This document synthesizes key elements of the World Health Organization (WHO) normative guidance on health policy ...ht medbox">and system support for community health worker (CHW) programmes and their application for HIV programmes. Building on relevant elements of HIV guidelines, tools and evidence identified by experts, it provides recommendations on tasks and roles that can be performed by CHWs (including for HIV), identifies the policy and system supports to optimize CHW performance, and gives examples of best practice. Its purpose is to inform the optimal design and delivery of CHW programmes targeting – either specifically or as part of a broader approach – the scale-up and sustainability of HIV services.
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This resource presents a comprehensive framework designed to enhance and streamline telemedicine services within health-care systems. It addresses the critical need ...ht medbox">for accessible and effective telemedicine solutions, especially in the face of global health challenges and the evolving demands on health-care infrastructures. It outlines a multidimensional strategy that includes an assessment of the current health-care ecosystem, strategic visioning for telemedicine integration, organizational change management, development of telemedicine services, and continuous monitoring, evaluation, and optimization. It emphasizes the importance of considering the unique needs of diverse populations and ensuring equitable access to telemedicine technologies. By leveraging global best practices and empirical evidence, the document aims to guide stakeholders through the lifecycle of telemedicine service implementation—from conceptualization to maturity. Intended for health-care decision-makers, policy-makers, and telemedicine practitioners, the framework supports the development of high-quality telemedicine services at various levels of the health system. It facilitates a collaborative approach, encouraging alignment and coordination among different stakeholders to achieve a common goal: building a resilient, patient-centred, and technologically advanced health-care system.
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This guide is available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese
This guide consolidates COVID-19 guidance ...to-highlight medbox">for human resources for health managers and policy-makers at national, subnational and facility levels to design, manage and preserve the workforce necessary to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and maintain essential health services.
The guide identifies recommendations to protect, support and empower health workers at individual, management, organizational and system levels.
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Health system resilience is not an inevitable byproduct of any investment in health but must be intentionally programmed ...highlight medbox">and developed with necessary input, investment and contextualization. This technical product aims to guide national, subnational, and global health actors to operationalize the concept of health system resilience for advancement of universal health coverage, health security and ultimately better health for all. It supports the translation of relevant conceptual guidance and high-level recommendations into practical actions.
The specific objectives are to:
present a concise overview of the concept of health system resilience;
provide a roadmap outlining practical and foundational steps for building health system resilience to be adapted to different contexts;
share examples of actions and tools, including stakeholder roles, to support country application of the roadmap.
The target audience for this work is the various stakeholders involved in strengthening health systems and public health including management of emergencies (from prevention and preparedness to response and recovery) and other public health challenges in countries. This ranges from the donors, policy-makers and decision-makers at global, national and subnational levels to the implementing institutions and line managers of health system functions and services across the health system building blocks.
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Modelling the health impacts of disruptions to essential health services during COVID-19 Module 1
Several epidemiological models have been created to assess the potential impact of disruptions to e...ssential health services caused by COVID-19 on morbidity and mortality from conditions other than COVID-19 illness. This guide presents models that have been used to assess these indirect impacts. The effects have been studied in various settings, using a variety of models.
The guide is intended for people who need to understand what the models say, their construction and their underlying assumptions, or need to use models and their outcomes for planning and programme development and to support policy decisions for a country or region.
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Recognizing the importance of the critical role of community health in disaster management, the Amref health Africa has
developed this operational guide<.../span> to provide policy direction on COVID-19 response at community level. This guide has
been developed in collaboration with all the implementing countries in supporting prevention and control of COVID-19.
With a strong community COVID-19 response system at community level, we can all contribute to prevention and control
of COVID-19, and thereby improve health and livelihoods for all people
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o support and guide countries and partners to strengthen a ...edbox">health systems response to address violence against women, WHO has produced several tools, including:
• clinical and policy guidelines;
• implementation handbooks and manuals;
• training curriculum;
• evidence-based policy, prevention and intervention strategy packages.
The resource package consolidates these documents to support countries to develop or update their national or subnational guidelines, protocols, standard operating procedures, health provider training materials, and multisectoral action plans to prevent and respond to violence against women.
The resource package is also intended to be used for training and sensitization of policy-makers, advocates, health care providers and managers of services and programmes to address violence against women.
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The chapter Fostering Health Systems’ Monitoring to Better Serve Older Populations is part of the publication series entitled Decade of Healthy Aging: Situation and Challenges. The publications ar...e designed to favor the prioritization of effective actions at the local level as well as the monitoring of data and public health policies, and providing evidence-based information. Along with the objective of presenting the available updated knowledge about the situation of health and aging at the beginning of the Decade of Healthy Aging in the Americas, this publication gives information about health systems’ monitoring to better serve the needs of older adults and emphasizes the need for societies and health systems to better adapt to an aging population. It introduces the 360-tool as a guide to adapt health systems through monitoring tracers/indicators and highlighting the data and information that is readily available, disaggregated by age. This information can aid in decision-making and resource allocation to support older adults’ needs. Concerning the 360-tool development, a consensus has been reached on seven tracer indicators with high relevance to informing policy, and case studies in selected countries have assessed the feasibility of this approach. The list of indicators and the process related to the development of the tool are presented in this publication. The Decade of Healthy Aging 2021-2030 is a period to guide action towards the transformation of societies by fostering the inclusion of older people in every decision. This publication intends to contribute to this strategy and highlight the upcoming challenges and opportunities on healthy aging.
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- Module 1: Understanding modelling approaches for sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, ...highlight medbox">and nutrition
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a wide range of documented effects. It directly causes death and disability for some people infected. However, disruption to essential health services, resources allocated to mitigation and therefore away from essential health service delivery, and the overall impact on the economy and society must also be considered within the response to COVID-19. Understanding the magnitude of all of these effects is an essential part of developing mitigation polices.
Several epidemiological models have been created to assess the potential impact of disruptions to essential health services caused by COVID-19 on morbidity and mortality from conditions other than COVID-19 illness. This guide presents models that have been used to assess these indirect impacts. The effects have been studied in various settings, using a variety of models.
The guide is intended for people who need to understand what the models say, their construction and their underlying assumptions, or need to use models and their outcomes for planning and programme development and to support policy decisions for a country or region.
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The guideline uses state-of-the-art evidence to identify effective policy options to strengthen community health worker (CHW) programme performance through their proper integration in ...ttribute-to-highlight medbox">health systems and communities.
Successful delivery of services through CHWs requires evidence-based models for education, deployment and management of these health workers. The guideline is intended as a tool for national policy makers and planners and their international partners to use in the design, implementation, performance and evaluation of effective community health worker programmes. It contains pragmatic recommendations on selection, training and certification; management and supervision: and integration into health systems and community engagement.
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The Compendium brings together for the first time key consensus-based policy recommendations and guidance to improve the delivery of proven interve...ntions to women and children. The user-friendly format incorporates icons and tabs to present key health-related policies that support the delivery of essential RMNCH interventions. It also includes multisectoral policies on the economic, social, technological and environmental factors that influence health outcomes and service delivery. The Policy Compendium is a companion document to the Essential Interventions, Commodities and Guidelines for RMNCH.
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Submitted to the US Agency for International Development by the
Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program.
This... manual provides a framework to identify problems and design interventions to improve access to and use of medicines for children. It is a resource for both health policy makers and health system managers and presents a structured approach to the steps introduced in the framework in the context of child health.
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Implementation guide for national, district and facility levels.
This implementation guide cont...ains practical guidance for policy-makers,
programme managers, health practitioners and other actors working to
establish and implement quality of care (QoC) programmes for maternal,
newborn and child health (MNCH) at national, district and facility levels.
It is intended to help anyone, throughout the health system, who wants
to take action to improve the QoC for MNCH.
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Despite the continuing war in Ukraine, the Government is preparing for the country’s recovery and reconstruction. Given the magnitude of the attacks on the ...ox">health infrastructure and consequent disruption to health system functioning, reconstruction of the health system is integral to the country’s recovery. The immediate priorities are to restore essential services, respond to new physical and mental health needs, protect public health, and provide a secure and attractive environment for the return of both health professionals and the general population. This policy note identifies strategic directions for post-war health system recovery in the short and longer terms, while sustaining essential health services during the ongoing invasion
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For the primary health worker in a low/middle-income country (LMIC) setting, delivering quality primary care is challenging. This is often complicated by clinical guidance that is out of date, incon...sistent and informed by evidence from high-income countries that ignores LMIC resource constraints and burden of disease. The Knowledge Translation Unit (KTU) of the University of Cape Town Lung Institute has developed, implemented and evaluated a health systems intervention in South Africa, and localised it to Botswana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Brazil, that simplifies and standardises the care delivered by primary health workers while strengthening the system in which they work. At the core of this intervention, called Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK), is a clinical decision support tool, the PACK guide. This paper describes the development of the guide over an 18-year period and explains the design features that have addressed what the patient, the clinician and the health system need from clinical guidance, and have made it, in the words of a South African primary care nurse, ‘A tool for every day for every patient’. It describes the lessons learnt during the development process that the KTU now applies to further development, maintenance and in-country localisation of the guide: develop clinical decision support in context first, involve local stakeholders in all stages, leverage others’ evidence databases to remain up to date and ensure content development, updating and localisation articulate with implementation.
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As countries commit to achieving universal health coverage, it is imperative to ensure that the design and delivery of palliative care services place attention on quality of care, with action needed... across all domains of quality health services: effectiveness, safety, people-centredness, timeliness, equity, integration and efficiency. Providing compassionate, dignified and people-centred palliative care is an ethical responsibility of health systems.
This document provides a practical resource to support implementation of sustainable improvements in the quality of palliative care. It describes approaches to quality policy, strategy and planning for palliative care programmes and services, presents learning on quality of care arising from palliative care programmes, and offers considerations on measurement of quality palliative care services at all levels of the health system. The document also highlights relevant WHO resources available that further support the development of quality palliative care services.
The audience for this document is a general one that includes policy-makers, palliative care service planners, managers, practitioners and health care providers at all levels.
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A practical approach for developing policy and strategy to improve quality of care
The handbook outlines an approach ...ghlight medbox">for the development of national policies and strategies to improve the quality of care. Such policy and strategy can help clarify the structures, roles and responsibilities within national quality efforts, support the institutionalization of a culture of quality, and secure buy-in from health system leaders and stakeholders
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Policy Guidance Brief 2
• The potential health risks from climate change include: increase of waterborne and vector-borne diseases, heat-rel...ated illnesses, injuries and deaths, food insecurity and increased malnutrition. The poor, women, children and the elderly, as well as communities living in remote high-risk areas are most vulnerable.
• The expected results to achieve this outcome are: (i) climate risk management system is well-established, robust and nationally integrated to respond efectively to increased intensity and impact of risks and hazards on people’s health and wellbeing; (ii) improved social protection, gender consideration and risk finance capacity to prepare for and recover from potential loss and damage resulting from climate change; (iii) Myanmar’s health system is improved and can deal with climate-induced health hazards and support climate-vulnerable communities to respond effectively to disaster and health hazards from climate change.
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The Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Legal Framework comes before the Specialized Technical Committee on Health and Drug Control ..."attribute-to-highlight medbox">for adoption and endorsement. The IPC Legal Framework is designed to guide Member States in the review and strengthening of laws and policies that support IPC at both the national level and in healthcare facilities. In developing this IPC Legal Framework, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC)
is furthering its mandates to harmonize disease control and prevention policies and promote the prevention and control of diseases by building capacity of public health institutions in Members States.
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This report aims to support countries in the necessary transition toward healthier, more sustainable diets by integrating biodiversity in food-based interventions to support nutrition ...ttribute-to-highlight medbox">and health. It is intended to help guide decision-makers in the health, nutrition and other sectors, to:
Consider the important role of biodiversity in food systems for the development of integrated interventions to support healthy, diverse and sustainable diets;
To focus investments and country support for more comprehensive, coordinated and cross-cutting public health and nutrition projects and policies; and
To strengthen the resilience of food systems, health systems, and societies, each of which are each increasingly compromised by widespread ecological degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change.
Biodiversity at every level (genetic, species and ecosystem level) is a foundational pillar for food security, nutrition, and dietary quality. It is the basic source of variety in essential foods, nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and medicines, and underpins life-sustaining ecosystem services. It is a core environmental determinant of health, often a vital ingredient of healthy nutritional outcomes and livelihoods, gender equality, social equity, and other health determinants.
Biodiversity can play a more prominent role in planning for nutritional outcomes in various ways, e.g. by facilitating the production of nutritious fruits and plant products, sustaining livelihoods through more efficient production and increasing the diversity of products available in markets. This Guidance presents and expands on six core building blocks for mainstreaming biodiversity for nutrition and health:
Cross-sectoral knowledge development and knowledge co-production;
Enabling environments;
Integration;
Conservation and the wider use of biodiversity;
Education and awareness-raising;
Monitoring and evaluation;
This WHO report builds on an unprecedented opportunity to mainstream biodiversity in order to support healthy and sustainable diets, and offers the necessary technical guidance to catalyze and support a transformation of the global food system and transition to healthier, more sustainable diets.
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