Pathogen genomic surveillance has become a priority for public health systems in recent years. Genomic sequencing is increasingly being used to characterize pathogens and monitor important public health priorities (e.g. poliovirus, influenza virus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Vibrio cholerae, ant...imicrobial resistance (AMR)). The decrease in cost and time of sequencing and the exponential development of bioinformatic pipelines have played a critical role in integrating pathogen genomics into routine public health surveillance. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the role that sequencing plays in the surveillance of infectious diseases. Sequencing facilitates earlier detection, more accurate investigation of outbreaks, closer real-time monitoring of pathogen evolution and tailored development and evaluation of interventions to inform local to global public health decision-making and action. However, there remains a need to coordinate efforts, leverage and link existing surveillance and laboratory networks and capabilities, and systematically integrate genetic sequence data (GSD) with clinical and epidemiological data to strengthen its utility.
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Medical care for people caught up in armed conflict and other insecure environments saves lives and alleviates suffering. It is one of the most immediate and high priority needs of an affected population and is often the first type of response activated and/or requested by authorities and affected c...ommunities. Medical teams working in armed conflict and other insecure environments
frequently face serious threats to their security and safety, challenges to patient access, and at times limited acceptance by affected communities in which they work and parties to the conflict. Such difficulties are likely to increase (6) and
thereby creating a critical need to establish contact and trust with all sides in conflicts and in other insecure environments to ensure operational continuity. This trust can best be achieved when all sides perceive the medical teams to be neutral, impartial, and independent, and specifically not aiding (or being perceived to aid) any one party to achieve a military, political or economic
advantage. For medical teams that are deploying increasingly closer to the frontlines, the implications of and consequences for both staff and patients of teams not being fully prepared, and/or not fully comprehending the context in which they work, can be severe. Medical response can easily be hindered or compromised by intentional or unintentional acts and the behaviour and
conduct of the teams themselves
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In October 2022, President Biden signed the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act (GMPTA) into law, which directs USAID to prevent and treat malnutrition globally. The GMPTA further codifies USAID’s leadership on nutrition, with a focus on evidence-based interventions across health syst...ems and food systems, in both development and humanitarian settings.
Realizing the potential of good nutrition to save lives and ensure a brighter future for generations to come is central to U.S. Government priorities. For over 60 years, USAID has been a leader in the fight to end global malnutrition. Nutrition affects every aspect of human development: from the ability to fight disease, to children’s performance in school, to a nation’s health and economic advancement. There is overwhelming evidence of the power of good nutrition but, due to challenges in accessing safe, nutritious foods and health and sanitation services, many people in low- and middle-income countries remain undernourished.
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Jointly developed by WHO’s Regulatory System Strengthening, Regulation and Safety Unit and the Health Ethics & Governance Unit, it is intended to assist countries in evaluating their capacity to provide appropriate ethical oversight of health-related research. In addition to assisting in capacity-...building efforts, the tool is intended to promote policy convergence and best practices in research ethics oversight, to enhance public trust in health research, and to ensure that the rights and safety of humans involved in health-related research are adequately protected, both in ordinary times and during public health emergencies.
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This information can be used to assess the extent of the damage and the needs of affected communities. Information should be gathered on the extent of damage to infrastructure, housing, and public facilities such as hospitals, schools, and water systems. This information can be used to prioritize th...e response effort and to direct resources to where they are most needed.
In addition to gathering information on the extent of damage, it is also important to gather information on the number of people affected and the types of assistance they need. This may include information on the number of people who are injured, displaced, or in need of shelter, food, and water. This information can be used to prioritize the response effort and to ensure that assistance is provided in a way that meets the specific needs of affected communities.
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The fifth World Food Safety Day (WFSD) will be celebrated on 7 June 2023 to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agricultural production, market access, tourism and sustainable developm...ent.
This publication is a guide for all those who want to get involved.
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In our fourth year of producing The State of Open Humanitarian Data, we can report the highest levels yet for data availability across priority humanitarian operations. These gains can be attributed to the commitment of organizations to sharing and maintaining their data publicly. There was also str...ong demand for data about the world's largest humanitarian crises, from the war in Ukraine to drought and food insecurity in the Horn of Africa.
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After the earthquake in Türkiye-Syria in February 2023 an emergency response was provided to the affected population. Young persons with disabilities were one of the social groups most affected by the crisis. These were either young persons who acquired a disability due to the earthquake, or young ...persons with disabilities who were further isolated after the crisis due to compounded and structural barriers.
In response to this situation the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action reached out to the Youth2030 Disability Task Team with the aim of supporting humanitarian teams in the field. The current version of this checklist has been developed for a broader context not only for the Türkiye-Syria case, but also for other humanitarian crises. This checklist aims to provide guidance on how to ensure meaningful participation of young persons with disabilities in local humanitarian response. The expected users are humanitarian actors, especially those working in the field.
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What you should do as head of school or child centre to prevent cholera:
Educate all staff and pupils on the common cholera transmission routes and how to prevent it.
Educate all kitchen staff on how to handle food and cooking utensils. Emphasis the key points below:
o All kitchen staff MUST wa...sh their hands with soap and chlorine solution before cooking or handling food.
o All food should be properly stored to prevent contamination from insects etc.
o Wash all food in safe water.
o All food served should be properly cooked, and served hot.
o Only allow kitchen staff to enter the kitchen and to serve food.
o Wash dishes with soap or chlorine solution and rinse under safe water. Dry dishes on a rack well above the ground and in the direct sunlight (sunlight will help to disinfect).
All students should wash their hands with soap and safe water or chlorine solution before eating
Avoid washing your hands in a bowl of standing water, always use safe, running water!
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WHO has updated its guidelines for COVID-19 therapeutics, with revised recommendations for patients with non-severe COVID-19. This is the 13th update to these guidelines.
Updated risk rates for hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19
The guidance includes updated risk rates for... hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19.
The current COVID-19 virus variants tend to cause less severe disease while immunity levels are higher due to vaccination, leading to lower risks of severe illness and death for most patients.
This update includes new baseline risk estimates for hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19. The new ‘moderate risk’ category now includes people previously considered to be high risk including older people and/or those with chronic conditions, disabilities, and comorbidities of chronic disease. The updated risk estimates will assist healthcare professionals to identify individuals at high, moderate or low risk of hospital admission, and to tailor treatment according to WHO guidelines:
**High: **People who are immunosuppressed remain at higher risk if they contract COVID-19, with an estimated hospitalization rate of 6%.
**Moderate: **People over 65 years old, those with conditions like obesity, diabetes and/or chronic conditions including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney or liver disease, cancer, people with disabilities and those with comorbidities of chronic disease are at moderate risk, with an estimated hospitalization rate of 3%.
Low: Those who are not in the high or moderate risk categories are at low risk of hospitalization (0.5%). Most people are low risk.
Review of COVID-19 treatments for people with non-severe COVID-19
WHO continues to strongly recommend nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (also known by its brand name ‘Paxlovid’) for people at high-risk and moderate risk of hospitalization. The recommendations state that nirmatrelvir-ritonavir is considered the best choice for most eligible patients, given its therapeutic benefits, ease of administration and fewer concerns about potential harms. Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir was first recommended by WHO in April 2022.
If nirmatrelvir-ritonavir is not available to patients at high-risk of hospitalization, WHO suggests the use of molnupiravir or remdesivir instead.
WHO suggests against the use of molnupiravir and remdesivir for patients at moderate risk, judging the potential harms to outweigh the limited benefits in patients at moderate risk of hospital admission.
For people at low risk of hospitalization, WHO does not recommend any antiviral therapy. Symptoms like fever and pain can continue to be managed with analgesics like paracetamol.
WHO also recommends against use of a new antiviral (VV116) for patients, except in clinical trials.
The update also includes a strong recommendation against the use of ivermectin for patients with non-severe COVID-19. WHO continues to advise that in patients with severe or critical COVID-19, ivermectin should only be used in clinical trials.
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The war has not only triggered the largest movement of refugees in Europe since the end of the Second World War.
Its manifold effects can be seen worldwide: forexample, consumer prices have risen and, in view of blocked grain exports of wheat, barley, and maize, food security in Africa is at risk. ...This issue brief summarizes the impact the conflict has and had on global food security.
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It is widely understood that the food insecurity crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing and most neglected crises. It lacks sufficient global focus, resources and urgency. As in so many crises, women and girls are disproportionately affected and shoulder t...he consequences of protracted neglect, with unconscionable impacts on their safety, life chances and agency.
Gaining a holistic view of the gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is difficult. This is due to a lack of data and prioritization, and the large geographical and socioeconomic terrain covered by both regions. However, what we do know about this crisis is more than enough to urgently address the needs of women and girls.
An OCHA discussion paper on this topic (which will be published imminently, and from which this policy brief is drawn) found that there is:
A strong risk of profound regression in gender equality gains made to date in the countries of concern, including on education, sexual and reproductive health, and the economic independence of women and girls (with knock-on effects on broader humanitarian and development outcomes).
An increasing challenge to reverse what must be recognized as a protracted and growing gender-based violence (GBV) emergency in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.
The food insecurity crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is protracted, multidimensional and highly gendered, with spiralling impacts on gender equality and food security outcomes. It is driven by interwoven and overlapping factors, including climate change, political instability, conflict, socioeconomic conditions, migration and displacement and, more recently, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. Interlinked with these factors are gendered structural drivers of food insecurity, including deeply entrenched gender inequalities and harmful social norms. Gendered risks and impacts of food insecurity include alarming limitations on access to education, sexual and reproductive health rights, women’s agency and participation, and dramatic increases in different existing forms of GBV and the emergence of new ones. Recognition of such gendered dimensions of food insecurity and of the need for a multisectoral approach in the response is key to addressing the crisis, along-side sustained commitment and adequate allocation of resources. This policy brief draws out key findings from the OCHA discussion paper on this topic, which includes a desk review of studies, assessments and reports, and interviews with local women’s organizations on the front lines of the food insecurity crisis in communities across both regions.
Below are the most pressing gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity (not in order of priority), as well as key gaps in the current humanitarian response to food insecurity, and recommendations to take forward.
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El quinto Día Mundial de la Inocuidad de los Alimentos se celebrará el 7 de junio de 2023 con la finalidad de sensibilizar sobre el tema e inspirar medidas que ayuden a prevenir, detectar y gestionar los riesgos derivados de los alimentos, contribuyendo de esta forma a la seguridad alimentaria, la... salud humana, la prosperidad económica, la producción agrícola y el acceso a los mercados, así como al turismo y al desarrollo sostenible.
Esta publicación constituye una guía para aquellas personas que deseen participar.
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This flipchart is a visual support for community workers, health workers, emergency workers, and in general all staff conducting face-to-face communication in response to a cholera outbreak.
How to use it?
The flipchart is intended as a support for animating individual or group discussions on ...life-saving practices.
To facilitate involvement of communities for an effective response to the outbreak, this flipchart should be used to provide information and stimulate discussion, rather than to “pass messages”.
An integrated communication approach
The flipchart should not be used alone; effective communication strategy involves the use of a variety of channels and actors. It will be critical to integrate face-to-face discussion with other channels such as local radios, schools, mosques, churches, etc., and to associate different actors such as technical experts, community representatives and opinion leaders to animate them.
In emergency context it is critical not only to stimulate discussion but also to create mechanisms for interaction between communities and service providers such as regular meetings, participation to radio broadcasts or visits by community representatives to health posts; these mechanisms need to be carefully catered for with appropriate planning and resources.
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This publication aims to provide updated guidance on the specific use of yellow fever laboratory assays in the context of surveillance to be used across the Global Yellow Fever Laboratory Network for disease surveillance. In the recent years, new commercial assays became available and are now recomm...ended for use by WHO and this publication will support national program on the use of compound laboratory assays as per the most recent recommended testing algorithms. This piece is aligned with the elimination effort set in the comprehensive global strategy to eliminate yellow fever epidemics (EYE) strategy 2017-2026 and where its advisory laboratory technical working group actively contributed to its development. The target audiences are policy-makers and health workers.
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This report summarizes the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global work on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) during 2022. It describes how the Organization continued to deliver its essential WASH programming as elaborated in its 2018–2025 strategy.
In line with the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organisations which IFRC, ICRC and various Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies have endorsed, this short Guide aims to help practitioners integrate environmental and climate change considerations into their work. It has been dev...eloped primarily for logistics staff, administrative staff, and management. It is not necessary to be an environmental expert to use this Guide.
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La salud mental es de vital importancia para todas las personas, en todas partes. En todo el mundo, las necesidades en materia de salud mental son muchas, pero la respuesta es insuficiente e inadecuada. El Informe mundial sobre la salud mental: Transformar la salud mental para todos ha sido concebid...o para inspirar y fundamentar una mejor salud mental para todas las personas. Al basarse en los datos disponibles más recientes, mostrar ejemplos de buenas prácticas en todo el mundo y transmitir la experiencia de las propias personas, en este informe se pone de relieve por qué es necesario el cambio y dónde, y cuál es la mejor manera de lograrlo. En el informe se insta a todas las partes interesadas a que colaboren para profundizar en el compromiso y el valor que se atribuye a la salud mental, reconfigurar los entornos que influyen en la salud mental y fortalecer los sistemas de atención de la salud mental. La salud mental es mucho más que la ausencia de enfermedad: es una parte intrínseca de nuestra salud y bienestar individual y colectivo. Como se muestra en el presente Informe mundial sobre la salud mental, para alcanzar los objetivos mundiales establecidos en el Plan de acción integral sobre salud mental 2013‑2030 de la OMS y los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible debemos transformar nuestras actitudes, acciones y enfoques para promover y proteger la salud mental, así como para proporcionar cuidados y atención a quienes lo necesitan.
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The MEDBOX Annual Report provides an overview of the most important projects of the past year
This document complements the WREC Waste Management and Recycling Assessment Guidance and can be used by humanitarian partners to assess waste management and recycling facilities through site visits. It is complemented by an Annex listing hazardous and non-hazardous waste types.