The World Health Organization (WHO) organized the first global meeting on skin-related neglected tropical diseases (skin NTDs) at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on 27–31 March 2023. This 5-day hybrid meeting brought together more than 800 global experts, stakeholders and partners from 86 ...countries to consider a wide range of topics and enable participants to share best practices in implementing integrated skin NTD activities at country level. The theme of the meeting was “integration for greater impact”.
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WHO convened the fifth stakeholders meeting on the elimination of HAT due to infection with Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (g-HAT) and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (r-HAT) in Geneva, Switzerland, on 7–9 June 2023. The meeting was held again in person after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandem...ic and jointly for both forms of the disease. The previous meetings on g-HAT held in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as on r-HAT in 2015, 2017 and 2019, and jointly for g-HAT and r-HAT in 2021 (8) reinforced the partnership and commitment for HAT elimination and structured the mechanisms of collaboration within the WHO network for HAT elimination. The network includes NSSCPs, groups developing new tools, international and nongovernmental organizations involved in disease control, and donors.
Fewer than 1000 cases of HAT annually have been reported over the past 5 years, which is a historic achievement. The area at risk has been substantially reduced. The elimination of HAT as a public health problem at the global level has been achieved.
The new road map for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) 2021−2030 (“the road map”) with the target to interrupt the transmission of g-HAT requires the strengthened and sustained efforts of all stakeholders, national authorities and partners, under WHO coordination. It will take disproportionally high efforts and innovative strategies to find the last cases of g-HAT and neutralize its transmission. Given the limited resources and other competing public health priorities, this is a challenge that requires our joint commitment.
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This country cooperation strategy (CCS) outlines how the World Health Organization (WHO) will work with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic over the next five years (2024–2028), supporting the implementation of the five-year health sector development plans and the Health Sector Reform Strategy ...2021–2030 to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic experienced substantial economic growth in the 30 years prior to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, contributing to reduced poverty and significant progress toward the SDGs. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought this development to a halt. It was anticipated that the COVID-19 recovery and the tremendous population growth in recent years would provide opportunities for a shift toward more sustainable and inclusive development in the years ahead. In 2023, however, the contrary was the case. Rural residents, including many ethnic minorities, continued to face marginalization because of limited access to education, health care and economic opportunities.
Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks, the country has made significant improvements in health. Nonetheless, progress has been uneven and not everyone has benefited from these achievements. In the mountainous region, many people lack access to quality health care because of the unequal distribution of well-trained health-care workers. Preventable deaths due to poor-quality health care for children and newborns, infants and mothers remain a concern, as do communicable diseases such as sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis. The increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases and the health impact of worsening climate change further heighten the need for strengthened and resilient health systems, which are at risk due to an underfunded health sector and weak economy.
This CCS aims to address remaining and future challenges as well as health needs while creating an impact that is sustainable. It identifies three strategic priorities and nine deliverables (Table 1) to support the attainment of the national vision of Health for all by all, as articulated in the 9th Health Sector Development Plan 2021–2025. It contributes to the country’s goals to achieve universal health coverage, graduate from least developed country status by 2026 and attain SDGs by 2030.
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23 July, 2022.The second meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country outbreak of monkeypox was held last week. Following the meeting, the Director-General of WHO has determined that the outbreak of monkeypox constitutes a Public Health Emergency of... International Concern.
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This report aims to raise awareness about the role that the reform of public health laws can play in advancing the right to health and in creating the conditions for people to live healthy lives. By encouraging a better understanding of how public health law can be used to improve the health of the ...population, the report aims to encourage and assist governments to reform their public health laws in order to advance the right to health.
The report highlights important issues that may arise during the process of public health law reform. It provides guidance about issues and requirements to be addressed during the process of developing public health laws. It also includes case studies and examples of legislation from a variety of countries to illustrate effective law reform practices and some features of effective public health legislation.
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Website last accessed on 31.03.23
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a severe flu-like illness and, sometimes causing a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue. The incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. Up to 50-100 million infections are ...now estimated to occur annually in over 100 endemic countries, putting almost half of the world’s population at risk.
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WHO’s Dr Philippa Easterbrook gives a situation update on the recent hepatitis outbreak affecting children including possible causes and steps parents, caregivers and countries should take.
Tis first edition describes the standard operating procedures for health products for NTDs amenable to preventive chemotherapy and the medicines donated to treat them. These include albendazole for lymphatic filariasis and soil-transmitted helminthiases; azithromycin for trachoma and yaws; diethylca...rbamazine citrate for lymphatic filariasis; ivermectin for onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis; mebendazole for soil-transmitted helminthiases; praziquantel for schistosomiasis; and triclabendazole for foodborne trematodiases. Standard operating procedures for diseases amenable to case management will be covered in subsequent editions, including the application process for requesting medicines (Chapter 1). In the meantime, the procedures described in the rest of the document apply for both case management and preventive chemotherapy NTD health products.
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The toolkit's purpose is to:
improve the primary health care response for older persons.
sensitize and educate primary health care workers about the specific needs of their older clients.
provide primary care health workers with a set of tools/instruments to assess older people's hea...lth.
raise awareness among primary care health workers of the accumulation of minor/major disabilities experienced by older people.
provide guidance on how to make primary health care management procedures more responsive to the needs of older people's needs.
offer direction on how to do environmental audits to test primary health care centres for their age-friendliness.
The toolkit comprises a number of instruments (evaluation forms, slides, figures, graphs, diagrams, scale tables, country guidelines, exam sheets, screening tools, cards, checklists, etc.) that can be used by primary health care workers to assess and address older persons' health. These resources are meant to supplement and not to replace local and national materials and guidelines
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Globally, 311,000 women die of cervical cancer every year, 85 percent of them
in resource limited regions of the world. To address this grave threat to women,
the WHO made a call to action in 2018, resulting in accelerated plans to improve
cervical cancer control under the elimination threshold w...ith respect to cervical
cancer incidence. As part of WHO’s approach to cervical cancer control, availability of high quality,
affordable medical devices for HPV screening, and treatment of precancerous
lesions in low resource settings is indispensable.
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This checklist is the first step in identifying and prioritizing areas of action for improving the protection of health and safety of health workers in line with WHO–ILO Global Framework for National Occupational Health Programmes for Health Workers.
It is designed to be filled out in discussio...n with management, responsible officers for occupational health, environmental health, infection prevention and control, human resources and representatives of workers in the health facility. This participatory approach will provide a variety of perspectives and a more comprehensive basis for identifying the existing preventive measures, possible problems and solutions for continuous improvement.
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Onchocerca volvulus transmitted by repeated bites of infected blackflies (Simulium spp.). These blackflies breed along fast-flowing rivers and streams, close to remote villages located near fertile land where people rely on agriculture.
There is a need to reinforce skills of national and district... health workers to know and identify the disease, understand the risk factors according to the context and living conditions of the affected communities, and promote the implementation of public health interventions. With the shift from control to elimination, large areas in Africa require mapping to assess whether transmission is active, and treatment required. A sampling strategy named Onchocerciasis elimination mapping has been developed to help countries conduct those assessments and start treatment where needed.
This course examines the epidemiology of Onchocerciasis, clinical aspects, impact, diagnosis, treatment and control, elimination, public health interventions and role of community health workers
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The Urban Health Initiative (UHI) goes beyond improving access to health care and promoting healthy behaviours, and focuses on how to build cities that enable and encourage good health.
This compendium collates current tools and resources on quality improvement developed by the WHO Service Delivery and Safety Department and provides examples of how the tools and resources have been applied in country settings. The target audience for this document are ministries of health, facility... quality improvement teams, researchers and development agencies. WHO technical programmes, regional and country offices can also use the document in their technical cooperation work with the identified audience. Those working to improve the quality of health service delivery can also make good use of this resource
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Faith-based organizations (FBOs) and leaders can play a major role in saving lives and reducing illness related to COVID-19. They are a primary source of support and comfort for their members. Often trusted more than governments or health-agencies, faith leaders can share health information to prot...ect their communities that will be more likely to be accepted than from other sources.
By sharing simple steps to prevent COVID-19 faith organizations can promote helpful information, reduce fear and stigma, and provide reassurance to people in their communities. Because faith leaders are integrated into their communities through service and compassionate networks, they are often able to reach the most vulnerable among us with assistance and health information. In short, they are a critical link in the safety net for vulnerable people in their communities.
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Policy Note #2: Myanmar Health Systems in Transition Policy Notes Series
Myanmar is a country in which people’s access to health services is determined more by where they live than their need for care – a situation that is fundamentally inequitable. The challenge is to reduce levels of ineq...uity between different groups in the population and different geographical areas, and most particularly to ensure that health services reach poor and disadvantaged groups, including minorities and those living in conflict-affected areas.
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A framework for planning, developing and implementing solutions with and for young people.
The guidance presented in this document is intended for digital health intervention designers, developers, implementers, researchers and funders. Newcomers to digital health can use it as a start-to-finish pr...imer on how to collaboratively and responsibly develop youth-centred digital health interventions. Those already engaged in this work can jump directly to the chapters and sections with the ideas and resources they need. Funders will find helpful advice in Annex 1, which outlines special considerations for making smarter, more meaningful investments in digital health interventions for young people.
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