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 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.
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The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has revealed the fragility of pre-crisis African health systems, in which too little was invested over the past decades. Yet, development assistance for health (DAH) more than doubled between 2000 and 2020, raising questions about the role and effectivenes...s of DAH in triggering and sustaining health systems investments.
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The "Global mapping report on multisectoral actions to strengthen the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions" by the WHO provides insights into how different countries are implementing multisectoral approaches to address NCDs and mental health issues. ...It highlights the importance of collaboration across sectors—such as health, education, finance, and urban planning—to tackle risk factors like tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and harmful alcohol use. The report categorizes actions into four pillars: governance, leadership, operational practices, and resources. It showcases examples from various countries and calls for improved multisectoral efforts to reduce the global burden of NCDs and enhance mental health outcomes.
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Annex. This document is an update of a guidance published on 12 July 2021, after the review of new scientific evidence on transmission of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC). It contains updated recommendations on the use of masks and respirators for health workers providing care to suspected or c...onfirmed COVID-19.
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There is growing understanding and high-level endorsement of the importance of strong collaborative multisectoral approaches to address a broad range of social, economic and governance issues for the prevention and control of noncommunicable disease (NCDs) and mental health conditions. In 2019, Worl...d Health Organization (WHO) Member States requested the WHO Director-General to provide an analysis across countries of successful approaches for the prevention and control of NCDs that used multisectoral action.This report describes the experiences of different countries, areas and territories in implementing multisectoral actions to tackle NCDs and is the first step to address their request for an analysis of such efforts
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Unpreparedness of health professionals to address non-communicable diseases (NCD) at peripheral health facilities is a critical health system challenge in Mozambique. To address this weakness and decentralize NCD care, training of the primary care workforce is needed. We describe our experience in t...he design and implementation of a cascade training of trainers (ToT) intervention to strengthen the prevention and control of cardiovascular disease.
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Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar, or glucose), or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Diabetes is an important public health problem, one of four priority noncom...municable diseases (NCDs) targeted for action by world leaders. Both the number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been steadily increasing over the past few decades.
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This short brief describes the main findings and the key lessons learned from the research project "Evaluation of the impact of alcohol control policies on morbidity and mortality in Lithuania and other Baltic states", funded by the United States National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism fo...r the period 2000–2025. The WHO-backed project aims to assess the effects of alcohol control policies implemented in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and to investigate the impact they have had on both people's health and the countries' economies, based on concrete actions taken. The key findings of the project demonstrate that alcohol control policies such as taxation and availability measures decrease all-cause mortality and reduce inequalities, and that dismantling alcohol control policies has the opposite effect on population health. They also highlight that consumption of unrecorded alcohol will not necessarily go up if taxation is increased and that specific countermeasures can be taken to prevent an increase in unrecorded consumption.
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This module covers common Non-Communicable Diseases such as Hypertension, Diabetes and three common cancers (Cervical,
Breast and Oral cancer). The focus of this module is on building the knowledge and skills of the Multi-Purpose Workers (MPW) in
undertaking Population Based Screening, identifi ca...tion of cases for referral, follow up, recognition of complications, prevention
and health promotion. This module can be used by the female
or male MPW. However, while the content of the overall module
is the same for both some tasks will be different, particularly
those related to screening which the female MPW will have to
undertake. It is expected that the ANM/MPW will work closely
with the ASHA in her area. Together they form a front line worker
team to serve the needs of the community. The content of this
module will be covered in three days.
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BMJ Glob Health 2017;2:e000345. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000345. WHO's 2020 milestones for Chagas disease include having all endemic Latin American countries certified with no intradomiciliary Trypanosoma cruzi transmission, and infected patients under care. Evaluating the variation in historical expo...sure to infection is crucial for assessing progress and for understanding the priorities to achieve these milestones.
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Skin-related neglected tropical diseases, or “skin NTDs”, are historically neglected because active case detection, individual case management, significant resources and intensive effort are required to control, eliminate and eradicate them. Integrated control and management of skin NTDs offers ...a pathway to overcome some of these past challenges.
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This report reviews the current situation in relation to national capacity to address NCDs and the progress made at country level over the past decade. It highlights that, while progress is being made, there is still much work to be done to create the infrastructure, policies, surveillance and healt...h systems response that will allow NCDs and their contributing risk factors to be successfully contained and reversed.
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This report has been developed, based on data provided by the TB & ORD surveillance system from across Rwanda. It provides a comprehensive picture of the occurrence and management of TB & ORD and Leprosy in Rwanda. It is structured based on the 2013-2018 Rwanda TB national strategic plan (2013-2018 ...TB NSP) and on the 2014-2018 Rwanda Leprosy national strategic plan (2014-2018 Leprosy NSP).
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In 2015, Member States and the global health community committed to reduce premature mortality from
noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) by one third by 2030 (SDG target 3.4). Despite growing efforts, the pace of change in
most countries, and the policies and regulations required to achieve this goal, ...are too slow, inadequate or insufficient.
Recognizing that public sector efforts alone are insufficient to address the prevention and control of NCDs, the Global
NCD Action Plan emphasizes the need for coordinated multisectoral and multistakeholder engagement, acknowledging
the role of nongovernmental organizations – including civil society groups, individuals with lived experience, academic
institutions and private sector entities. However, WHO notes that some Member States still have limited or no capacity
to establish or manage the implementation of engagement with private sector entities for the prevention and control of
noncommunicable diseases
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All health and care workers require the knowledge and skills to prevent the transmission of Ebola virus or Marburg virus when providing care for patients. This course provides an overview of the mode of transmission of these viruses, the personal protective equipment required by health and care work...ers and measures to take for rapid identification and isolation as well as managing the environment.
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