One of the many gender inequities in the health and care workforce that COVID-19 has exposed is around the fit and design of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The rapid onset and scale of COVID-19 led to shortages of PPE in most countries, causin
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g preventable infection and mortality among healthcare workers and others on the front lines. Even though most health workers are women, manufacturing specifications for medical PPE are usually drawn up based on the male body and there have been many reports of PPE not designed for women's bodies.
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Lancet Infect Dis 2022 Published Online April 8, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00225-
Development assistance for health (DAH) is an important part of financing healthcare in low- and middle-income countries. We estimated the gross disbursement of DAH of the 29 Development Assistance
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Committee (DAC) member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2011–2019; and clarified its flows, including aid type,
channel, target region, and target health focus area. Data from the OECD iLibrary were used. The DAH definition was based on the OECD sector classification. For core funding to non-healthspecific multilateral agencies, we estimated DAH and its flows based on the OECD methodology for
calculating imputed multilateral official development assistance (ODA).
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An estimated 1.3 billion people globally experience significant disability. This figure has grown over the last decade and will continue to rise due to demographic and epidemiological changes. In 2022, the World Health Organization launched the Glob
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al report on health equity for persons with disabilities. This report demonstrated that many persons with disabilities are still being left behind. Experiencing persistent health inequities, persons with disabilities die earlier, they have poorer health and functioning, and they are more affected by health emergencies than the general population. These differences are largely associated with unjust factors both inside and beyond the health sector and are avoidable. The Global Report called upon Member States to take actions to make health sector more inclusive for persons with disabilities through the primary health care approach. This will be essential for countries to make health coverage truly universal and to progress towards other health-related targets in the sustainable development goals.
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This brief document aims to provide a framework for WHO assistance in this area.
Hand hygiene is vital for safe health care delivery, yet practices at the point of care remain suboptimal worldwide. A comprehensive research agenda is therefore necessary to improve our understandi
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ng of factors influencing hand hygiene behaviour and to strengthen appropriate interventions. This agenda will provide insightful ideas for researchers to focus their projects and funding proposals and will direct donors towards the areas of hand hygiene evidence that require urgent support and innovation. It will also guide decision-makers and stakeholders at the national and international level and support country efforts in updating and strengthening hand hygiene promotion programmes. Global collaboration and investment in hand hygiene research remain essential to promote safe and effective care worldwide.
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Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force
The HEARTS technical package provides a strategic approach to improving cardiovascular health in countries. It comprises six modules and an implementation guide. This package supports Ministries of Health
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to strengthen CVD management in primary health care settings. The practical, step-by step modules are supported by an overarching technical document that provides a rationale and framework for this integrated approach to the management of NCDs.
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The results of a WHO survey conducted to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on up to 25 essential health services in countries show disruptions of essential
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health services in nearly all countries, and more so in lower-income than higher-income countries. The great majority of service disruptions were partial, which was defined as a change of 5–50% in service provision or use.
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This report makes the case for a major new initiative—to rapidly recruit, train and deploy 2 million community health workers in Africa. Drawing on a vast body of evidence and substantial regional
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experience, the report shows how community health workers save lives and improve quality of life and how investments in community health workers effectively harness the demographic dividend, reduce gender inequality and accelerate economic growth and development. Indeed, the benefits of community health workers stretch from one end of the Agenda for Sustainable Development to the other.
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The Strategic Tool for Assessing Risks (STAR) offers a comprehensive, easy-to-use toolkit and approach to enable national and subnational governments to rapidly conduct a strategic and evidence-based assessment of public
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health risks for planning and prioritization of health emergency preparedness and disaster risk management activities. This guidance describes the principles and methodology of STAR to enhance its adaptation and use at the national or subnational levels.
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This Global Competency Standards sets the benchmark for the health workforce in providing equality of care to refugees and migrants. Refugee and migrant populations are highly diverse, with signific
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ant variation in life experiences, health needs and access to health care. The standards described outline expected behaviours of health workers in delivering quality care to refugees and migrants and can be used to inform the outcomes of education programmes aligned with standards for care. The Competency Standards is designed to provide a foundation to support the development of competency-based curricula tailored to the local context and for health workers to achieve a minimum level of competence. The importance of person-centred, culturally responsive care is emphasized in the nine competency standards, which recognize the need for health workers to be trained, supported and empowered within strong health systems
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The Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) is a document to guide WHO’s work in countries. CCS is a medium-term vision for WHO’s technical cooperation with a given Member State, and supports the country's national
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health policy, strategy or plan. The CCS time frame is flexible to align with national cycles and processes. It is the basis for aligning WHO’s collaboration with other United Nations bodies and development partners at the country level.
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This field study to assess the pharmaceutical situation was undertaken in Ghana in May-June 2008 using a standardized methodology developed by the World Health Organization. The study assessed medicines availability and affor
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dability, geographical accessibility, quality and rational use among other issues. The survey was conducted in six regions. In each region, 6 public health care facilities, 12 private pharmacies and 1 warehouse were surveyed.
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The new Global Strategy aims to achieve the highest attainable standard of health for all women, children and adolescents, transform the future and ensure that every newborn, mother and child not on
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ly survives, but thrives.
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