State of Health in the EU Cycle.
With the coronavirus (COVID-19) once again spreading rapidly, and the re-introduction of containment measures to flatten the curve of the epidemic, it is crucial for policymakers to plan effective strategies to re-open their economies to avoid further re-confinement...s. This should include much more effective testing, tracing and isolation policies that people can easily follow, as well as improved social distancing measures
more
Overview.
The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest crisis facing the world, but unless humans release their grip on nature, it won’t be the last, according to a new report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which includes a new experimental index on human progress that takes into acco...unt countries’ carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint.
The report lays out a stark choice for world leaders - take bold steps to reduce the immense pressure that is being exerted on the environment and the natural world, or humanity’s progress will stall.
more
Lancet Glob Health 2020Published OnlineDecember 10, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30460-5
The WHO Labour Care Guide is a tool that aims to support good-quality, evidence-based, respectful care during labour and childbirth, irrespective of the setting or level of health care. This manual has been developed to help skilled health personnel to successfully use the WHO Labour Care Guide. The... manual will also be of interest to staff involved in training health care personnel, health-care facility managers, and implementers and managers of maternal and child health services.
more
This article was published on December 10, 2020, and updated on December 16, 2020, at NEJM.org. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2034577
An Evidence-Based Treatment Guide for Clinicians
This document outlines the evaluation process that WHO undertakes to assess novel tools and strategies targeted at VBDs. Its aim is to articulate the linkage between the generation of evidence that demonstrates public health impact of novel interventions, and the development of policy recommendation...s based on the generated data. The document defines standards for the evaluation process, as well as the steps that an applicant needs to undertake, along with some guiding principles that aim to support applicants in the development of submissions with WHO.
more
This paper provides case studies of several food product improvement policies from across the WHO European Region. The aim is to share country experience, assess the various merits of the different approaches, discuss lessons learned, and provide guidance for best practice that may be more widely ap...plicable across the European Region.
more
Excessive consumption of salt (more than 5 g per day) raises blood pressure, a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke, and is the leading cause of death in the WHO European Region. Many countries in the Region have initiated national salt reduction strategies,... including public awareness campaigns, reformulation, and front-of-pack nutrition labelling. However, despite ongoing efforts, surveillance data indicate that salt intake still far exceeds the limits recommended by WHO to protect health.
more
Childhood obesity is a major public health problem globally, which could undermine progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Prevention is recognized as the most efficient means of curbing the epidemic; however, given the scale of the problem and the many children who need profes...sional support due to the severity of the disease and/or obesity-related complications, health systems all over Europe must take steps to develop obesity management systems. The aim of this project was to assess the response of health care delivery systems in 19 countries in the WHO European Region to the childhood obesity epidemic.
more
Despite recommendations on the marketing of commercial baby and toddler foods, two new reports from WHO find widespread evidence of inappropriate promotion and poor nutritional quality of foods for infants and young children across the WHO European Region. To address these issues and help countries ...implement nutrition recommendations, a nutrient profile model is proposed to guide decisions on promotion and nutrition quality of baby foods.
more
14 January 2021
This practical guide can be used to help countries monitor and analyse the impact of COVID-19 on essential health services to inform planning and decision-making. It provides practical recommendations on how to use key performance indicators to analyse changes in access to and deliv...ery of essential health services within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; how to visualize and interpret these data; and how to use the findings to guide modifications for safe delivery of services and transitioning towards restoration and recovery. The guide focuses on existing indicators and data that are captured in routine reporting systems and how they can be used by national and subnational authorities to understand specific contexts, challenges and bottlenecks. This guide supports Maintaining essential health services: operational guidance for the COVID-19 context, which provides an integrated framework to guide countries in their efforts to reorganize, adapt and maintain safe delivery of high-priority essential health services within the context of the pandemic.
more
In order to help Member States understand what commercial foods for infants and young children are currently on the market, and to support implementation of the Guidance on ending inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children at the European level, the WHO Regional Office for Europ...e developed a methodology for identifying commercial baby foods available in retail settings and collecting data on their nutritional content, as well as various aspects of their packaging, labelling and promotion.
more
A discussion paper outlining the first steps in developing a nutrient profile model to drive changes to product composition and labelling and promotion practices in the WHO European Region
The aims of the guidance are to protect breastfeeding, prevent obesity and chronic diseases, promote a healthy... diet, and ensure caregivers receive clear and accurate information on infant and young child feeding.
more
This report on progress achieved in the WHO European Region and Member States in implementing the European food and nutrition action plan 2015–2020 presents selected epidemiological data on the nutritional status of populations throughout the Region and on implementation of policies recommended in... regional and global frameworks to promote healthy nutrition and prevent obesity. The data contained in the report are derived from the responses of Member States to the WHO Global nutrition policy review questionnaire.
more
The WHO Regional Office for Europe has established the Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative in more than half the countries in the Region for routine monitoring of the policy response to the emerging obesity epidemic. The aim of the Initiative is to measure trends in overweight and obesity in c...hildren aged 6.0–9.9 years to get a clear understanding of the epidemic and to allow inter-country comparisons. This document outlines the common protocol agreed for use in the Initiative.
more
Report of an intensive legal training and capacity-building workshop on law and noncommunicable diseases (Moscow, 30 May–3 June 2016)
The report summarizes important issues, themes and topics discussed during the meeting in Moscow, ranging from the design and implementation of legislation, reconc...iling public health objectives with international trade and investment law commitments, to examples of regional integration, such as the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union.
more
This technical report presents results from the FEEDcities Project – eastern Europe and central Asia. This cross-sectional survey was conducted in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan in October 2016 to evaluate the local urban food environment. It characterized the vending sites, the food offered and the nutri...tional composition of the industrial and homemade street foods available in these settings. It also described the nutritional composition of ready-to-eat foods sold in supermarkets and at vending sites in food courts. The policy implications of the findings are outlined.
more