Version 4
The purpose of these standard operating procedures (SOPs) is to offer policy guidance and to provide performance standards on how to respond to any type of poliovirus outbreak or event in a timely and effective manner, and specifically, to stop an outbrea...k within 120 days.
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Version 2, January 2016
The primary purpose of this document is to provide 3MDG stakeholders with some essential information on the MNCH core-indicators for 3MDG, which were derived from the 3MDG Logical Framework, Data Dictionary for Health Service Indicators (2014 June, DoPH, MoH), A ...Guide for Monitoring and Evaluating Child Health Programmes (MEASURE Evaluation, September 2005) and Monitoring Emergency Obstetric Care (WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA/AMDD). Partners are strongly encouraged to integrate the MNCH indicators into their ongoing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities.
These indicators are designed to help Partners assess the current state of their activities, their progress towards achieving their targets, and contribution towards the national response. This guideline is designed to improve the quality and consistency of data collected at the township level, which will enhance the accuracy of conclusions drawn when the data are aggregated.
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Cyclone in Mozambique and Zimbabwe
Ebola virus disease in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Humanitarian crisis in Mali
Humanitarian crisis in Central African Republic.
The Compendium brings together for the first time key consensus-based policy recommendations and guidance to improve the delivery of proven interventions to women and children. The user-friendly format incorporates icons and tabs to present key health-related policies that support the delivery of es...sential 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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Round 3: Key informant findings from 129 countries, territories and areas - Quarter 4 2021
Countries reported disruptions in all health-care settings. In more than half of countries surveyed, many people are still unable to access care at the primary care and community care levels. Significant dis...ruptions have also been reported in emergency care, particularly concerning given the impact on people with urgent health needs. Thirty-six per cent of countries reported disruptions to ambulance services; 32% to 24-hour emergency room services; and 23% to emergency surgeries.
Elective surgeries have also been disrupted in 59% of countries, which can have accumulating consequences on health and well-being as the pandemic continues. Disruptions to rehabilitative care and palliative care were also reported in around half of the countries surveyed.
Major barriers to health service recovery include pre-existing health systems issues which have been exacerbated by the pandemic as well as decreased demand for care.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health crisis that resulted in 1.14 million deaths in 2021. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates, 96 416 of these deaths occurred in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region. All 22 countr...ies/territories in the Eastern Mediterranean Region are enrolled in the global AMR
surveillance system, and 17 countries/territories reported data in 2024 (for the year 2023). The total number of isolates reported to the system increased sixfold between 2017 and 2022, but the proportion of blood isolates is relatively very low. Most of the data come from public sector laboratories or hospitals, although the private sector has increased its participation in some countries/territories recently. Three pathogens account for three quarters of all the reported pathogens – Escherichia coli
(26%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (23%), and Staphylococcus aureus (22%).
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In 2019, the Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health concluded that taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages were a highly effective but greatly underused policy tool to reduce consumption, save lives, and raise domestic resources. The Task Force estimated that if all countries increa...sed their excise taxes to raise prices by 50 percent, over 50 million premature deaths could be averted worldwide over the next 50 years while
raising over USD 20 trillion of additional revenue. Since the Task Force first convened, the world has faced a “polycrisis,” including a global pandemic, an economic recession, and the outbreak of wars in Europe and the Middle East. Against this backdrop, the world has also experienced prolonged health and fiscal crises. Health systems, weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic, lack sufficient financing to rebuild and respond to the surging noncommunicable diseases epidemic caused by uncontrolled risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol, and sugar consumption. Opportunities to raise domestic resources are limited and debt burdens have squeezed budgets. The period from 2019 to 2027 risks becoming a “lost decade” for health and social policies, with 110 countries facing little prospect of any
ability to raise government revenues beyond current levels. In this paper, we describe the current health and fiscal crises and review the contribution that health taxes could make in turning around this dire situation. We conclude that taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and
sugar-sweetened beverages are an ideal policy solution—good for the budget and good for health. These taxes are relatively quick to implement, and, unlike other taxes, do not put economic growth at risk—a vital benefit in the current era.
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This publication provides guidance for planning country-specific programming to achieve the triple elimination of mother-to-child (or vertical) transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B virus. It is based on the WHO Triple Elimination Framework, which promotes an integrated, person-centred appro...ach to efficiently and holistically prevent transmission of these infections from mothers to their infants along four pillars.
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This plan, approved by the Organization’s 62nd Directing Council, was shaped by extensive consultations with countries and stakeholders, and commits to transformative health outcomes over the next six years, tackling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), mental health, health security, fragmented healt...h systems and services, and the elimination of communicable diseases, amongst others.
“The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that the Region of the Americas is stronger when we work together,” said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Director. “This Strategic Plan harnesses our collective strength to build resilient health systems, reduce disease burden, and improve health and well-being for all across the Americas.”
The plan builds on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed gaps in health systems while highlighting the power of joint action. It targets measurable impacts in countries, such as reducing maternal mortality, reversing rising suicide rates, and eliminating diseases like leprosy and Chagas.
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On August 13, 2024, the Africa CDC declared the mpox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS). The following day, the WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). A coordinated, continent-wide response is essential, co-led by the African Union... (AU) through the Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO), in close collaboration with global partners working under a unified plan, budget, and monitoring framework.
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The increasing global trend of Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has gradually emerged as a major public health challenge for the entire world. AMR has spread to almost all countries and regions, including Pakistan owing to the “misuse and overuse” of Antimicrobials, contributing to the increasing ...burden of infections due to resistant bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi, while limiting the treatment options for managing such infections.
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