To understand the patterns of Rwanda’s achievements in health development, it is important to explore how Rwanda addresses
...
the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) particularly those related to routine conditions in which people are born, live and work. It is in this particular context that a case study on Rwanda’s Performance in Addressing Social Determinants of Health was conducted by the Rwanda Ministry of Health, with technical and financial support from the World Health Organization (WHO). The overall goal of the exercise was to document Rwanda's recent initiatives that contribute to the advancements of the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health.
more
The State of the World's Midwifery
This report is the first of its kind. It brings together various data sets to present the current status
...
of hand hygiene, highlight lagging progress, and call governments and supporting agencies to action, offering numerous inspiring examples of change.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hand hygiene received unprecedented attention and became a central pillar in national COVID prevention strategies. However, concern with hand hygiene should not only be as temporary public health measure in times of crisis, but as a vital everyday behaviour that contributes to health and economic resilience. Hand hygiene is a highly cost-effective investment, providing outsized health benefits for relatively little cost.
Despite efforts to promote hand hygiene, the rates of access to hand hygiene facilities remain stubbornly low. If current rates of progress continue, by the end of the SDG era in 2030, 1.9 billion people will still lack facilities to wash their hands at home.
This report presents a compelling case for investment in five key ‘accelerators’ as a pathway towards achieving hand hygiene for all – governance, financing, capacity development, data and information, and innovation. These accelerators are identified under the UN-Water SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework.
more
Securing a minimum of financial resources permitting to bring the full range of critical health
...
services to all people constitutes a fundamental human right and an indispensable condition for human dignity. The model outlined here demonstrates that it is within our reach to close the financing gap even for the poorest countries by 2020 if all governments, from the privileged and underprivileged parts of the world alike, just fulfil the commitments and recommendations for financing human development and health that already were agreed many years ago.
more
This brief focuses specifically on the Grand Nord (Great North): the Beni and Lubero territories of northern North Kivu that are
...
the epicentre of the outbreak. Further participatory enquiry should be undertaken with the affected populations, but given ongoing transmission, conveying key considerations and immediate recommendations have been prioritised.
This brief is based on a rapid review of existing published and grey literature, professional ethnographic research in DRC, personal communication with administrative and health officials and practitioners in the country, and experience of previous Ebola outbreaks.
more
Every day, fake medicines and medical products are sold at street corners, in open air markets or on unregulated websites in several countries in the African Region. These poor quality, unsafe medicines and pharmaceutical products promote drug resis
...
tance and lead to loss of confidence in health professionals, manufacturers and distributors and in health systems. In an effort to protect people’s health, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, has proposed a strategy aimed at strengthening National Medicine Regulatory Authorities (NMRAs) in order to ensure that only safe, good quality and effective medical products are available.
more
Report of the Joint World Health Organization–Brien Holden Vision Institute Global Scientific
...
Meeting on Myopia | University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia 16–18 March 2015
more
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.
more
16-17 November 2017,
Hotel Djeugua, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Meeting Report December 2017
Since 2000, concerted efforts by national programmes, supported by public–private partnerships, nongovernmental organizations, donors and academia under the auspices and coordination of
...
the World Health Organization (WHO), have produced important achievements in the control of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT). As a consequence, the disease was targeted for elimination as a public health problem by 2020. The Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly endorsed this goal in resolution WHA66.12 on neglected tropical diseases, adopted in 2013.
National sleeping sickness control programmes (NSSCPs) are core to progressing control of the disease and in adapting to the different epidemiological situations. The involvement of different partners, as well as the support and trust of long-term donors, has been crucial for the achievements.
more
The objectives of the meeting were:
1. To step up the commitment
...
of national authorities and technical and financial partners toWHO’s elimination objective for g-HAT.
2. To share achievements, challenges and views on the elimination goal among countries and implementing partners.
3. To assess the status of critical technical aspects to be solved in research and development of drugs and diagnostic tools, epidemiology, vector control and animal reservoirs.
4. To define the mechanisms for strengthening and organizing collaboration and coordination among stakeholders.
more
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified mental health as an integral component
...
of the COVID-19 response. Its rapid assessment of service delivery for mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, on which this report is based, is the first attempt to measure the impact of the pandemic on such services at a global level. The data were collected through a web-based survey completed by mental health focal points at ministries of health between June and August 2020. The questionnaire covered the existence and funding of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) plans, the presence and composition of MHPSS coordination platforms, the degree of continuation and causes of disruption of different MNS services, the approaches used to overcome these disruptions, and surveillance mechanisms and research on MNS data.
more
The Committee discussed the implications for preparedness for smallpox-like events reflected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
...
The Committee noted how quickly diagnostics and vaccines could be developed and deployed when resources and political will were abundant. This rapidity was also due to the fact that the genetic sequence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) had been shared worldwide. It was noted that in one country SARS-CoV-2 had been reconstructed in a laboratory from the viral genome sequence before the first case of COVID-19 had been reported, highlighting the benefits of synthetic biology technologies for accelerated development of diagnostics as well as the oft-described potential risks. Lessons learned about clinical care during the COVID-19 pandemic were also discussed.
more
The sixteenth meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTD) was held as a hybrid meeting, 27–2
...
8 September 2022.
Dr Ren Minghui, Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage/Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases, welcomed participants to the meeting. He said the World Health Organization’s Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (WHO/NTD) was in a state of transition. Following the death of the late esteemed Director Dr Mwelecele Ntuli Malecela earlier in the year, Dr Gautam Biswas had taken over as Acting Director but would soon retire; the appointment of a new Director was under way. Owing to rotation of STAG-NTD members, this would be the last meeting for some and the first meeting for several new participants. The work however would continue with the same commitment. Discussions over the next two days would focus on critical issues regarding recovery of NTD services following the disruptions caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which had impacted many health services worldwide. He looked forward to receiving the advice and guidance of STAG-N
more
January 2020 to December 2021
This report reviews the current situation in relation to national capacity to address NCDs and the progress made at country level over the past dec
...
ade. It highlights that, while progress is being made, there is still much work to be done to create the infrastructure, policies, surveillance and health systems response that will allow NCDs and their contributing risk factors to be successfully contained and reversed.
more
Trachoma, caused by particular serovars of Chlamydia trachomatis, is the leading
infectious cause of blindness. Infection is transmitted within oc
...
ular and nasal secretions that are passed from person to person on fingers, fomites (such as clothing) and eye-seeking flies (particularly Musca sorbens).
Ophthalmic infection is associated with an inflammatory conjunctivitis known as “active trachoma”. Repeated episodes of active trachoma can scar the eyelids. In some individuals this leads to trachomatous trichiasis (TT), in which one or more eyelashes on the upper
eyelid touch the eye. TT is extremely painful. It can be corrected surgically, but, if left untreated, may lead to corneal opacification, resulting in vision impairment and blindness.
more
Discussion paper initially prepared in April 2015 to facilitate feedback, and finalized after the
June 2015 meeting of WHO’s Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for TB (STAG-TB).