This summary highlights the experiences, results and actions from
the implementation of the Rapid Assessment Tool for Sexual and
The tool – developed by IPPF, UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS, GNP+, ICW and Young Positives in
2009 – supports national assessments of the bi-directional linkages
between sexu...al and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV at the policy,
systems and services levels. Each country that has rolled out the
tool has gathered and generated information that will help to
determine priorities and shape national plans and frameworks for
scaling up and intensifying linkages. Country experiences and best
practices will also inform regional and global agendas.
more
For centuries, indigenous peoples around the world have used their traditional knowledge to prepare for, cope with and survive disasters. Their methods and practices originated within their communities and have been maintained and passed down over generations. Until recently, policy makers have larg...ely ignored this vast body of knowledge, in favor of ‘Western’ science and technologybased methods of disaster risk reduction and response. Today, however, many of these traditional practices are considered important and necessary contributions to the conservation of biodiversity and environmental sustainability. Yet at the same time, this knowledge is under constant threat of being eroded or lost, making these communities more vulnerable...
more
No Public Health without Refugee and Migrant health.
This report, the first of its kind, creates an evidence base with the aim of catalysing progress towards developing and promoting migrant-sensitive health systems in the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region and beyond. This report seeks to... illuminate the causes, conse-quences and responses to the health needs and challenges faced by refugees and migrants in the Region, while also providing a snapshot of the progress being made across the Region. Additionally, the report seeks to identify gaps that require further action through collaboration, to improve the collection and availability of high-quality data and to stimulate policy initiatives
more
Areas for action include: increasing prioritisation and awareness of dementia; reducing the risk of dementia; diagnosis, treatment and care; support for dementia carers; strengthening information systems for dementia; and research and innovation.
he WHO global disability action plan 2014-2021 is a significant step towards achieving health and well-being and human rights for people with disabilities. The action plan was endorsed by WHO Member States in 2014 and calls for them to remove barriers and improve access to health services and progra...mmes; strengthen and extend rehabilitation, assistive devices and support services, and community-based rehabilitation; and enhance collection of relevant and internationally comparable data on disability, and research on disability and related services. Achieving the objectives of the action plan better enables people with disabilities to fulfil their aspirations in all aspects of life.
more
Neonatal mortality is a major challenge in reducing child mortality rates in Nepal. Despite efforts by the Government of Nepal, data from the last three demographic and health surveys show a rise in the contribution of neonatal deaths to infant and child mortality. The Government of Nepal has implem...ented community-based programs that were piloted and then scaled up based on lessons learned. These programs include, but are not limited to ensuring safe motherhood, birth preparedness package, community-based newborn care package, and integrated management of childhood illnesses. Despite the implementation of such programs on a larger scale, their effective coverage is yet to be achieved. Health system challenges included an inadequate policy environment, funding gaps, inadequate procurement, and insufficient supplies of commodities, while human resource management has been found to be impeding service delivery. Such bottlenecks at policy, institutional and service delivery level need to be addressed incorporating health information in decision-making as well as working in partnership with communities to facilitate the utilization of available services.
more
Oral diseases are among the most common chronic diseases worldwide and constitute a major public health problem due to the huge health and economic burden on individuals, families, societies, and health care systems. The recent emphasis on the role of determinants of health, common risk factors and ...their recognition in the context of the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) provides good opportunities for integrating oral health into NCD prevention and control efforts. This Strategy for oral health in South-East Asia, 2013-2020, presents guidance to Member States in developing national policy and action plans to improve oral health within existing socioeconomic, cultural, political and health system contexts. It expresses the consensus on major strategies in the area of oral health promotion as well as oral disease prevention and control for the South-East Asia Region aiming at reducing the health and socioeconomic burden resulting from oral diseases, reducing oral health inequities, and improving the quality of life of the population.
more
This guidance note is intended primarily for health actors working in emergency and disaster risk management (hereafter 'emergency risk management') at the local, national or international level, and in governmental or nongovernmental agencies. People with disabilities, those... working in the disability sector and those working in other sectors that contribute to improved health outcomes related to emergency risk management, may also find this guidance note useful.
more
Stewardship is defined as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care”. It was originally applied in the health-care setting as a tool for optimizing antimicrobial use, termed “antimicrobial stewardship” (AMS). Stewardship has since be...en applied in the context of governance of the health sector as a whole, taking responsibility for the health and well-being of the population and guiding health systems at the national and global level.
more
his practical Guide serves as a companion to the “WHO guideline: recommendations on digital interventions for health system strengthening” and provides a systematic process for countries to develop a costed implementation plan for digital health within one or more health programme areas, drawing... guidance from the WHO guideline–recommended digital health interventions, providing direction to ensure investments are needs-based and contribute effective and interoperable systems aligned with national digital architecture, country readiness, health system and policy goals.
more
Ethiopia has seen high economic growth over the last decade, but remains a poor country with a high burden of disease. It has made considerable health gains in recent years, mainly by having health policies that focus on extending primary healthcare, using health extension workers. It... has made good use of existing resources,but has a low health expenditure (of around US$21 per capita, and totalling 4per centof GDP). It has a federal system with devolved healthcare financing, whereby block grants are allocated to sectors at regional and woreda(district) level. The challenge now,with the epidemiological transition (and a sense that the ‘low-hanging fruits’have already been gathered in relation to public health), is how Ethiopia, still poor, continuesto invest in health improvements?Human resources for health (HRH) are a critical pillar within any health system –the health staff combine inputs to provide the services, thus affecting how all other resources are used, and they make frontline (and back-office) decisions thatare importantdeterminants of servicequality,effectiveness and equity. HRH is usually the most resource-intensive element within the health system –commonly absorbing 50–70per centof public expenditure onhealth, although the proportions are very varied by individual countries and across regions. As they are commonly part of the public administration, reforms to HRH are also part of a complex political economy in most countries.Assessing value for money (VfM) in relation to HRH is correspondingly complex;across the value chain, manyfactors influence the conversion of inputs into outputs and outcomes (see Figure 1).A more detailed description of the HRH value chain can be found in Annex1.
more
Infectious diseases continue to impose unpredictable burdens on global health and economies, a subject that requires constant research and updates. In this sense, the objective of the present article was to review studies on the role of wild animals as reservoirs and/or dispersers of etiological age...nts of human infectious diseases in order to compile data on the main wild animals and etiological agents involved in zoonotic outbreaks.
more
This thematic brief accompanies the Working for Health 2022–2030 Action Plan, serving as a rationale to the related actions of the Working for Health progression model (see Annex). The brief aims to inform Member States, non-state actors and other users of the Action Plan to guide action on inves...tments on strengthening protection and performance of the health and care workforce, including the relevant policy landscape, key challenges and future directions.
In doing so, it provides an expanded exploration of the themes beyond what is provided in the Action Plan itself and reflects the topical issues and considerations that shaped its design, including those issues identified in the World Health Assembly Resolution WHA74.14 to protect, safeguard and invest in the health and care workforce (1). The importance of these themes was again emphasized at the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly, when Resolution WHA75.17: Human resources for health was co-sponsored by over 100 Member States, calling for the adoption and implementation of the Working for Health 2022–2030 Action Plan and utilization of the related Global Health and Care Worker Compact
more
The goal of the study was to assess the feasibility of the COVID-19 measures and their resultant impact on Persons with Disabilities in Malawi.
Specifically, the study addressed the following objectives:
a) To evaluate Government’s response to COVID-19 following the adoption of the new measures... of COVID-19 in January 2021 in line with principles and norms of human rights. (This includes establishing the extent to which the new measures have been implemented)
b) To assess the extent to which the provision health service delivery specifically access to health for PWDs including vaccine inflammation and facilities.
c) To establish the key COVID-19 related human rights violations during the pandemic period affecting PWDs
d) To assess the extent to which Government (and other nonstate actors) have implemented the recommendations from the preliminary MHRC statement
e) To provide advice and make recommendations to the Executive, Parliament and other stakeholders on how they can improve their response to COVID-19 from a rights perspective with a focus on PWDs.
more
The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing the second edition of its Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents (AA-HA!) guidance. The document aims to equip governments to respond to the health and well-being challenges, opportunities and needs of adolescents.
The guidance pro...vides the latest available data on adolescent health and well-being. It also outlines an updated list of core indicators that data should be collected on. Globally, road injury was the top cause of death for adolescent males in 2019. Among female adolescents, the leading causes of death were diarrhoeal diseases among the younger group (10-14 years) and tuberculosis (TB) in the older group (15-19 years).
Over the last 20 years, mortality rates have declined among adolescents globally, with the largest decline in older (15–19 years) adolescent girls. For non-fatal diseases, the burden has not improved over the past two decades, with the main causes of ill health in this category being: mental health conditions (depressive and anxiety disorders, childhood behavioural disorders), iron deficiency anaemia, skin diseases and migraine.
Adolescent well-being depends on a range of factors, including healthy food, education, life skills and employability, connectedness, feeling valued by society, safe and supportive environments, resilience, and the freedom to make choices. To take an appropriately holistic approach, the guidance outlines how to take crosscutting action to support adolescent health and well-being, with mutually reinforcing interventions across sectors, such as health, education, social protection, and telecommunications. Targeted efforts are also required to engage adolescents, as they trust health systems less than adults do and are especially vulnerable to modern-day trends, like online bullying and gaming.
more
This document presents the World Health Organization Operational framework for building climate resilient and low carbon health systems*. ***The framework's goal is to increase the climate resilience of health systems to protect and improve the health of communities in an unstable and changing clima...te, while optimizing the use of resources and implementing strategies to reduce GHG emissions. It aims to contribute to the design of transformative health systems that can provide safe and quality care in a changing climate.
Implementation of the framework's ten components would help health organizations, authorities, and programmes to be better able to anticipate, prevent, prepare for, and manage climate-related health risks and therefore decrease the burden of associated climate-sensitive health outcomes. Implementing low carbon health practices would contribute to climate change mitigation while also improving health outcomes. Achieving these aims is an important contribution to universal health coverage (UHC), global health security, and specific targets within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The document is a useful resource for decision-makers in health systems, including public health agencies, and other specialized institutions, and for decision-makers in health-determining sectors.
more
The guide to implementing the One Health Joint Plan of Action (OH JPA) at national level provides practical guidance on how countries can adopt and adapt the OH JPA to strengthen and support national One Health action.
Building on the OH JPA theory of change, this guide describes three pathways a...nd five key steps to implement the OH JPA at national level:
Pathway 1 -- Governance, policy, legislation, financing and advocacy
Pathway 2 -- Organizational and institutional development, implementation and sectoral integration
Pathway 3 -- Data, evidence, information systems and knowledge exchange.
The stepwise approach comprises:
Situation analysis including stakeholder mapping and review of existing assessment results
Set-up/strengthening of a multisectoral, One Health coordination mechanism
Planning for implementation, including activity prioritization and leveraging of resources
Implementation of national One Health action plans
Review, sharing and incorporation of lessons learned.
more
Unmet mental health needs in the Region of the Americas are a leading source of morbidity and mortality, which result in tremendous health, social, and economic consequences. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the mental health crisis in the Region, necessitating urgent action at the highest leve...ls of government and across sectors to build back better mental health now and for the future. This landmark report is the result of the PAHO High-Level Commission on Mental Health and COVID-19. It provides an analysis of the mental health situation in the Region, followed by a series of recommendations and corresponding actions to support countries in the Americas to prioritize and advance mental health using human rights- and equity-based approaches.
more
The WHO document "Integrating the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and sexual and reproductive health programmes: implementation guidance" provides a framework for integrating noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) into existing health programs for HIV/AIDS, tub...erculosis (TB), and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). It emphasizes the importance of a people-centered approach to enhance healthcare accessibility and efficiency, especially in low-resource settings. The document outlines strategies for strengthening policy, financing, capacity building, and health system infrastructure. It offers actionable steps, tools, and case studies to support countries in reducing the burden of NCDs through integrated, holistic care within primary health services.
more
The guide aims to provide health and DRM practitioners, planners and policymakers across sectors with targeted information to help them strengthen national health systems and integrate the risks of disease outbreaks in national DRR strategies
The following are some of the principles and approache...s that have been based on lessons learned to date and may be considered to ensure effective all-hazards health EDRM, including prevention and preparedness for disease outbreaks, are addressed as part of the multihazard, multisectoral approach to developing or updating DRR strategies
more