This Interim Guidance outlines how key public health and social measures needed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread
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and the impact of the disease can be adapted for use in low capacity and humanitarian settings. The recommendations outlined here need to be adjusted to the scale of transmission, context and resources, in order to achieve the objective of managing COVID-19, namely to reduce transmission and facilitate the detection and management of infected and exposed individuals within the population. The Guidance is intended for humanitarian and development actors of all operational levels working with communities ocal authorities involved in COVID-19 preparedness and response operations in these settings, in support of national and local governments and plans. Additional considerations for support to residents of urban informal settlements and slums are available in Annex 1.
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This report reviews the latest evidence on what works to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination through key programmes to reduce stigma
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and discrimination and increase access to justice in the six settings of focus for the Global Partnership. It includes guidance for national governments and key stakeholders on how stigma and discrimination harm; how the stigmatization process operates and how we can stop it; key principles of stigma- and discrimination-reduction efforts; an overview of common intervention approaches; recommendations based on the latest evidence for reducing HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the six settings; and an overview of considerations for monitoring the success of the programmatic interventions recommended for each setting.
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The Humanitarian Pandemic Preparedness (H2P) Initiative and its many partners have developed ready-to-use training curricula for district-
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and community-level leaders, and community volunteers and workers in order to minimize morbidity and mortality in the event of an influenza pandemic. The time to put these tools into action is now.
The curriculum has separate tracks for district/community leaders and for first responders (community volunteers and workers) at the community level.
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Those who clean are the first line of defense against health care-associated infections (HAIs), and support efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Strengthening the training of this im
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portant group can contribute to resolving many of today’s public health challenges. This is important given that cleaning both surfaces and hands is vital to control the transmission of a number of HAIs.
This two-part training package targets those who clean heath care facilities.
The Trainer’s Guide takes the user through how to prepare, deliver and sustain an effective training for those who clean. The Modules and Resources provides instructions, definitions, photographs, posters and specific illustrations of recommended practices
The package can be used by those who deliver environmental cleaning training programmes and/or those with a background in IPC including ministries of health, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, experts working in Quality of care, IPC and environmental cleaning/ Water, sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Health facility IPC focal points and onsite cleaning supervisors
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This guidance provides an overview of interventions to improve early diagnosis of TB and treatment completion in these populations, as well as factors to
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consider when developing programmes for health communication, awareness and education, and programme monitoring and evaluation
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Updated guidance. The guidance provides useful information to staff working in prisons, as well as to health and prison authorities, explaining
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how to prevent and address a potential outbreak of COVID-19. In addition, it aims to protect the health and well-being of all those who live and work in, and visit, these settings and the general population at large. People deprived of their liberty, and living or working in enclosed environments in close proximity, are likely to be more vulnerable to the COVID-19 disease than the general population. Moreover, correctional facilities may amplify and enhance COVID-19 transmission beyond their walls.
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No country can claim to be free from health-care associated infections, therefore, improvement of infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies is essential. WHO recommends the
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use of multimodal improvement strategies to implement IPC interventions. These include each item of standard and transmission-based precautions according to national guidelines or standard operating procedures and under the coordination of the national IPC focal point (or team, if existing). This publication consists of three focused improvement tools, called “aide-memoires”, which focus on 1) respiratory and hand hygiene, 2) personal protective equipment, and 3) environmental cleaning, waste and linen management, all elements of standard, droplet/contact and airborne precautions.
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This second edition of the Infection prevention and control in the context of coronavirus disease (COVID-19): A living guideline provides the most up to date technical guidance on mask
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use in community settings in the context of COVID-19.
In this edition, new information includes updated mask recommendations for children in community settings including updated age specific recommendations, statements for children with disabilities and those at high risk for complications related to COVID-19 infection. Updated implementation considerations for mask use in school settings are also included.
This living guideline is being published using the MAGICApp online publishing platform https://app.magicapp.org/#/guideline/Lr2a8L , as well as in PDF copy on the WHO website.
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How should humanitarian organisations prepare and respond to COVID-19 in humanitarian settings in low-
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and middle-income countries?
This Rapid Learning Review outlines 14 actions, insights and ideas for humanitarian actors to consider in their COVID-19 responses. It summarises and synthesises the best available knowledge and guidance for developing a health response to COVID-19 in low- and middle-income settings as at April 2020
The paper, supported by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock, will be updated throughout 2020 to reflect emerging knowledge and evidence on the most effective approaches to respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
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22 April 2022, This document provides updated interim recommendations on the use of masks by health workers providing care to patients with suspect
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ed or confirmed COVID-19. This update is prompted by new evidence around mask use and COVID-19 transmission, as well as the emergence of variants of concern including Omicron. Masks continue to be a critical tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These interim guidelines supersede the recommendations provided in the WHO recommendations on mask use by health workers, in light of the Omicron variant of concern published on 22 December 2022.
WHO continually evaluates the emerging evidence and will review these interim recommendations within two months and issue new guidance as needed.
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The WHO continuously reviews available data on SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. For this version, the global epidemiological
situation of the COVID-19 pandemic as of 21 January 2022 – at a time when the Omicron VOC had been identified in 171
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tries across all six WHO Regions and was rapidly replacing Delta worldwide – was considered Omicron has a substantial growth advantage, higher secondary attack rates and a higher observed reproduction number than Delta.
There is now significant evidence that immune evasion contributes to the rapid spread of Omicron. Other factors may be a shorter
serial interval (by about 0.8 to 1.2 days compared to Delta) and potential increased intrinsic transmission fitness . There is
growing evidence that with Omicron, there is lower vaccine effectiveness (VE) against infection and symptomatic disease soon after vaccination compared to Delta. There is also evidence of accelerated waning of VE over time of the primary series against infection and symptomatic disease for the studied vaccines. Further studies are required to better understand the drivers of transmission and declining incidence in various settings. These factors include the intrinsic transmission fitness properties of the virus, degree of immune evasion, vaccination coverage and level of vaccine-derived and post-infection immunity, levels of social mixing and degree of application of public health and social measures (PHSM).
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India contributes to 16% of the global maternal deaths and around 27% of global newborn deaths. Reducing the burden of maternal and newborn mortali
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ty and morbidity in urban poor settings today requires an expansion of effective Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) care services and lowering the barriers to the use of such services, especially availability and accessibility.
For designing sensitive, responsive and relevant urban health policy and action, it is important for planners and programme managers to understand the context with regard to current systems and mechanisms, potential organisations and best practices.
In order to adres this need, Save the Children’s Saving Newborn Lives programme commissioned a study that reviewed the literature and looked at available secondary data on MNH in urban poor settings.
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This global guidance provided the framework for over 100 countries to develop their NDVPs. This updated (second) version supersedes the previous version published in 16 November 2020. New information has been added on the following areas:
th
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e COVID-19 Partners Platform;
the use of COVID-19 simulation exercises to test deployment strategies;
the indemnity agreement and no-fault compensation programme for vaccines secured through the COVAX Facility in the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) eligible economies;
the availability and use of the WHO-UNICEF COVID-19 Vaccine Introduction and deployment Costing (CVIC) tool;
the COVAX Facility’s humanitarian buffer that enables allocation of vaccine to cover high-risk populations in humanitarian settings;
recommendations for vaccination of pregnant and lactating women;
supplementary information on infection prevention and control (IPC) measures to be used to deliver COVID-19 vaccines safely;
the WHO licensed COVID-19 vaccines product-specific information;
use of geospatial data and digital micro plans for equitable access and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines;
lessons learned from the development of NDVPs and early experiences in COVID-19 vaccine deployment in countries; and
updated additional resources at the end of each chapter.
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Physical distancing measures are important to reduce COVID-19 transmission. However, when stringently applied, they can result in negative health and
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socio-economic impacts. This report draws on a rapid review of available literature, case studies from across Africa and expert knowledge to make recommendations on adapting classic physical distancing measures to the contextual realities in Africa and on mitigating potential negative impacts.
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This manual will contribute directly to the fourth focus area of the FAO Action Plan by promoting the prevention of infections and the prudent use
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of antibiotics in the pig and poultry sectors. The pig and poultry sectors are addressed together, as these sectors generally have the highest use of antibiotics. This manual is jointly applicable to veterinarians, other health professionals and farmers; a key to success in using antibiotics effectively and prudently is good dialogue among these professions.
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This policy paper underscores that, although children do not represent a high-risk group for direct COVID-19 fatality, the pandemic posts far-reaching secondary impacts that heighten risks to African children’s rights
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and wellbeing.
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This document aims to support those working in primary care to strengthen IPC, informed by existing WHO IPC guidance and implementation resources.
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Many of the existing WHO IPC guidance and implementation resources initially developed for acute health care facilities have a potential utility for IPC in primary care. However, navigating these resources to locate relevant content for IPC in primary care can be challenging as some documents can span over 100 pages. This document extracts relevant content, bringing together existing WHO IPC standards, indicators and implementation approaches that are focused on, or directly relevant to IPC in primary care. It should also be used to identify resources suitable for use in primary care that can be embedded within relevant IPC or other health programmes.
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This paper reviews the effects of vertical responses to COVID-19 on health systems, services, and people’s access to
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and use of them in LMICs, where historic and ongoing under-investments heighten vulnerability to a multiplicity of health threats. We use the term ‘vertical response’ to describe decisions, measures and actions taken solely with the purpose of preventing and containing COVID-19, often without adequate consideration of how this affects the wider health system and pre-existing resource constraints.
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Cholera is a diarrhoeal disease that is usually contracted when drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae bacteria. The fight against this disease requires a multidisciplinary approach that combines a water, hygiene
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and sanitation (WaSH) response with a monitoring system, improved water supply and quality, sanitation and hygiene, and a health response with the treatment of the disease itself.
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A training tutorial for healthcare professionals
This ECDC tutorial presents the fundamental concepts of personal protective equipment (PPE) and barrier nursing to support preparedness in hospitals
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across Europe. It provides practical information on the proper use of PPE at the point of care, including technical requirements and procurement aspects
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