This is a guidance document for countries and implementing partners on the technical requirements for developing digital information systems for issuing standards-based interoperable digital certificates for COVID-19 vaccination status, and considerations for implementation of such systems, for the ...purposes of continuity of care, and proof of vaccination.
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On 25 August, UN agencies and partners launched a US$187.3 million Flash Appeal to reach 500,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by the 14 August earthquake.
Around 650,000 people are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance in the three most affected departments – Grand’Anse, Nipp...es and Sud – where 634,000 were already in need of multisectoral assistance before the quake.
Based on lessons learned from past emergencies, humanitarian actors are aiming to capitalize on local and national level expertise, capacities and knowledge to promote a rapid and effective response tailored to the expressed needs of affected people.
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BMC Public Health (2021) 21:299 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10296-9
In many conflicts around the world, more children die from diseases linked to unsafe water than from direct violence. UNICEF is releasing Water Under Fire volume 3, a report that highlights the issues children face in accessing water in times of war. The report demonstrates the humanitarian impact o...n children through case studies from Iraq, State of Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine. Attacks on water, sanitation services and staff must stop.
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The Compendium of data and evidence-related tools for use in TB planning and programming was developed as a companion document to the People-centred framework for tuberculosis programme planning and prioritization – user guide, published by the World Health Organization (WHO)... in 2019. The compendium is intended to support implementation of the people-centred framework user guide. It can also be used independently to inform decisions taken by national tuberculosis (TB) programmes about the implementation of the tools included in this document.
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Drawing light from the pandemic: A new strategy for health and sustainable development (2021)
Available in English, French, German and Russian
WHO’s antiretroviral treatment (ART) clinic-based acquired drug resistance survey method yields robust estimates of HIV viral suppression and acquired HIV drug resistance in adults, children and adolescents taking both dolutegravir and non-dolutegravir based regimens.
Results are used to inform A...RT programme decision making regarding optimal ART regimens and support evaluation of programme quality with respect to maximizing viral load suppression and minimizing emergence of resistance in people taking ART.
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The Lancet Published Online
October 8, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(21)02143-7
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created a global and gendered crisis that is compounding existing inequalities and disproportionately affecting girls and women. Emerging evidence from the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 shows school closures, disruptions in essential services and rising... poverty contributed to girls’ increased risk of female genital mutilation (FGM). School closures limited the monitoring and reporting of cases of FGM. Rising household monetary poverty may have contributed to families adopting negative coping mechanisms, including having girls undergo FGM as a precursor to marriage to reduce household costs. A report from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates 2 million additional cases of FGM by 2030 due to the pandemic.
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This report is the first of its kind. It brings together various data sets to present the current status of hand hygiene, highlight lagging progress, and call governments and supporting agencies to action, offering numerous inspiring examples of change.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hand hygiene ...received unprecedented attention and became a central pillar in national COVID prevention strategies. However, concern with hand hygiene should not only be as temporary public health measure in times of crisis, but as a vital everyday behaviour that contributes to health and economic resilience. Hand hygiene is a highly cost-effective investment, providing outsized health benefits for relatively little cost.
Despite efforts to promote hand hygiene, the rates of access to hand hygiene facilities remain stubbornly low. If current rates of progress continue, by the end of the SDG era in 2030, 1.9 billion people will still lack facilities to wash their hands at home.
This report presents a compelling case for investment in five key ‘accelerators’ as a pathway towards achieving hand hygiene for all – governance, financing, capacity development, data and information, and innovation. These accelerators are identified under the UN-Water SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework.
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This implementation brief addresses integration of HIV testing services into family planning (FP) services. It is intended as a practical resource for national health programmes seeking to introduce or scale up HIV testing and linkage to HIV prevention, sexually transmitted infection, and antiretrov...iral therapy services in FP.
This document highlights emerging good practices and country experiences of integrated HIV prevention and testing services within FP and advocates for increased linkage for FP clients to HIV services according to their needs. It also brings together information on models of integration of HIV testing into FP services, programme examples from east and southern Africa and guidance on the implementation monitoring process.
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As countries commit to achieving universal health coverage, it is imperative to ensure that the design and delivery of palliative care services place attention on quality of care, with action needed across all domains of quality health services: effectiveness, safety, people-centredness, timeliness,... equity, integration and efficiency. Providing compassionate, dignified and people-centred palliative care is an ethical responsibility of health systems.
This document provides a practical resource to support implementation of sustainable improvements in the quality of palliative care. It describes approaches to quality policy, strategy and planning for palliative care programmes and services, presents learning on quality of care arising from palliative care programmes, and offers considerations on measurement of quality palliative care services at all levels of the health system. The document also highlights relevant WHO resources available that further support the development of quality palliative care services.
The audience for this document is a general one that includes policy-makers, palliative care service planners, managers, practitioners and health care providers at all levels.
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Unhealthy diets and excess body weight are leading risk factors for death and disability in the WHO European Region. Addressing malnutrition in all its forms is essential to ensure health and well-being for all and, consequently, sustainable development. It requires coherent and innovative actions c...overing the entire food system and across other sectors to ensure access to a diversified, balanced and healthy diet for all.
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Validation of elimination of mother-to-child transmission, or vertical transmission, of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B virus (HBV), is an attestation that a country has successfully met standard criteria for elimination, or for being at 1 of the 3 levels of achievement on the ‘Path to Elimination... while delivering quality services for women, girls and their children, through the life-course, respecting human rights and ensuring gender equality and community engagement.
This document, the third version, adds on EMTCT of hepatitis B virus (HBV), bringing together a package of interventions and metrics to support integrated management and monitoring of vertical transmission across a wide range of epidemiological and programmatic contexts.
This document, the third version, adds on EMTCT of hepatitis B virus (HBV), bringing together a package of interventions and metrics to support integrated management and monitoring of vertical transmission across a wide range of epidemiological and programmatic contexts.
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Peru celebrates 200 years of independence in 2021. Over this period of independent life, and despite the turbulent socio-political scenarios, from internal armed conflict to economic crisis to political instability over the last 40 years, Peru has experienced major changes on its epidemiological and... population health profile. Major advancements in maternal and child health as well as in communicable diseases have been achieved in recent decades, and today
Peru faces an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases including mental health conditions. In terms of the configuration of the public health system, Peru has also strived to secure country-wide optimal health care, struggling in particular to improve primary health care and intercultural services.
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