The Animal Medicines Best Practice (AMBP) programme: developed by NOAH in partnership with stakeholders along the food supply chain to improve co-ordination and consistency in approach to the respon...sible use of medicines. Training modules are available for dairy, beef, sheep and pig farmers on the responsible use of antibiotics. more

The Philippine Government, International Non-government Organizations (INGOs) and local NGOs are all making attempts to address the impact of disasters and climate change at various levels. The Philippine Government has made significant strides in t...he implementation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) planning and activities through the development of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) which acts as the lead agency for DRR in the Philippines. The disaster focal points are the NDRRMC and the Office of Civil Defence (OCD). The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is responsible for leading immediate disaster relief efforts.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is a primary responder in disasters and have been deployed frequently to several disaster relief operations in the country in recent years. The Philippines has endured disasters that involve national and international assistance. more

The guide to implementing the One Health Joint Plan of Action (OH JPA) at national level provides practical guidance on how countries can adopt and... adapt the OH JPA to strengthen and support national One Health action. Building on the OH JPA theory of change, this guide describes three pathways and five key steps to implement the OH JPA at national level: Pathway 1 -- Governance, policy, legislation, financing and advocacy Pathway 2 -- Organizational and institutional development, implementation and sectoral integration Pathway 3 -- Data, evidence, information systems and knowledge exchange. The stepwise approach comprises: Situation analysis including stakeholder mapping and review of existing assessment results Set-up/strengthening of a multisectoral, One Health coordination mechanism Planning for implementation, including activity prioritization and leveraging of resources Implementation of national One Health action plans Review, sharing and incorporation of lessons learned. more

Antimicrobial resistance has become one of the most eminent threats to global health and a rising concern for healthcare specialists. All around the world, many common infections are becoming resist...ant to the antimicrobial medicines used to treat them, resulting in high morbidity and mortality with serious social and economic implications. Additionally, there are few new antibiotics being developed but they are expensive and are not new classes. Antimicrobials are critical in the management of infectious diseases. They are also essential tools for protecting animal health and welfare, and contribute in production of safe food. Inappropriate use of antimicrobials can lead to resistance which is known as the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) resulting in high morbidity and mortality with serious social and economic implications. more

This technical report presents the epidemiology of human and animal leishmaniases in the EU and its neighbouring countries and concludes that the disease remains widespread and underreported in many... countries of southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East and that there is a need to improve leishmaniasis prevention and control based on robust surveillance in humans, animals, and vectors, and to increase public awareness following a one health approach. more

This country cooperation strategy (CCS) outlines how the World Health Organization (WHO) will work with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic over the next five years (2024–2028), supporting the implementation ...medbox">of the five-year health sector development plans and the Health Sector Reform Strategy 2021–2030 to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic experienced substantial economic growth in the 30 years prior to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, contributing to reduced poverty and significant progress toward the SDGs. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought this development to a halt. It was anticipated that the COVID-19 recovery and the tremendous population growth in recent years would provide opportunities for a shift toward more sustainable and inclusive development in the years ahead. In 2023, however, the contrary was the case. Rural residents, including many ethnic minorities, continued to face marginalization because of limited access to education, health care and economic opportunities. Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks, the country has made significant improvements in health. Nonetheless, progress has been uneven and not everyone has benefited from these achievements. In the mountainous region, many people lack access to quality health care because of the unequal distribution of well-trained health-care workers. Preventable deaths due to poor-quality health care for children and newborns, infants and mothers remain a concern, as do communicable diseases such as sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis. The increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases and the health impact of worsening climate change further heighten the need for strengthened and resilient health systems, which are at risk due to an underfunded health sector and weak economy. This CCS aims to address remaining and future challenges as well as health needs while creating an impact that is sustainable. It identifies three strategic priorities and nine deliverables (Table 1) to support the attainment of the national vision of Health for all by all, as articulated in the 9th Health Sector Development Plan 2021–2025. It contributes to the country’s goals to achieve universal health coverage, graduate from least developed country status by 2026 and attain SDGs by 2030. more

Benchmarking is a strategic process often used by businesses and institutes to standardize performance in relation to the best practices of their sector. The World Health Organization (WHO) and part...ners have developed a tool with a list of benchmarks and corresponding suggested actions that can be applied to implement the International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR) and strengthen health emergency prevention, preparedness, response and resilience capacities. The first edition of the benchmarks was published in 2019 to support countries in developing, implementing and documenting progress of national IHR or health security plans (e.g. national action plan for health security (NAPHS), national action plan for emerging infectious diseases, public health emergencies and health security and other country level plans for health emergencies). The tool has been updated to incorporate lessons from COVID-19 and other health emergencies, to align with the updated IHR monitoring & evaluation framework (IHR MEF) tools and the health systems for health security framework, and to support strengthening health emergency prevention, preparedness, response and resilience (HEPR) capacities and the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative. more

The sixteenth meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTD) was held as a hybrid meeting, 27–28 September 2022. Dr Ren Minghui, Assistant Director-General, Universal ...ighlight medbox">Health Coverage/Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases, welcomed participants to the meeting. He said the World Health Organization’s Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (WHO/NTD) was in a state of transition. Following the death of the late esteemed Director Dr Mwelecele Ntuli Malecela earlier in the year, Dr Gautam Biswas had taken over as Acting Director but would soon retire; the appointment of a new Director was under way. Owing to rotation of STAG-NTD members, this would be the last meeting for some and the first meeting for several new participants. The work however would continue with the same commitment. Discussions over the next two days would focus on critical issues regarding recovery of NTD services following the disruptions caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which had impacted many health services worldwide. He looked forward to receiving the advice and guidance of STAG-N more

The Quadripartite organizations have developed the One Health Priority Research Agenda for AMR report, this is a joint initiative to assist in directing and catalysing scientific interest and financial investments for the priority research agenda ac...ross sectors for countries and funding bodies. The research agenda also serves as a guide to mitigate One Health AMR that will help policymakers, researchers, and a multidisciplinary scientific community work together on solutions to prevent and mitigate AMR within the One Health approach. more

22 September 2024