Recommendations on the initiation and continuing use of nine common types of contraceptive methods are covered by the tool. In addition to looking at individual medical conditions or characteristics, users may also easily combine multiple conditions or characteristics and view the guidance on each c...ondition separately or in combination.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to global health and development and it contributes to millions of deaths worldwide each year. Inappropriate use and overuse of antibiotics are driving an increase in AMR and have a detrimental impact on the effectiveness of these critical medicines. Throug...h the Global Action Plan on AMR, WHO is working to improve the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and reduce inappropriate antibiotic consumption.
There is a recognized need for high-quality resources to improve antibiotic prescribing globally. To address this need, a pragmatic approach was taken by WHO to develop actionable guidance for empiric antibiotic use.
The WHO AWaRe (Access, Watch, Reserve) antibiotic book provides concise, evidence-based guidance on the choice of antibiotic, dose, route of administration, and duration of treatment for more than 30 of the most common clinical infections in children and adults in both primary health care and hospital settings. The information included in the book supports the recommendations for antibiotics listed on the WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines and Essential Medicines Children and the WHO AWaRe classification of antibiotics.
The WHO AWaRe antibiotic book is accompanied by summary infographics for each infection for both adults and children that provide a quick-reference guide for health care workers at the point of care.
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As countries aim to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieving universal health coverage, health inequities driven by racial discrimination and intersecting factors remain pervasive. Inequities experienced by indigenous peoples as well as people of African descent, Roma ...and other ethnic minorities are of concern globally; they are unjust, preventable and remediable.
Health systems themselves are important determinants of health and health equity. They can perpetuate health inequities by reflecting structural racism and discriminatory practices of wider society. For instance, systemic racism, implicit bias, misinformed clinical practice, or discrimination by health professionals contributes to health inequities. However, health systems can also be a leading force for tackling the inequities faced by populations experiencing racial discrimination.
Primary health care (PHC) is the essential strategy for reorientating health systems and societies to become healthier, equitable, effective and sustainable. In 2018, on the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma-Ata, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) renewed the emphasis on PHC with their strategy,
WHO outlines 14 strategic and operational levers for policy-makers to strengthen PHC. Within each lever, there are multiple potential entry points for targeted actions to address racial discrimination, foster intercultural care, and reduce health inequities experienced by indigenous peoples as well as people of African descent, Roma and other ethnic minorities.
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What are the FP and CAC competencies?
Through the clear articulation of the family planning and comprehensive abortion care (FP and CAC) competencies for the primary health care workforce, the aim is to advance improvements in FP and CAC service delivery by aligning health worker education approach...es with population health needs and health system demands.
This document, which describes these competencies in detail, is intended to:
be a foundational tool to be adopted and adapted by educators and regulators for FP and CAC providers (students) with a pre-service training pathway of at least 12 months;
describe competencies that are relevant to current and future health practice;
enable widespread use of the competencies not only for curriculum development for pre-service education, but also for in-service education, regulation, qualifications, quality assurance, personal development, performance evaluation, recruitment, management and career progression;
focus on the core functions of FP and CAC providers within broader efforts towards achieving universal health coverage
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This manual provides a framework for morbidity management and disability prevention of patients affected by NIDs and gives specific guidance for the proper care of patients suffering from chronic conditions caused by lymphatic filariasis, leprosy, trachoma, and Chagas disease. It is intended to be u...sed mainly by health care workers at the primary health care level, but health workers at more complex and specialized levels may also find it useful.
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The HHFA Comprehensive guide serves as the main reference document for planning and implementing a country HHFA. This guide will promote understanding of:
What the HHFA is and the information it can and cannot provide.
The HHFA modules, questionnaires and CSPro electronic data collection tool.
Th...e HHFA indicators, indices and their organization within the HHFA indicator inventory platform.
The HHFA data analysis platform.
The HHFA sampling and data collection methodologies.
The detailed steps involved in planning and implementing an HHFA.
Key concepts in review, interpretation and communication of HHFA findings.
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This manual is designed to provide specific information for trachomatous trichiasis (TT) trainers who are training others to undertake surgery for entropion trachomatous trichiasis (TT). Other approaches are not addressed. The manual is divided into two parts. The first part covers specifics designe...d for training TT surgeon candidates, and serves as a resource document. The trainer can elect to have trainees read the material directly, use this manual as a guide for creating a training presentation, or use it in other ways to assist in the training. The manual contains both knowledge that should be imparted during training and a description of the skills that need to be developed and assessed during practice and surgery sessions. The second part is designed only for the trainers of the surgeon trainees and covers selection and final assessment of the trainees.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) and the global community of countries, partners, donors, technical experts, scientists and field implementation teams continue to work towards the ultimate goal of a world free of the burden of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
This guideline for the prevention and control of chikungunya fever
(CF) is intended for use by all peripheral health workers in the Region and
is based on the strategy outlined above. This document will focus mainly
on preventing, predicting and detecting outbreaks, and after detection,
investig...ating and containing them.
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This sourcebook aims to detail why health needs to be part of urban and territorial planning and how to make this happen. It brings together two vital elements we need to build habitable cities on a habitable planet: 1) Processes to guide the development of human settlements – in this document ref...erred to as “urban and territorial planning (UTP)”; and 2) concern for human health, well-being and health equity at all levels – from local to global, and from human to planetary health.
This sourcebook identifies a comprehensive selection of existing resources and tools to support the incorporation of health into UTP, including advocacy frameworks, entry points and guidance, as well as tools and illustrative case studies. It does not provide prescriptions for specific scenarios – these should be determined by context, people and available resources.
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Nearly 260 000 people died in parts of Somalia between October 2010 and April 2012, including
133 000 children under five during the famine and food crisis in Somalia making it the worst famine in history.
A study commissioned and funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio...n’s food security and nutrition analysis unit for Somalia stated that the famine early warning systems clearly identified the risk of famine in South Central Somalia in 2010–2011 but timely action to prevent the onset of famine was not taken. The result was large scale
mortality, morbidity and population displacement.
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The purpose of this guide is to provide practical advice for health staff undertaking infectious disease preparedness and response activities to ensure that access to safe abortion care (SAC) is maintained when an infectious disease outbreak occurs. It is an operational guide which can serve to supp...ort health actors to maintain SAC services during outbreaks and ensure that necessary SAC considerations are integrated within outbreak responses; it is not a clinical guide. The locational focus of this document is humanitarian and fragile settings; however, recommendations may apply to infectious disease outbreaks in all low-resource populations. This guide is intended to complement Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights During Infectious Disease Outbreaks: Operational Guidance for Humanitarian and Fragile Settings.
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The objectives of the meeting were:
1. To update the current status of the disease transmission, country capacities and plans for tackling the disease.
2. To understand the epidemiology including disease distribution and risk, the models
for estimating under-detection, the geographical variati...ons of in clinical presentation,
the roles of domestic and wild animal reservoirs and the subsequent different
transmission patterns and control approaches, including vector control.
3. To update current research and development efforts for improving diagnostic and
treatment tools.
4. To define the goals for achieving the control of r-HAT, the need for a multisectoral
approach and to discuss the strategy for controlling r-HAT and the coordination
mechanisms.
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Cervical cancer continues to be a significant public health problem and a major cause of premature mortality among women, disproportionately affecting the socioeconomically disadvantaged population in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In the absence of implementing the known evidence-based, ...cost-effective interventions, the number of deaths per year is projected to reach approximately 416 000 globally in 2035. It was estimated in 2020 that 32% of incident cervical cancer cases and 34% of cervical cancer deaths in the world occurred in the 11 Member States of the WHO South-East Asia (SEA) Region. In 2020, 190 874 new cases and 116 015 deaths were estimated due to cervical cancer, which is the third commonest cancer in the Region
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In the last decade, Timor-Leste has made remarkable progress in strengthening its health system and improving the health status of its population. This has resulted in an increased life expectancy, and the achievement of Millennium Development Goals such as a reduction in infant and under-five morta...lity, an improvement in maternal and child health outcomes, and an increase in immunization coverage. Further, the country has successfully eliminated infectious diseases such as polio, measles, and maternal and neonatal tetanus. There is full political commitment to reducing the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) by 80% and the number of deaths due to TB by 90% by 2030. The country has made great progress in the context of the pandemic, having established numerous quarantine facilities/isolation centres; trained health-care workers; streamlined the procurement and supply of medicines, consumables, personal protective equipment and other equipment; and strengthened the capacity in critical care across secondary and tertiary health care, to better respond to future pandemics and other disaster situations.
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Medical care for people caught up in armed conflict and other insecure environments saves lives and alleviates suffering. It is one of the most immediate and high priority needs of an affected population and is often the first type of response activated and/or requested by authorities and affected c...ommunities. Medical teams working in armed conflict and other insecure environments
frequently face serious threats to their security and safety, challenges to patient access, and at times limited acceptance by affected communities in which they work and parties to the conflict. Such difficulties are likely to increase (6) and
thereby creating a critical need to establish contact and trust with all sides in conflicts and in other insecure environments to ensure operational continuity. This trust can best be achieved when all sides perceive the medical teams to be neutral, impartial, and independent, and specifically not aiding (or being perceived to aid) any one party to achieve a military, political or economic
advantage. For medical teams that are deploying increasingly closer to the frontlines, the implications of and consequences for both staff and patients of teams not being fully prepared, and/or not fully comprehending the context in which they work, can be severe. Medical response can easily be hindered or compromised by intentional or unintentional acts and the behaviour and
conduct of the teams themselves
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Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis on 24 February 2022, WHO has supported Government-led efforts and initiatives alongside key partners on the ground. Building on efforts to date, and working alongside Bulgaria’s health authorities to bring added value to existing mechanisms, the WHO Countr...y Office Bulgaria, the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the WHO Health and Migration Programme, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Bulgaria and key partners, undertook a joint review mission to support Bulgaria, with a focus on addressing the health system needs of refugees, migrants, asylum seekers and vulnerable host populations in Bulgaria.
The assessment team developed this report on the key findings and a package of potential interventions based on the opportunities identified and the need for technical support and assistance. The report summarizes concrete areas of work for which collaborations can be further strengthened. The joint review team identified key recommendations for consideration across 8 priority areas. The report and the outcomes of the review mission serve as a basis for future technical collaboration in the area of refugee health, to address the health needs of refugees and third-country nationals fleeing from Ukraine.
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This volume contains monographs prepared at the ninety-first meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which met virtually online from 1 to 12 February 2021.
The detailed monographs in this volume summarize data on specific contaminants in food. Individual monographs ...present the assessment of exposure to cadmium from all food sources, the technical, analytical, dietary exposure and toxicological data on ergot alkaloids, an assessment of five substances that may occur as previous cargoes, and a revision of the specifications for steviol glycosides. This volume and others in the WHO Food Additives series contain information that is useful to those who produce and use food additives and veterinary drugs and those involved with controlling contaminants in food, government and food regulatory officers, industrial testing laboratories, toxicological laboratories and universities.
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Traditional food markets play important economic, cultural, and social role and are sources of livelihood for millions of people in urban and rural areas. The manual Five keys for safer traditional food markets: risk mitigation in traditional food markets in the Asia-Pacific Region aims to support a...nd guide local authorities, market community, and consumers to transform these markets into safer and healthier places through practical risk mitigation measures and community engagement strategies. The manual provides guidance on the implementation of five keys to promote public health and safety, particularly, in the context of food safety, zoonoses diseases, and infectious respiratory diseases.
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Africa is off track to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and lags behind in building resilient health systems
and health security, against a backdrop of limited resources. The world envisaged a significant role for governments
in funding the Sustainable Development Agenda, but inadeq...uate funding for health in African countries is
persistent, despite additional continental commitments to address the problem. When commitments to global health
targets and available fiscal space do not align, innovation is warranted.
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