The Global guidance framework for the responsible use of the life sciences: mitigating biorisks and governing dual-use research (the framework) aims to provide values and principles, tools and mechanisms to support Member States and key stakeholders to mitigate and prevent biorisks and govern dual-u...se research.
The framework adopts the One health approach and focuses on the role that responsible life sciences research can play in preventing and mitigating risks caused by accidents, inadvertent or deliberate misuse with the intention to cause harm to humans, nonhuman animals, plants and agriculture, and the environment.
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Implementation guide for national, district and facility levels.
This implementation guide contains practical guidance for policy-makers,
programme managers, health practitioners and other actors working to
establish and implement quality of care (QoC) programmes for maternal,
newborn and child ...health (MNCH) at national, district and facility levels.
It is intended to help anyone, throughout the health system, who wants
to take action to improve the QoC for MNCH.
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An overview of validation structures and responsibilities at national, regional and global levels.
This governance document supplements the global guidance document. Validation of elimination requires rigorous assessment at the national, regional and global levels of the impact and process indicato...rs and the fulfilment of the four foundational requirements for (1) data quality, (2) strong programmes, (3) laboratory quality and (4) human rights, gender equality and community engagement.
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This document sets out, therefore, to explain the socioeconomic value of investing in the fight against NTDs and highlights priorities for global investment attention. Our work was guided by the need not only for
additional funding and funders but also for the need to understand the current funding... climate, in which value for money and the efficient use of resources to fill the most critical of gaps are more relevant than ever.
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This report’s central premise is that diagnostics and therapeutics, and associated test to treat strategies, are fundamental components of the pandemic response, both for COVID-19 and for future health threats. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, this report reflects on the main challenges and k...ey solutions on the road to equitable access to diagnostics and therapeutics.
This report draws from experience gained through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Diagnostics and Therapeutics pillars, and includes the perspectives of collaborating stakeholders (countries, civil society representatives and the private sector). Building on these findings, this report proposes sixteen recommended actions to address what have been identified as key structural challenges and specifies a potential owner for each action.
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The primary audience for these recommendations includes health professionals who are responsible for developing national and local health-care guidelines and protocols and health workers involved in the provision of care to women and their newborns during pregnancy, labour and childbirth; this inclu...des midwives, nurses, general medical practitioners and obstetricians. The primary audience also includes managers of maternal and child health programmes, and relevant staff in ministries of health and educational and training institutions, in all settings.
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The primary audience for these recommendations includes health professionals who are responsible for developing national and local health-care guidelines and protocols and health workers involved in the provision of care to women and their newborns during pregnancy, labour and childbirth; this inclu...des midwives, nurses, general medical practitioners and obstetricians. The primary audience also includes managers of maternal and child health programmes, and relevant staff in ministries of health and educational and training institutions, in all settings.
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The primary audience for these recommendations includes health professionals who are responsible for developing national and local health-care guidelines and protocols and health workers involved in the provision of care to women and their newborns during pregnancy, labour and childbirth; this inclu...des midwives, nurses, general medical practitioners and obstetricians. The primary audience also includes managers of maternal and child health programmes, and relevant staff in ministries of health and educational and training institutions, in all settings.
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This document is a guide defining requirements for quality and safety for malaria rapid diagnostic testing services to safeguard the quality of the results, the safety of the operators and patients and that of the environment for use by national malaria control programmes, regulators, implementers a...nd rapid diagnostic providers.
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The WHO BioHub Biosafety & Biosecurity: criteria and operational modalities sets out the requirements to which laboratories wishing to receive biological materials as part of this international exchange system should abide, to ensure safe and secure operations. These provisions are in accordance wit...h the recommendations of the WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual 4th edition (LBM4), adopting an evidence- and risk-based approach to enable scalable and adaptable biosafety provisions and actions, proportionate to the assessed risk
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In 2013, WHO and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics convened a meeting of Buruli ulcer experts in Geneva, Switzerland (9) at which two priority unmet needs in diagnosis were identified:
a diagnostic test for early detection of Buruli ulcer in symptomatic patients with sufficient positive... predictive value to put patients on appropriate treatment; and
a screening test at the primary health care or community level for symptomatic patients with ulcer
In March 2018, they convened a global meeting with the aim of establishing an action plan to develop new diagnostic solutions for Buruli ulcer and to create a framework of collaboration to address unmet needs in diagnostics for the disease. The participants agreed to develop a target product profile (TPP) to address the need for a rapid diagnostic test for use at the primary health-care level.
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The WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2022 provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic, and of progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, at global, regional and country levels. This is done in the context of global TB commitments, strategies and targets.
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The 2022 edition of the report is as usual, based primarily on data gathered by WHO from national ministries of health in annual rounds of data collection. In 2022, 202 countries and territories with more than 99% of the world’s population and TB cases reported data
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Cities are uniquely positioned to understand local needs and respond rapidly to changing conditions to safeguard health. These changes require strong city leadership to implement multisectoral, health-relevant policies and public services that engage communities. The response to malaria must be an i...ntegral part of such policies and processes.
This framework supports the control and elimination of malaria in urban environments. It provides guidance for city leaders, health programmes and urban planners as they respond to the challenges of rapid urbanization in a targeted way. For each urban context, the strategic use of data can inform effective, tailored responses and help build resilience against the threat of malaria and other vector-borne diseases.
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31 Oct 2022 his plan outlines how the ACT-Accelerator will support countries as the world transitions to long-term COVID-19 control.
Recognizing the evolving nature of the COVID-19 virus and pandemic, the plan outlines changes to ACT-A’s set-up and ways of working, to ensure countries co...ntinue to have access to COVID-19 tools in the longer term, while maintaining the coalition’s readiness to help address future disease surges.
Developed through a consultative process with ACT-A agencies, donors, industry partners, civil society organizations (CSOs) and Facilitation Council members, the plan summarizes priority areas of focus for the partnership’s pillars, coordination mechanisms and other core functions, and highlights the work to be maintained, transitioned, sunset, or kept on standby.
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Research to develop point-of-care tests is in progress. Treatment of Buruli ulcer comprises 8 weeks of combined antibiotics (rifampicin and clarithromycin). Complementary therapies such as wound care, skin graft and prevention of disability are needed in some cases to ensure full recovery.
The targ...et set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for control of Buruli ulcer is for countries to achieve a rate of case confirmation by PCR of at least 70%. All endemic countries have at least one PCR facility to support confirmation of cases. However, most countries in the WHO African Region have not been able to reach the target, and the rate of case confirmation has been declining
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The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework is a World Health Assembly resolution adopted unanimously by all Member States in 2011. It brings together Member States, industry, other stakeholders and WHO to implement a global approach to pandemic influenza preparedness and response. The Frame...work includes a benefit-sharing mechanism called the Partnership Contribution (PC). The PC is collected as an annual cash contribution from influenza vaccine, diagnostic, and pharmaceutical manufacturers that use the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS). Funds are allocated for: (a) pandemic preparedness capacity building; (b) response activities during the time of an influenza pandemic; and (c) PIP Secretariat for the management and implementation of the Framework.
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This collection of case studies on risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) from 18 different country/area level public health partners in the WHO European Region provides evidence of numerous results achieved and lessons learned since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. RCCE has not... traditionally been an area where evidence of challenges and solutions was documented. With this compendium, we wanted to collect and share this evidence to support decision-making in this area of work.
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The meeting was held from 26 to 27 March 2018 to review and discuss the following topics:
Advances and challenges in the use of fTLC, and new approaches to detecting mycolactone using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs).
The status of development of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) targeting the MUL..._3720 protein.
The role of PCR as a reference test, and hurdles in providing a confirmatory diagnosis and in establishing a quality assurance programme.
New molecular tools with potential for implementation at a level lower than in the national or regional reference laboratory, such as loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA).
The need to harmonize and standardize methods for collection and preparation of specimens, so samples can be referred for diagnosis and stored for evaluation of new diagnostic tests in optimal conditions.
Barriers to accessing early diagnosis and treatment, including coordination at the programme level, and lack of adequate diagnostic tools.
Defining target product profiles (TPPs) to guide the development of new diagnostic tools that can be applied at different levels of the health system. Participants agreed that two TPPs would be developed to address the current gaps: (i) a rapid test for BU diagnosis at the primary health-care level; and (ii) a test for diagnosis of BU that can also assist in treatment monitoring and differential diagnosis at the district hospital or reference centre.
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Monitoring financial protection and utilization of health services in Mongolia 2009-2018 is based on national representative household socioeconomic surveys. The study finds that between 2009 and 2018, despite ambitious health reforms, the incidence of catastrophic health spending and impoverishing ...spending at the relative poverty line have increased. These increases were mainly driven by out-of-pocket spending on medicines and inpatient care. In the same period, inequity in access to and utilization of health services remained constant among population groups. Evidence suggests health financing policies need to be further strengthened to make progress towards universal health coverage. Continuous tracking of out-of-pocket payments and service utilization to inform policymaking is needed.
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