he WHO global disability action plan 2014-2021 is a significant step towards achieving health and well-being and human rights for people with disabilities. The action plan was endorsed by WHO Member States in 2014 and calls for them to remove barriers and improve access to health services and progra...mmes; strengthen and extend rehabilitation, assistive devices and support services, and community-based rehabilitation; and enhance collection of relevant and internationally comparable data on disability, and research on disability and related services. Achieving the objectives of the action plan better enables people with disabilities to fulfil their aspirations in all aspects of life.
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2nd edition
WASH FIT is a risk-based, continuous improvement framework with a set of tools for undertaking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) improvements as part of wider quality improvements in health care facilities. It is aimed at small primary, and in some instances secondary, health care fa...cilities in low and middle income countries.
An app, for front line data collection is also available in the Android Google Play store or as a web app
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Updates for the integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) - Guideline.
As part of its response to the global epidemic of obesity, WHO has issued guidelines to support primary healthcare workers identify and manage children who are overweight or obese. Specifically, all infants and children ...aged less than 5 years presenting to primary health-care facilities should have both weight and height measured in order to determine their weight-for-height and their nutritional status according to WHO child growth standards. Comparing a child's weight with norms for its length/height is an effective way to assess for both wasting and overweight
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A training package for building capacity of healthcare teams in health facilities for continous quality improvement of maternal and newborn healthcare. The focus is on the care of mothers and newborns at the time of child birth since a large proportion of maternal deaths, newborn deaths and stillbir...ths happen around that time.
The 4-Step POCQI (Point of care Quality Improvement) package includes Coaching manual and Learner manual that present a demystified and simple model of quality improvement at the level of health facilities using local data to identify quality gaps, analyse underlying causes and improve health care practices in their own specific context without much additional resources.
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Background document to the 2018 joint statement by WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, ICM, ICN, FIGO and IPA: definition of skilled health personnel providing care during childbirth
DHS Further Analysis Reports No. 108 - This report examines levels, trends, and inequalities in maternal health in Rwanda from 2010 to 2014-15 among women age 15-49 with a recent birth. The analysis uses Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data for 15 key indicators of maternal health: 6 for antenat...al care, 3 for delivery, 1 for postnatal care, and 5 for barriers to accessing medical care. Levels and trends in these indicators were analyzed overall and by three background characteristics: women’s education, household wealth quintile, and region.
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[Preface]. For more than forty years Primary Health Care (PHC) has been recognized as the cornerstone of an effective and responsive health system. The Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978 reaffirmed the right to the highest attainable level of health, with equity, solidarity and the right to health as its ...core values. It stressed the need for comprehensive health services, not only curative but services that addressed needs in terms of health promotion, prevention, rehabilitation and treatment of common conditions. A strong resolutive first level of care is the basis for health system development [...] The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) has supported the countries in the establishment of interprofessional PHC teams, in the transformation of health education and in building capacity in the strategic planning, and management of human resources for health. Nursing can play a critical role in advancing PHC. New profiles such as the advanced practice nurses, as discussed in this document, can be fundamental in this effort, and in particular, in health promotion, disease prevention and care, especially in rural and underserved areas.
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Nepal has made substantial progress in reducing under-five mortality and is on track to achieve Millennium Development Goal 4, but advances in neonatal health are less encouraging. The objectives of this study were to assess relative and absolute inequalities in neonatal mortality over time, and to ...review experience with major programs to promote neonatal health.
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This document is to guide policy makers, managers, districts, health workers, communities, NGOs and all other stakeholders on how to implement newborn health services.
Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET): Disussion Paper 109
This report describes the evolution of mainland Tanzania’s EHB; the motivations for developing the EHBs, the methods used to develop, define and cost them; how it is being disseminated, communicat...ed, and used; and the facilitators (and barriers) to its development, uptake or use. Findings presented in this report are from three stages of analysis: literature review, key informant perspectives and a national consultative meeting.
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The Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies is a collaborative partnership which supports and promotes evidence-based health policy making in the Asia Pacific Region. Based in WHO’s Regional Office for South-East Asia, it brings together governments, international agencies, foundat...ions, civil society and the research community with the aim of linking systematic and scientific analysis of health systems in the Asia Pacific Region with the decision-makers who shape policy and practice.
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Oral diseases are among the most common chronic diseases worldwide and constitute a major public health problem due to the huge health and economic burden on individuals, families, societies, and health care systems. The recent emphasis on the role of determinants of health, common risk factors and ...their recognition in the context of the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) provides good opportunities for integrating oral health into NCD prevention and control efforts. This Strategy for oral health in South-East Asia, 2013-2020, presents guidance to Member States in developing national policy and action plans to improve oral health within existing socioeconomic, cultural, political and health system contexts. It expresses the consensus on major strategies in the area of oral health promotion as well as oral disease prevention and control for the South-East Asia Region aiming at reducing the health and socioeconomic burden resulting from oral diseases, reducing oral health inequities, and improving the quality of life of the population.
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This report aims to raise awareness about the role that the reform of public health laws can play in advancing the right to health and in creating the conditions for people to live healthy lives. By encouraging a better understanding of how public health law can be used to improve the health of the ...population, the report aims to encourage and assist governments to reform their public health laws in order to advance the right to health.
The report highlights important issues that may arise during the process of public health law reform. It provides guidance about issues and requirements to be addressed during the process of developing public health laws. It also includes case studies and examples of legislation from a variety of countries to illustrate effective law reform practices and some features of effective public health legislation.
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The report reflects on the trends, achievements and challenges in global health over the past decade during which Dr Margaret Chan has been Director-General of WHO. It discusses the role of WHO in dealing with such issues as the rise of noncommunicable diseases, leaps in life expectancy, and emergin...g threats like climate change and antimicrobial resistance.
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The overall goal of the Kenya Health Sector Referral Strategy is to improve client access to referral. The objectives of the strategy are to realise improved capacity of health providers to identify clients who require referral, develop protocols that will lead to referral system efficiency and effe...ctiveness, and promote and facilitate information and communication technology (ICT) to manage referrals, improve care, enhance capacity of the referral system in Kenya, provide communication and related equipment, and promote research and innovation for referrals.
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In many of Myanmar’s contested regions, healthcare services are provided through two parallel governance systems – by the government’s Ministry of Health, and by providers linked to ethnic armed organizations. Building upon efforts to build trust between these two actors following ceasefires s...igned in 2011 and 2012, the new National League for Democracy-led government offers an unprecedented opportunity to increase cooperation between these systems and to ensure health services reach Myanmar’s most vulnerable populations.
The report provides an overview of existing health service arrangements in these areas, from both the Ministry of Health and from ethnic and community-based health organizations. It then unpacks the concept of “convergence”, highlighting key opportunities and policy recommendations for both government and non-government actors.
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Submitted to the US Agency for International Development by the
Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program.
This manual provides a framework to identify problems and design interventions to improve access to and use of medicines for children. It is a resource for ...both health policy makers and health system managers and presents a structured approach to the steps introduced in the framework in the context of child health.
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