This report describes the activities of the WHO European Centre for Primary Health Care in 2022.The Centre accelerated face-to-face country support after the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to support countries in engaging in analysis and diagnosis, developing strategies and policies, building capacit...y and tracking implementation progress and impact. The Centre delivered intensive support in the countries of the Universal Health Coverage Partnership. The Centre continued to develop policy guidance, publish good practices, have capacity-building activities and policy dialogues and solidified its signature product Let’s Talk Primary Health Care talk show platform. The highlight of 2022 was the launch of two WHO Primary Health Care Demonstration Platforms to facilitate cross-country experience exchange.
more
Africa is off track to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and lags behind in building resilient health systems
and health security, against a backdrop of limited resources. The world envisaged a significant role for governments
in funding the Sustainable Development Agenda, but inadeq...uate funding for health in African countries is
persistent, despite additional continental commitments to address the problem. When commitments to global health
targets and available fiscal space do not align, innovation is warranted.
more
Integrating the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and sexual and reproductive health programmes: implementation guidance
It is impossible to address the many complex needs of respiratory virus surveillance with a single surveillance system. Multiple systems, investigations and studies must each be fit-for-purpose to specific priority surveillance objectives, and only together can they provide essential information to ...policy-makers. In essence, each surveillance approach fit together as “tiles in a mosaic” that provides a complete picture of respiratory viruses and the impact of associated illnesses and interventions at the country level. This mosaic framework demonstrates how surveillance approaches may be implemented as coordinated and collaborative systems, well-matched to specific priority objectives.
more
This Quick Reference Handbook of Selected Congenital Anomalies and Infections is a companion tool to Birth defects surveillance: a manual for programme managers, and is intended for use by front-line health care professionals who are diagnosing and collecting data on congenital defects and infection...s. When used in conjunction with the manual, the tools in this handbook will help the reader to: identify an initial list of congenital anomalies to consider for monitoring;describe the tools needed to define and code identified cases; define specific congenital anomalies under surveillance.
more
Two adjectives raise an issue for communicators working on Chagas disease (CD): “invisible and silent”. Two adjectives that can be ascribed to other neglected tropical diseases (NTD), but which are part of the essence of CD. Bringing CD out of its situation of neglect and oblivion is a mission e...ntrusted mainly to the world of communication as well as of science, politics and financial resources. However, communication has not always been considered among the priorities in the approach to the disease, except in valuable exceptions, some of which we have seen in the preceding article.
more
In support of the London Declaration goals, PATH aims to catalyze engagement of the diagnostics industry and product development efforts. As part of this work, PATH conducted a diagnostic landscape analysis to identify gaps and evaluated current and nascent HAT diagnostics that may provide solutions....
We conducted literature reviews and interviews with key stakeholders to identify use cases for HAT diagnostics, understand current practices, and analyze progress toward more robust diagnostics across
different biomarkers.
more
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected infectious endemic disease that is transmitted through the bite of a vector insect (sandfly) of the Lutzomyia genus,typical of rural geographical territories, and causes disfiguring skin ulcers and disabilities. It is estimated that CL affects between 600...000 and 1 000 000 people a year around the world, mainly in the America s, the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East and Central Asia. Eighteen of the 21 countries that make up the Latin American (LA) region are considered endemic areas for this neglected tropical disease. Colombia is one of the countries that reports the majority of global cases with 6161 in 2020 and has the second highest number of cases in the Americas, after Brazil.
more
An interregional meeting on leishmaniasis among neighbouring endemic
countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, African and European regions was organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern
Mediterranean in Amman, Jordan, from 23 to 25 September 2018. The meeting w...as attended by representatives from the health ministries of Albania, Georgia, Greece, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic and Tunisia. Representatives from Afghanistan, Algeria and Libya were unable to attend. The Secretariat comprised staff from WHO headquarters, WHO regional offices in the Eastern Mediterranean, Africa and Europe, WHO country offices in Iraq, Pakistan, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen, and WHO temporary advisors from Spain and Tunisia.
more
Leishmaniasis is a complex vector-borne disease involving in its transmission several species of protozoan parasites called Leishmania, a wide variety of animal reservoirs and phlebotomine sandflies vectors. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is the most common form of the disease, and its clinical manife...stations vary from few papules to multiple ulcers affecting the skin but also the mucous membranes, leaving permanent scars and serious disability. It is a disfiguring and stigmatizing disease that often has a devastating psychosocial and economic impact on the affected resources limited communities.
more
This perspective draws on the record of ancient pathogengenomes and microbiomes illuminating patterns of infectious disease over the course of the Holocene in order toaddress the following question. How did major changes inliving circumstances involving the transition to and intensification of farmi...ng alter pathogens and their distributions? Answers to this question via ancient DNA researchprovide a rapidly expanding picture of pathogen evolution and in concert with archaeological and historical data, give a temporal and behavioral context for heath in the past that is relevant for challenges facing the world today, including the rise of novel pathogens.
more
Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that is responsible for enormous suffering, disability and premature death on every continent. As over 5.8 billion people are at risk of encountering a venomous snake, it is not surprising but no less tragic that almost 7400 people every
da...y are bitten by snakes, and 220–380 men, women and children die as a result, adding up to about 2.7 million cases of envenoming and 8100–138 000 deaths a year.
more
Wiping out Trachoma from Nepal – How Nepal eliminated trachoma as a public health problem
WHO - 2018
Taeniasis and cysticercosis caused by the parasite T. solium affect vulnerable populations,
mainly in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, where pigs (the intermediate host) roam
free and poor sanitation allows pigs access to human faeces.
Rabies is a devastating and societally important zoonotic disease, which is transmitted principally to humans through the bite of infected dogs. This acute, progressive viral encephalitis has the highest case fatality of any infectious disease and kills tens of thousands of people annually, with chi...ldren and impoverished communities being affected disproportionately.
more
Rabies has an enormous impact on both agriculture and conservation biology, but its greatest burden is undeniably on public health. As such, routine methods for rapid risk assessment after human exposures to rabies as well as applications for laboratory-based surveillance, production of biologicals ...and management of this infectious disease are critical. Given its mandate to improve human health and control disease among its Member States, WHO has led the production of this fifth edition of Laboratory techniques in rabies.
more
Leishmaniases are a group of diseases of zoonotic importance caused by over 20 species of protozoa of the genus Leishmania, in which domestic dogs are considered to be the main reservoir for the disease. However, the involvement of other vertebrates as reservoirs for these parasites has also been in...vestigated. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to carry out a systematic review with meta-analysis on occurrences of leishmaniasis in equids. The case reports described animals with cutaneous symptoms of leishmaniasis (papules, nodules, ulcers or crusts) that regressed spontaneously, located mainly on the head and limbs, from which three species of protozoa were identified in the lesions: Leishmania braziliensis, Leishmania infantum and Leishmania siamensis. In turn, the meta-analysis showed a combined prevalence of 25%, although with high heterogeneity among the studies, which was attributed to the use of different methods for diagnosing the disease. Leishmaniasis in equids is a benign disease but it should be included in the differential diagnosis of cutaneous diseases among these species. Seroepidemiological studies are important in investigating and monitoring suspected exposure of these hosts to the parasite, especially in endemic areas. However, there is also a need to standardize diagnostic methods.
more
This Tailoring Antimicrobial Resistance Programmes (TAP) process assists Member States in initiating and undertaking projects to address the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in their countries. AMR is a complex problem requiring unique, context-specific solutions. This TAP Toolbo...x contains a series of exercises and is aligned with the stages outlined in the TAP Quick Guide. The Toolbox is designed to be used by a TAP working group as they work through the stages outlined in the TAP Quick Guide. The exercises and tools presented in this Toolbox have been abridged and adapted from the TAP Manual which will be available soon.
more
Antibiotics 2022, 11(3), 329; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11030329.
The authors found that the most-represented antibiotics on the Rwandan market were amoxicillin, co-trimoxazole and cloxacillin. No counterfeit antibiotics were found in this study. However, substandard batches with moderate ...deviations were found, suggesting that regular quality control of antibiotics is needed in Rwanda.
more
Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a significant burden globally, with millions of patients affected each year. These infections affect both high- and limited-resource healthcare settings, but in limited-resource settings, rates are approximately twice as high as high-resource settings (15 o...ut of every 100 patients versus 7 out of every 100 patients). Furthermore, rates of infections within certain patient populations are significantly higher in limited-resource settings, including surgical patients, patients in intensive-care units (ICU) and neonatal units. It is well documented that environmental contamination plays a role in the transmission of HAIs in healthcare settings. Therefore, environmental cleaning is a fundamental intervention for infection prevention and control (IPC).It is a multifaceted intervention that involves cleaning and disinfection (when indicated) of the environment alongside other key program elements to support successful implementation (e.g., leadership support, training, monitoring, and feedback mechanisms). To be effective, environmental cleaning activities must be implemented within the framework of the facility IPC program, and not as a standalone intervention. It is also essential that IPC programs advocate for and work with facility administration and government officials to budget, operate and maintain adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure to ensure that environmental cleaning can be performed according to best practices.
more