Policy Brief
November 2014
Of the 50 antibiotics in the pipeline, 32 target WHO priority pathogens but the majority have only limited benefits when compared to existing antibiotics. Two of these are active against the multi-d
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rug resistant Gram-negative bacteria, which are spreading rapidly and require urgent solutions.
Gram-negative bacteria, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli, can cause severe and often deadly infections that pose a particular threat for people with weak or not yet fully developed immune systems, including newborns, ageing populations, people undergoing surgery and cancer treatment.
The report highlights a worrying gap in activity against the highly resistant NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1), with only three antibiotics in the pipeline. NDM-1 makes bacteria resistant to a broad range of antibiotics, including those from the carbapenem family, which today are the last line of defence against antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
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1st edition
This resource provides practical guidance for front line health workers responsible for the diagnosis, management and care of patients with these two diseases. Published in collaboration with the World Diabetes Foundation
HIV infection, due to the immunosuppressant that leads, nowadays constitutes an aggravating factor of endemic tuberculosis. Tuberculosis remains a huge burden to human health, even in the early 21st century. The situation is deteriorating in many co
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untries, particularly because of the synergy with the HIV epidemic and the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis. The urgent development of new tools that can improve the diagnosis, prevention and/or treatment of tuberculosis and other major mycobacterium diseases depends largely on the progress of basic and applied research. Faced with this situation, there is an urgent need for effective strategies and actions to permanently solve the problem of this endemic disease whose impact is too negative on people’s lives.
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2014
Addendum to meeting report: Regional consultation on HIV epidemiologic information in Latin America and the Caribbean
Eaton JW et al. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2019, 22(S1):e25237 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jia2.25237/full | https://doi.org/10.1002/jia2.25237
This study addresses part of the Terms of Reference for a scoping report ‘An analysis of approaches to laboratory capacity strengthening for drug
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resistant infections in low and middle income countries’. It has been produced as a separate report because it is also very relevant for a second study ‘Supporting Surveillance Capacity for Antimicrobial Resistance: Regional Networks and Educational Resources’. This study compares antimicrobial surveillance systems in three low and middle income countries in order to describe the components of these systems and to understand which surveillance models are best suited to particular contexts. Ghana, Nigeria and Nepal were selected as study countries because they cover different continents and include one ‘fragile’ context (Nigeria). Brief information from Malawi is also included.
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The two-year impact report for the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator details impact, case studies and timelines of key milestones for the Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Vaccines pillars, as well as the Health Systems and Response Connector.
India is experiencing rapid demographic and epidemiological transitions with NCDs causing significant disability, morbidity and mortality both in urban and rural populations and across all socioeconomic strata. According to the ICMR State Level Disease Burden Initiative, in 2016, NCDs accounted to a
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n estimated 6.0 million deaths, constituting 62% of the total mortality of that year.
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Because malaria cases are seen relatively rarely in North America, misdiagnosis by clinicians and laboratorians has been a commonly documented problem in published reports. However, malaria may be a common illness in areas where it is transmitted and therefore the diagnosis
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of malaria should routinely be considered for any febrile person who has traveled to an area with known malaria transmission in the past several months preceding symptom onset.
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Anaesthesia Tutorial of the Week
Under the theme Equity at the Heart of Health, this Plan seeks to catalyze efforts in Member States to reduce inequities in health within and between countries and territories in order to improve health outcomes. The Plan identifies specific actions
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to tackle health inequality, including those recommended by the Commission on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Americas, with guidance from the High-level Commission for Universal Health. Four cross-cutting themes are central to this Plan’s approach to addressing the determinants of health: equity, gender, ethnicity, and human rights
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The document "Priority medical devices list for the COVID-19 response and associated technical specifications" complements this guideline.
This document provides interim guidance on the quality, performance characteristics and related standards of
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personal protective equipment (PPE) to be used in the context of COVID-19. This includes WHO Priority Medical Devices, specifically: surgical masks, non-surgical masks, gloves, googles, face shields, gowns and N95 masks. It is intended for procurement agencies, occupational health departments, infection prevention and control departments or focal points, health facility administrators, biomedical and materials engineering, PPE manufacturers and public health authorities at both national and facility levels.
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The purpose of this guide is to offer recommendations for improving the implementation of non‑pharmacological public health measures during the COVID-19 response and compliance with these measures
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by population groups in situations of vulnerability. This requires determining the main barriers to implementing these measures so that we can identify the groups and territories most affected during the different phases of the pandemic. With this objective in mind––and within the framework of an equity, human rights, and diversity approach––, policies, strategies, and interventions to accompany the implementation and flexibilization of the measures are recommended to ensure that no one is left behind.
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In its report from 2014, the Working Group outlines the various factors influencing vaccine acceptance or refusal, and what can be done to create social norms around vaccine acceptance and to encourage the general public regarding the necessity of v
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accination.
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Summary of the main report: Direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 pandemic and response in South Asia .
It uses a series of exercises based o
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n actual observed changes in services and intervention coverage to model impacts on mortality, hospitalizations, and ICU admissions due to COVID-19. It also models the impact of nationwide stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of COVID-19 on maternal and child mortality, educational attainment of children, and the region’s economy. The study focuses on South Asia’s six most populous countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and makes the case for interventions and strategies to minimise these indirect consequences.
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Interim Guidance October 2022. This addendum addresses some of the methodological aspects of VE evaluations that have been learned during the past year, as well as those that have become relevant in
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the current epidemiological setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some of the COVID-19 vaccine methodology issues there are still insufficient data to make a recommendation, in which case different options for approaching VE evaluations are presented.
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