The key actions, activities, and approaches in this document are organized within each of the 5Cs (see Table 1 in the PDF) and those of the Strategic preparedness and response plan (SPRP) pillars as follows:
National action plan key activities, prioritized for the current context and the current
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understanding of the threat of SARS-CoV-2
A. Transition from emergency response to longer term COVID-19 disease management.
B. Integrate activities into routine systems.
C. Strengthen global health security.
Special considerations for fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable (including humanitarian) settings
WHO global and regional support to Member States to implement their national action plans
Key guidance documents for reference
This is a living document that will be updated to incorporate new technical guidance in response to the evolving epidemiological situation. National plans should be implemented in accordance with the principles of inclusiveness, respect for human rights, and equity.
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Unmet mental health needs in the Region of the Americas are a leading source of morbidity and mortality, which result in tremendous health, social, and economic consequences. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the mental health crisis in the Region, necessitating urgent action at the highest leve
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ls of government and across sectors to build back better mental health now and for the future. This landmark report is the result of the PAHO High-Level Commission on Mental Health and COVID-19. It provides an analysis of the mental health situation in the Region, followed by a series of recommendations and corresponding actions to support countries in the Americas to prioritize and advance mental health using human rights- and equity-based approaches.
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The article focuses on "The State of the World’s Children 2023" report published by UNICEF. It highlights the critical role of vaccines in saving lives and the challenges in global immunization efforts, especially for marginalized and underserved children. The report emphasizes the impact of COVID
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-19 on routine immunization, leaving millions of children unprotected from preventable diseases. It calls for urgent measures to restore and improve vaccination coverage, ensure equity in vaccine access, strengthen primary healthcare systems, and build trust in vaccines. The report also advocates for innovations and sustainable funding to achieve immunization for every child.
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The article focuses on "The State of the World’s Children 2023" report published by UNICEF. It highlights the critical role of vaccines in saving lives and the challenges in global immunization efforts, especially for marginalized and underserved children. The report emphasizes the impact of COVID
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-19 on routine immunization, leaving millions of children unprotected from preventable diseases. It calls for urgent measures to restore and improve vaccination coverage, ensure equity in vaccine access, strengthen primary healthcare systems, and build trust in vaccines. The report also advocates for innovations and sustainable funding to achieve immunization for every child.
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The article focuses on "The State of the World’s Children 2023" report published by UNICEF. It highlights the critical role of vaccines in saving lives and the challenges in global immunization efforts, especially for marginalized and underserved children. The report emphasizes the impact of COVID
...
-19 on routine immunization, leaving millions of children unprotected from preventable diseases. It calls for urgent measures to restore and improve vaccination coverage, ensure equity in vaccine access, strengthen primary healthcare systems, and build trust in vaccines. The report also advocates for innovations and sustainable funding to achieve immunization for every child.
more
The article focuses on "The State of the World’s Children 2023" report published by UNICEF. It highlights the critical role of vaccines in saving lives and the challenges in global immunization efforts, especially for marginalized and underserved children. The report emphasizes the impact of COVID
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-19 on routine immunization, leaving millions of children unprotected from preventable diseases. It calls for urgent measures to restore and improve vaccination coverage, ensure equity in vaccine access, strengthen primary healthcare systems, and build trust in vaccines. The report also advocates for innovations and sustainable funding to achieve immunization for every child.
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The evaluation covers the period January 2020 to August 2023. The geographical scope of the evaluation has involved the three levels of WHO (global, regional and country levels) and external key partners. The programmatic evaluation scope was concerned with assessing the SP-PHC in the following area
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s/evaluation criteria: relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, added value, sustainability and equity, gender and human rights considerations. The evaluation did not assess the Universal Health Coverage Partnership (UHC-P) as it has its own separate governing body and reviews/evaluations, but instead considered how the SP-PHC had enhanced the value of the UHC-P and vice versa. The resilience and essential public health functions (REPHF) team and Systems’ Governance and Stewardship (SGS) were also not within the scope of this evaluation. However, these workstreams were considered in the wider conclusions and recommendations for the SP-PHC, as appropriate. Finally, the evaluation was focused on the SP-PHC; its scope did not include assessing the configuration and capacity of WHO’s departments and functions as they relate to UHC and health systems.
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The "WHO Package of Essential Noncommunicable (PEN) Disease Interventions for Primary Health Care" provides a set of cost-effective, evidence-based interventions to address noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, and cancers. Designed
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for implementation in primary healthcare settings, especially in low-resource environments, the package includes protocols for screening, diagnosis, treatment, and management of these diseases. The document emphasizes an integrated approach, supporting universal health coverage by empowering healthcare workers with practical tools to improve NCD care. It aims to reduce premature mortality from NCDs and enhance global health equity.
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Ethiopia has seen high economic growth over the last decade, but remains a poor country with a high burden of disease. It has made considerable health gains in recent years, mainly by having health policies that focus on extending primary healthcare, using health extension workers. It
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has made good use of existing resources,but has a low health expenditure (of around US$21 per capita, and totalling 4per centof GDP). It has a federal system with devolved healthcare financing, whereby block grants are allocated to sectors at regional and woreda(district) level. The challenge now,with the epidemiological transition (and a sense that the ‘low-hanging fruits’have already been gathered in relation to public health), is how Ethiopia, still poor, continuesto invest in health improvements?Human resources for health (HRH) are a critical pillar within any health system –the health staff combine inputs to provide the services, thus affecting how all other resources are used, and they make frontline (and back-office) decisions thatare importantdeterminants of servicequality,effectiveness and equity. HRH is usually the most resource-intensive element within the health system –commonly absorbing 50–70per centof public expenditure onhealth, although the proportions are very varied by individual countries and across regions. As they are commonly part of the public administration, reforms to HRH are also part of a complex political economy in most countries.Assessing value for money (VfM) in relation to HRH is correspondingly complex;across the value chain, manyfactors influence the conversion of inputs into outputs and outcomes (see Figure 1).A more detailed description of the HRH value chain can be found in Annex1.
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Bioethics - Medical, Ethical and Legal Perspectives
There’s evidence that implementing the four medical ethics principles may be challenging especially in low income country contexts with extreme resource scarcity and limited capacity to facilitate deliberations on the different ethical dilemmas.
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These challenges can partly be explained by the social, economic, and political contexts in which the decisions are made, as well as the limited time, training and guidance to facilitate ethical decision making. Based on current literature, and using the example of bedside rationing; this chapter synthesizes the challenges clinicians face when operationalizing the four principle; identifying the opportunities to address them. We suggest that clinicians’ ability to implement the four principles are constrained by meso‐ and macro‐level decision making as well as their lack of training, explicit guidelines, and peer support. To ameliorate this situation, current efforts to strengthen the clinicians’ capacity to make ethical decisions should be complimented with developing of context relevant guidelines for ethical clinical decision making. The renewed global commitment to the sustainable development goals and universal healthcare coverage should be recognized as an opportunity to leverage resources and champion the integration of equity and justice as a core value in resource allocation at the bedside, meso-, macro- and global levels.
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This report aims to support countries in the necessary transition toward healthier, more sustainable diets by integrating biodiversity in food-based interventions to support nutrition and health. It is intended to help guide decision-makers in the health, nutrition and other sectors, to:
Consider
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the important role of biodiversity in food systems for the development of integrated interventions to support healthy, diverse and sustainable diets;
To focus investments and country support for more comprehensive, coordinated and cross-cutting public health and nutrition projects and policies; and
To strengthen the resilience of food systems, health systems, and societies, each of which are each increasingly compromised by widespread ecological degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change.
Biodiversity at every level (genetic, species and ecosystem level) is a foundational pillar for food security, nutrition, and dietary quality. It is the basic source of variety in essential foods, nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and medicines, and underpins life-sustaining ecosystem services. It is a core environmental determinant of health, often a vital ingredient of healthy nutritional outcomes and livelihoods, gender equality, social equity, and other health determinants.
Biodiversity can play a more prominent role in planning for nutritional outcomes in various ways, e.g. by facilitating the production of nutritious fruits and plant products, sustaining livelihoods through more efficient production and increasing the diversity of products available in markets. This Guidance presents and expands on six core building blocks for mainstreaming biodiversity for nutrition and health:
Cross-sectoral knowledge development and knowledge co-production;
Enabling environments;
Integration;
Conservation and the wider use of biodiversity;
Education and awareness-raising;
Monitoring and evaluation;
This WHO report builds on an unprecedented opportunity to mainstream biodiversity in order to support healthy and sustainable diets, and offers the necessary technical guidance to catalyze and support a transformation of the global food system and transition to healthier, more sustainable diets.
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Contains data from World Health Organization's data portal covering the following categories:
Mortality and global health estimates, Sustainable development goals, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Health systems, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Child health, Infectious diseases, Neglected Tropical Disea
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ses, World Health Statistics, Health financing, Tobacco, Substance use and mental health, Injuries and violence, HIV/AIDS and other STIs, Public health and environment, Nutrition, Urban health, Noncommunicable diseases, Noncommunicable diseases CCS, Negelected tropical diseases, Infrastructure, Essential health technologies, Medical equipment, Demographic and socioeconomic statistics, Health inequality monitor, Health Equity Monitor, Child malnutrition, TOBACCO, Neglected tropical diseases, International Health Regulations (2005) monitoring framework, 0, Insecticide resistance, Oral health, Universal Health Coverage, Global Observatory for eHealth (GOe)
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Improving the survival chances and quality of life of women, newborns, and children remains an urgent global challenge. Since 2012, substantial progress has been made in reducing maternal and under-5 deaths, and a only handful of countries are on target to meet the SDG targets in 2030. Yet, 5 millio
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n children still die each year under the age of 5, and nearly half of those are newborns less than a month old. Worse still, the global maternal mortality ratio is going in the wrong direction.
A Decade of Progress and Action for the Future will examine the tenacity and innovation that helped us make gains, the lessons learned through monitoring, country-led adaptation and leadership, analysis, and reflection, as well as the approaches we must take to reinvigorate the momentum and global commitment to improving maternal and child survival. Increasing coverage, strengthening the quality of care, and enhancing equity will be tantamount to our global progress.
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Fully functioning water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and health care waste management services are a critical aspect of infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, and ensuring patient safety and quality of care. Such services are also essential for creating an environment that supports the dig
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nity and human rights of all care seekers, especially mothers, newborns, children and care providers.
WASH and waste services are also critical for preventing and effectively responding to disease outbreaks. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in these basic services (Box 1). These gaps threaten the safety of patients and caregivers, and have environmental consequences, especially as a result of large increases in plastic health care waste. In short, WASH is a critical foundation for improving quality across the health system (1).
Many facilities lack plans and budgets for WASH, which has impacts on IPC. This lack of services, and of systems to improve them, compromises the ability to provide safe and quality care, and places health care providers and those seeking care at substantial risk of infection and loss of dignity. Unhygienic health care facilities without drinking water or functional toilets are also a disincentive to seeking care and undermine staff morale – these factors can have a critical impact on controlling infectious disease outbreaks.
Climate change and its impacts on WASH and health services, gender-specific needs, and equity in service provision and management all require rigorous attention, adaptable tools and regular monitoring.
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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
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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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In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), one maternal death was registered every hour in 2020. That same year, the trend in the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) for the Region of the Americas regressed alarmingly and unprecedentedly to the levels seen two decades ago. In addition to indicating a wors
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ening of health outcomes, these figures also signal a deepening of inequalities, representing thousands of individual, unacceptable tragedies that in most cases could have been preventable. Maternal death is the result of a multifactorial process in which structural elements such as the economic system, environmental conditions, and culture interact. Other factors related to social inequality are also present, such as racism, poverty, gender inequality, and lack of access to the education system. The current situation calls for urgent mobilization of the health systems of LAC countries in order to strengthen efforts to combat maternal mortality, especially in countries that are still far from achieving the SHAA2030 regional target. For this reason, a preventive, health-promoting, life-course-based approach is needed, with models of care centered on women, families, and the community Scientific evidence shows that health systems with a solid foundation in primary health care (PHC) achieve better outcomes, greater equity, and reduced health expenditures. To address this, PAHO proposes a strategy, aimed primarily at women who are in the most vulnerable situation, who are the ones who represent the greatest burden of maternal mortality, to accelerate the reduction of maternal mortality in the Region of the Americas, based on the expansion and strengthening of PHC.
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These organisations have joined forces to accelerate access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics by leveraging multilateral finance and trade solutions, particularly for low- and middle-income countries.
The aim is to vaccinate at least 40 percent of people in every country by the end
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of 2021, and at least 60 percent by mid-2022. The effort will track, coordinate, and advance delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, working with governments and partners at the global and local levels to address finance and trade barriers to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to these life-saving tools. It supports the goals of the ACT-Accelerator and complementary initiatives.
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Neurodiversity is associated with people who experience dyslexia, autism, dyspraxia, ADHD, and other similar neurological conditions. They’re known as “spectrum” conditions that cover a wide range of characteristics but share similarities in how people with these conditions learn and process
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different kinds of information.
Many organizations fail to support neurodiverse employees. This is party because working with neurodiverse employees can be perceived as challenging.
In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of a neurodiverse workplace. We’ll look at some of the competitive advantages of neurodiversity and the legislation surrounding it. Finally, we’ll end with advice on making neurodiversity a workplace strength by supporting neurodiverse employees.
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UNAIDS is calling on governments to ensure that the right to health is realized by all by prioritizing public investments in health. At least half of the world’s population cannot access essential health services. Every two minutes a woman dies while giving birth. Among the people being left behin
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d are women, adolescents, people living with HIV, gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, transgender people, migrants, refugees and poor people.
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Der neue Leitfaden vermittelt einen Überblick, welche Rechte Migranten mit einer Behinderung haben. Dabei geht es um Asylsuchende, Flüchtlinge und andere Drittstaatsangehörige sowie Unionsbürger mit und ohne materiellem Aufenthaltsrecht. Im Fokus stehen insbesondere Leistungen zur medizinischen
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Rehabilitation, zur Teilhabe am Arbeitsleben und am Leben in der Gemeinschaft sowie zur Pflege und Hinweise zum Erhalt eines Schwerbehindertenausweises.
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