In recent years, high prices of pharmaceutical products have posed challenges in high- and low-income countries alike. In many instances, high prices of pharmaceutical products have led to significant financial hardship for individuals and negatively impacted on healthcare systems’ ability to prov...ide population-wide access to essential medicines.
Pharmaceutical pricing policies need to be carefully planned, carried out, and regularly checked and revised according to changing conditions. Strong, well-thought-out policies can guide well-informed and balanced decisions to achieve affordable access to essential health products.
This guideline replaces the 2015 WHO guideline on country pharmaceutical pricing policies, revised to reflect the growing body of literature since the last evidence review in 2010. This update also recognizes country experiences in managing the prices of pharmaceutical products.
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Временные рекомендации4 ноября 2020 г.
В данной редакции документа представлены обновленные рекомендации в таблице, посвященной важнейшим мерам по подготовке, обес...печению готовности и реагированию в связи с COVID-19 при различных сценариях передачи инфекции,
а также приводится обновленный полный перечень технических руководящих указаний ВОЗ по COVID-19.
(measures to prepare and provide readiness and a response plan for COVID-19)
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This document provides guidance to African Union Member States on key mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) considerations in relation to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It contains useful guidance on MHPSS for the community, healthcare workers, caregivers of vulnerable po...pulations and people in quarantine, isolation or treatment centers(1)
(2). This guidance aims to provide practical steps to reduce stress, anxiety, stigma and psychological disorders associated with COVID-19 and improve overall mental health and well being. This guidance can be used for planning purposes by policy makers and Ministries of
health and institutions coordinating emergency response to COVID-19 response by Member States. It can also be disseminated to stakeholders.
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This document provides an overview of specific health care waste technologies for the treatment of solid infectious and sharp waste. For each technology, details of its operation, effects on the environment and health, requirements for installation, capacities for treating waste, examples of consuma...bles and advantages and disadvantages are described. The document is designed for health care facility administrators and planners, WASH and infection prevention control staff, national planners, donors and partners.
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The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases detected and reported in each country is influenced by
many factors including limited access and/or utilization of healthcare and COVID-19 testing, limited
surveillance, lack of knowledge amongst the population about when to seek testing, an asymptomatic pres...entation, and other unknown issues. This is true in all countries of the world, and not Africa specific, however there are factors unique to Africa which may also affect the way the virus behaves there. COVID-19 prevalence data are critical for planning effective mitigation strategies and understandingthe true impact of the disease and relevant intervention measures in Africa, which might be quite different from regions with a different population age distribution or risk factor profile.
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The package provides practical, concise yet crucial information about the impact of COVID-19 on daily teaching practices as well as tips and suggestions to improve safety, well-being and learning, with students in face-to-face or remote settings.
The package speaks directly to the teachers. It ca...n be adapted to their context and can be completed at the teachers’ own pace. It includes quizzes and a self-evaluation and planning tool to help teachers reflect on what they learned and what they still need to learn, encouraging them to keep learning!
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The Clinical Management of Patients with COVID-19 course series is developed for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The course provides crucial knowledge necessary to provide safe, effective quality patient care. Presentations address all aspects of clinical management, including facil...ity preparation and surge planning; health worker infection prevention and control; interfacility transfer; clinical management of mild, moderate, and severely ill patients with COVID-19; special considerations for geriatric, pregnant, and pediatric patients with COVID-19; rehabilitation; and ethics and palliative care.
The course series consists of 6 courses, which include video lectures and downloadable presentations that have been updated with the latest guidance and evidence. Each module contains 5-8 lectures, and each lecture includes a quiz to evaluate knowledge acquisition.
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The Guidelines on promotive and preventive mental health interventions for adolescents - Helping Adolescents thrive (HAT), provide evidence-informed recommendations on psychosocial interventions to promote mental health, prevent mental disorders, and reduce self-harm and other risk behaviours among ...adolescents.
The HAT Guidelines aims to inform policy development, service planning and the strengthening of health and education systems, and facilitate mainstreaming of adolescent mental health promotion and prevention strategies across sectors and delivery platforms.
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A module from the suite of health service capacity assessments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Interim Guidance 20 October 2020.
This self-assessment tool is designed for acute health-care facilities (i.e. tertiary and secondary) but can be modified for the use in long-term care facilities..., to help identify, prioritize and address the gaps in infection prevention and control (IPC) capacity in managing their response to COVID-19. The tool should be used by IPC professionals and/or those responsible for disaster planning or outbreak management in the facility (such as the response to the COVID-19 outbreak) at the start of the improvement process. A sample workplan template is provided to address gaps identified and record required actions.
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The EiE Competency Framework builds on the INEE Minimum Standards to articulate a set of required, valued and recognized competencies for the humanitarian and education in the emergencies sectors. It broadly describes expected standards of performance across a number of competencies that can be appl...ied to different roles within an organization or sector. The framework provides a common lexicon for core humanitarian and technical competencies and defines expected knowledge, skills and attributes for each.
The framework is intended to inform staff recruitment, learning and professional development, performance management, planning, and organizational design. It is a sector-wide guidance to advance the accountability, effectiveness, and predictability of educational preparedness, response and recovery for affected populations.
The framework is primarily intended for use by EiE practitioners in humanitarian contexts. However, it is also relevant at the global level or in development settings in support of planning and emergency preparedness. It is best used in conjunction with the Core Humanitarian Competency Framework (CHCF) and where applicable, the Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPHA) Competency Framework. It is transferable across people, countries, and cultures and can be a valuable tool for entry-, mid-, and senior level professional development.
Available in English, Arabic, French, Portuguese and Spanish
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Children living in humanitarian crises face an increased risk of abuse. While the threats of harm are increasing, the established systems in place to protect them are breaking down. Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts, vulnerable families suffer multiple hardships. Schools are closed an...d families have been pushed to the brink of poverty, sometimes having been denied the opportunity to protect and provide for their children.
The report provides an in-depth analysis of 19 Humanitarian Response Plans and Refugee Response Plans from 2019
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This document provides guidance on how to implement contact screening and chemoprophylaxis with single-dose rifampicin. The contents are logically ordered: counselling and obtaining consent, identification and listing of index case, listing of contacts, tracing of contacts, screening of contacts, ad...ministration of prophylactic drugs. Managerial aspects to undertake contact screeninig and chemoprophylaxis are also elaborated, including planning , training , supervision and drug management.
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The health impact of radiological and nuclear emergencies can last for decades. Lessons learned from past radiological and nuclear accidents have demonstrated that the mental health and psychosocial consequences can outweigh the direct physical health impacts of radiation exposure. International rad...iation emergency preparedness and response standards outline provisions for mitigating these effects. Yet, practical guidance for addressing the mental health and psychosocial aspects of radiation emergencies remains scarce.
This framework aims to promote integration between the MHPSS and radiation protection fields. It is intended for officials and specialists involved in radiation emergency planning and risk management as well as MHPSS experts working in health emergencies.
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BMJ Global Health, Vol.5 No. 12Spatial subdivision of the camp (‘sectoring’) was able to ‘flatten the curve’, reducing peak infection by up to 70% and delaying peak infection by up to several months. The use of face masks coupled with the efficient isolation of infected individuals reduced t...he overall incidence of infection, and sometimes averted epidemics altogether. These interventions must be implemented quickly in order to be maximally effective. Lockdowns had only small effects on COVID-19 dynamics.
Conclusions
Agent-based models are powerful tools for forecasting the spread of disease in spatially structured and heterogeneous populations. Our findings suggest that feasible interventions can slow the spread of COVID-19 in a refugee camp setting, and provide an evidence base for camp managers planning intervention strategies. Our model can be modified to study other closed populations at risk from COVID-19 or future epidemics.
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La OPS, dentro de su empeño constante por apoyar a los países de las Américas, publica el presente documento con ánimo de facilitar la elaboración de una estrategia de comunicación de riesgos y participación comunitaria para la vacunación contra la COVID-19. Su finalidad es contribuir a fort...alecer las capacidades y la planificación de la comunicación de los ministerios o secretarías de salud, así como de otros organismos encargados de comunicar en el área de las nuevas vacunas contra la COVID-19 en las Américas.
Available in English, Spanish and Portuguese
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n este documento de orientación se abordan las las consecuencias sociales, económicas y en materia de salud de las medidas adoptadas para controlar la pandemia en relación con el cierre de las escuelas, así como los elementos que deben tenerse en cuenta al reabrir y cerrar las escuelas, haciendo... hincapié en los niños, niñas y adolescentes en situación de vulnerabilidad. Además, se plantean otras consideraciones para que los planes de reapertura de las escuelas incluyan medidas concebidas específicamente para beneficiar a los niños, niñas y adolescentes que tienen más riesgo de tener resultados desfavorables en materia de educación y salud por el impacto negativo, directo e indirecto, de la pandemia de COVID-19.
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This document provides interim guidance on the management of the blood supply in response to the pandemic outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It emphasizes the importance of being prepared and responding quickly and outlines key actions and measures that the blood services should take to mit...igate the potential risk to the safety and sufficiency of the blood supplies during the pandemic.
It should be read in conjunction with WHO Guidance for National Blood Services on Protecting the Blood Supply During Infectious Disease Outbreaks, which provides general guidance on the development of national plans to respond to any emerging infectious threats to the sufficiency or safety of the blood supply.
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Front. Med., 27 November 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2020.594728. The Checklist included eight actions for implementing rural pathways in LMICs: establishing community needs; policies and partners; exploring existing workers and scope; selecting health workers; education and training; workin...g conditions for recruitment and retention; accreditation and recognition of workers; professional support/up-skilling and; monitoring and evaluation. For each action, a summary of LMICs-specific evidence and prompts was developed to stimulate reflection and learning. To support implementation, rural pathways exemplars from different WHO regions were also compiled. Field-testing showed the Checklist is fit for purpose to guide holistic planning and benchmarking of rural pathways, irrespective of LMICs, stakeholder, or health worker type.
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The COVID-19 pandemic arrived in an evolving epidemiological context where some countries are experiencing a progressive decrease in HIV positivity in their testing programme as they are moving closer to the first 95 target. Distinguishing changes in HIV testing services due to the COVID-19 pandemic... from those resulting from evolving HIV testing strategies is crucial for adapting services and helping countries define their strategic mix of testing options moving forward. There is a need to focus, prioritize and plan for strategic efforts to prevent going further off the track toward achieving global targets and goals.
To support these efforts, WHO in partnership with ministries of health conducted an in-depth analysis of HIV testing services and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation prior to and during reported COVID-19 disruptions. Additional publicly available Global Fund and PEPFAR data was also reviewed and analysed. This analysis, and coordination with ministries of health, identified key service delivery adaptations utilized during COVID-19-related disruptions and formed the basis of this strategic guide.
This document focuses on current country needs, as well as plans for prioritization and potential surge support needs in the event of future disruptions. Although the data and implications are specific to sub-Saharan Africa, key principles and lessons can be applied elsewhere.
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his profile is part of a series of Climate Risk Country Profiles developed by the World Bank Group (WBG). The country profile
synthesizes most relevant data and information on climate change, disaster risk reduction, and adaptation actions and policies
at the country level. The country profile ser...ies are designed as a quick reference source for development practitioners to better
integrate climate resilience in development planning and policy making.
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