A global food crisis fuelled by conflict, climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic is growing because of the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine driving rising prices of food, fuel and fertilizer. Millions of people across the world are at risk of being driven into starvation unless action is taken... now to respond together and at scale. Due to the unprecedented overlap of crises, WFP’s annual operational requirements are at an all-time high of US$22.2 billion, with confirmed contributions so far at US$4.8 billion (22 percent). WFP is calling for coordinated action to address this crisis.
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The Programme identifies the essential services to be provided by the health, social services, police and justice sectors as well as guidelines for the coordination of essential services and the governance of coordination processes and mechanisms. Service delivery guidelines for the core elements of... each essential service have been identified to ensure the delivery of high-quality services, particularly for low- and middle-income countries, for women and girls experiencing violence. Taken together, these elements comprise the “Essential services package”.
The package comprises seven modules. Available in different languages
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Leishmaniose cutanée : un important problèmede santé
La leishmaniose cutanée est une maladie potentiellement grave et défigurante. Les personnes atteintes de leishmaniose cutanée ont une ou plusieurs lésions durables sur la peau, le plus souvent sans fièvre ni symptômes généraux. L'impac...t de la leishmaniose cutanée sur la propagation de la pauvreté est important, car le traitement est coûteux et donc inabordable ou implique une grande perte d’argent.
Le coût du traitement et de la mise en œuvre de stratégies de prévention nécessite un investissement considérable de ressources financières et humaines. La leishmaniose cutanée est un problème de santé publique majeur dans la Région de l'OMS pour la Méditerranée orientale. Des nouveaux cas apparaissent dans des zones précédemment indemnes de la maladie. Plus de 100 000 nouveaux cas de leishmaniose cutanée sont notifiés chaque année à l'OMS par les pays de la Région, mais les estimations relatives à l'incidence réelle sont de trois à cinq fois plus élevées car de nombreux patients ne consultent jamais un médecin ou un professionnel de santé et les cas ayant reçu un diagnostic de leishmaniose cutanée ne sont pas toujours notifiés aux autorités sanitaires.
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This publication represents a key step forward in translating Control of the leishmaniases (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 949) into a more practical tool for health personnel directly involved in the case management of cutaneous leishmaniasis. With this manual, countries will have, for the first ...time, standardized diagnosis and treatment protocols, case definitions and indicators to enable them to easily track progress on cutaneous leishmaniasis case management across the Region. It will provide support to professionals in charge of cutaneous leishmaniasis, in order to alleviate the suffering of affected populations from this appalling disfiguring and stigmatizing neglected tropical disease.
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After 100 years of chemotherapy with impractical and toxic drugs, an oral cure for human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is available: Fexinidazole. In this case, we review the history of drug discovery for HAT with special emphasis on the discovery, ...pre-clinical development, and operational challenges of the clinical trials of fexinidazole. The screening of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) HAT-library by the Swiss TPH had singled out fexinidazole, originally developed by Hoechst (now Sanofi), as the most promising of a series of over 800 nitroimidazoles and related molecules. In cell culture, fexinidazole has an IC50 of around 1 µM against Trypanosoma brucei and is more than 100-fold less toxic to mammalian cells. In the mouse model, fexinidazole cures both the first, haemolymphatic, and the second, meningoencephalitic stage of the infection, the latter at 100 mg/kg twice daily for 5 days. In patients, the clinical trials managed by DNDi and supported by Swiss TPH mainly conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo demonstrated that oral fexinidazole is safe and effective for use against first- and early second-stage sleeping sickness. Based on the positive opinion issued by the European Medicines Agency in 2018, the WHO has released new interim guidelines for the treatment of HAT including fexinidazole as the new therapy for first-stage and non-severe second-stage sleeping sickness caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (gHAT). This greatly facilitates the diagnosis and treatment algorithm for gHAT, increasing the attainable coverage and paving the way towards the envisaged goal of zero transmission by 2030.
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The introduction of vaccines for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) added another measure to the existing set of
recommended preventive measures (wearing a mask in public, keeping a distance from other people and regular handwashing). The roll-out of the vaccines, however, raised concerns that vac...cination may lead to lower adherence to the existing
preventive measures. The advice from the World Health Organization (WHO) was to continue these public health and
social measures after being vaccinated.1 However, evidence from other epidemics suggests that there is lower adherence to
preventive measures when some level of protection exists (for example, individuals who use human immunodeficiency virus
pre-exposure prophylaxis
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Treatment of second-stage gambiense human African trypanosomiasis relied on toxicarsenic-based derivatives for over 50 years. The availability and subsequent use of eflornithine,initially in monotherapy and more recently in combination with... nifurtimox (NECT), has drasticallyimproved the prognosis of treated patients. However, NECT logistic and nursing requirementsremain obstacles to its deployment and use in peripheral health structures in rural sub-SaharanAfrica. Two oral compounds, fexinidazole and SCYX-7158, are currently in clinical development.The main scope of this article is to discuss the potential impact of new oral therapies to improvediagnosis-treatment algorithms and patients’access to treatment, and to contribute to reach theobjectives of the recently launched gambiense humanAfrican trypanosomiasis elimination program
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In support of the London Declaration goals, PATH aims to catalyze engagement of the diagnostics industry and product development efforts. As part of this work, PATH conducted a diagnostic landscape analysis to identify gaps and evaluated current and nascent HAT diagnostics that may provide solutions....
We conducted literature reviews and interviews with key stakeholders to identify use cases for HAT diagnostics, understand current practices, and analyze progress toward more robust diagnostics across
different biomarkers.
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Since 2000, concerted efforts by national programmes, supported by public–private partnerships, nongovernmental organizations, donors and academia under the auspices and coordination of the World Health Organization (WHO), have produced important achievements in the control of human ...ttribute-to-highlight medbox">African trypanosomiasis (HAT). As a consequence, the disease was targeted for elimination as a public health problem by 2020. The Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly endorsed this goal in resolution WHA66.12 on neglected tropical diseases, adopted in 2013.
National sleeping sickness control programmes (NSSCPs) are core to progressing control of the disease and in adapting to the different epidemiological situations. The involvement of different partners, as well as the support and trust of long-term donors, has been crucial for the achievements.
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Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT, sleeping sickness) and Animal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) are neglected tropical diseases generally caused by the same etiological agent, Trypanosoma brucei. De...spite important advances in the reduction or disappearance of HAT cases, AAT represents a risky reservoir of the infections. There is a strong need to control AAT, as is claimed by the European Commission in a recent document on the reservation of antimicrobials for human use. Control of AAT is considered part of the One Health approach established by the FAO program against African Trypanosomiasis. Under the umbrella of the One Health concepts, in this work, by analyzing the pharmacological properties of the therapeutic options against Trypanosoma brucei spp., we underline the need for clearer and more defined guidelines in the employment of drugs designed for HAT and AAT. Essential requirements are addressed to meet the challenge of drug use and drug resistance development. This approach shall avoid inter-species cross-resistance phenomena and retain drugs therapeutic activity.
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Website last accessed on 22.05.2023
Leishmaniasis refers to a diverse group of diseases caused by single-celled parasites called Leishmania. About 12 million people are infected at any one time, causing up to 40,000 deaths annually.
The VALIDATE Network - Vaccine development for complex intra...cellular neglected pathogens
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Cholera remains a significant public health threat in many countries worldwide. In resource-constrained settings, it disproportionately affects thousands of poor and vulnerable population
This action plan is intended for senior-level decision-makers in ministries of health, malaria
programme managers, entomologists, and epidemiologists working on malaria and other vectorborne diseases programmes. It is also intended for decision-makers and technical and advocacy
staff at other orga...nizations and stakeholders involved in public health, malaria control and
elimination, and urban and rural development.
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The Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) is a medium-term strategic framework for cooperation between WHO and countries and outlines a shared agenda with priority areas of work for five years. The aim of this CSS is to define medium term vision for
WHO technical cooperation with the State of Eritrea ...for a 5-year period, 2023-2027, in support of the country’s Health Sector Strategic and Development Plan III (HSSDPIII) 2022-2026 aimed at improving the health status of its people
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The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes a vision of healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages. This major report provides an update on progress towards the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. It presents regional tren...ds between 2010 and 2022 for 50 health-related SDG indicators using available data from WHO and estimates from other United Nations agencies. The report reveals some successes at the country level amid a marked slowdown regionally with setbacks across indicators on health health risks and determinants and access to services. We are at the halfway point for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: to reverse current trends and ensure the health and well-being of our population we must take bold steps now.
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Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs) over the years have not been given much attention in Ghana and in most Low and Middle- Income Countries (LMICs). The overwhelming burden of communicable diseases and the scarcity of resources has led to the health of all residents in Ghana, NCDs still remain largely... underfunded and less prioritized. Attempts in the past have achieved little success. The formulation of Ghana´s NCD policy in 2014 and the accompanying strategic plan is one such effort.
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