23 December 2020 This document summarizes WHO recommendations for the rational use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in health care settings and temporary strategies during acute supply shortages. This document also contains 2 Annex sections describing updated PPE use recommendations for health... workers based on the transmission scenario, setting, and activity in the context of COVID-19 (Annex 1), and updated considerations for the decontamination or reprocessing of PPE (Annex 2). This guidance is intended for public health authorities, organizations, and focal persons involved in decisions regarding PPE distribution, management, and use by health workers.
Available in Arabic, French, English, Spanish and Russian
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The growing understanding of how sequence information can contribute to improved public health is driving global investments in sequencing facilities and programmes. The falling cost and complexity of generating GSD provides opportunities for expanding sequencing capacity; however, challenges to wid...espread implementation remain. This document provides policy-makers and stakeholders with guidance on how to maximize the public health benefit of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequencing activities in the short and long term as the pandemic continues to unfold. Practical considerations for the implementation of a virus genomic sequencing programme and an overview of the public health objectives of genomic sequencing are covered. This guidance focuses on SARS-CoV-2 but is applicable to other pathogens of public health concern.
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Wie die Corona-Pandemie soziale Ungleichheit verschärft und warum wir unsere Wirtschaft gerechter gestalten müssen
The Tripartite AMR Country Self-Assessment Survey (TrACSS) helps to monitor country progress on the implementation of AMR national actions plans and has been administered on an annual basis by the Tripartite organizations (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Organisa...tion for Animal Health (OIE) and World Health Organization (WHO)) since 2016.
This report analyzes the global responses on the fourth round of TrACSS (2019-2020) and examines the global trends and actions towards addressing AMR in all sectors.
Complete country and global responses to all rounds of the survey can be accessed through the TrACSS database: https://amrcountryprogress.org/.
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Since the release of the first volume in May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to rage around the world. By mid-March, 2021, countries around the globe had reported over 123 million cases—a nearly five-fold increase since this report’s previous volume—and over 2.7 million deaths attrib...uted to the disease. And while new case loads are currently on the rise again, the global health community has already administered almost 400 million doses of vaccines, at last offering some signs of hope and progress.
Economic impacts threaten to undo decades of recent progress in poverty reduction, child nutrition and gender equality, and exacerbate efforts to support refugees, migrants, and other vulnerable communities. National and local governments—together with international and private-sector partners—must deploy vaccines as efficiently, safely and equitably as possible while still monitoring for new outbreaks and continuing policies to protect those who do not yet have immunity.
More than ever, the world needs reliable and trustworthy data and statistics to inform these important decisions. The United Nations and all member organizations of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) collect and make available a wealth of information for assessing the multifaceted impacts of the pandemic. This report updates some of the global and regional trends presented in Volume I and offers a snapshot of how COVID-19 continues to affect the world today across multiple domains.
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How to address the global crisis in antibiotic research and development.
The report includes a comprehensive summary and critical evaluation of recent initiatives to overcome the barriers to achieve sustainable access to antibiotics. As antibiotic resistance will continue to develop as long as we ...depend on these medicines to treat bacterial infections, a continuous supply of new effective antibiotics is needed. The report identifies five key challenges that must be solved in order to achieve sustainable access for all, and charts out options for governmental action in response to each of them.
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Workplaces outside of healthcare facilities can be also settings for transmission of COVID-19. Outbreaks of COVID-19 has been reported in various types of workplaces and job categories.
All workers should be protected from acquiring COVID-19 because of their work. The prevention of COVID-19 in ...work settings should be combined with measures for protecting physical and mental health, safety and wellbeing of workers from other occupational hazards in the operation, closures and reopening of workplaces.
This joint WHO/ILO policy brief provides a summary of the evidence for transmission of COVID-19 in general workplaces and an overview of WHO and ILO recommendations for prevention and mitigation of COVID-19 and for protecting health and safety at work in the context of the pandemic.
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13 May 2021
To avoid a reversal of progress from the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, new knowledge and lessons from successful programmatic innovations are urgently needed to improve TB prevention and care. Experience can provide evidence for innovative approaches and strategies to mainta...in and scale up high-quality TB services. WHO therefore called for case studies on programmatic innovations that address emerging challenges in TB prevention and care during the pandemic in order to collect and disseminate the findings to the TB community. Between November 2020 and February 2021, a total of 23 case studies relevant to the call were accepted from 19 countries in the six regions of WHO. The lessons learnt from these country activities to ensure the continuity of essential services like TB care in the face of the crippling crisis may also inform strategies for minimizing the impact of future emerging pathogens on health services.
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The WHO Guidance on community mental health services: Promoting person-centred and rights-based approaches document is part of the WHO Guidance and technical packages on community mental health services set of publications. It provides a detailed description of person-centred and human rights-based ...approaches in mental health, and summary examples of good practice services around the world. It describes the linkages needed with housing, education, employment and social protection sectors, and presents examples of integrated regional and national networks of community-based mental health services. Specific recommendations and action steps are presented for developing community mental health services that respect human rights and focus on recovery. This comprehensive document is accompanied by a set of seven technical packages focused on specific categories of mental health services and guidance for setting up new services.
The WHO Guidance on community mental health services: Promoting person-centred and rights-based approaches is a set of publications that provides information and support to all stakeholders who wish to develop or transform their mental health system and services to align with international human rights standards including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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Saving Lives: Universal access to Trauma Services in Kenya
Esta publicação apresenta a Agenda para as Américas sobre Saúde, Meio Ambiente e Mudança Climática 2021–2030 (a Agenda). Esta Agenda é um apelo ao setor da saúde para que se posicione na vanguarda da abordagem aos determinantes ambientais da saúde nas Américas. A Organização Pan-Americ...ana da Saúde (OPAS) trabalhará com os Estados Membros para alcançar a meta e objetivo desta agenda: assegurar uma vida saudável e promover o bem-estar para todos, em todas as idades, usando um enfoque sustentável e equitativo que priorize a redução das iniquidades em saúde. A Agenda foi desenvolvido sob a égide da Estratégia Mundial da Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) sobre a Saúde, o Meio Ambiente e a Mudança Climática e se baseia nos compromissos estabelecidos na Agenda de Saúde Sustentável para as Américas 2018–2030 e no Plano Estratégico da OPAS 2020–2025. A Agenda foi desenvolvida em consulta com o Grupo Técnico Assessor (GTA), por meio de um processo decisório consensual com os Estados Membros, durante os anos de 2019 e 2020. Para alcançar o Objetivo de Desenvolvimento Sustentável 3, a Agenda enfoca: melhoria do desempenho dos programas e instituições de saúde pública ambiental; promoção de sistemas de saúde ambientalmente resilientes e sustentáveis; e promoção de cidades e comunidades ambientalmente saudáveis e resilientes. A implementação da Agenda deverá ser contextual, com base nas necessidades e realidades de cada país. Ela beneficiará países e territórios ao promover boas práticas de governança; fortalecer as funções de liderança e coordenação do setor da saúde; favorecer ações intersetoriais; focar na prevenção primária; e melhorar as evidências e a comunicação. Facilitará o acesso aos recursos humanos, técnicos e financeiros necessários para abordar os determinantes ambientais da saúde e garantir que a Região esteja totalmente engajada nos processos e acordos globais de saúde, meio ambiente e mudança climática. O objetivo desta Agenda é fortalecer a capacidade dos atores da saúde, tanto no setor da saúde quanto em outros setores, para abordarem e se adaptarem aos determinantes ambientais da saúde (DAS), priorizando as populações que vivem em condições de vulnerabilidade, a fim de atingir o Resultado Intermediário 18 do Plano Estratégico da OPAS 2020–2025, diretamente, e vários outros resultados do Plano, indiretamente. Para enfrentar e se adaptar aos desafios dos DEA na Região, será necessária uma abordagem integrada e baseada em evidências dentro do setor da saúde e entre os setores, possibilitada e favorecida por boas práticas de governança, mecanismos de gestão adequados, vontade política de alto nível e dotação adequada de recursos humanos, técnicos, tecnológicos e financeiros.
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In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change announced that to restrict global temperature rise to 1·5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must decrease 45% by 2030 compared with 2010, and reach net zero by 2050.1
WHO's Health in the Green Economy sector briefings examine the health impacts of climate change mitigation strategies considered by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in their Fourth Assessment Report.
This report shows that frontier agriculture is a viable complement to conventional agriculture, particularly in Africa and countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV).
Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) has immense benefits for individual users, as well as society at large, through improvements to physical health, air quality, the environment, climate change, personal finance, accessibility, mobility and the empowerment of vulnerable groups.