children with developmental disabilities provides principles and approaches to intentionally include the needs and aspirations of children and young people with developmental disabilities in policy, programming and public health monitoring. It makes the case for greater accountability and proposes 10 priority actions to accelerate changes towards inclusive environments and responsive multisectoral care systems for children with developmental disabilities.
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