Updated on 6 APRIL 2020
There are serious concerns that the situation might escalate in the next weeks modelling the epi curve of other regions. The interlinkages between human mobility and the current pandemic of COVID-19 are well established, and while international flights have been suspended i...n the region, the porous borders on land and water crossings remain difficult to control.
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The guide seeks to address questions about how we can face local communication challenges presented by the pandemic, and how communicators respond effectively to the situation through supporting our communities to cope and to protect themselves. This guide aims to provide insights for a wide range o...f local communicators on the community level. It covers the need for knowing and communicating the facts coronavirus, understanding the pandemics’ timeline and accompanying communication phases, and accessing resources and materials; it also contains information about what needs communicating and key messages, and consideration about communication design options for appropriate communication routes and methods and essential communication planning
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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten health and food systems around the world, the 2020 Global Nutrition Report calls on governments, businesses and civil society to step up efforts to address malnutrition in all its forms.
Pandemics and outbreaks have differential impacts on women and men. From risk of exposure and biological susceptibility to infection to the social and economic implications, individuals’ experiences are likely to vary according to their biological and gender characteristics and... their interaction with other social determinants. Because of this, global and national strategic plans for COVID-19 preparedness and response must be grounded in strong gender analysis and must ensure meaningful participation of affected groups, including women and girls, in decision-making and implementation.
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his revision to the Disaster Management Team’s (DMT) multi-sector response plan for COVID-19 is meant to align the multi-sector plan with the Department of Health’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Plan issued on 24 April 2020. Additionally, at the time of this version, the Department of Education an...d Department for Community Development and Religion have also issued their own national COVID-19 response and recovery plans.
The Government’s plan maintains a health sector focus and plans for a ‘worst case’ scenario, articulating the process of progressing into containment and subsequently mitigation of community transmission and on to recovery. It presents an opportunity to improve the core capacities of the whole of government, to see where both health and non-health sectors fit in and respond in the immediate and medium terms, and to adapt to the ‘new normal’ that this coronavirus has inevitably presented
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While the full effects of COVID-19 remain unknown, the pandemic continues to profoundly impact regional migration and mobility dynamics, with deep health, social and economic consequences for the most vulnerable, including migrants, displaced populations and their host communities, and returnees.
This document aims to provide global guidance on poliomyelitis (polio) surveillance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes as a technical complement to Polio eradication programme continuity, Immunization in the context of COVID-19 pandemic frequently asked questions, and is aligned with ...the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) commitment to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.
It highlights the decision making framework to guide the level of polio surveillance activities at country level including; the measures to put in place to ensure a minimum level of polio surveillance in the field and in the laboratory, and the trigger to return to normal polio function.
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Physical distancing measures are important to reduce COVID-19 transmission. However, when stringently applied, they can result in negative health and socio-economic impacts. This report draws on a rapid review of available literature, case studies from across Africa and expert knowledge to make reco...mmendations on adapting classic physical distancing measures to the contextual realities in Africa and on mitigating potential negative impacts.
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Physical distancing measures are important to reduce COVID-19 transmission. However, when stringently applied, they can result in negative health and socio-economic impacts. This report draws on a rapid review of available literature, case studies from across Africa and expert knowledge to make reco...mmendations on adapting classic physical distancing measures to the contextual realities in Africa and on mitigating potential negative impacts.
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This document will be continuously updated. Version as of April 27th, 2020
Migrant and displaced children are at heightened risk to the immediate and secondary impacts of COVID-19. They often live in cramped conditions with limited access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), may be in immig...ration detention or “left behind,” live with disabilities, unaccompanied or separated from their families, and can be hardest to reach with accurate information in a language they understand. Migrant workers and refugees can live in the most disadvantaged urban areas, where access to essential services is already limited. Refugee and migrant children may also be prevented from accessing essential services due to legal, documentation, linguistic or safety barriers. Further, the misinformation on the spread of COVID-19 exacerbates the xenophobia and discrimination that migrant and displaced children and their families already face.
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This revision to the Disaster Management Team’s (DMT) multi-sector response plan for COVID-19 is meant to align the multi-sector plan with the Department of Health’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Plan issued on 24 April 2020.
The outbreak of COVID-19 comes with unpredictable primary and secondary impacts on vulnerable and food-insecure populations across the world. Mortality and morbidity appear to be most acute for elderly people, and those with underlying health conditions. At the same time, the widely anti...cipated economic downturn could have a more devastating effect on the world’s poor than the virus itself
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Three billion people – 40 per cent of the world’s population – do not have a place in their homes to wash their hands with water and soap. Three quarters of those who lack access to water and soap live in the world’s poorest countries and are amongst the most vulnerable: children and familie...s living in informal settlements, migrant and refugee camps, or in areas of active conflict. This puts an estimated 1 billion people at immediate risk of COVID-19 simply because they lack basic handwashing facilities.
The Hand Hygiene for All initiative aims to move the world towards this goal: supporting the most vulnerable communities with the means to protect their health and environment. It brings together international partners, national governments, public and private sectors, and civil society to ensure affordable products and services are available, especially in disadvantaged areas, and to enable a culture of hygiene.
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Interim Guidance
This document is to help Member States build on actions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic to improve national medium- to long-term preparedness for future threats. It maps COVID-19 preparedness and response actions to the building of sustainable International Health Regulations (2...005) core capacities; locates relevant supporting WHO resources that are not specific to the pandemic; and advocates for the conscious and effective allocation of COVID-19 funds to also meet countries’ longer-term need
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The WHO Guidance for Conducting a Country COVID-19 Intra-Action Review (IAR) was developed to guide countries to conduct periodic review(s) of their national and subnational COVID-19 response, so countries do not miss critical opportunities for learning and improvement to better respond to the COVID...-19 outbreak in their countries, especially as the possibility of a protracted pandemic becomes increasingly probable. The IAR is a country-led facilitated process conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak in-country, bringing together a small group of COVID-19 responders with knowledge of the public health response pillars under review. Although IARs can be conducted online or face-to-face, the online format is recommended, especially if community transmission remains high in the country. The IAR will identify practical areas for immediate remediation and sustained improvement of the ongoing response.
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Five years after a global commitment to Fast-Track the HIV response and end AIDS by 2030, the world is off track. A promise to build on the momentum created in the first decade of the twenty-first century by front-loading investment and accelerating HIV service provision has been fulfilled by too fe...w countries.
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Enabling young children to achieve their full developmental potential is a human right and an essential requisite for sustainable development. Given the critical importance of enabling children to make the best start in life, the health sector, among other sectors, has an important role and responsi...bility to support nurturing care for early childhood development. This guideline provides direction for strengthening policies and programmes to better address early childhood development.
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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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A summary of what we know