The aim of the present paper is to review capacity building in public health nutrition (PHN), the need for which has been stressed for many years b
...
y a range of academics, national and international organisations. Although great strides have been made worldwide in the science of nutrition, there remain many problems of undernutrition and increasingly of obesity and related chronic diseases. The main emphasis in capacity building has been on the nutrition and health workforce, but the causes of these health problems are multifactorial and require collaboration across sectors in their solution. This means that PHN capacity building has to go beyond basic nutrition and beyond the immediate health workforce to policy makers in other sectors. The present paper provides examples of capacity building activities by various organisations, including universities, industry and international agencies. Examples of web-based courses are given including an introduction to the e-Nutrition Academy. The scope is international but with a special focus on Africa. In conclusion, there remains a great need for capacity building in PHN but the advent of the internet has revolutionised the possibilities.
more
This report challenges policy-makers and political leaders to tackle fossil fuel production and consumption as a health control issue, in the same
...
way that smoking has been reduced and regulated. Fossil fuel combustion is a major source of toxic air pollution that kills 7 million people every year, almost the same as the number of deaths caused by tobacco smoking.
In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognised air pollution as a major health risk factor. There is widespread public discussion about the effects of fossil fuel combustion and emissions on climate change… but what about the effect on our health? Climate change poses a threat not only to the health of the planet, but also to humans.
The case studies evaluated in this report offer examples of mechanisms that can be used to restrict the production and consumption of unhealthy commodities, so that the health, air pollution and climate communities can learn from one another, using shared approaches and language. These case studies show that the connection with health is a strong argument to support sustainable change.
more
Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar, or glucose), or when the body cannot effectively us
...
e the insulin it produces. Diabetes is an important public health problem, one of four priority noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) targeted for action by world leaders. Both the number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been steadily increasing over the past few decades
more
This short paper aims to identify key evidence gaps in our knowledge of livestock- and fisheries-linked antimicrobial resistance in the developing world
...
, and to document on-going or planned research initiatives on this topic by key stakeholders.
The antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections in animals that are of most potential risk to human health are likely to be zoonotic pathogens transmitted through food, especially Salmonella and Campylobacter. In addition, livestock associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA MRSA) and extended spectrum beta lactamase E. coli (ESBL E. coli) are emerging problems throughout the world.
more
Submitted to the United Nation's Committee on the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of
...
Discrimination Against Women
February 2016
Published by the Albanian Center for Population and Development (ACPD) Adresa : Bul “ Gjergj Fishta”, Kompleksi “Tirana 2000” Kulla 4, kati 2, Tiranë Web: www.acpd.al.org
more
The Health Systems in Transition (HiT) series consists of country-based reviews that provide a detailed description of a health system and of reform and
...
policy initiatives in progress or under development in a specific country.
more
The WHO country office for Ghana, began the year 2019 with a 4-day staff retreat at the Busua Beach Resort in
...
the Western Region from 04 to 08 March 2019. The theme for the retreat was ‘Impacting the Health and Lives of the people of Ghana through the Triple Billion Goal”. The staff outlined priorities and strategies to strengthen WHO’s contribution to the national health agenda during the year. Working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health/Ghana Health Service and other allied health institutions and stakeholders, the WHO country office, provided support aimed at achieving its
mission which is attaining the highest level of health by the people in the country though its six operational areas which are (i) Communicable Diseases (ii) Non-Communicable Diseases, (iii) Promoting Health through the Life Course (iv), Health Systems, (v) Preparedness, Surveillance and Response (vi) Corporate services and enabling functions.
more
The Strategic Framework for Emergency Preparedness is a unifying framework which identifies the principles and elements of effective country health
...
emergency preparedness. It adopts the major lessons of previous initiatives and lays out the planning and implementation process by which countries can determine their priorities and develop or strengthen their operational capacities. The framework capitalizes on the strengths of current initiatives and pushes for more integrated action at a time when there is both increased political will and increased funding available to support preparedness efforts.
more
The preparedness strengthening team deployed to Ghana focused on specific objectives in order to assist the country in becoming as operationally prepared as possible to detect, investigate
...
and report potential EVD cases effectively and safely and to mount an effective response to prevent a larger outbreak. To accomplish this goal, the team conducted “scoping” activities, stakeholder meetings, site visits and a “table-top” simulation exercise to determine what systems were in place and what aspects of preparedness could be strengthened.
It is organized in 10 components of the WHO consolidated checklist for EVD preparedness: 1) planning and coordination; 2) epidemiological and laboratory surveillance; 3) rapid response teams; 4) contact tracing; 5) points of entry; 6) laboratory; 7) case management; 8) infection prevention and control; 9) social mobilization and risk communication; 10) budget.
more
The strategic priorities of the CCS 2014–2018 are:
(1) Strengthening the health system.
(2) Enhancing
...
the achievement of communicable disease control targets.
(3) Controlling the growth of the noncommunicable disease burden.
(4) Promoting health throughout the life course.
(5) Strengthening capacity for emergency risk management and surveillance systems for various health threats.
more
The goal of the draft global action plan is to ensure, for as long as possible, continuity of successful treatment and prevention of infectious dis
...
eases with effective and safe medicines that are quality-assured, used in a responsible way, and accessible to all who need them.
more
The Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators is a standard set of core indicators prioritized by the global community to provide concise information on
...
the health situation and trends, including responses at national and global levels.
This second (2018) edition builds on the previous work of the inter-agency working group that was commissioned by global health leaders to reduce reporting burden. The 2018 list of indicators contains modifications and additions to indicators and metadata elements to reflect the recommended health and health-related indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals, including universal health coverage.
more
Preliminary overview of refugees and migrants self-reported impact of COVID-19
The study surveyed over 30,000 refugees and migrants living in 170
...
countries. Many of the respondents had fled war or dire economic conditions in their home country only to be faced with the additional challenges posed by COVID-19. Travel restrictions including border closures, suspension of resettlement travel, and last-minute deportation left many stranded or forced to stay in cramped, makeshift shelters or detention centers. Amid these uncertain, precarious conditions, many migrants described either a lack of access to health services or a fear of seeking them out — even if they were experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
more
A survey was conducted in countries in all six WHO regions and focused on the building blocks that are considered prerequisites to combat antimicrobial resistance: a comprehensive national plan, lab
...
oratory capacity to undertake surveillance for resistant microorganisms, access to safe, effective antimicrobial medicines, control of the misuse of these medicines, awareness and understanding among the general public and effective infection prevention and control programmes.
more
Road safety is an issue that does not receive anywhere near the attention it deserves – and it really is one
of our great opportunities to save lives around
...
the world
more
This guidance document is designed to ensure that the process of iteratively managing the health risks of climate change is integrated into the ove
...
rall National Adaptation Planning (NAP) process, including through assessing risks; identifying, prioritizing, and implementing adaptation options; and monitoring and evaluating the adaptation process.
more
The main objective of this mission was to assess the level of preparedness of Guinea-Bissau in respect of the WHO consolidated checklist.
...
The checklist helps countries to assess and test their level of readiness it is being used to identify concrete action to be taken and where countries will require support from partners. It lists 10 key components and tasks for both countries and the international community that should be completed within 30, 60 and 90 days from the date of issue of the list, with minimal requirements for equipment, material and human resources.
The components include: overall coordination; rapid response teams; public awareness and community engagement; infection prevention and control; epidemiological and laboratory surveillance; contact tracing; points of entry; laboratory; social mobilization and risk communication; budget.
more
Previous advocacy efforts have achieved tangible goals in terms garnering political commitments
to increase financing for TB—as seen at the 2018 UN High-Level Meeting on TB. The challenge
now is
...
to ensure that these commitments are actually met within a global biomedical research
ecosystem that is designed and incentivized to prioritize the health needs of wealthy populations
more
WHO would like to express its gratitude and appreciation to all Member States that provided information to the WHO survey on policies and activitie
...
s at the national level in the area of antimicrobial resistance. The contribution of staff in WHO Regional and Country Offices has been invaluable: in gather-ing original data and information from Member States, in supporting the process of aggregation of these data; and in reviewing the regional analysis of the findings that reflect the country situation at the point when the survey was conducted. The support and commitment of the members of the WHO Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance, comprising WHO staff from Headquarters and Regional Offices has, is also acknowledged.
more
This fourth annual report monitors global progress towards the 2023 target for global elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFA), highlighting achievements during the past year (Oc
...
tober 2021 – September 2022). Countries are responding to the World Health Organization (WHO) call to action by putting into place best-practice TFA policies. Mandatory TFA policies are currently in effect for 3.4 billion people in 60 countries (43% of the world population); of these, 43 countries have best-practice policies in effect, covering 2.8 billion people (36% of the world population).
Over the past year, several additional countries took action to eliminate industrially produced TFA: best-practice policies came into effect in India in January 2022, Uruguay in May 2022 and Oman in July 2022. Best-practice policies were passed in Bangladesh in November 2021 (to come into effect in December 2022) and in Ukraine in September 2020 (to come into effect in October 2023), best-practice TFA policies are projected to pass soon in Mexico, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.
more