The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 118 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover the following events:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Togo
Measles in Chad
Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The role of environmental contamination in transmission of COVID-19 virus is currently not clear. This protocol has been designed to determine (viable) virus presence and persistence on fomites in various locations where a patient infected with COVID-19 is currently receiving care or being isolated,... and to understand how this may relate to COVID-19 transmission events in these settings. It is therefore important that it is done as part of a comprehensive outbreak investigation and that information obtained by environmental studies is combined with the results of epidemiological, laboratory and sequence data from COVID-19 patient investigations.
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This Training module on malaria elimination has been developed by WHO to support health professionals in planning, managing, monitoring and evaluating malaria elimination programmes.
Supporting exercises: These files are necessary for participants to complete a number of exercises listed in the man...ual. Please go to the website: http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/atoz/9789241549424/en/
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Over the past 50 years, dengue has spread from nine to over a hundred countries, making it the most rapidly spreading vector-borne disease. Yet, dengue continues to have a low profile among policy-makers and donors and does not receive the media attention it deserves. While there is no vaccine or cu...re for dengue, it can be managed and prevented. We need a renewed commitment to integrated programming that includes improved management and diagnosis, increased awareness and community participation in controlling the vector and enhanced environmental sanitation
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Orientations provisoires, 4 novembre 2020
A survey of prevention, testing and treatment policies and practices
A module from the suite of health service capacity assessments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Interim guidance 20 October 2020. This assessment tool covers the following aspects:
area distribution;
surface availability versus foreseen occupancy rate;
patient and staff flow...s;
ventilation requirement per specific areas;
visitors’ area and visitor flow; and
surge capacity.
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The Leprosy Programme and Transmission Assessment (LPTA) is an activity that is carried out by internal teams towards the end of Phase 1 (see Leprosy Elimination Framework in the Annex) when a subnational jurisdiction (typically second-tier) reaches the milestone for interruption of transmission, i....e., zero autochthonous child cases for a consecutive period of five years. It also needs to be done at the end of Phase 2, when the second milestone of elimination of leprosy disease has been reached. An LPTA will be carried out to document that all relevant programme criteria have been met and examine trends of epidemiological indicators in such jurisdiction to confirm that the milestone has been achieved. The LPTA includes assessment of health facilities that provide leprosy services. LPTA comprises of review of epidemiological data, health facility assessment and data validation and verification of the programme criteria through observation during a field visit. The evidence collected in this way in subnational health administrative units is compiled in a Leprosy Elimination Dossier to be submitted to WHO when the country reaches the milestone for elimination of disease in the country as whole. Countries that have not detected any new leprosy cases in the past three years or more can use the LPTA at national level prior to or as part of the verification process. Countries likely to be among the first to apply for verification may have had no new cases detected for more than 10 years.
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Orientação provisória 17 de março de 2020
Esta orientação rápida destina-se a profissionais de saúde pública e de prevenção e controle de infecção (PCI), gestores e profissionais de saúde, ao abordar questões relacionadas ao atendimento domiciliar de pacientes com suspeita de infecç...ão pelo nCoV que apresentem sintomas leves e o tratamento de contatos assintomáticos.
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With the goal of ending viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, the Regional Action Plan will provide an actionable framework for implementing evidence-based interventions at scale. It will be informed through strategic monitoring of the response, that must be equitable and sustainable an...d allow for innovations for acceleration and reaching out to all in need with health services. A major reduction in prices of newer drugs to potentially cure hepatitis C offers an added opportunity to work towards its elimination.
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