While much progress has been achieved over the past year, the Region of the Americas has stubbornly remained the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. PAHO is launching its 2021 COVID-19 Response Strategy and Donor Appeal to continue supporting Latin
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American and Caribbean countries and territories in their fight against COVID-19. This document outlines PAHO’s regional strategy for the year 2021 to sustain and scale-up the response to COVID‑19 pandemic in the Americas, suppress the community transmission of the virus and mitigate the longer-term health impact of the pandemic.
US$ 239 million is needed to support critical response efforts in the Americas between 1 January and 31 December 2021
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he pandemic has produced an unprecedented economic and social crisis, and it could generate a food, humanitarian, and political crisis if urgent me
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asures are not taken. The policy options for addressing the pandemic entail consolidating national plans and achieving intersectoral consensus. The response should be structured in three nonlinear and interrelated phases—control, reactivation, and rebuilding—involving the participation of technical actors representing not only the field of health but also other social and economic areas. Measures implemented to control the pandemic as well as measures for the reactivation and rebuilding phases will require increased public investment in health until the recommended parameters are achieved.
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In order to maintain daily operations and patient care services, health care facilities need to develop an Emergency Water Supply Plan (EWSP) to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a total or
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partial interruption of the facilities’ normal water supply. Water supply interruption can be caused by several types of events such as natural disaster, a failure of the community water system, construction damage or even an act of terrorism.
The planning guide provides a four step process for the development of an EWSP:
1. Assemble the appropriate EWSP Team and the necessary background documents for your facility;
2. Understand your water usage by performing a water use audit;
3. Analyze your emergency water supply alternatives; and
4. Develop and exercise your EWSP
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13 May 2021
To avoid a reversal of progress from the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, new knowledge and lessons from successful programmatic innovations are urgently needed to improve TB prevention
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and care. Experience can provide evidence for innovative approaches and strategies to maintain and scale up high-quality TB services. WHO therefore called for case studies on programmatic innovations that address emerging challenges in TB prevention and care during the pandemic in order to collect and disseminate the findings to the TB community. Between November 2020 and February 2021, a total of 23 case studies relevant to the call were accepted from 19 countries in the six regions of WHO. The lessons learnt from these country activities to ensure the continuity of essential services like TB care in the face of the crippling crisis may also inform strategies for minimizing the impact of future emerging pathogens on health services.
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The Regional Action Framework for Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Control provides a unified vision of objectives and recommended actions to combat the noncommunicable disease (NCD) epi
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demic in the Western Pacific Region. Implementation should be supported by cross-sectoral coordination, sustainable financing, evidence-based policy, and community engagement, tailored to each Member State’s unique context. In doing so, Member States are encouraged to transform a disease treatment-centered “sick system” into a “health system” in which a population’s health and well-being enable socioeconomic development.
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HIV Testing and Counselling Guidelines
In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) Member States adopted the revised International
Health Regulations (IHR) (2005). The Regulations provide a unique public health framework in the
form of obligations and reco
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mmendations that enable countries to better prevent, prepare for and
respond to public health events and emergencies of potential international concern, including chemical events.
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During the implementation of the National Strategic Plan 2009–2012 on HIV and AIDS, Rwanda has continued its progress towards universal access to HIV and AIDS services. The new HIV
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and AIDS National Strategic Plan July 2013–June 2018 (thereafter referred to as ‘the NSP’) presented here is set on pursuing the same objective, with inspiration from the global targets of “zero new HIV infections, zero HIV-related deaths and zero stigma and discrimination due to HIV”.
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The purpose of this handbook is to provide guidance to Member States on the practical aspects of maintaining sanitary standards at international borders at ports, airports, and ground crossings (points of entry) as set out in the International Healt
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h Regulations (2005). It provides technical advice for developing a comprehensive programme for systematic monitoring of disease vectors and integrated vector control at points of entry. This includes standardizing procedures at points of entry and ensuring a sufficient monitoring and response capacity with the necessary infrastructure for surveillance and control of vectors. In addition, this handbook to serves as reference material for port health officers, regulators, port operators, and other competent authorities in charge of implementing the IHR (2005) at points of entry and on conveyances.
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Technical Brief
Damon Barrett, Gonçalo Figueiredo Augusto, Martiani Oktavia, Jeanette Olsson, Mira Schneiders and Kate Welch provided background papers and literature reviews which informed this
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technical series.
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Ramped-up cancer services could save 7 million lives over the next decade—and addressing huge service gaps between rich and poor countries is key to success, according to this report.
In 2019,
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over 90% of high-income countries reported that comprehensive cancer treatment services were available through the public health system, compared to fewer than 15% of low-income countries, according to WHO.
But poorer countries can make substantial strides with a universal health coverage approach and use of the latest science to meet their particular needs.
The report lays out proven ways to prevent new cancer cases without breaking the bank, including tobacco-control measures and vaccines that protect against common cancers.
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