English version - This handbook sets out a the new paradigm for pharmacy practice. Its aim is to guide pharmacy educators in pharmacy practice, to educate pharmacy students and to guide pharmacists in practice to update their skills. The handbook, which brings together practical tools and knowledge,... has been written in response to a need to define, develop and generate global understanding of pharmaceutical care at all levels.
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Annual report on global preparednessfor health emergencies
The next pandemic is not a question of if, but when—and the world is woefully unprepared, according to the first annual report from the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board. The WHO and the World Bank convened the independent group after ...the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Global News reports. Within 36 hours, a contagion like the 1918 flu could sweep the globe and take 50 to 80 million lives while wreaking havoc on the global economy, the report warns. And that’s just one possibility.
What would it take to get prepared? An investment of $1-$2 per person per year could create “acceptable” level of preparedness.
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The Japan Committee for UNICEF (JCU) has for years endeavored to disseminate important information about children in developing countries and UNICEF’s various assistance programmes there, as well as to fundraise to support those programmes. Unprecedented damage caused by the East Japan Earthquake,... however, forced us to ask ourselves what we could do to help, and we wasted no time in contacting UNICEF Headquarters in New York.
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The Compendium brings together for the first time key consensus-based policy recommendations and guidance to improve the delivery of proven interventions to women and children. The user-friendly format incorporates icons and tabs to present key health-related policies that support the delivery of es...sential RMNCH interventions. It also includes multisectoral policies on the economic, social, technological and environmental factors that influence health outcomes and service delivery. The Policy Compendium is a companion document to the Essential Interventions, Commodities and Guidelines for RMNCH.
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What are the local beliefs and practices around illnesses and death, the transmission of disease and spirituality, which affect decision-making (around health-seeking behaviour, caring for relatives and nature of burials) and can inform effective behaviour change interventions for preventing Ebola i...n Sierra Leone?
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A resource for improving menstraul hygiene around the world.
Comprehensive guidance with examples of good practice, information for colleagues and pupils in class and tips on how to break the taboo
Results of rapid assessment
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide while the demand for mental health is increasing, according to a new WHO survey. The survey of 130 countries provides the first global data showing the devastating... impact of COVID-19 on access to mental health services and underscores the urgent need for increased funding.
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The Guidance Notes seek to help operationalize, simplify and standardize the collection and reporting of data through the application of common language and methods. They provide information on the key issues to take into account in the collection of health data and the types of data that should be ...collated, and potential stakeholders to engage with. They adapt and complement the UNDRR/UNISDR Technical guidance for monitoring and reporting on progress in achieving the global targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which has a multisectoral target audience.
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22 December 2020
The COVID-19 vaccine safety guidance manual has been developed upon recommendation and guidance of GACVS members, as well as by experts incorporating current and available information critical to all stakeholders when COVID-19 vaccines will be introduced.
For ease of use, the man...ual is available in a compiled form and in several separate modules that can be consulted individually. For each module, specific training material is also available to facilitate implementation.
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The World Health Organization’s comprehensive antenatal care (ANC) guideline WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience was published in 2016 with the objective of improving the quality of routine health care that all women and adolescent girls receive during pregnan...cy. The overarching principle – to provide pregnant service users with a positive pregnancy experience – aims to encourage countries to expand their health-care agendas beyond survival, with a view to maximizing health, human rights and the potential of their populations. Recognizing that ANC provides a strategic platform for important health-care functions, including health promotion and disease prevention, 14 out of the 49 recommendations in the WHO 2016 ANC guideline relate to nutrition in pregnancy.
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High prices, hard-to-access human insulin, few insulin producers, and weak health systems are just some of the barriers that people with diabetes face a century after insulin was discovered, WHO notes in a new report
This is the sixth of our 11-paper supplement entitled “Community Health Workers at the Dawn of New Era”. Expectations of community health workers (CHWs) have expanded in recent years to encompass a wider array
of services to numerous subpopulations, engage communities to collaborate with and to... assist health systems in responding to complex and sometimes intensive threats. In this paper, we explore a set of key considerations for training of CHWs in response to their enhanced and changing roles and provide actionable recommendations based on
current evidence and case examples for health systems leaders and other stakeholders to utilize.
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PHARMA’S RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 VACCINES CRISIS. Update Feb., 14, 2022. In September 2021, Amnesty International published A Double Dose of Inequality, which assessed the extent to which the pharmaceutical industry was restricting access to Covid-19 vaccines. This report updates that assessment ...of five leading vaccine manufacturers, AstraZeneca plc, BioNTech SE, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna Inc., and Pfizer Inc. It also includes for the first time an assessment of the two largest Chinese vaccine producers, China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (Sinopharm) and Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (Sinovac).
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This joint publication by UNAIDS and WHO emphasizes the importance of integrating HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care and mental health services for people living with HIV. It provides a compilation of tools, best practices, recommendations and guidelines that facilitate the integration of i...nterventions and services to address the interlinked issues of mental health and HIV. This publication is intended for global, regional and national policy-makers; programme implementers including at subnational levels; organizations working in and providers of HIV and mental health services; civil society; and community-based and community-led organizations and advocates.
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Cascading risks from rising prices and supply disruptions, April 2022.
Global resource markets are still reeling from the impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the two countries are major suppliers of energy, food and fertilizers. Supply disruption and the sudden imposition, in response to the... crisis, of unprecedented economic sanctions, trade restrictions and policy interventions have caused prices of commodities to skyrocket.
Before the conflict, demand for global resources already exceeded supply and drove up prices as economies rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic. This gave rise to a global cost-of-living crisis, characterized by increasing levels of energy and food poverty. This situation is likely to become much worse as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, and poses a threat to human security, particularly among low-income and vulnerable populations.
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Epidemics of infectious diseases are occurring more often, and spreading faster and further than ever, in many different regions of the world. The background factors of this threat are biological, environmental and lifestyle changes, among others. A potentially fatal combination of newly-discovered ...diseases, and the re-emergence of many long-established ones, demands urgent responses in all countries. Planning and preparation for epidemic prevention and control are essential. The purpose of this “Managing epidemics” manual is to provide expert guidance on those responses.
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An estimated 1.3 billion people – or 16% of global population worldwide – experience a significant disability today. Persons with disabilities have the right to the highest attainable standard of health as those without disabilities. However, the WHO Global report on health equity for persons w...ith disabilities demonstrates that while some progress has been made in recent years, the world is still far from realizing this right for many persons with disabilities who continue to die earlier, have poorer health, and experience more limitations in everyday functioning than others. These poor health outcomes are due to unfair conditions faced by persons with disabilities in all facets of life, including in the health system itself. Countries have an obligation under international human rights law to address the health inequities faced by persons with disabilities. Furthermore, the Sustainable Development Goals and global health priorities will not progress without ensuring health for all.
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Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country; with a population of 102 million and a growth rate of 2.6% in 2020, it is also the world’s 12th most populous one. The country is home to various ethnicities, with more than 80 different spoken languages. The country borders six countries. Most ...of the population in Ethiopia lives in central and northern plateaus. The southeastern and eastern parts of the country are sparsely populated and inhabited by pastoralist communities. Ethiopia is also home to many (estimated at 1 million) refugees from South Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland, and Eritrea. Though fewer in numbers, Ethiopia also hosts Syrian and Sudanese refugees.
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WHO today released its first roadmap to tackle postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) – defined as excessive bleeding after childbirth - which affects millions of women annually and is the world’s leading cause of maternal deaths.
Despite being preventable and treatable, PPH results in around 70 000 de...aths every year. For those who survive, it can cause disabilities and psychological trauma that last for years.
“Severe bleeding in childbirth is one of the most common causes of maternal mortality, yet it is highly preventable and treatable,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This new roadmap charts a path forward to a world in which more women have a safe birth and a healthy future with their families.”
The Roadmap aims to help countries address stark differences in survival outcomes from PPH, which reflect major inequities in access to essential health services. Over 85% of deaths from PPH happen in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Risk factors include anaemia, placental abnormalities, and other complications in pregnancy such as infections and pre-eclampsia.
Many risk factors can be managed if there is quality antenatal care, including access to ultrasound, alongside effective monitoring in the hours after birth. If bleeding starts, it also needs to be detected and treated extremely quickly. Too often, however, health facilities lack necessary healthcare workers or resources, including lifesaving commodities such as oxytocin, tranexamic acid or blood for transfusions.
“Addressing postpartum haemorrhage needs a multipronged approach focusing on both prevention and response - preventing risk factors and providing immediate access to treatments when needed - alongside broader efforts to strengthen women’s rights,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, WHO Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HRP, the UN’s special programme on research development and training in human reproduction. “Every woman, no matter where she lives, should have access to timely, high quality maternity care, with trained health workers, essential equipment and shelves stocked with appropriate and effective commodities – this is crucial for treating postpartum bleeding and reducing maternal deaths.”
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Small drinking-water supplies commonly experience operational, managerial, technical and resourcing challenges that impact their ability to deliver safe and reliable services. The needs and opportunities associated with these supplies therefore warrant explicit consideration in policies and regulati...ons.
These Guidelines, specifically tailored to small water supplies, build on over 60 years of guidance by the World Health Organization (WHO) on drinking-water quality and safety. They focus on establishing drinking-water quality regulations and standards that are health based and context appropriate; on proactively managing risks through water safety planning and sanitary inspections; and on carrying out independent surveillance. The guidance is intended primarily for decision-makers at national and subnational levels with responsibility for developing regulatory frameworks and support programmes related to these activities. Other stakeholders involved in water service provision will also benefit from the guidance in this document.
Designed to be practical and accessible, these Guidelines offer clear guidance that is rooted in the principle of progressive improvement. State-of-the-art recommendations and implementation guidance are provided, drawn from a comprehensive evidence review and established good practices. Additionally, case examples are provided from countries and areas around the world to demonstrate how the guidance in this publication has been implemented in practice in a wide variety of contexts.
Together with WHO’s 2024 Sanitary inspection packages – a supporting tool for the Guidelines for drinking-water quality: small water supplies, these Guidelines update and supersede WHO’s 1997 Guidelines for drinking-water quality. Volume 3: surveillance and control of community supplies. Key changes to this updated publication include a greater focus on preventive risk management and a broader range of small water supplies covered, including those managed by households, communities and professional entities.
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