Interim practical manual supporting implementation of the WHO guidelines on core components of infection prevention and control programmes
The Guidance Notes seek to help operationalize, simplify and standardize the collection and reporting of data through the application of common language and methods. They provide information on the key issues to take into account in the collection of healt...h data and the types of data that should be collated, and potential stakeholders to engage with. They adapt and complement the UNDRR/UNISDR Technical guidance for monitoring and reporting on progress in achieving the global targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which has a multisectoral target audience.
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Every year, nearly 250 million people move across borders temporarily or permanently for a job opportunity, studying, to flee a crisis back home, or for other reasons. Another 750 million move for similar reasons within the borders of their countries. With the understanding that human mobility affec...ts public health, and health affects human mobility and migrants, for decades, IOM has been providing critical health services to women, children and men on the move, while standing by governments for technical and operational support as needed. In 2019, in lower-income settings and in complex emergencies, along the world’s most perilous migration routes, in the aftermath of natural disasters or in response to disease outbreaks, IOM’s health teams have provided hundreds of thousands with primary health-care consultations, mental health and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health care, pre-migration health services, and much more.
This year, more than ever before, as the world reels from the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19, we have experienced that health is a cross-cutting component of overall human development and well-being.
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This paper reviews the effects of vertical responses to COVID-19 on health systems, services, and people’s access to and use of them in LMICs, where historic and ongoing under-investments heighten vulnerability to a multiplicity of ...tribute-to-highlight medbox">health threats. We use the term ‘vertical response’ to describe decisions, measures and actions taken solely with the purpose of preventing and containing COVID-19, often without adequate consideration of how this affects the wider health system and pre-existing resource constraints.
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31 Janaury 2021
SCORE for health data technical package. The first global assessment on the status and capacity of health information systems in 133 countries, covering 87% of the global population....
It identifies gaps and provides guidance for investment in areas that can have the greatest impact on the quality, availability, analysis, accessibility and use of health data.
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The Quality Criteria for Health National Adaptation Plans (HNAPs) presents examples of good practice in HNAP development to assist countries in developing a comprehensive, feasible and implementable plan. The criteria are also intended to guide coun...tries in setting the foundation for a long-term iterative HNAP process. The proposed criteria are not prescriptive and should be adapted to dynamic country contexts, uncertain and changing climatic conditions, and new knowledge and technologies.
9 February 2021
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Background paper 8
The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response
May 2021
Modelling the health impacts of disruptions to essential health services during COVID-19 Module 1
Several epidemiological models have been created to assess the potential impact of disruptions to e...ssential health services caused by COVID-19 on morbidity and mortality from conditions other than COVID-19 illness. This guide presents models that have been used to assess these indirect impacts. The effects have been studied in various settings, using a variety of models.
The guide is intended for people who need to understand what the models say, their construction and their underlying assumptions, or need to use models and their outcomes for planning and programme development and to support policy decisions for a country or region.
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The object of this bill is to provide for a legal framework to promote the existence of Community Health Workers (CHWs) and to provide for clarity in the role and responsibilities assigned to CHWs in the H...ealth sector and to promote and strengthen service delivery at the Community level. The law will regulate training, certification and registration and set minimum qualifications and standards and working conditions for the CHWs.
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This National Health Policy has 5 objectives, namely
i. To strengthen the healthcare delivery system to be resilient
ii. To encourage the adoption of healthy lifestyles
iii. To improve the physic...al environment
iv. To improve the socio-economic status of the population
v. To ensure sustainable financing for health
These objectives shall collectively ensure that there will be improved alignment, complementarity and synergies within and across all public sector ministries as well as with other stakeholders, towards achieving the national health goal.
The policy shall therefore ensure that MDAs and other identifiable organizations work within the principles of the Health-in-All Policy and the One-Health Policy frameworks (WHO), to achieve the desired healthy life status of people living in Ghana.
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March 2021. “A Decade of Destruction: Attacks on health care in Syria,” highlights with chilling detail how this 10-year war strategy has turned hospitals from safe havens into no-go zones where Syrian civilians now fear for their lives.
As countries commit to achieving universal health coverage, it is imperative to ensure that the design and delivery of palliative care services place attention on quality of care, with action needed across all domains of quality ...te-to-highlight medbox">health services: effectiveness, safety, people-centredness, timeliness, equity, integration and efficiency. Providing compassionate, dignified and people-centred palliative care is an ethical responsibility of health systems.
This document provides a practical resource to support implementation of sustainable improvements in the quality of palliative care. It describes approaches to quality policy, strategy and planning for palliative care programmes and services, presents learning on quality of care arising from palliative care programmes, and offers considerations on measurement of quality palliative care services at all levels of the health system. The document also highlights relevant WHO resources available that further support the development of quality palliative care services.
The audience for this document is a general one that includes policy-makers, palliative care service planners, managers, practitioners and health care providers at all levels.
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The African Development Bank has launched a consultation process with health ministers and other partners as it develops a strategy to drive enhanced access to health services across Africa through ...2030.
Input from ministers in the Bank’s 54 regional member countries, development partners and civil society is expected to strengthen the Bank’s Strategy for Quality Health Infrastructure in Africa (2021-2030). A robust scoping study titled “Good Health and Well-being” underpins the strategy.
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The world is facing an unprecedented range of emergencies. In reaction to these complex adversities, many people experience considerable distress and impairment, and a minority may even go on to develop mental health conditions. Meanwhile, those wit...h pre-existing mental health conditions may experience a worsening of their condition and are at risk of neglect, abandonment, abuse and lack of access to support. Unfortunately, evidence-based mental health care is often extremely limited in humanitarian settings. In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) published the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP-HIG) in 2015. This practical tool supports health-care providers in assessing and offering first-line management of mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) conditions in humanitarian emergency settings.
2 December 2021. The current report, Stories of change from four countries: Building capacity for integrating mental health care within health services across humanitarian settings, describes efforts in four countries to build evidence-based mental health systems in humanitarian emergency settings using the mhGAP-HIG. This report includes three sections, the first describing the importance of scaling up mental health care in emergency contexts, the second outlining case studies (“stories of change”) to scale up the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) programme in four settings and the third describing lessons learned by stakeholders.
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The Strategic Tool for Assessing Risks (STAR) offers a comprehensive, easy-to-use toolkit and approach to enable national and subnational governments to rapidly conduct a strategic and evidence-based assessment of public health risks for planning an...d prioritization of health emergency preparedness and disaster risk management activities. This guidance describes the principles and methodology of STAR to enhance its adaptation and use at the national or subnational levels.
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