Biosafety involves the implementation of containment principles, technologies and practices to prevent unintentional exposure to biological agents. Biosecurity involves the protection, control and accountability of biological materials and information related to these materials and dualuse research,... to prevent their unauthorized access, loss, theft, misuse, diversion or intentional release.
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Pharmaceutical regulators are at the forefront of ensuring that only safe and effective medicines are authorized and available in the market. This document builds on the recommendations in the above publication and has been prepared to specifically assist national medicines regulatory authorities to... understand the nature and extent of oxytocin quality issues and to provide key technical information and quality requirements for oxytocin products in dossier assessments. Furthermore, this document also presents recommendations on other regulatory actions needed to ensure that only quality-assured oxytocin products are authorized and made available to women.
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1 July 2021; Report shows big COVID-19-related HIV prevention programme service disruptions, but highlights that HIV service innovations and adaptations are possible.
A synthesis report on programme disruptions and adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
Injection practices worldwide and especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) include multiple, avoidable unsafe practices that ultimately lead to the large-scale transmission of bloodborne viruses among patients, health care providers and the community at large.
Food and nutrition security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is subject to the relentless impact of conflict, epidemics and climate events that have persisted in the country for decades, further compounded by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Lack of infrastructure and investment in agriculture, ...health and human capital development combine to impede progress towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 17. While there are several legal instruments and policies that promote food and nutrition security, poor coordination, weak national capacity and exponential population growth present serious obstacles to the achievement of zero hunger. Political instability and siloed sectoral responses to humanitarian and development needs have also affected results to date.
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This document is based on currently available scientific evidence on treatment for drug use disorders and sets out a framework for the implementation of the Standards, in line with principles of public health care. The Standards identify major components and features of effective systems for the tre...atment of drug use disorders. They describe treatment modalities and interventions to match the needs of people at different stages and severities of drug use disorders, in a manner consistent with the treatment of any chronic disease or health condition. The Standards are aspirational, and such, national or local treatment services or systems need not attempt to meet all the standards and recommendations made in this document all at once. However over time, progressive quality improvement, with ‘evidence-based and ethical practice’ as an objective, can and should be expected to achieve better organized, more effective and ethical systems and services for people with drug use disorders.
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Epidemic meningitis is a major public health challenge in the African 'meningitis belt', an area that extends from Senegal to Ethiopia with an estimated total population of 500 million. Since 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with its collaborating centres for meningitis, h...as progressively supported countries in implementing a strategy of ES for meningitis. The strategy is the recommended standard for all countries of the Belt and it is now actively being implemented at different levels in all countries.
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The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the lead UN agency working to further gender equality and women’s empowerment in Sri Lanka. We are pleased to be a part of the joint effort with the Ministry of Health to develop the first ‘Standard Operating Procedures on sexual and gender-based vio...lence for first-contact-point healthcare providers’.
These operating procedures were developed alongside the ‘National guidelines on sexual and gender-based violence’, which aims to strengthen Sri Lanka’s health systems response to survivors of violence. We are grateful to the British High Commission in Colombo for their support in developing these guidelines and procedures as they mark an important milestone in creating a safer Sri Lanka for all women and girls. UNFPA is proud to be a part of this journey, and we stand ready to provide continued assistance to the Government of Sri Lanka and all key stakeholders to ensure women and girls receive essential services that support their safety, well-being and access to justice and to create a violence-free Sri Lanka.
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Guide to national implementation of the Shanghai Declaration describes policy orientations and approaches that can unlock the transformative potential of health promotion for sustainable development. This guide was developed to support country level implementation of the commitments and recommendati...ons in the Shanghai Declaration.
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There are many calls for improved integration between
primary care and public health, but also sizeable obstacles to achieving
this, such as differences in the ways the two sectors are organised and
financed, as well as differences in education, culture and approach.
This article, based on a new... Observatory policy brief, describes the
types of interventions that come into consideration, the principles
that should be followed, and the factors that can facilitate successful
collaboration. While there is no universal template that can be followed
by all countries, improved integration promises to yield substantial
benefits to patients and wider populations.
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Primary health care, as outlined in the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata and again 40 years later in the 2018 WHO/UNICEF document A vision for primary health care in the 21st century: towards universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, is a whole-of-government and whole-of-society a...pproach to health that combines the following three components: multisectoral policy and action; empowered people and communities; and primary care and essential public health functions as the core of integrated health services.(1) Primary health care-oriented health systems are health systems organized and operated so as to make the right to the highest attainable level of health the main goal, while maximizing equity and solidarity. They are composed of a core set of structural and functional elements that support achieving universal coverage and access to services that are acceptable to the population and that are equity enhancing. The term “primary care” refers to a key process in the health system that supports first-contact, accessible, continued, comprehensive and coordinated patient-focused care.
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This document outlines why and how nurses and midwives are important, not only for individual health optimization but also to achieve the thematic priorities of For the Future. More specifically, it provides case studies to showcase the amazing work that nurses and midwives across the Region are doi...ng to improve health. The document also provides future policy directions to strengthen the scope and leadership of the nursing and midwifery workforce, alongside actions to accelerate investment in their education, skills and employment.
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