Overcoming barriers in low- and middle-income countries
For the first time, this year’s report includes information on hepatitis C diagnostics. With a focus on selected countries with diverse HCV epidemics, the report provides updates on the various dimensions of access to HCV diagnostics and pha...rmaceutical products, including product pricing, the regulatory environment and patent status, which together shape the national hepatitis response in different settings. It highlights key areas for action by ministries of health and other government decision-makers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and technical partners.
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6 July 2021. Three new nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) classes are endorsed by WHO and included.
The latest operational handbook includes the new classes recommended by WHO. It aims at facilitating the implementation of the WHO recommendations by the Member States, technical partners, and ot...hers involved in managing patients with TB and DR-TB. The operational handbook provides practical information on existing and new tests recommended by WHO, step-by-step advice on implementing and scale-up testing to achieve local and national impact and lastly, model diagnostic algorithms, which are updated to incorporate the latest recommendations. An overview of budgetary considerations and information sheets on each of the newly recommended tests is provided.
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Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is a critical strategy to care for preterm and low birth weight infants in resource-limited settings. Despite evidence of its effectiveness and low cost, coverage has remained low, largely due to sociocultural barriers. We aimed to better understand social norms and commun...ity perceptions of preterm infants and KMC (facility-initiated and community-continued) in Malawi, a country with a high preterm birth rate, to inform a pilot social and behavior change program.
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Procurement and supply management activities are fundamental to consistent and reliable access to essential medicines and health products. To reduce the impact of CVD, action needs to be taken to improve prevention, diagnosis, care and management of CVD diseases. Affordable essential medicines and t...echnologies to manage CVD disease must be available where and when they are required. Medicines and technologies need to be managed appropriately to ensure that the correct medicines are selected, procured in the right quantities, distributed to facilities in a timely manner, and handled and stored in a way that maintains their quality. This needs to be backed up by policies that enable sufficient quantities to be procured in order to reduce cost inefficiencies, ensure the reliability and security of the distribution system, and encourage the appropriate use of these health products. In order to avoid stock-outs and the disruption of treatment, all related activities need to be conducted in a timely manner, with performance continually monitored, and prompt action taken in response to problems that may arise. Additionally, medication must be dispensed correctly and used rationally by the healthcare provider and patient alike. The purpose of this guide is to explain the necessary steps.
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Climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessment
In 2013 the World Health Organization (WHO) published the report Protecting health from climate change:
vulnerability and adaptation assessment. The aim was to provide basic and flexible guidance on conducting national or subnati...onal assessments of current and future vulnerability (the susceptibility of a population or region to harm) to the health risks of climate change, and of policies and programmes that could increase resilience, taking into account the multiple determinants of climate-sensitive health outcomes.
That guidance has been a very useful tool, applied to more than 50 countries and settings, and has helped countries to prepare their health contributions to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change national adaptation plans.
Since the launch of the guidance, WHO, technical partners such as Health Canada, and countries have learned much in terms of its applicability in different countries, at national and local levels.
At the same time, knowledge on climate change and health has increased.
WHO, the Pan American Health Organization and Health Canada have produced this updated version, which aims to better support countries in their assessments by proposing a simpler tool that incorporates all lessons learned.
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Needs assessment is essential for programme planning, monitoring and evaluation, and accountability, however needs assessment is still a critical weakness of humanitarian response. Organisations need to improve how they do assessments. The Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS) and the Emergency Capa...city Building Project (ECB) have produced this guide to fill the gap that existed for a practical resource that pulls together the main lessons learned from various initiatives and experiences.
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he WHO global disability action plan 2014-2021 is a significant step towards achieving health and well-being and human rights for people with disabilities. The action plan was endorsed by WHO Member States in 2014 and calls for them to remove barriers and improve access to health services and progra...mmes; strengthen and extend rehabilitation, assistive devices and support services, and community-based rehabilitation; and enhance collection of relevant and internationally comparable data on disability, and research on disability and related services. Achieving the objectives of the action plan better enables people with disabilities to fulfil their aspirations in all aspects of life.
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The discourse on climate change and migration has shifted from labelling migration merely as a consequence of climate impacts, to describing it as a form of human adaptation. This article explores the adaptation framing of the climate change and migration nexus and highlights its shortcomings and ad...vantages. While for some groups, under certain circumstances migration can be an effective form of adaptation, for others it leads to increased vulnerabilities and a poverty spiral, reducing their adaptive apacities. Non-economic losses connected to a change of place further challenge the notion of successful adaptation. Even when migration improves the situation of a household, it may conceal the lack of action on climate change adaptation from national governments or the international community. Given the growing body of evidence on the diverse circumstances and outcomes of migration
in the context of climate change, we distinguish between reactive and proactive migration and argue for a precise differentiation in the academic debate
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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
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The Central African Republic is at a major turning point in its history. The country
is just emerging from a very violent conflict, during which thousands of human lives were lost and one-third of the population was displaced. After
a three-year transition, and with the support of the internationa...l community, authorities successfully created the conditions required to conduct credible presidential and legislative
elections. Central African citizens mobilized to express their desire for peace and to break
with the cycle of past violence. Their exemplary democratic maturity ensured the electoral
process was peaceful, despite palpable tensions. The welcome given Pope Francis in Bangui in
November 2015 and visible reconciliation efforts demonstrate the population wishes to turn
the page on this conflict.
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Cities are uniquely positioned to understand local needs and respond rapidly to changing conditions to safeguard health. These changes require strong city leadership to implement multisectoral, health-relevant policies and public services that engage communities. The response to malaria must be an i...ntegral part of such policies and processes.
This framework supports the control and elimination of malaria in urban environments. It provides guidance for city leaders, health programmes and urban planners as they respond to the challenges of rapid urbanization in a targeted way. For each urban context, the strategic use of data can inform effective, tailored responses and help build resilience against the threat of malaria and other vector-borne diseases.
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This document aims to assist countries to take the first step towards better considering gender and equity issues in their efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), to inform the implementation of strategies in national action plans and contribute to improved reach and effectiveness of AMR e...fforts in the longer term. It is part of a series of papers being developed y WHO, FAO and OIE to build a better global evidence base for implementing AMR national action plans. This version is illustrated by examples from the health sector predominantly but
will be updated with advice from the food and animal sectors in due course.
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Abuses by ArmThis report is based on research in Catatumbo in April 2019. We interviewed more than 80 people, including abuse victims, their relatives, community leaders, church representatives, human rights officials, local authorities, judicial officials, and members of humanitarian and human righ...ts organizations working in the area. Some interviews were conducted in Cúcuta, the capital of North Santander province, and by telephone. We also reviewed official reports and statistics, publications by nongovernmental and international organizations, and written testimony given to government officials by almost 500 victims of abuses committed in the context of the armed conflicts.ed Groups Against Civilians Including Venezuelan Exiles in Northeastern Colombia
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Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), also referred to as Laos, or Lao, is exposed to natural disasters such as flooding, typhoons, cyclones, drought, and earthquakes. The country is vulnerable to recurrent, sudden-onset and slow onset natural disasters with flooding, storms and typhoons hav...ing a large effect on the population. The country remains highly vulnerable to agricultural shocks and natural disasters.
Lao has established Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) practices as a result of the many natural disasters the country faces. CBDRR is implemented at the village level to enhance community preparedness and to decrease village vulnerabilities to disasters.
Lao established the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC) as its national disaster management platform and the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to be responsible for DRM (Disaster Risk Management) and DRR activities in the country.
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On February 29, 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement outlining a phased withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in exchange for Taliban commitments not to allow attacks on the US or its allies from Afghan territory. The troop withdrawal is expected to take place in parallel w...ith negotiations between representatives from the Afghan government and other Afghan political groups and Taliban leaders aimed at achieving a political settlement after decades of armed conflict.
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The Implementation toolkit for accessible telehealth services provides practical guidance to support governments, industry partners, health service providers and civil society groups in the use and implementation of the WHO-ITU Global standard for accessibility of telehealth services. The toolkit is... the result of a collaboration between the World Health Organization and the International Telecommunication Union, and was developed in response to the growing challenges that persons with disabilities and other marginalized populations experience when accessing and using telehealth platforms around the world.
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The CDAC Network commissioned a practice guide to draw both on their experiences and many others’ in order to document approaches, practices and tools to working with rumors. It is aimed primarily at humanitarian programme managers and field staff to provide them with practical tips on how to work... with rumors in their response programs in a way that is achievable amid competing demands.
Part One focuses on some of the theory behind rumors: the definition, nature and importance of rumors, and why we need to work with them.
Part Two explains the key steps and considerations to identifying and addressing rumous: listening, verifying and engaging.
Part Three examines different roles and responsibilities in working with rumous, and how anticipation, coordination and partnerships can enhance what you do.
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Communities can play a critical role in suicide prevention. Facilitating community engagement in suicide prevention is an important task. The toolkit is a step-by-step guide for communities to engage in suicide prevention activities and have ownership of the process and keep efforts sustained. It is... hoped that the pilot version will be used, after necessary adaptation, in many countries and contexts, so that the final product can be strengthened and become more effective and user-friendly.
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Key facts about major deadly diseases.This manual provides concise and up-to-date knowledge on 15 infectious diseases that have the potential to become international threats, and tips on how to respond to each of them.
You can download an interactive version directly at the website
http://www.who....int/emergencies/diseases/managing-epidemics/en/
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Around the world, approximately 1 in 45 children are on the move – nearly 50 million boys and girls that have migrated across borders or been forcibly displaced within their own countries.1 Climate-related events
and their impacts are already contributing significantly to these staggering numbers...,with 14.7 million people facing new internal displacement as a result of weather-related disasters in 2015 alone. The annual average
since 2008 is higher still, at 21.5 million, equivalent to almost 2,500 people being displaced every single day.2
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