World Report 2021, Human Rights Watch’s 31st annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.
In his introductory essay, Executive Director Kenneth Roth calls on the incoming US administration to more deeply embed respect for ...human rights as an element of domestic and foreign policy to counter the “wild oscillations in human rights policy” that in recent decades have come with each new resident of the White House. Roth emphasizes that even as the Trump administration mostly abandoned the protection of human rights, joined by China, Russia and others, other governments—typically working in coalition and some new to the cause—stepped forward to champion rights. As it works to entrench rights protections, the Biden administration should seek to join, not supplant, this new collective effort.
more
Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
What near-term climate impacts should worry us most?
Supporting the most exposed and vulnerable societies to reduce
regional and global climate risks
Left unabated, climate change will have catastrophic effects on the health of present and future generations. Such effects are already seen in Europe, through more frequent and severe extreme weather events, alterations to water and food systems, and changes in the environmental suitability for infe...ctious diseases. As one of the largest current and historical contributors to greenhouse gases and the largest provider of financing for climate change mitigation and adaptation, Europe’s response is crucial, for both human health and the planet. To ensure that health and
wellbeing are protected in this response it is essential to build the capacity to understand, monitor, and quantify health impacts of climate change and the health co-benefits of accelerated action.
more
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is currently one of the main obstacles to worldwide herd immunity and socioeconomic recovery. Because vaccine coverage can vary between and within countries, it is important
to identify sources of variation so that policies can be tailored to different population groups. ...In this paper, we analyze the results from a survey designed and implemented in order to identify early adopters and
laggers in six big cities of Latin America. We find that trust in government and science, accurate knowledge about the value of vaccination and vaccine effects, perceived risk of getting sick, and being a student
increase the odds to get vaccinated. We also identify potential laggers as women and populations between 20 and 35 years old who are not students. We discuss specific strategies to promote vaccination among
these populations groups as well as more general strategies designed to gain trust. These findings are specific to the context of Latin America insofar as the underlying factors associated with the choice to be
vaccinated vary significantly by location and in relation to individual-level factors.
more
Prepared by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response for the WHO Executive Board, January 2021
“The world was not as prepared as it should have been, and it must do better,” concludes a WHO panel reviewing the pandemic response "
Meeting Report 27-29 October 2020
The overall goal of the meeting was to discuss recent changes in treatment regimens and diagnostics for drug-resistant TB and to determine how these impact on the definition of XDR-TB, with a view to revising this definition. The pre-existing definition of XDR-TB w...as formulated in 2006 at a meeting of the Global Taskforce on XDR-TB, convened by WHO, and has been in use for clinical and surveillance purposes, since this time.
more
This publication summarizes the facilitators and barriers that will be encountered in the deinstitutionalization process and identifies useful and proven interventions in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Four areas of work are identified with the respective guidelines or suggestions for actio...n, which should provide an operational guide for countries that are restructuring mental health services and moving toward the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric care.
more
The overall goal of this strategy is to ensure accurate understanding of the
benefits of covid-19 vaccination and alleviate apprehension about the vaccine, to ensure its acceptance and encourage uptake across various audiences.
Objectives
x Create demand, promote acceptability and accessibility o...f COVID-19
vaccine among at least 90% of the general public.
x Develop appropriate messages and identify channels to communicate
the potential benefits and risks of the vaccine to all concerned parties,
including decision-makers at all levels.
x Provide timely and accurate information to address misinformation,
rumors and other crisis situations.
x Effectively mobilize and empower communities to ensure participation
and ownership of the vaccination process
x Strengthen communication mechanisms and partnerships among key
stakeholders to support the national communication effort.
more
This publication is a companion document to the NDVP National Deployment and Vaccination Plans guidance, which provides a framework for countries to develop their national strategies. As countries face challenges with erratic vaccine supplies, use of multiple vaccine products with different charact...eristics, and the size of populations and their diversity, this document provides operational guidance and information to support planners and immunization programme managers at the national and sub-national levels on microplanning for COVID-19 vaccination implementation.
This Guide is available in English, French, Arabic, chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian
more
Why bold action against inequalities is needed to en AIDS, stop COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics
This Curriculum Guide accompanies the Refugee and Migrant Health: Global Competency Standards for Health Workers and the Knowledge Guide to support the operationalization of the Standards. The Curriculum Guide provides guidance for institutions, health organizations and individuals engaged in the ed...ucation and training of health practitioners and health administrators to support incorporation of the knowledge, skills and attitudes set out in the Knowledge Guide into curricula and for assessment of the achievement of the relevant learning outcomes and Competency Standards.
more
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.
more
During fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) production, water is used for a variety of purposes. Even the water was conventionally treated and disinfected, it may still potentially contain human pathogens, albeit at low concentrations. A risk assessment, appropriate to the national or local production c...ontext, should be conducted to assess the potential risks associated with a specific water source or supply in order to devise the appropriate risk mitigation strategies.
Since the 48th session of Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) noted the importance of water safety and quality in food production and processing, FAO and WHO has undertaken the work on this subject. This report describes the output of the third in a series of meetings, which examined appropriate and fit-for-purpose microbiological criteria for water used with fresh fruit and vegetables. The advice herein will support decision making when applying the concept of fit-for-purpose water for use in the pre- and post-harvest production of fresh fruit and vegetables.
more
The Lancet Global Health Volume 9, ISSUE 3, e361-e365, March 01, 2021
The public health community has tried for decades to show, through evidence-based research, that safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and clean cooking fuels that reduce household air pollution are essential to safeguard he...alth and save lives in low-income and middle-income countries. In the past 40 decades, there have been many innovations in the development of low-cost and efficacious technologies for WASH and household air pollution, but many of these technologies have been associated with disappointing health outcomes, often because low-income households have either not adopted, or inconsistently adopted, these technologies.
more
Covid-19 Social Policy Response Series / No.14
This report examines Ecuador’s social policy response to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic’s effects and protect
vulnerable populations. It chronologically traces containment, closure policies, social policies and programmes
put in place following t...he announcement of Covid-19 as a global pandemic. A combination of external con-
straints and domestic structures, i.e. informality and weak coordination, led to truncated efforts in the healthcare
response, while persistent inequalities in access to technology and high levels of informality led to fragmented
education, labour policies and social protection responses. The report zooms into the Family Protection Grant
(Bono de Protección Familiar or BPF), a new social protection programme that covers informal workers, which
captures the difficulties in reaching unregistered populations amid lockdown and containment measures.
more