This country cooperation strategy (CCS) outlines how the World Health Organization (WHO) will work with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic over the next five years (2024–2028), supporting the implementation of the five-year health sector development plans and the Health Sector Reform Strategy ...2021–2030 to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic experienced substantial economic growth in the 30 years prior to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, contributing to reduced poverty and significant progress toward the SDGs. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought this development to a halt. It was anticipated that the COVID-19 recovery and the tremendous population growth in recent years would provide opportunities for a shift toward more sustainable and inclusive development in the years ahead. In 2023, however, the contrary was the case. Rural residents, including many ethnic minorities, continued to face marginalization because of limited access to education, health care and economic opportunities.
Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks, the country has made significant improvements in health. Nonetheless, progress has been uneven and not everyone has benefited from these achievements. In the mountainous region, many people lack access to quality health care because of the unequal distribution of well-trained health-care workers. Preventable deaths due to poor-quality health care for children and newborns, infants and mothers remain a concern, as do communicable diseases such as sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis. The increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases and the health impact of worsening climate change further heighten the need for strengthened and resilient health systems, which are at risk due to an underfunded health sector and weak economy.
This CCS aims to address remaining and future challenges as well as health needs while creating an impact that is sustainable. It identifies three strategic priorities and nine deliverables (Table 1) to support the attainment of the national vision of Health for all by all, as articulated in the 9th Health Sector Development Plan 2021–2025. It contributes to the country’s goals to achieve universal health coverage, graduate from least developed country status by 2026 and attain SDGs by 2030.
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Cardiovascular diseases, principally ischemic heart disease (IHD), are the most important cause of death and disability in the majority of low- and lower-middle-income countries (LLMICs). In these countries, IHD mortality rates are significantly greater in individuals of a low socioeconomic status (...SES).
Three important focus areas for decreasing IHD mortality among those of low SES in LLMICs are (1) acute coronary care; (2) cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention; and (3) primary prevention. Greater mortality in low SES patients with acute coronary syndrome is due to lack of awareness of symptoms in patients and primary care physicians, delay in reaching healthcare facilities, non-availability of thrombolysis and coronary revascularization, and the non-affordability of expensive medicines (statins, dual anti-platelets, renin-angiotensin system blockers). Facilities for rapid diagnosis and accessible and affordable long-term care at secondary and tertiary care hospitals for IHD care are needed. A strong focus on the social determinants of health (low education, poverty, working and living conditions), greater healthcare financing, and efficient primary care is required. The quality of primary prevention needs to be improved with initiatives to eliminate tobacco and trans-fats and to reduce the consumption of alcohol, refined carbohydrates, and salt along with the promotion of healthy foods and physical activity. Efficient primary care with a focus on management of blood pressure, lipids and diabetes is needed. Task sharing with community health workers, electronic decision support systems, and use of fixed-dose combinations of blood pressure-lowering drugs and statins can substantially reduce risk factors and potentially lead to large reductions in IHD. Finally, training of physicians, nurses, and health workers in IHD prevention should be strengthened.
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A year ago, the second Special Session of the World Health Assembly (WHASS) unanimously agreed to start a diplomatic process for a new binding instrument aimed at ensuring the international community is better prepared for the next health emergencies. The establishment of an Intergovernmental Negoti...ating Body (INB) at the WHO paved the terrain for a proper negotiation, which has started to unfold. The INB will be releasing the “conceptual zero draft” of the treaty text in early December 2022.
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In April 2020, Gavi and COVAX joined the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) to provide equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines to tackle the pandemic. In June 2020, the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) was launched to finance equitable access in 92 lower-income countries. Si...nce then, US$ 10 billion has been raised for the AMC to procure vaccines and support delivery. Despite a challenging supply situation, COVAX has now shipped one billion doses to 144 countries, including over 870 million to AMC economies.
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ABSTRACT
More than 500 million people worldwide live with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Health systems today face fundamental challenges in delivering optimal care due to ageing populations, healthcare workforce constraints, financing, availability and affordability of CVD medicine, and service del...ivery.
Digital health technologies can help address these challenges. They may be a tool
to reach Sustainable Development Goal 3.4 and reduce premature mortality from
non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by a third by 2030. Yet, a range of fundamental barriers prevents implementation and access to such technologies. Health system governance, health provider, patient and technological factors can prevent or distort their implementation.
World Heart Federation (WHF) roadmaps aim to identify essential roadblocks on the pathway to effective prevention, detection, and treatment of CVD. Further, they aim to provide actionable solutions and implementation frameworks for local adaptation. This WHF Roadmap for digital health in cardiology identifies barriers to implementing digital health technologies for CVD and provides recommendations for overcoming them.
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Benchmarking is a strategic process often used by businesses and institutes to standardize performance in relation to the best practices of their sector. The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners have developed a tool with a list of benchmarks and corresponding suggested actions that can be a...pplied to implement the International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR) and strengthen health emergency prevention, preparedness, response and resilience capacities.
The first edition of the benchmarks was published in 2019 to support countries in developing, implementing and documenting progress of national IHR or health security plans (e.g. national action plan for health security (NAPHS), national action plan for emerging infectious diseases, public health emergencies and health security and other country level plans for health emergencies). The tool has been updated to incorporate lessons from COVID-19 and other health emergencies, to align with the updated IHR monitoring & evaluation framework (IHR MEF) tools and the health systems for health security framework, and to support strengthening health emergency prevention, preparedness, response and resilience (HEPR) capacities and the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative.
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Ahead of World Malaria Day, the WHO Global Malaria Programme published a new operational strategy outlining its priorities and key activities up to 2030 to help change the trajectory of malaria trends, with a view to achieving the global malaria targets. The strategy outlines 4 strategic objectives ...where WHO will focus its efforts, including developing norms and standards, introducing new tools and innovation, promoting strategic information for impact, and providing technical leadership of the global malaria response.
In recent years, progress towards critical targets of the WHO Global technical strategy for malaria 2016-2030 has stalled, particularly in countries that carry a high burden of the disease. In 2022 there were an estimated 608 000 malaria-related deaths and 249 million new malaria cases globally, with young children in Africa bearing the brunt of the disease.
Millions of people continue to miss out on the services they need to prevent, detect, and treat malaria. Additionally, progress in global malaria control has been hampered by resource constraints, humanitarian crises, climate change and biological threats such as drug and insecticide resistance.
“A shift in the global malaria response is urgently needed across the entire malaria ecosystem to prevent avoidable deaths and achieve the targets of the WHO global malaria strategy,” notes Dr Daniel Ngamije, Director of the Global Malaria Programme. “This shift should seek to address the root causes of the disease and be centred around accessibility, efficiency, sustainability, equity and integration.”
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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in the treatment and care of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This report examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to NCD medicines, and the policies and strategies implemented by countries and health sys...tems to anticipate and mitigate stresses across NCD medicine supply chains. The full range of upstream and downstream impacts are investigated, including: manufacturing; procurement, importation and last mile delivery; patient-level effects through affordability and availability; and the effects on NCD medicine availability by category of disease. The report culminates in recommended actions and interventions for key stakeholders in the NCD pharmaceutical supply chain, including governments, regulatory authorities, manufacturers and the private sector; as well as directions for future research for improving access and supply chain access resilience.
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Chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kill more than
four million people every year and affect hundreds
of millions more. These diseases erode the health
and well-being of the patients and have a negative
impact on families and societies. Women ...and
children are particularly vulnerable, especially those
in low and middle income countries, where they are
exposed on a daily basis to indoor air pollution from
solid fuels for cooking and heating. In high income
countries, tobacco is the most important risk factor
for chronic respiratory diseases, and in some of
these countries, tobacco use among women and
young people is still increasing.
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This report provides an overview of the operations and activities of the WHO Country Office in Ukraine in 2023. Despite the acute health impacts of the war in Ukraine, the Country Office continued its work according to its core mandate. WHO supported the Government of Ukraine in managing the health ...emergency and pursued existing priorities set out in WHO’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work 2019–2023, the European Programme of Work 2020–2025, and the Biennial Collaborative Agreement 2022–2023 signed with the Government of Ukraine. The report presents the achievements of the WHO Country Office in Ukraine in 2023 in the context of the war’s impact on the lives, health, and well-being of Ukrainians.
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PEPFAR Malawi’s Country Operational Plan (COP) 2021 reflects a culmination of strong interagency collaboration between the PEPFAR Malawi team, Government of Malawi (GoM), and civil society organizations (CSOs) to mitigate the devastating impacts of COVID-19 and sustain progress achieved over the l...ast two decades towards HIV epidemic control.
At the conclusion of the March 2020 Johannesburg Regional Planning Meeting, the PEPFAR Malawi team presented a COP20 surge strategy to improve client-centered care, mitigate treatment disruption, scale prevention programs to key and vulnerable populations, and strengthen national health systems.
Following this meeting, the first three COVID-19 cases were reported in Malawi and immediately thereafter, adaptations to the COP20 strategy became imperative to deliver safe, client-centered care.
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It is our hope and prayer that the guidance and multiple tools provided herein to manage
the entire lifecycle of a food security program are useful to our food security staff, our
local partners, and our fellow international Cooperating Sponsors throughout the world.
This publication is designed to be used by programme planners and managers as a resource when designing interventions to integrate postpartum family planning into national and subnational strategies. Postpartum family planning should not be considered a ‘vertical’ programme, but rather as an int...egrated part of existing maternal and child health and family planning efforts. Successful interventions for postpartum family planning require holistic and evidence-based programme strategies that contribute to strengthened health systems and sustained improvements in high-quality services that put people at the centre of health care
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An Illustrated Guide for Service Providers
Recommendations to develop guidelines on community-based rehabilitation (CBR) were made during the International Consultation to Review Community-based Rehabilitation which was held in Helsinki, Finland in 2003. WHO; the International Labour Organization; the United Nations Educational, Scientific ...and Cultural Organization; and the International Disability and Development Consortium – notably CBM, Handicap International, the Italian Association Amici di Raoul Follereau, Light for the World, the Norwegian Association of Disabled and Sightsavers – have worked closely together to develop the Community-based rehabilitation guidelines. More than 180 individuals and representatives of nearly 300 organizations, mostly from low-income and middle-income countries around the world, have been involved in their development.
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