July 2018
This fourth edition of the Unitaid/WHO market and technology landscape: HIV rapid diagnostic tests for self-testing report summarizes the current HIV testing gap; the challenges facing efforts to scale up; and the potential role HIV self-testing (HIVST) could play to achieve the United... Nation’s 90-90-90 targets. In particular, the report synthesises the existing and emerging market demand and supply of kits.
The information in this report is intended for manufacturers, donors, national programmes, researchers and other global health stakeholders who are exploring the potential role of HIVST.
more
The African Regional Convening of the Global Initiative to Support Parents (GISP) stimulated the interest or engagement of almost 1500 individuals from 742 unique organizations in the fields of health, education, social welfare, women’s affairs, early childhood, water and sanitation, mental health..., violence prevention, innovative finance, climate, and many others. The convening united representatives across governments, civil society organizations, programme implementers, philanthropies, multilateral organizations, bilateral funders, private companies, universities, schools and day care centres, and hospitals around the common cause of supporting parents and caregivers.
more
The Global Campaign Against Epilepsy “Out of the Shadows”
Fact Sheet Global Atlas of medical devices
Significant progress has been made in the eradication of three priority diseases in the African Region, as a result of extensive collaboration between the Regional Office, WHO country offices and countries. For example, in August 2020, the region was certified free of wild poliovirus. In the area of... neglected tropical diseases, Guinea worm disease is on the verge of eradication, and 12 member states are within reach of being certified as having eradicated yaws by the end of this year.
more
While there has been real progress in addressing the burden of disease in the WHO African region, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the link between health, economics and security, as the region saw decades of progress threatened, including positive trends in decreasing inequality. In the Africa...n Region the momentum towards achieving the 2030 SDG disease burden reduction targets (SDG targets 3.3, 3.4 and 3B) has stalled.
The COVID-19 pandemic was also a major threat to gains made, such as the eradication of polio in the region, declared in 2020; reduced numbers of new HIV infections in 2021 compared to 2010; and passing the 2020 milestone of the End TB Strategy, with a 22% reduction in new cases compared with 2015. However, the pandemic also disrupted essential health services in 92% of countries globally, 22.7 million children missed basic immunization, there was an increase in malaria and TB, and global deaths from TB rose for the first time since 2015.
more
The key to a lasting world free of all forms of poliovirus lies in rapidly interrupting all remaining endemic transmission of WPV in the endemic areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is the only way to ensure that such strains do not re-emerge globally through international spread. It lays the cor...nerstone for the eventual cessation of all oral polio vaccine use, in order to eliminate the long-term risks associated with variant poliovirus strains, which is the GPEI’s top operational priority. The target for certifying the
world free of all WPV remains end-2026.
more
Promoting health and preventing disease is a critical component of the effort required to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). to date, efforts to achieve UHC have focused mostly on strengthening health systems and their capacities to provide curative care. However, experience from the COVID-19 ...pandemic has reaffirmed the need for resilient health systems, emphasizing primary health care, including preventive and promotive health and well-being.
Emerging from the eye of the storm as the global health lead agency during the pandemic, WHO is equipped with the required insights and actions for a holistic approach to “building back fairer and better” after COVID-19.
The Healthier Populations (UHP) Cluster in the African Region is designed to support Pillar 3 of WHO’s 13th Global Programme of Work (GPW13) which aims to make 1 billion people healthier by reducing health inequities, preventing diseases and injuries, addressing health determinants, and promoting partnerships for collaborative actions amongst all stakeholders.
more
This brief update on tuberculosis (TB) in the African region covers the state of TB in the WHO African region, strategic priorities and targets and the impact of COVID-19 on essential services. This is followed by key figures for the region, the role of WHO in country support and, recognizing the im...portance of diagnosis and drug susceptibility testing, a focus onstrengthening laboratory networks and the regional laboratory and diagnostic objectives. A brief update of the state of the science and how this is funded across the African region is provided, before closing with challenges and opportunities,strategic directions and a brief discussion of funding concerns. Discussions around the drivers of the disease, and issues of the poverty, inequality and stigma that continue to plague those living with TB are fully recognized, but are outside the scope of this report.
more
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.
more
This report presents country, regional and global estimates of low birth weight for 2000, together with a detailed description of the methods used in calculating the estimates. Some limited data on trends are also included. The limitations of low-birth-weight data are described and recommendations a...re made for further improvements in the data for this important indicator of health.
more
This is a report from a National, representative household survey carried out in Botswana in 2012 – 2014. The study was carried out on behalf of the Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled Persons (FFO), Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SASFOD) and Botswana Federation of Disab...led People (BOFOD). The study was led by Professor Tlamelo Mmatli of the University of Botswana, in collaboration with SINTEF Technology and Society. The study would not have been possible without a strong commitment from the Office of the President of Botswana and support from the Central Statistical Office. The study presents a broad picture of the situation among individuals with disability and households with disabled members in Botswana. It offers comparison with individuals without disability and households without disabled members, between provinces and between genders and locations (urban/rural). The study reveals that households with disabled members and individuals with disability score lower on a range on indicators on level of living.
more
Key facts about major deadly diseases.This manual provides concise and up-to-date knowledge on 15 infectious diseases that have the potential to become international threats, and tips on how to respond to each of them.
You can download an interactive version directly at the website
http://www.who....int/emergencies/diseases/managing-epidemics/en/
more
This ten year global plan for measles and rubella outlines the strategy that needs to be fully implemented to achieve the measles and rubella goals endorsed by the World Health Assembly. The plan sets out the: vision, goals and targets for the 2011-2020 period, recommended strategies, guiding princi...ples, priorities, costing of reaching the targets, and the challenges as well as ways to overcome them.
more
9 June 2021
Since its launch, GLASS has expanded in scope and coverage and as of May 2021, 109 countries and territories worldwide have enrolled in GLASS. A key new component in GLASS is the inclusion of antimicrobial consumption (AMC) surveillance at the national level highlighted in this fourth G...LASS report.
The fourth GLASS report summarizes the 2019 data reported to WHO in 2020. It includes data on AMC surveillance from 15 countries and AMR data on 3 106 602 laboratory-confirmed infections reported by 24 803 surveillance sites in 70 countries, compared to the 507 923 infections and 729 surveillance sites reporting to the first data call in 2017.
The report also describes developments over the past years of GLASS and other AMR surveillance programmes led by WHO, including resistance to anti-human immunodeficiency virus and anti-tuberculosis medicines, antimalarial drug efficacy.
more
The World Health Organization’s comprehensive antenatal care (ANC) guideline WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience was published in 2016 with the objective of improving the quality of routine health care that all women and adolescent girls receive during pregnan...cy. The overarching principle – to provide pregnant service users with a positive pregnancy experience – aims to encourage countries to expand their health-care agendas beyond survival, with a view to maximizing health, human rights and the potential of their populations. Recognizing that ANC provides a strategic platform for important health-care functions, including health promotion and disease prevention, 14 out of the 49 recommendations in the WHO 2016 ANC guideline relate to nutrition in pregnancy.
more
The WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) was launched in 2015 to foster AMR surveillance and inform strategies to contain AMR. The system started with surveillance of AMR in bacteria causing common human infections and has expanded its scope to include surveillance... of antimicrobial consumption (AMC), invasive fungal infections, and a One Health surveillance model relevant to human health. To meet future challenges, it is in continuous evolution to enhance the quality and representativeness of data to inform the AMR burden accurately. As of the end of 2022, 127 countries, territories and areas participate in GLASS.
The fifth GLASS report, produced in collaboration with Member States, summarizes 2020 data on AMR rates in common bacteria from countries, territories, and areas. The report brings new features, including analyses of population testing coverage or AMR trends. For the first time, the report presents 2020 data on AMC at the national level. A new interactive dashboard allow users to explore AMR and AMC global data, country profiles and download the data.
This report marks the end of the early implementation phase of GLASS. In addition to presenting data collected through the latest data call, this report provides a summary of five years of national AMR surveillance data contributed to GLASS from its initiation, presents AMR findings in the context of progress of country participation in GLASS and in global AMR surveillance coverage and laboratory quality assurance systems at (sub)national level.
Patterns of antimicrobial consumption are presented by country with a particular focus on antibacterials. The report also presents the antimicrobial consumption according to the WHO AWaRe antibiotic classification, for penicillins and cephalosporines. From a One Health perspective, the report presents antimicrobial consumption data in the human sector expressed in tons to allow a comparison with antimicrobial consumption from other sectors (not included in this report).
more
Outstanding child and adolescent TB priorities include the need to: find the missing children with active TB and link them to TB care; prevent TB in children who are in contact with infectious TB cases (through implementation of active contact investigation and provision of preventive treatment); an...d advance integration within general child health services, including maternal and child health/ reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, HIV, nutrition and other programmes.
more
More than two years since the first SARS-CoV-2 infections were reported, the COVID-19 pandemic remains an acute global emergency. In this Strategic Preparedness, Readiness and Response plan for 2022, WHO sets out a number of key strategic adjustments that, if implemented rapidly and consistently at ...national, regional, and global levels, will enable the world to end the acute phase of the pandemic.
more
The Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) provides WHO with rapid and flexible resources to respond to disease outbreaks and other health emergencies. The annual report provides an overview of the use and impact of the Fund over the previous year.