The COVID-19 pandemic has led to large increases in healthcare waste, straining under resourced healthcare facilities and exacerbating environmental impacts from solid waste. This report quantifies the additional COVID-19 healthcare waste generated,... describes current healthcare waste management systems and their deficiencies, and summarizes emerging best practices and solutions to reduce the impact of waste on human and environmental health. The recommendations included in the report build on actions in the WHO manifesto for a healthy recovery from COVID-19: prescriptions and actionables for a healthy and green recovery. They target the global, national and facility levels to promote a “win–win” scenario for COVID-19 PPE use, testing and vaccinations that are safe and support environmental sustainability.
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Intended for use primarily by those responsible for developing policies and directing the working practices of nurses, midwives and other frontline health-...>care providers, these guidelines aim to promote and strengthen the case against the medicalization of female genital mutilation and support and protect nurses, midwives and other health personnel in adhering to WHO guidelines not to close an opened-up infibulation.
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WHO-OHCHR launch new guidance to improve laws addressing human rights abuses in mental health care
Ahead of World Mental Health Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Office of the High... Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) are jointly launching a new guidance, entitled "Mental health, human rights and legislation: guidance and practice", to support countries to reform legislation in order to end human rights abuses and increase access to quality mental health care.
Human rights abuses and coercive practices in mental health care, supported by existing legislation and policies, are still far too common. Involuntary hospitalization and treatment, unsanitary living conditions and physical, psychological, and emotional abuse characterize many mental health services across the world.
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Ebola interventions: The intervention to combat Ebola aims to stop human-to-human transmission. The package is composed of five elements necessary to control the spread of the disease: care to patients, contact monitoring, safe burials, laboratory ...support and social mobilisation.
The document also describes key information on Ebola virus disease, patient care, contact tracing and monitoring, safe and dignified burial, laboratory diagnosis.
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Recommended practices booklet (April 2020)
The set includes 10 Counselling Cards and a Recommended Practices Booklet. Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) counselling in the context of COVID-19 re...mains a critical nutrition intervention for the protection and support of pregnant women, caregivers, and their young children. WHO and UNICEF advise caregivers and families with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 to continue the recommended IYCF practices with the necessary hygiene precautions. It is therefore vital to ensure that communities and families around the world adopt these recommendations to help prevent the spread of the virus and care for those who are infected.
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AJOL, Vol.92 No.2; There is a low bed capacity in ICUs compounded by a universal deficit in human resource capacity and support infrastructure for the critical ...dbox">care services. Regionalisation, increased funding and more training opportunities for critical are
services by the regional and central governments will go a long way in alleviating these challenges
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Advances in the treatment of pediatric cancer have made it possible to expand initiatives beyond cure and cover aspects such as early detection, continuity of treatment and reduction in toxicity. Al...l this has paved the way for a more comprehensive vision of patient care, which means better chances of healing and a fuller life - objectives of the World Initiative against Childhood Cancer. Within this comprehensive care, psychosocial care includes the social, psychological, spiritual and functional dimensions of the disease process of patients. This series includes guidelines and standards based on evidence that guarantee the quality of said care. The standards are the result of discussion and review by different professionals from Latin America and the Caribbean. Module 1 focuses on psychosocial evaluation as a strategy to support the objectives of the World Initiative against Childhood Cancer, and as a tool for health professionals to gather the necessary information to offer these patients a comprehensive approach focused on well-being, adaptation to the disease process, and adherence to treatment.
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This document provides a summary of the recommendations for hand hygiene best practices to be performed by health workers providing care and/or suppor...t to patients with filovirus infection (Ebola and Marburg viruses).
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During the pandemic, Brazil has provided its citizens with support in the areas of long-term care and disability, the labor market, social assistan...ce, education, and pensions. This report focuses on two social policy areas, health-care and family benefits (including labor policies), as these were the most crucial social policies implemented in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of the resources allocated and the magnitude of social impact. Brazil’s relatively generous social policies were uncoordinated with public health interventions, which contributed to poor compliance with these public health interventions. This suggests that social policy initiatives alone are insufficient in mitigating the social consequences of the pandemic. They need to be accompanied by and coordinated with public health measures, including regulations on testing, social distancing and mask wearing.
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The Guidance on global monitoring for diabetes prevention and control by WHO provides a comprehensive framework to support countries in tracking and...> managing diabetes prevention, care, and outcomes. This document outlines indicators across 4 domains: health system determinants, service delivery, risk factors, and outcomes/impacts. The guidance helps countries align their monitoring efforts with WHO’s global diabetes targets, Global Diabetes Compact, and relevant global NCD targets.
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The purpose of this manual is to provide guidance in the design, implementation and evaluation of a course that aims to build and strengthen the capacity of health personnel to manage eye patients a...t primary-level health facilities in the African Region. The course falls within the remit of continuous professional development in its broadest sense. Its content focuses on simple evidence-based practice that can be easily carried out in primary-level health facilities all over Africa.
This manual is intended for use by course directors and facilitators. Its intended audience includes all persons who wish to commission, support or offer a course serving the above aims, including pre-service training. This manual sets out the requisite steps for the preparation and organization of such a course.
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Addressing comorbidities and risk factors for tuberculosis (TB) is a crucial component of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s End TB Strategy. This WHO operational handbook on tuberculosis. Module 6: tuberculosis ...light medbox">and comorbidities aims to support countries in scaling up people-centred care, based on the latest WHO recommendations on TB and key comorbidities, and drawing upon additional evidence, best practices and inputs from various experts and stakeholders obtained during WHO processes. It is intended for use by people working in ministries of health, particularly TB programmes and the relevant departments or programmes responsible for comorbidities and health-related risk factors for TB such as HIV, diabetes, undernutrition, substance use, and tobacco use, as well as programmes addressing mental health and lung health.
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Facilitator's Guide. This guide is designed to assist facilitators in training community health workers (CHWs) and community volunteers (CVs) in integrating community-based TB services into their work. The training will help community workers who al...ready provide numerous services to understand TB and contribute to prevention, care and support services in their communities
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Childhood obesity is a major public health problem globally, which could undermine progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Prevention is recognized as the most efficient means of curbing the epidemic; however, given the scale of the problem ...edbox">and the many children who need professional support due to the severity of the disease and/or obesity-related complications, health systems all over Europe must take steps to develop obesity management systems. The aim of this project was to assess the response of health care delivery systems in 19 countries in the WHO European Region to the childhood obesity epidemic.
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The objective of this project was to list the medical devices required to provide the essential reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health interventions defined by existing WHO guidelines and ...publications, in order to improve access to these devices in low- and middle-income countries, support quality of care, and strengthen health-care system. The medical devices are allocated across the reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health continuum of care according to the level of health-care delivery.
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Ghana's attempt to regulate health care waste management started in 2002 with the development of guidelines on health care waste manage-ment by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2006, t...he Ministry of Health developed the health care waste policy and guidelines. This guidance document improved health care waste management in the country.
With support from the UNDP-GEF medical waste management project, the Ministry of He lth has revised the existing National Health Care Waste Management (HCWM), policy and guideline, 2006 and has produced two separate documents- A National Health Care Waste Management Policy and a National Guideline for Health Care Waste Management
countrywide. This policy is replacing the 2006 policy and introduces new technical and administrative policy issues to enhance waste management in health care facilities.
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Interim rapid response guidance, 10 June 2022.
It includes considerations for certain populations such as patients with mild disease with considerations for community care, patients with moderate to severe disease, sexually active persons, pregnant... or breastfeeding women, children and young persons. The guidance also addresses considerations for clinical management such as the use of therapeutics, nutritional support, mental health services, and post-infection follow-up.
The document provides guidance for clinicians, health facility managers, health workers and infection prevention and control practitioners including but not limited to those working in primary care clinics, sexual health clinics, emergency departments, infectious diseases clinics, genitourinary clinics, dermatology clinics, maternity services, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology and acute care facilities that provide care for patients with suspected or confirmed monkeypox
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Addressing comorbidities and risk factors for TB is a crucial component of Pillar one of the End TB Strategy, which focuses on integrated patient-centred care ...box">and prevention, including action on TB and comorbidities. The Framework for collaborative action on TB and comorbidities aims to support countries in the evidence-informed introduction and scale-up of holistic people-centred services for TB, comorbidities and health-related risk factors, with the goal of comprehensively addressing TB and other co-existing health conditions. It should be used in conjunction with relevant WHO guidelines. The Framework is intended for use by people working in ministries of health, other relevant line-ministries, policymakers, international technical and funding organizations, researchers, nongovernmental and civil society organizations, as well as primary care workers, specialist health practitioners, and community health workers who support the response to TB and comorbidities in both the public and private sectors.
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KEY MESSAGES
Always talk to a GBV specialist first to understand what GBV services are available in your area. Some services may take the form of hotlines, a mobile app or other remote support.
Be aware of any other available services in your ...area. Identify services provided by humanitarian partners such as health, psychosocial support, shelter and non-food items. Consider services provided by communities such as mosques/ churches, women’s groups and Disability Service Organizations.
Remember your role. Provide a listening ear, free of judgment. Provide accurate, up-to-date information on available services. Let the survivor make their own choices. Know what you can and cannot manage. Even without a GBV actor in your area, there may be other partners, such as a child protection or mental health specialist, who can support survivors that require additional attention and support. Ask the survivor for permission before connecting them to anyone else. Do not force the survivor if s/he says no.
Do not proactively identify or seek out GBV survivors. Be available in case someone asks for support.
Remember your mandate. All humanitarian practitioners are mandated to provide non-judgmental and non-discriminatory support to people in need regardless of: gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability status, age, ethnicity/tribe/race/religion, who perpetrated/committed violence, and the situation in which violence was committed. Use a survivor-centered approach by practicing:
Respect: all actions you take are guided by respect for the survivor’s choices, wishes, rights and dignity.
Safety: the safety of the survivor is the number one priority.
Confidentiality: people have the right to choose to whom they will or will not tell their story. Maintaining confidentiality means not sharing any information to anyone.
Non-discrimination: providing equal and fair treatment to anyone in need of support.
If health services exist, always provide information on what is available. Share what you know, and most importantly explain what you do not. Let the survivor decide if s/he wants to access them. Receiving quality medical care within 72 hours can prevent transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and within 120 hours can prevent unwanted pregnancy.
Provide the opportunity for people with disabilities to communicate to you without the presence of their caregiver, if wished and does not endanger or create tension in that relationship.
If a man or boy is raped it does not mean he is gay or bisexual. Gender-based violence is based on power, not someone’s sexuality.
Sexual and gender minorities are often at increased risk of harm and violence due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Actively listen and seek to support all survivors.
Anyone can commit an act of gender-based violence including a spouse, intimate partner, family member, caregiver, in-law, stranger, parent or someone who is exchanging money or goods for a sexual act.
Anyone can be a survivor of gender-based violence – this includes, but isn’t limited to, people who are married, elderly individuals or people who engage in sex work.
Protect the identity and safety of a survivor. Do not write down, take pictures or verbally share any personal/identifying information about a survivor or their experience, including with your supervisor. Put phones and computers away to avoid concern that a survivor’s voice is being recorded.
Personal/identifying information includes the survivor’s name, perpetrator(s) name, date of birth, registration number, home address, work address, location where their children go to school, the exact time and place the incident took place etc.
Share general, non-identifying information
To your team or sector partners in an effort to make your program safer.
To your support network when seeking self-care and encouragement.
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Pregnancy and childbirth during adolescence profoundly affects the lives of millions of girls worldwide, and is a leading cause of maternal mortality and<.../span> morbidity, and infant and child mortality. Every year, an estimated 21 million girls aged 15–19 years old in low- and middle-income countries become pregnant, and approximately 12 million give birth.
For many adolescent girls, the ability to control their sexual lives remains limited. Long-standing gender inequalities and discrimination, marginalization, harmful social and gender norms, and denial of rights, compounded by poverty and violence, render them vulnerable to early pregnancy, HIV and other health threats. Lack of age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) information and services create additional barriers to care and support; as a result, adolescent girls who become pregnant are much more likely to go on to have rapid repeated births.
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