The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in the treatment and care of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This report examines the effect of the ...tribute-to-highlight medbox">COVID-19 pandemic on access to NCD medicines, and the policies and strategies implemented by countries and health systems to anticipate and mitigate stresses across NCD medicine supply chains. The full range of upstream and downstream impacts are investigated, including: manufacturing; procurement, importation and last mile delivery; patient-level effects through affordability and availability; and the effects on NCD medicine availability by category of disease. The report culminates in recommended actions and interventions for key stakeholders in the NCD pharmaceutical supply chain, including governments, regulatory authorities, manufacturers and the private sector; as well as directions for future research for improving access and supply chain access resilience.
more
How we respond both now and going forward will help mitigate the impact of COVID-19, and to the extent possible preserve children’s rights to Survive, Learn, and Be Protected. We will focus our ef...forts on the most critical work essential to maintaining these commitments to the extent possible.
more
This report presents three scenarios on the impact of COVID-19 in Africa using economic growth forecasts, mortality and efforts to ameliorate impact through social grants. Likely effects are examine...d on per capita income, poverty and the attainment of selected Sustainable Development Goals targets. Africa’s development trajectory has suffered a severe setback, with extreme poverty rising in all the scenarios. The pandemic threatens Africa in several ways, and the report provides policy recommendations to reduce vulnerability and strengthen resilience.
more
Nat Med (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01381-y
This report analyses the intersection of HIV, COVID-19 and public debt in developing countries. The collision between COVID-...to-highlight medbox">19 and a crippling debt crisis have reversed decades of progress - putting present and future investments in health and HIV at risk. Pragmatic options to address the pandemic triad are proposed.
more
Health care and social service systems are facing exceptional demands at this time. Evidence is emerging that the COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately impacting low-income neighborhoods, communit...ies of color, immigrant and other economically and medically vulnerable patients. These are the patients and communities Community Health Workers (CHWs) are best prepared
to serve. This workforce is defined by their connection to these populations and by their ability to communicate in linguistically and culturally appropriate ways.
more
This paper aims to provide aid agencies with initial analysis and guidance to inform the design, implementation and adaptation of conflict-sensitive humanitarian and development responses to the COVID-19...span> pandemic. It presents a series of overarching considerations to take into account when determining how to build a conflict-sensitive approach into COVID-19 response activities, before outlining some initial, sector-specific considerations. Recommendations are presented throughout.
more
Conflict, in its active or latent forms, is everywhere. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that public health emergencies can strike any country at any time. Given the universality of and interc...onnections between conflict, humanitarian crises, and public health emergencies, practitioners trained in one sector or the other are being called upon to understand how to navigate all of these emergencies at once.
more
This report presents examples from different agencies on how they approached community engagement in their Covid-19 responses, the tools and methodologies used, as well as the challenges they encoun...tered and how they attempted to overcome these. It discusses what community engagement means to the various agencies interviewed and in the literature consulted. And it puts forward some reflections on how CCCM and other sector agencies can take steps to ensure community participation in this and future pandemic responses.
more
First published in 2020, this toolkit is intended for clinicians working in acute care, managing adult and paediatric patients with acute respiratory infection, including severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis and septic shock. The main objective is to provide key tools for us...e in the care of critically ill patients – from hospital entry to hospital discharge.
The 2022 updated version includes new tools and adapted algorithms, checklists, memory aids for COVID-19 and influenza, and the latest clinical evidence regarding clinical management of SARI. It is intended to help clinicians care for SARI patients: from epidemiology of severe acute respiratory infections, screening and triage, infection prevention and control, monitoring of patients, laboratory diagnosis, principles of oxygen therapy and different types of ventilation (invasive and non-invasive), as well as antimicrobial and immunomodulator therapies, to ethical and quality of care assessments.
The first edition is availbel in Ukrainian and Russian
more
The United Nations Network on Migration is committed to supporting all partners in pursuit of the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, recognizing that this cooperative framework provides an invaluable tool for ensuring inclusive, collective responses to ...n class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">COVID-19 and its impact.
To that end, this briefing is part of a series by the Network looking at different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they relate to migrants and their communities. The document provides practical guidance to States and other stakeholders for an improved common understanding of safe and inclusive access to services for migrants. The brief makes the case for enhanced access to services for migrants in the context of COVID-19 preparedness, prevention, and response – and beyond.
more
The “United Nations Framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19: Shared responsibility, global solidarity and urgent action for people in need” calls for protecting jobs, bus...inesses and livelihoods to set in motion a safe recovery of societies and economies as soon as possible for a more sustainable, gender-equal, and carbon-neutral path—better than the “old normal”.
more
22 Sept. 2021
The rapid development of effective Covid-19 vaccines in 2020 gave hope to the world in the darkest days of the deadly pandemic. However, the vaccine roll-out has been massively skewed... towards wealthy nations. While rich states have hoarded vaccines, companies have also played a decisive role in restricting fair access to a life-saving health product. This report focuses on six leading vaccine developers, AstraZeneca, BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer, assessing each company’s human rights policy, pricing structure, records on intellectual property, knowledge and technology sharing, allocation of available vaccine doses and transparency.
Available in Arabic, English, French, German and Spanish
more
The Infection prevention and control in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a living guideline consolidates technical guidance developed and published during the ...te-to-highlight medbox">COVID-19 pandemic into evidence-informed recommendations for infection prevention and control (IPC). This living guideline is available both online and PDF.
**This version of the living guideline (version 5.0) **includes the following seven revised statements for the prevention, identification and management of SARS-CoV-2 infections among health and care workers:
a good practice statement on national and subnational testing strategies;
a good practice statement on passive syndromic surveillance of health and care workers;
a good practice statement on prioritizing health and care workers for SARS-CoV-2 testing;
a good practice statement on protocols for reporting and managing health and care worker exposures;
a good practice statement to limit in-person work of health and care workers with active SARS-CoV-2 infections;
a statement on high-risk exposures and quarantine; and,
a conditional recommendation on the duration of isolation for health and care workers.
Understanding the updated section
Prevention of infections in the health care setting includes a multi-pronged and multi-factorial approach that includes IPC and occupational health and safety measures and adherence to Public Health and Social Measures in the community by the health workforce. The underlying infection prevention and control strategy of this section is the notion that early identification of symptomatic cases, testing and quarantining/isolating health and care workers decreases the risk of nosocomial infection to patients and to other health and care workers.
more
More than two years since the first SARS-CoV-2 infections were reported, the COVID-19 pandemic remains an acute global emergency. In this Strategic Preparedness, Readiness and Response plan for 2022..., WHO sets out a number of key strategic adjustments that, if implemented rapidly and consistently at national, regional, and global levels, will enable the world to end the acute phase of the pandemic.
more
The Lancet Global Health Published:May 12, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30229-1
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV‑2) causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has reached pandemic levels;
Patients with cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and establishe...d cardiovascular disease (CVD) represent a vulnerable population when suffering from COVID-19;
Patients with cardiac injury in the context of COVID-19 have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality
more
This interim guidance is for LTCF managers and corresponding infection prevention and control (IPC) focal persons in LTCF and updates the guidance published in March 2020. The objective of this document is to provide guidance on IPC in LTCFs in the context of ...ox">COVID-19 to 1) prevent COVID-19-virus from entering the facility and spreading within the facility, and 2) to support safe conditions for visiting through the rigorous application of IPC procedures for the residents’ well-being. WHO will update these recommendations as new information becomes available.
Availabel in English, French, Russian and Spanish
more