The present book deals not only with emergency response, but also with measures designed to reduce the impact of disasters on environmental health infrastructure, such as water supply and sanitation facilities. It also aims to strengthen the ability of people to withstand the disruption of their acc...ustomed infrastructure and systems for environmental health (e.g. shelter, water supply, sanitation, vector control etc.) and to recover rapidly.
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The new five-year agenda of WHO in Africa, The Africa Health Transformation Programme, 2015–2020: a vision for universal health coverage, is the strategic framework that will guide WHO’s contribution to the emerging sustainable development platform in Africa. It articulates a vision for health a...nd development that aims to address the unacceptable inequalities and inequities that have kept our region lagging far behind others in terms of health indices and enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of life.
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Information on 102 commonly used medicinal plants in the South Pacific WHO regional publications. Western Pacific series ; Plants from this part of the world represent an especially diverse flora and include several species currently undergoing scientific investigation. Common traditional uses inclu...de the treatment of minor injuries, childhood ailments, and complications of pregnancy. Plants described in the book are also used as emetics and as ointments and dressings applied to surface wounds or used to treat skin problems.
Addressed to ethnobotanists, phytochemists, and pharmacologists, the book aims to document traditional clinical uses and bring these to the attention of the international scientific community, while also preserving knowledge about the distinctive indigenous practices in these island communities. Full-colour photographs are included to facilitate identification of plants and plant parts used for medicinal purposes. Each plant is described according to a common format, which includes information on scientific name, local names, English name, a description of the plant and its habitat and distribution, and a summary of what is known about its chemical constituents, biological activity, and traditional uses.
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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 first published in 2016 with the objective of improving the quality of routine health care that all women and adolescent girls receive during p...regnancy. 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 nutritional interventions in pregnancy.
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“Preferred product characteristics” (PPCs) are key tools to incentivize and guide the development of urgently needed health products. Some of the vector control interventions deployed in complex emergencies and in response to natural disasters – namely insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoo...r residual spraying (IRS) – have already met identified public health needs in more stable settings; other tools such as insecticide-treated tarpaulins have been specifically designed for this use case. Given the diverse mix of existing and potential new interventions and the considerable gaps in the associated evidence base, this PPC aims to clearly articulate the unmet public health needs for tools designed to control malaria transmission in complex emergencies and in response to natural disasters.
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This companion document to Ending the neglect to attain the Sustainable Development Goals: a road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021-2030 ("the road map") aims to support a range of stakeholders - including countries in which neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are endemic, international organi...zations and non-State actors - to achieve the road map targets through a transdisciplinary, cross-cutting One Health approach. Specifically, it provides guidance on the One Health actions needed by major stakeholders and how to support a paradigm shift towards One Health in national NTD programmes. Examples of common One Health challenges and how they can be overcome as well as illustrative cases studies are provided throughout. The companion document was developed through a global consultative process involving stakeholder interviews, interactive workshops, and online public consultation.
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For 50 patients requiring surgical care in emergency situations assuming 2 operations per patient (100 interventions)
WHO trauma and emergency surgery kit (TESK) aims to provide materials and drugs to meet the needs of 50 patients requiring surgical care in emergency situations, assuming an avera...ge of two operations per patient. This kit is intended for use by health care providers who are trained in appropriate management of emergent surgical issues and are acting within their scope of practise. It is designed for use in areas where basic levels of infrastructure exist. The composition of TESK has recently been revised in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross to meet the dynamic requirements of emergency situations. In general, this kit contains oral and IV medicines including cold chain drugs and medical supplies including renewables and instruments.
WHO TESK is intended to provide the resources needed for surgical procedures in operating theatres. Some of the sub-units may be used for simpler procedures that may occur in other parts of the facility.
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The Global guidance framework for the responsible use of the life sciences: mitigating biorisks and governing dual-use research (the framework) aims to provide values and principles, tools and mechanisms to support Member States and key stakeholders to mitigate and prevent biorisks and govern dual-u...se research.
The framework adopts the One health approach and focuses on the role that responsible life sciences research can play in preventing and mitigating risks caused by accidents, inadvertent or deliberate misuse with the intention to cause harm to humans, nonhuman animals, plants and agriculture, and the environment.
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The GEHM series is an evidence-informed normative product of the WHO
Health and Migration Programme to inform policy-makers on migrationrelated public health priorities. These reviews aim to respond to policy questions identified as priorities by summarizing the best available evidence worldwide an...d proposing policy considerations. By addressing data gaps on the health status of refugees and migrants, the GEHM series aims to support evidenceinformed policy-making and targeted interventions that are impactful and make a difference in the lives of these populations.
This Report, the fourth in the GEHM series reviews the available evidence on barriers to antibiotic access and appropriate use in refugees and migrants. It finds that the available evidence on refugees’ and migrants’ access to and use of antibiotics is scarce and is largely constrained to high-income contexts.
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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
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This thematic brief accompanies the Working for Health 2022–2030 Action Plan, serving as a background and rationale to the related actions of the Working for Health progression model (see Annex). The brief aims to inform Member States, nonstate actors and other users of the Action Plan on the con...text of health and care workforce education and employment, 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 Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly Resolution WHA74.14 to protect, safeguard and invest in the health and care workforce. 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.
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The Operational guide: use of referral laboratories for the analysis of foodborne hazards in the Pacific aims to strengthen the food analysis capacity of Pacific Island countries and areas by identifying national and reference laboratories capable of testing for priority foodborne hazards. The Pacif...ic Island countries and areas are often vulnerable to food safety incidents and emergencies due to their geographical distribution and dependence on food imports. The guide outlines key considerations for selecting referral laboratories and submitting samples to them, enabling continuous improvement of food safety systems and providing safe food for all. The target audiences are health and food safety authorities.
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This report describes the “Building health workers capacity on air pollution and health” pilot workshop held in Ghana in 2022 which aimed at testing the training material of the first WHO Air Pollution and Health Training toolkit (APHT) targeting health professionals. APHT aims at strengthening ...the knowledge of health workers on air pollution and health and to enable them to effectively communicate with patients and communities on how to reduce their risk, to advocate for population level interventions as well as to train other peers and colleagues using a train-the-trainer approach. This workshop report serves as a tool and example of a training that can be replicated and adapted to other contexts and settings based on country and regional priorities and needs.
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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.
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This document outlines the concept and content of the WHO people-centred approach to addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the human health sector. The proposed approach recognizes and aims to address the challenges and health system barriers people face when accessing health services to prev...ent, diagnose and treat (drug-resistant) infections. It puts people and their needs at the centre of the AMR response and guides policy-makers in taking programmatic and comprehensive actions to mitigate AMR in line with a proposed package of core interventions. These interventions are based on a review of four pillars and two foundational steps that are critical to overcome barriers faced by people and health systems in addressing AMR.
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This document provides detailed guidance on laboratory testing for suspected diphtheria cases during significant outbreaks or in low-resource settings. It aims to supplement and build on other existing WHO guidance documents on surveillance standards, diagnostics and research on Corynebacterium by p...roviding key considerations for laboratories that allow the rationalization and optimization of testing during outbreaks. The recommendations given here have been prepared by WHO in consultation with, and reviewed by, global experts with experience in laboratory analysis of Corynebacterium species and in outbreak settings, or with expertise in developing new technologies for diphtheria research and diagnosis. Unless otherwise stated, the considerations provided apply to diphtheria outbreaks caused by toxin-producing C. diphtheriae with a classical respiratory diphtheria presentation.
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The primary objective of this curriculum is to equip health and care workers with the essential knowledge and competencies necessary for delivering safe and effective care. By doing so it aims to significantly reduce HAIs and combat antimicrobial resistance, thereby safeguarding both patient and HCW...s well-being.
This curriculum is developed to meet the needs of IPC professionals responsible for developing learning resources and overseeing training within health care organizations. Moreover, the curriculum is intended to encompass all individuals involved in health care delivery and support. This holistic approach includes a wide range of staff -ranging from clinical workers to administrative and auxiliary services, thus ensuring a broad and inclusive approach to IPC training.
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The WHO EMRO webpage on the "Regional framework for action" outlines strategies for addressing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) within the Eastern Mediterranean region. The framework provides a roadmap for countries to reduce the prevalence and impact of NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes..., cancer, and respiratory illnesses. It emphasizes preventive measures, health promotion, and the integration of NCD management into primary healthcare systems. Key components include policy development, surveillance, and the mobilization of resources to support sustainable NCD initiatives. The framework aims to strengthen regional collaboration to improve health outcomes related to NCDs.
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Health system resilience is not an inevitable byproduct of any investment in health but must be intentionally programmed and developed with necessary input, investment and contextualization. This technical product aims to guide national, subnational, and global health actors to operationalize the co...ncept of health system resilience for advancement of universal health coverage, health security and ultimately better health for all. It supports the translation of relevant conceptual guidance and high-level recommendations into practical actions.
The specific objectives are to:
present a concise overview of the concept of health system resilience;
provide a roadmap outlining practical and foundational steps for building health system resilience to be adapted to different contexts;
share examples of actions and tools, including stakeholder roles, to support country application of the roadmap.
The target audience for this work is the various stakeholders involved in strengthening health systems and public health including management of emergencies (from prevention and preparedness to response and recovery) and other public health challenges in countries. This ranges from the donors, policy-makers and decision-makers at global, national and subnational levels to the implementing institutions and line managers of health system functions and services across the health system building blocks.
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Anopheles stephensi is an invasive mosquito species which has been found spreading across Africa. While this species presents a new challenge for malaria control on the continent, its surveillance and management have been ongoing in Asia for many years. This document aims to summarize key lessons fr...om 3 countries – India, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Sri Lanka – that have been working to control An. stephensi. It is hoped that their experiences and insights will be valuable for countries encountering An. stephensi for the first time.
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