National tuberculosis (TB) prevalence surveys provide a nationally representative measurement of the burden of TB disease in the population, at a given point in time. Repeat surveys allow assessment of trends and tracking of progress towards national and global targets for reductions in TB disease b...urden. Survey data also provide important insights that can help national TB programmes to identify ways to improve TB diagnosis and treatment.
National TB prevalence surveys are relevant in countries that do not yet have national disease notification and vital registration systems that are of sufficiently high quality and coverage to allow reliable tracking of TB disease burden.
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This operational guidance provides a structured approach to support countries in sustaining priority services for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections in the context of reduced external funding. The guidance is intended for national governments, public health programmes, communit...y-led organizations, civil society, technical partners and donors working to safeguard priority services, support phased adaptation, protect health outcomes and preserve hard-won gains.
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The document "Combating False Information on Vaccines: A Guide for EPI Managers" is designed to help Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) managers address vaccine misinformation. It begins by defining misinformation and explaining why it spreads rapidly, often due to its emotional appeal and simpl...istic explanations. The guide identifies common sources of vaccine misinformation, including influential individuals who profit from spreading false information. The document outlines strategies for combating misinformation, emphasizing the importance of EPI managers as trusted sources. It provides tips for identifying misinformation online, such as checking URLs, dates, and author credentials, and recognizing tactics like evoking strong emotions or pushing conspiracy theories. Two main approaches to fighting misinformation are discussed: prebunking and debunking. Prebunking involves warning individuals about potential misinformation before they encounter it, while debunking aims to correct false information after it has been consumed. The guide offers practical examples for both methods. Additionally, the document highlights the role of EPI managers in supporting health workers to trust immunization. It suggests being kind, nonjudgmental, and transparent when addressing concerns, and using motivational interviewing techniques to understand and respond to health workers' doubts. The guide also emphasizes the importance of creating a supportive environment for health workers, promoting pro-vaccine norms, and providing continuing education on vaccines. Overall, the guide aims to help EPI managers maintain trust in vaccines and provides comprehensive strategies to identify, address, and prevent the spread of vaccine misinformation in clinical and community settings. This document is necessary to equip EPI managers with the knowledge and tools to combat vaccine misinformation, support their teams, and promote trust in vaccines, ultimately protecting public health.
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Access to safe, effective and quality-assured health products and technologies is crucial for achieving universal health coverage and primary health care goals. The continued growth of the aging population; increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases; growing burden of mental health issues; climat...e change; shifting patterns of vector borne diseases, fungal disease and waterborne diseases; antimicrobial resistance; and new infectious hazards create an ongoing need for equitable access to safe, effective and quality-assured health products and technologies, and renewed investments in research and development for innovative health products and technologies.
The coronavirus pandemic exposed the inequalities in access to health products, highlighting the need for longer-term strategies to strengthen access to health products and technologies outside of and in emergency situations. While technological and scientific advances present an opportunity to increase access to health products and technologies, the risk of increasing inequality due to higher prices for new health products and technologies; the persisting problem of substandard and falsified medical products; a lack of skilled workforce in many low- and middle-income countries; and a lack of data for decisionmaking and for measuring progress present significant challenges.
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The Gaza Strip is experiencing one of the most severe food security crises globally, with the entire population of approximately 2.1 million people now facing crisis-level food insecurity or worse (IPC Phase 3+). As of May 2025, more than one in five Gazans—about
470,000 people—are at risk of s...tarvation (IPC Phase 5: Catastrophe), while over half are classified in Emergency (IPC Phase 4). This marks a significant deterioration compared to just one month earlier and reflects the impact of a comprehensive blockade that has
restricted all humanitarian and commercial supplies since early March. Vital goods have been depleted, food prices have skyrocketed by over 3,000 percent in some areas, and coping mechanisms have all but collapsed, forcing many to scavenge for food or go without entirely. Acute malnutrition has reached serious levels and is projected to worsen, particularly in North Gaza, Gaza, and Rafah, where critical levels are expected between May and September 2025.
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The Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence in Tanzania's Health Sector was developed through collaboration between multiple stakeholders, including government bodies, academic institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international partners. The framework demonstrates Tanzania’...s dedication to utilising digital technologies and AI to enhance healthcare delivery, facilitate data-driven decision-making, and bolster the resilience of the healthcare system. Although AI integration in Tanzania’s health sector is still in its infancy, a growing number of initiatives are highlighting its potential in clinical care, research, and system management. The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with partners including the President’s Office (PORALG), Fondation Botnar, MUHAS, UDOM and PATH, has spearheaded this initiative with the aim of using AI to minimise errors, improve clinical outcomes and boost the efficiency of the health system.
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This guide aims to provide an overview of successful practice from the field for the disaster risk reduction/management practitioner interested in EWS. It presents guiding principles that will build a strong foundation for the design or strengthening of EWS at any level. It is not an operational, bu...t a strategic, guide that insists on asking the right questions and exploring all perspectives prior even to deciding whether or not early warning is the appropriate tool for a given context.
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The Training Toolkit for Community Early Warning Systems is an operational manual that aims to strengthen early warning systems in a developing country context. It accompanies and should put into practice the guiding strategic principles found in the Community Early Warning Systems: Guiding Principl...es.
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The World Health Organization recently redefined leprosy elimination as a phased process, with the first milestone being the
interruption of transmission, achieved when no new child cases (defined as younger than 15 years) are reported for five consecutive years.
In Pakistan, the well-functioning ...leprosy programme, with effective case management, context-specific active case-finding strategies and
a robust data management system, has contributed to a decrease in new cases. Between 2001 and 2023, new adult cases dropped by 75%
(from 878 cases to 220 cases annually) and child cases by 83% (from 93 to 16). To support the country’s goal of no new child cases by 2030
and ultimately eliminate the disease, the nongovernmental organizations Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre and Aid to Leprosy Patients, with
support from the German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association, have developed a zero leprosy roadmap. As part of this roadmap,
the leprosy elimination strategy emphasizes improving active case-finding and providing post-exposure prophylaxis for contacts of leprosy
cases, who are at the highest risk
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Growing emergencies and displacements across the world demand increasingly complex interventions and responses. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed Malaria control in emergencies: a field manual to provide technical guidance to help partners respond effectively to malaria in emergency ...situations. This field manual supersedes the 2013 WHO handbook.
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Despite being a preventable and curable infectious disease, tuberculosis (TB) has continued to elude global controll efforts. In 2023, 8.2 milion people with TB were diagnosed and notified to the WHO, the hightest number ever reported since WHO began tracking.
Buruli ulcer (BU) is a skin-related neglected tropical disease (skin NTD) caused by infection with
Mycobacterium ulcerans. BU is the third most common mycobacterial disease after tuberculosis and leprosy
in people who are not immunocompromised. The infection manifests in non-ulcerative forms as no...dules,
plaques and/or oedemas, which ulcerate within 4–6 weeks and display characteristic undermined edges and yellowish-white necrotic slough . Most lesions occur on the lower limbs.
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This document on logistics management information systems (LMIS) was developed to address the increasing need for harmonization and standardization of core indicators for managing medicines and health products for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) at country level (i.e. for last-mile logistics). It... thereby responds to requests from Members States, pharmaceutical groups, financial donors and implementing partners for guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) for a transparent, standardized reporting mechanism and key indicators for in-country logistics. More importantly, this document will also guide the last-mile logistics process and is relevant for the health workforce working at different levels of national health information systems. It can be adapted and used for any health products depending on the needs of the country or health programmes.
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Breastfeeding is a cornerstone of healthy infant nutrition, development and survival. It is critical for countries* to improve breastfeeding rates in order to achieve global targets for newborn and child health and survival, as well as economic growth and environmental sustainability
Exposure to air pollution has significant adverse health effects, leading to nearly 1 in every 8 deaths globally. Air pollution affects all age groups, from unborn children to older people, in both high- and low-income nations.
Effective surveillance and monitoring of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors are essential for informing evidence-based public health policies, addressing health inequities, and ensuring progress toward global and regional targets. By tracking trends in NCDs, their modifiable risk... factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, and air pollution, along with biological risk factors such as overweight and obesity, high blood pressure (hypertension), and elevated blood glucose (diabetes), policymakers can identify emerging threats, target vulnerable populations, allocating resources efficiently. Reliable data also enable countries to evaluate interventions, adjust policies, and strengthen health systems to reduce the burden of NCDs.
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The MEDBOX Annual Report provides an overview of the most important projects of the past year
Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions (EASE) is an evidence-based group psychological intervention to help 10–15-year-olds affected by internalizing problems (e.g. stress and symptoms of anxiety, depression) in communities exposed to adversity. Published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and U...nited Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), EASE aims to support adolescents and their caregivers with skills to reduce distress. The EASE training manual accompanies the EASE intervention manual and is designed to be used to train EASE helpers (those who deliver the EASE intervention to adolescents and caregivers) and EASE trainers/supervisors (those who will go on to train/supervise future EASE helpers).
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The objective of this guideline is to present the complete set of all WHO recommendations and best practice statements relating to abortion. While legal, regulatory, policy and service-delivery contexts may vary from country to country, the recommendations and best practices described in this docume...nt aim to enable evidence-based decision-making with respect to quality abortion care.
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This publication provides an overview of evidence and guidance on the growing challenge of workplace heat stress in the context of climate change. It highlights the health and productivity risks faced by billions of workers, especially in manual labor sectors. The report details the physiological, s...ocioeconomic, and mental health impacts of heat stress and outlines evidence-based strategies for prevention and mitigation. It emphasizes the need for occupational heat action programmes, stakeholder collaboration, and tailored interventions to protect vulnerable workers, reduce productivity losses, and support sustainable development in a warming world.
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