2nd edition. WHO's recommendation has not changed: the standard WHO susceptibility tests should remain a primary method by which resistance is detected. However, it was considered necessary to update the existing resistance-monitoring procedures to also highlight the need for operationally meaningfu...l data.
Two new assays were included in this expanded version: an intensity assay and a synergist assay.
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Nosocomial or health-facility-acquired infections are a serious issue, representing one of the most significant causes of morbidity and mortality in healthcare systems and consuming many scarce resources, especially in developing countries. Although much has been done, particularly in the hospital s...etting, to reduce the risk of these infections, the problem persists and demands innovative and cost-efficient solutions.
Although the care provided in most primary health care facilities is predominantly ambulatory with few or no inpatient beds, infection prevention is still important to minimize or eliminate the risks of facility-acquired infections and assure quality patient care.
Health facilities and hospitals should have written infection control procedures and guidelines in place and should also be monitoring that these procedures are adhered to in both inpatient and ambulatory care settings.
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The Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Assessment Framework (IPCAF) is a tool to support the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines on core components of IPC programmes at the acute health care facility level. The user should be familiar with the contents of these guide...lines, including the Interim practical manual supporting the implementation of the IPC core components at the facility level before using this tool. The IPCAF is a systematic tool that can provide a baseline assessment of the IPC programme and activities within a health care facility, as well as ongoing evaluations through repeated administration to document progress over time and facilitate improvement.
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The objective of this guidance document is to support the public health professionals
in implementing effective surveillance of cholera in at-risk, endemic and epidemic
areas. This document has been developed by the Surveillance Working Group of the
Global Task Force for Cholera Control (GTFCC) a...t the World Health Organization based
on the existing documents, guidelines, tools and articles related to surveillance of
cholera disease, as well as technical discussions with experts held during GTFCC
meetings.
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Cervical cancer, along with maternal deaths, has been identified as a national priority in
South Africa as well as other Sub-Saharan African countries. Cervical cancer is the
second most common cancer among women in South Africa, after breast cancer. Due
to limited access to prevention, early dia...gnosis and treatment, cervical cancer is often
fatal.
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Drinking-water quality regulations and standards developed or revised in accordance with this guidance will reflect the best practices identified in the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality to most effectively protect public health. Moreover, the regulations and standards will consider local ne...eds, priorities and capacities to ensure that they are realistic and appropriate. Topics covered include:
- Guiding principles
- Getting started
- Selecting parameters and parameter limits
- Setting out compliance monitoring requirements
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Surveys are needed to guide trachoma control efforts in Mozambique, with WHO guidelines for intervention based on the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation–follicular (TF) in children aged 1–9 years and the prevalence of trichiasis in adults aged 15 years and above. We conducted surveys to com...plete the map of trachoma prevalence in Mozambique, concluding that it still represents a significant public health problem in many areas of Mozambique.
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Manual for step-by-step risk management for safely managed sanitation systems. 2nd edition.
This Sanitation safety planning (SSP) manual provides practical, step-by-step guidance to assist in the implementation of the 2018 World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines on sanitation and health and the ...2006 WHO Guidelines for safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater in agriculture and aquaculture. The approach and tools should be applied to all sanitary systems to ensure that they are managed to meet health objectives.
The SSP manual is targeted at a variety of users at different levels including; health authorities and regulators, local authorities, sanitation utility managers, sanitation enterprises and farmers, community-based organizations, farmers associations and nongovernmental organizations.
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Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Using antimicrobials responsibly is an essential component ofefforts to contain antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and to ensurethat patients receive appropriate treatment. The WHO global action plan on AMR emphasizes the importance of training healthcare professionals in antimicrobial prescribing and ...stew-ardship (AMPS). There are several challenges, however, such asthe wide range of healthcare professionals involved in the pre-scribing process, and the heterogeneity of prescribing rights and practices of different professional groups within and between countries. One way to address these challenges is through developing competencies, which define the minimum standards that all antimicrobial prescribers should reach.
Clinical Microbiology and Infection 25 (2019) 13e19
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The primary focus of the plan continues to be prevention, preparedness and treatment of the the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Central to the plan are the following overall objectives:
To prevent further transmission of COVID-19 in the oPt;
To provide adequate care for patients aff...ected by COVID-19 and to support their families and close contacts; and
To mitigate the worst effects of the pandemic.
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One important application of digital health in TB patient care is the support that it can lend to medication adherence. TB programmes have already been using short message service (SMS), video-supported treatment (VOT) and event monitoring device for medication support ...(EMM)1 to help patients complete treatment and health-care workers to monitor both daily dosing and treatment continuity
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Almost half (46%) of the world’s 1.7 million children living with HIV were not on treatment in 2020 and 150 000 children were newly infected with HIV, four times more than the 2020 target of 40 000
Ghana's attempt to regulate health care waste management started in 2002 with the development of guidelines on health care waste manage-ment by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2006, the Ministry of Health developed the health care waste policy and guidelines. This guidance document im...proved health care waste management in the country.
With support from the UNDP-GEF medical waste management project, the Ministry of He lth has revised the existing National Health Care Waste Management (HCWM), policy and guideline, 2006 and has produced two separate documents- A National Health Care Waste Management Policy and a National Guideline for Health Care Waste Management
countrywide. This policy is replacing the 2006 policy and introduces new technical and administrative policy issues to enhance waste management in health care facilities.
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7 June 2022. To treat complications associated with measles: severe complications with module 1 (50 cases) and mild complications with module 8 (20 cases).
The new measles kit 2021 is designed to prepare for and support the treatment of non-severe and severe measles cases during outbreaks. The kit ...provides the essential medicines, supplies and equipment for the management of clinical suspected and severe cases.
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This Strategic Operating Framework (SOF) has been developed to guide WASH Sector partners in responding to humanitarian needs in Sudan in conjunction with the existing and forthcoming humanitarian response plans (2022 and 2023). This SOF is drafted in consultation with the Strategic Advisory Group (...SAG) at the national level and will be revised as the humanitarian situation evolves in line with changes made to the WASH Cluster response plan and other guidance received by the SAG and the Technical Working Groups. However, by adhering to the cluster (Sector) approach, the partners agree to:
Assist the authorities in responding to the WASH needs of the population affected.
Promote a common understanding of the WASH sector needs and interventions in the response context among the WASH partners.
Ensure a well-coordinated response and consequently increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of individual agency responses; and
Align towards common humanitarian principles and operational objectives.
Partners to conform to the broad operational framework outlined in this document. Agencies that breach these guidelines will be expected to provide clear justification to the WASH Sector and other WASH Sector partners through the SAG
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Chagas disease (CD) is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, and it is endemic in Central, South America, Mexico and the
South of the United States. It is an important cause of early mortality and morbidity, and it is associated with poverty and stigma. A third of
the cases evolve into chronic... cardiomyopathy and gastrointestinal disease. The infection is transmitted vertically and by blood/organ
donation and can reactivate with immunosuppression. Case identification requires awareness and screening programmes targeting the
population at risk (women in reproductive age, donors, immunocompromised patients). Treatment with benznidazole or nifurtimox is most
effective in the acute phase and prevents progression to chronic phase when given to children. Treating women antenatally reduces but does
not eliminate vertical transmission. Treatment is poorly tolerated, contraindicated during pregnancy, and has little effect modifying the
disease in the chronic phase. Screening is easily performed with serology. Migration has brought the disease outside of the endemic
countries, where the transmission continues vertically and via blood and tissue/organ donations. There are more than 32 million migrants
from Latin America living in non-endemic countries. However, the infection is massively underdiagnosed in this setting due to the lack of
awareness by patients, health authorities and professionals. Blood and tissue donation screening policies have significantly reduced
transmission in endemic countries but are not universally established in the non-endemic setting. Antenatal screening is not commonly
done. Other challenges include difficulties accessing and retaining patients in the healthcare system and lack of specific funding for the
interventions. Any strategy must be accompanied by education and awareness campaigns directed to patients, professionals and policy
makers. The involvement of patients and their communities is central and key for success and must be sought early and actively. This review
proposes strategies to address challenges faced by non-endemic countries
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The WHO Living guideline: Drugs to prevent COVID-19 contains the Organization’s most up-to-date recommendations for the use of drugs to prevent COVID-19. The latest version of this living guideline is available in pdf format (via the ‘Download’ button) and via an online platform.
Guidelines ...regarding the use of drugs to treat (rather than prevent) COVID-19 are included in a separate WHO document, Therapeutics and COVID-19: living guideline, that can via an online platform and in pdf format (or click ‘PDF’ in top right corner of online platform). Guidelines regarding the clinical management of COVID-19 patients are included in a further document, COVID-19 Clinical management: Living guideline, that can be accessed via an online platform and in pdf format (or click ‘PDF’ in top right corner of online platform).
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Globally, over two million women live with obstetric fistula with the majority of the cases
being from Africa. In low-resource settings such as Zambia, obstetric fistula (OF) is a visible indicator of
gaps in maternal health care resulting in failure to provide adequate, accessible and quality m...aternal health
care, including family planning, skilled birth attendance, basic and emergency obstetric and neonatal care,
and affordable treatment of fistula. OF is preventable and treatable, and no woman in Zambia should continue to endure the condition. It is therefore necessary that Zambia intensifies national scale up of OF management centers including
community based interventions, train more surgeons and other health workers to provide quality and
affordable care closer to the women who are silently suffering from obstetric fistula.
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The burden of diabetes is enormous, positioning it as one of the main challenges facing public health today. Currently, it is estimated that 62 million people are living with diabetes in the Region of the Americas and projections show its prevalence will continue rising over the following years. The... Region shows the highest number of years of healthy life lost (through either disability or premature death) due to diabetes worldwide. The high costs associated with its treatment produce a heavy economic burden. Its complications can seriously affect the quality of life of people living with diabetes, their families, and society and overload health systems. This report shows the latest internationally comparable data on diabetes and its main risk factors by year, country, and sex.
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