Q7. SCOPING QUESTION: In adults with moderate-severe depressive disorder, what is the effectiveness and safety of antidepressant medication (ADM) in comparison with psychological treatment?
The WHO mhGAP programme’s existing guidelines recommend that either structured brief psychological treatm...ents (e.g., interpersonal psychotherapy or cognitive behavioural therapy, including behavioural activation) or antidepressant medication (e.g., SSRIsi and tricyclic antidepressants) be considered in adults with moderate-severe depression. Health care workers need to know whether these treatments have different effects, including side-effects, in treating depressive disorder in the short and long term, in order to improve clinical decision-making.
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his Framework begins with a desired future scenario and considers actions and interventions necessary to get there. It advocates for holistic view to address tuberculosis. The Framework revisits challenges and actions in four layers: TB specific; challenges in health systems that influence TB care; ...challenges in sectors beyond health that determine TB; and overarching governance issues. Multisectoral action and accountability are embedded in the Framework. The Framework is based on the principles of people-centered care and system development.
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The practical guidance in the operational handbook aims to inform the development or revision of national policies and related implementation guidance on the management of TB in children and adolescents under programmatic circumstances and at different levels of the health system. The operational ha...ndbook can also help countries adequately plan for the uptake of interventions to better address the specific needs of children and adolescents with or at risk of TB. It can contribute to national efforts to build capacity among national and subnational programme managers and among health workers at all levels of the health care system.
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Overview
Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders globally. The WHO epilepsy technical brief aims to strengthen action for epilepsy and complements the Intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders 2022–2031.
The technical bri...ef presents the key information on epilepsy and recommends actions to policy makers and other stakeholders. Using the concept of levers for change introduced by the Operational Framework for Primary Health Care, it identifies actions on the policy and operational levels that stakeholders should take to strengthen services for people with epilepsy using a person-centered approach based on human rights and universal health coverage.
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This rapid communication outlines the main outcomes of a WHO convened Guideline Development Group (GDG) meeting, held in May-June 2021 on the topic of the management of TB in children and adolescents. The rapid communication aims to inform staff from ministries of health and care providers across p...ublic and private sectors, technical partners and other stakeholders about the key findings, considerations and changes related to the diagnosis, treatment and care of TB for children and adolescents, in order to allow for planning at the country level ahead of the release of updated guidelines and an associated operational handbook. WHO will publish the guidelines and operational handbook in the coming months.
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About one fourth of the world’s population is estimated to have been infected with the tuberculosis (TB) bacilli, and about 5–10% of those infected develop TB disease in their lifetime. The risk for TB disease after infection depends on several factors, the most important being the person’s im...munological status. TB preventive treatment (TPT) given to people at highest risk of progressing from TB infection to disease remains a critical element to achieve the global targets of the End TB Strategy, as reiterated by the second UN High Level Meeting on TB in 2023. Delivering TPT effectively and safely necessitates a programmatic approach to implement a comprehensive package of interventions along a cascade of care: identifying individuals at highest risk, screening for TB and ruling out TB disease, testing for TB infection, and choosing the preventive treatment option that is best suited to an individual, managing adverse events, supporting medication adherence and monitoring programmatic performance.
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Objectives and scope of the document
This document was developed to provide recommended management strategies for problems and disorders that are specifically related to the occurrence of a major stressful event. The recommended strategies will form the basis of a new module to be added to the WHO ...(2010) mhGAP Intervention Guide for use in non-specialized specialized health-care settings.
The scope of the problems covered by these guidelines is:
symptoms of acute stress in the first month after a potentially traumatic event, with the following subtypes:
- symptoms of acute traumatic stress (intrusion, avoidance and hyperarousal) in the first month after a potentially traumatic event;
- symptoms of dissociative (conversion) disorders in the first month after a potentially traumatic event;
- non-organic (secondary) enuresis in the first month after a potentially traumatic event (in children);
- hyperventilation in the first month after a potentially traumatic event;
- insomnia in the first month after a potentially traumatic event;
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
bereavement in the absence of a mental disorder.
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Male circumcision reduces a man’s risk of heterosexual acquisition of HIV by about 60%. This guideline provides an evidence-based recommendation on the use of adult male circumcision devices for HIV prevention in public health programmes in high HIV prevalence, resource-limited settings. It also p...resents key programmatic considerations for the introduction and use of these devices in public health HIV prevention programmes. The primary audiences are policy- and decision-makers, programme managers, health-care providers, donors and implementing agencies.
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The immediate objective of the country visit to Senegal was to build upon the public health preparedness already in place and to ensure that systems are available to investigate and report potential EVD cases and to mount an effective response to prevent a larger outbreak. The joint team for strengt...hening preparedness for EVD was composed of representatives of Senegal’s Ministry of Health, WHO, CDC, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the European Centres for Disease Prevention and Control, the Erasmus Medical Centre, Netherlands, and John Hopkins University, USA.
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Skin and mucosal conditions are extremely common in all children and adults in particular in HIV-infected adults and children and are one of the commonest daily management problems faced by health care workers caring for patients with HIV infection
1st edition.
Unitaid’s report describes a slate of new devices that can more efficiently identify dangerously ill children so that they can be treated immediately. These tools make it easier to recognize danger signs, and support integrated approaches to reducing childhood deaths from the three ...greatest childhood killers: malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea.
The report also highlights tests that can determine whether or not a child has an illness that can be treated with antibiotics. Viral infections are a common cause of childhood fevers, but cannot be cured with antibiotics. Although many children seeking care at clinics have fever, three-quarters by some estimates, only a small fraction of those have an illness that can be treated with an antimalarial or antibiotic drug
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As the Convention of the Rights of Children recognizes, children are human beings with a distinct set of rights, and not the passive objects of care and charity. They deserve to be full participants in society, and to live lives free of poverty. But for children, living in poverty is particularly im...pactful. The foundations for life are built in childhood. In the early part of our lives, our bodies and brains develop their capacities to function and interact with the world. We learn the social skills we need to fit into society, and acquire the human capital necessary to earn a living, support a family, and to fully take part in the life of our community Poverty can stunt this development. So can the onset of a disability. As the World Report on Disability (WHO/World Bank 2011) points out, people with disabilities are all too often excluded from the economic and social lives of their community. And the interaction between disability and poverty has the potential to develop a vicious circle that can greatly limit life opportunities.
Working Paper Series: No. 25
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This volume introduces Mongolian traditional medicine and details the nature and uses of medicinal plants found in the country.
The book focuses on the medicinal plants used most commonly in Mongolia. Each monograph contains colour pictures of the plant and a wide array of information—from the sc...ientific and English names of plants to their microscopic characteristics. While helping record and document traditional medicine practices, the book contributes to the understanding of the value of medicinal plants in Mongolia and increases the evidence base for the safe and efficacious use of herbs in health care.
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Due to the anticipated significant rise in VL testing occasioned by Ghana’s adaptation of 2016 ART guidelines, it has become necessary to develop this VL scale-up and operational plan to assure complete client access to laboratory monitoring towards the achievement of the third 90 of the HIV care ...cascade. The plan will enhance VL testing, monitoring whilst improving the clinical and laboratory interface for improved client care.
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WHO TRS N°1012.
Key updates include: (i) surveillance strategies, including cross-sectoral linking of systems and suitable diagnostics; (ii) the latest recommendations on human and animal immunization; (iii) palliative care in lowresource settings; (iv) risk assessment to guide management of bite... victims; and (v) a proposed process for validation and verification of countries reaching zero human deaths from rabies.
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WHO, in partnership with the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has published global standards for prosthetics and orthotics. Its aim is to ensure that prosthetics and orthotics services are people-centred an...d responsive to every individual’s personal and environmental needs. The standards advocate for the integration of prosthetics and orthotics services into health services, under universal health coverage. Implementation of these standards will support countries to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and towards the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
The standards provide guidance on the development of national policies, plans and programmes for prosthetics and orthotics services of the highest standard. The standards are divided into two documents: the standards and an implementation manual. Both documents cover four areas of the health system:
policy (governance, financing and information);
products (prostheses and orthoses);
personnel (workforce);
and provision of services.
The Standards have been developed through consultation with experts from around the globe via a steering group, development group and external review group.
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(New 2015)
Scoping question: In school students aged 14-‐‑15 years, are school-‐‑based interventions effective in reducing deaths from suicide and suicide attempts compared to care-‐‑as-‐‑usual?
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 WHO Guidelines on risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia provide evidence-based recommendations on lifestyle behaviours and interventions to delay or prevent cognitive decline and dementia. These WHO Guidelines are an important tool for health care providers as well as governments, pol...icy-makers and other stakeholders to strengthen their response to the dementia challenge.
Executive Summary available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish at: https://www.who.int/mental_health/neurology/dementia/guidelines_risk_reduction/en/
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Social distancing is an action taken to minimise contact with other individuals; social distancing measures comprise one category of non-pharmaceutical countermeasures (NPCs)1 aimed at reducing disease transmission and thereby also reducing pressure on health services.
This document builds upon exi...sting ECDC documents, including guidelines for the use of non-pharmaceutical measures to delay and mitigate the impact of 2019-nCoV, a rapid risk assessment: outbreak of novel coronavirus disease – 5th update, a technical report on the use of evidence in decision-making during public health emergencies, and a guidance document on community engagement for public health events caused by communicable disease threats in the EU/EEA.
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