Timely detection of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection cases is crucial to interrupt the spread of this virus. We assessed the required expertise and capacity for molecular detection of 2019-nCoV in specialised laboratories in 30 European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries. Thirty-...eight laboratories in 24 EU/EEA countries had diagnostic tests available by 29 January 2020. A coverage of all EU/EEA countries was expected by mid-February. Availability of primers/probes, positive controls and personnel were main implementation barriers.
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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.
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Accessed: 07.03.2020
A Review of Community Health Worker (CHW) knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to the sexual health of MSM, including existing training materials and manuals in Europe and neighbouring countries (D5.1)
Contract 2015 71 01 A behavioural survey for HIV/AIDS and assoc...iated infections and a survey and tailored training for community based health workers to facilitate access and improve the quality of prevention, diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, STI and viral hepatitis and health care services for men who have sex with men (MSM).
Pubic Health
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Cognizant of the need for standardization of the response for COVID-19, the Federal Ministry of Health prepared this national guideline in an effort to contain the epidemic before it overwhelms the health care facilities. This national guideline is expected to guide policy makers and h...ealth professionals at all level. A standardized approaches to will assist effective and efficient utilization of the limited resource of the country, minimizes dilemma and confusion on case management. To this effect, the FMOH has established National COVID-19 advisory committee. The committee members are from different specialties with very good experiences in disaster management and prevention and treatment of infectious disease epidemics. The input from the committee is used to make decisions at the national level about theepidemics in the weeks and months to come. The FMOH would like to acknowledge the members of the national advisory committee for their commitment and unreserved effort in finalizing the task in a very short period of time and advising the Ministry on various issues related to the epidemics at this critical time.
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Glaucoma, a disease that gradually affects the optic nerve, is the second leading cause of vision loss globally, and it continues to pose a challenge to the eye health professionals.
Developed by the HHS Panel on Treatment of Pregnant Women with HIV Infection and Prevention of Perinatal Transmission—
A Working Group of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OARAC)
Accessed: 12.02.2020
This document outlines the evaluation process that WHO undertakes to assess novel tools and strategies targeted at VBDs. Its aim is to articulate the linkage between the generation of evidence that demonstrates public health impact of novel interventions, and the development of policy recommendation...s based on the generated data. The document defines standards for the evaluation process, as well as the steps that an applicant needs to undertake, along with some guiding principles that aim to support applicants in the development of submissions with WHO.
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Healthy maternal nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding, and optimal infant and young child nutrition are critical for appropriate growth and development, as well as reducing the risk of developing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), for both mothers and children. On 7–8 November 2018 the WHO Regional Of...fice for Europe convened an international conference of key stakeholders to discuss good practices and share experiences on these important issues.
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Guidelines on the management of chronic pain in children, developing and implementing national and local policies for pain management and protocols in children, implementing national and local regulations for pain management in children, pain management and protocols
16 Dec. 2020
This document provides guidance to Ministries of Health (MOHs), laboratory personnel and implementing partners in African Union Member States on the application of rapid antigen tests to COVID-19 testing. The guidance serves as reference for policymakers, laboratory leads, implementing... partners, and experts on use case scenarios and associated testing algorithms for COVID-19 antigen tests. It recommends the use of antigen tests to increase access to testing and enable timely results for persons with or without symptoms in specific settings. The document will be reviewed and updated as more evidence becomes available regarding the use of rapid antigen tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from global studies and evaluation efforts.
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Practical considerations
It provides more detailed and practical guidance for continuing services for each life stage across the life-course continuum. As such, both documents should be read and used together. The countries in South-East Asia and the Pacific regions would like to adapt the guidance... within the national and sub-national continuity plans, based on the local situation of COVID-19 transmission, containment response and health system capacity.
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The WHO country office for Ghana, began the year 2019 with a 4-day staff retreat at the Busua Beach Resort in the Western Region from 04 to 08 March 2019. The theme for the retreat was ‘Impacting the Health and Lives of the people of Ghana through the Triple Billion Goal”. The staff outlined pri...orities and strategies to strengthen WHO’s contribution to the national health agenda during the year. Working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health/Ghana Health Service and other allied health institutions and stakeholders, the WHO country office, provided support aimed at achieving its
mission which is attaining the highest level of health by the people in the country though its six operational areas which are (i) Communicable Diseases (ii) Non-Communicable Diseases, (iii) Promoting Health through the Life Course (iv), Health Systems, (v) Preparedness, Surveillance and Response (vi) Corporate services and enabling functions.
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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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Antimalarial drug resistance has emerged as a threat to global malaria control efforts, particularly in the Greater Mekong subregion. Drawing on data collected through more than 1000 therapeutic efficacy studies as well as molecular marker studies of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance, the Report... on antimalarial drug efficacy, resistance and response: 10 years of surveillance (2010–2019) presents a decade’s worth of data on drug efficacy and surveillance, as well as recommendations to monitor and protect the efficacy of malaria treatment in the decades to come.
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In fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings, delivery of quality health services faces significant challenges, including disruption of a routine health service organization and delivery systems, increased health needs, complex and unpredictable resourcing issues, and vulnerability to multi...ple public health crises. Despite the difficulty of addressing quality in such settings, the necessity for action is acute, given the significant health needs of the populations in these environments and the increasing numbers of people for whom such settings are home.
This manual has been developed to provide a starting point for multi-actor efforts and actions to address quality of care in the most challenging settings. This includes practical approaches to action planning and implementation of a contextualised set of quality interventions.
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HIV-1 drug resistance (HIVDR) genotyping is an essential component of the WHO global HIVDR surveillance strategy. Plasma “gold standard” specimen type for HIVDR genotyping, but its use may not be feasible in rural, remote areas in low- and middle-income countries, since preparing and storing it ...require personnel and laboratory infrastructure that are often lacking. An alternative specimen type is dried blood spots (DBS), which can be made without special laboratory processing. DBS are more easily transported than plasma because they can be shipped at ambient temperature as non-hazardous materials using regular mail or courier services.
3rd edition
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