Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a complex issue of global concern. AMR is not simply a problem of medical science being beaten by nature; human action and perverse incentives play a major role in its development. The misuse of antibiotics in the m...edical, veterinary and agricultural sectors, which include the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics, their overuse in the livestock sector, and insufficient hygiene practices in hospital, all contribute to the rise of AMR
more
The Government of India is embarking on a mammoth task to prevent COVID-19 spread among communities. The Rapid Evidence Synthesis team received a request to support the planning and development of resources for ensuring preparedness of FLHWs for COV...ID-19 . The rapid evidence synthesis was conducted in a period of three days.
The findings highlight what we can learn from recent pandemics such that we are prepared for potential scenarios and challenges due to COVID-19. Key issues which decision-makers need to consider, based on available evidence
more
ON LIFE SUPPORT3The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak has been contained, but confl ict and under-development leave over three million children at risk from measles and other killer diseases. The country’s medical services – ill-eq...uipped and under-resourced – are on life support and in no condition to protect children unless urgent measures are taken.
more
The State of the world’s nursing 2020 report provides the latest, most up-to-date evidence on and policy options for the global nursing workforce. It also presents a compelling case for considerable – yet feasible – investment in nursing education, jobs, and leadership.
The primary chapters... of the report outline the role and contributions of nurses with respect to the WHO “triple billion” targets; the health labour market and workforce policy levers to address the challenges to nurses working to their full potential; the findings from analysis of National Health Workforce Account (NHWA) data from 191 Member States and progress in relation to the projected shortfall of nurses by 2030; and forward-looking policy options for an agenda to strengthen the nursing workforce to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, improve health for all, and strengthen the primary health care workforce on our journey towards universal health coverage.
more
There is no question that over the last thirty years environmentaldegradation and the ecological crisis have become in our day and age apredominant sign of the times. In response to this worrisome develop-...ment official documents of the Roman Catholic Church, at various lev-els, have sought to address the growing ecological concern from theperspective of Catholic social teaching. Consequently references to ecol-ogy and environmental issues have surfaced in papal encyclicals duringthe last fifteen years generating national and regional responses. In theUnited States, for example, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops hasissued two pastoral statements on environmental issues in 1991 and2001. Significantly, the Catholic Bishops of the Pacific Northwest, rep-resenting Canada and the U.S. have also issued a unique internationalletter focused on a particular ecological region—the Columbia RiverWatershed. What all of these efforts hold in common is the attempt toapply Catholic social teaching to a new and disturbing phenomenon inhuman experience. The result has been an expansion of Catholic socialthought. What was once the “social question” has now become the socialand “ecological question.” This development, the effort to address ecol-ogy and environmental issues as ethical problems, is the focus of thispaper. In particular this paper will link environmental and humanecology with the concept of sustainability, with the intention of propos-ing an interpretation of the common good and a definition of sustain-ability within Catholic social teaching.
more
Asia is home to more than half of the world’s 1.1 billion girls. Gender inequality in many parts of the region means that girls are often systematically disadvantaged and oppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. Girls’ development<.../span> is hampered by child, early and forced marriage and high adolescent pregnancy rates. Across the region, genderbased violence against girls and women constitutes a serious and widespread rights violation, particularly with regard to domestic violence, marital rape, and trafficking in women and girls.
Emerging data shows that since the outbreak of COVID-19, violence against girls and women, particularly domestic violence, has intensified
more
This fourth progress report November 2020 of the Global HIV Prevention Coalition reviews the progress in the 28 focus countries and complements the three previous progress reports. This report describes key developments in 2019–2020, identifies ch...allenges and opportunities (including those associated with the COVID-19 pandemic) and outlines priorities for the years ahead. It is divided into two main sections.
more
The manual has been designed in a comprehensive manner, the aim being to provide a holistic approach to the short-term development of human resources, with a focus on primary care physicians. This is a reference manual meant for primary care physici...ans who will provide care to older people in primary health care facilities. The information on old age care is meant to be incorporated into the everyday clinical practice of primary care physicians. This manual will help to enhance the knowledge and skills of physicians. It is expected that the use of the manual will improve the approach to issues of old age and promote holistic care of older people, which will ultimately improve their quality of life.
more
The Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report – Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000 - 2020 – presents estimates on household access to safely managed drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services over the past five years, and assesses progress toward achieving the s...ixth sustainable development goal (SDG) to ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030’.
more
This Commission report aims to contribute to a new era of multilateral cooperation based on strong UN institutions to reduce the dangers of COVID-19, forestall the next pandemic, and enable the world to achieve the agreed goals of sustainable development...span>, human rights, and peace that governments are committed to pursue as members of the UN. We address this Commission report to the UN member states, the UN agencies and multilateral institutions, and multilateral processes such as the G20 and the G7.
more
What are the FP and CAC competencies?
Through the clear articulation of the family planning and comprehensive abortion care (FP and CAC) competencies for the primary health care workforce, the aim is to advance improvements in FP and CAC service delivery by aligning health worker education approach...es with population health needs and health system demands.
This document, which describes these competencies in detail, is intended to:
be a foundational tool to be adopted and adapted by educators and regulators for FP and CAC providers (students) with a pre-service training pathway of at least 12 months;
describe competencies that are relevant to current and future health practice;
enable widespread use of the competencies not only for curriculum development for pre-service education, but also for in-service education, regulation, qualifications, quality assurance, personal development, performance evaluation, recruitment, management and career progression;
focus on the core functions of FP and CAC providers within broader efforts towards achieving universal health coverage
more
Chagas disease (CD) is endemic in the Americas, being present in 21 countries, where it affects about 6 million
people.(1) With such relevant numbers of people affected and disability adjusted life years lost, CD is a poverty-related
and poverty-promoting disease.
Although data describe a relevan...t ongoing public health problem for the American continent, significant results
in the interruption of transmission has been achieved by coordinated multi-country programs. In particular, the
Southern Cone Initiative (SCI), officially formalised in November 1991 by the Ministers of Health of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, has shown how a well-designed control program can significantly reduce
CD transmission.(2) Before this initiative, in these countries, there were 11 million infected persons and 50 million at
risk, 62% of the infected individuals of the whole continent.
more
In support of the London Declaration goals, PATH aims to catalyze engagement of the diagnostics industry and product development efforts. As part of this work, PATH conducted a diagnostic landscape analysis to identify gaps and evaluated current and... nascent HAT diagnostics that may provide solutions.
We conducted literature reviews and interviews with key stakeholders to identify use cases for HAT diagnostics, understand current practices, and analyze progress toward more robust diagnostics across
different biomarkers.
more
Every day in 2020, approximately 800 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth - meaning that a woman dies around every two minutes.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.1 is to reduce maternal mortality to less ...than 70 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births by 2030.
The United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) – comprising WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Bank Group and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (UNDESA/Population Division) has collaborated with external technical experts on a new round of estimates covering 2000 to 2020. The estimates represent the most up to date, internationally-comparable MMEIG estimates of maternal mortality, using refined input data and methods from previous rounds.
The report presents internationally comparable global, regional and country-level estimates and trends for maternal mortality between 2000 and 2020.
more
This analysis focused on the chronic form of HAT caused by T. b. gambiense, as it contributes to the majority of disease burden. Information from the literature review,
product development landscape, and stakeholder interviews was compiled to:
- ...Identify use cases and understand current diagnostic practices and tools associated with each use case.
- Analyze progress toward robust diagnostics for HAT across different biomarkers.
- Develop recommendations for steps to improve the availability, access, and adoption of HAT diagnostic tools.
more
The following technical report outlines the rationale, process and results of a joint research study, coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), co-chaired by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and the Ministry of Environment and Sus...tainable Development in collaboration with the Climate and Climate Air Coalition, the Stockholm Environment Institute, the Clean Air Institute and leading international and national experts. A rationale section describes the links between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, short-lived climate pollutants, air pollution and adverse health outcomes. A summary of the research study describes how scenarios were modelled to examine the health and economic implications of raising ambition in Colombia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
more
The chapter Fostering Health Systems’ Monitoring to Better Serve Older Populations is part of the publication series entitled Decade of Healthy Aging: Situation and Challenges. The publications are designed to favor the prioritization of effective actions at the local level as well as the monitori...ng of data and public health policies, and providing evidence-based information. Along with the objective of presenting the available updated knowledge about the situation of health and aging at the beginning of the Decade of Healthy Aging in the Americas, this publication gives information about health systems’ monitoring to better serve the needs of older adults and emphasizes the need for societies and health systems to better adapt to an aging population. It introduces the 360-tool as a guide to adapt health systems through monitoring tracers/indicators and highlighting the data and information that is readily available, disaggregated by age. This information can aid in decision-making and resource allocation to support older adults’ needs. Concerning the 360-tool development, a consensus has been reached on seven tracer indicators with high relevance to informing policy, and case studies in selected countries have assessed the feasibility of this approach. The list of indicators and the process related to the development of the tool are presented in this publication. The Decade of Healthy Aging 2021-2030 is a period to guide action towards the transformation of societies by fostering the inclusion of older people in every decision. This publication intends to contribute to this strategy and highlight the upcoming challenges and opportunities on healthy aging.
more
This guideline provides updated, evidence-informed guidance on the percentage of total fat in the diet to reduce the risk of unhealthy weight gain.
This guideline is intended for a wide audience involved in the development, design and implementat...ion of policies and programmes in nutrition and public health. This guideline includes a recommended level of total fat intake which can be used by policy-makers and programme managers to address various aspects of dietary fat in their populations through a range of policy actions and public health interventions.
The guidance in this guideline replaces previous WHO guidance on total fat intake, including that from the 1989 WHO Study Group on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases and the 2002 Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. The guidance in this guideline should be considered in the context of that from other WHO guidelines on healthy diets.
more
This report highlights the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Zimbabwe towards contributing to the triple billion targets in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs
Six months after its launch on 24 April, the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator has already delivered concrete results in speeding up the development of new therapeutics, diagnostics, and vaccines. Now mid-way through the scale-up phase, the... tools we need to fundamentally change the course of this pandemic are within reach. But to deliver the full impact of the ACT-Accelerator – and ultimately an exit to this global crisis – these tools need to be available everywhere. On behalf of the ACT-Accelerator Pillar lead agencies – CEPI, Gavi, the Global Fund, FIND, Unitaid, Wellcome Trust, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – I am pleased to share this document setting out the near-term priorities, deliverables and financing requirements of the ACT-Accelerator Pillars and Health Systems Connector. Urgent action to address these financing requirements will boost the impact of the ACTAccelerator achievements to date, fast-track the development and deployment of additional game-changing tools, and mitigate the risk of a widening gap in access to COVID-19 tools between low- and high-income countries. Delivering on this promise requires strong political leadership, financial investment, and incountry capacity building. COVID-19 cannot be beaten by any one country acting alone. We must ACT now, and ACT together to end the COVID-19 crisis.
more