Prevention, early diagnosis, and effective treatment are essential for the control and elimination of Neisseria gonorrhoeae as a public health problem. Currently, in Latin America and the Caribbean, treatment for gonorrhea infection is largely empiric and based on clinical diagnosis. In the Americas..., the high burden of new N. gonorrhoeae infections (estimated at 11 million new cases a year), the complexity of the disease epidemiology, and in many countries the limited resources, make it difficult to fully understand the burden of disease and the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in N. gonorrhoeae.
PAHO has developed this document to facilitate the navigation of available guidance and recommendations for N. gonorrhoeae AMR surveillance by public health and health care professionals, at the national and subnational levels, involved in designing, implementing, and/or strengthening AMR surveillance of N. gonorrhoeae and overall surveillance of sexually transmitted infections.
more
Despite being a curable and preventable disease, tuberculosis (TB) remains as one of the major challenges for health systems, globally. Every year, TB affects more than 10 million people and kills more than 1.4 million people. WHO’s Digital Health for the End TB Strategy – an Agenda for Action o...utlines a conceptual framework in which advantageously positioned digital health solutions are matched to the most urgent needs of TB programmes. Video-supported treatment is a component of one of the four core functions of this framework, the Patient Care domain, and primarily supports the first pillar of the End TB Strategy. This quick guide provides information on the solutions available for asynchronous modes of video communication and how these can be of use to TB programmes.
more
This publication represents a key step forward in translating Control of the leishmaniases (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 949) into a more practical tool for health personnel directly involved in the case management of cutaneous leishmaniasis. With this manual, countries will have, for the first ...time, standardized diagnosis and treatment protocols, case definitions and indicators to enable them to easily track progress on cutaneous leishmaniasis case management across the Region. It will provide support to professionals in charge of cutaneous leishmaniasis, in order to alleviate the suffering of affected populations from this appalling disfiguring and stigmatizing neglected tropical disease.
more
The Infection prevention and control in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a living guideline consolidates technical guidance developed and published during the COVID-19 pandemic into evidence-informed recommendations for infection prevention and control (IPC). This living guideline... is available both online and PDF.
This version of the living guideline (version 6.0) includes fifteen statements on IPC measures in health-care settings (screening and patient placement, ventilation, physical barriers, environmental cleaning, waste management, amongst others) as well as one statement on mask fit in the community context.
more
This new guideline on non-clinical interventions to reduce unnecessary caesarean sections incorporates the views, fears and beliefs of both women and health professionals about caesarean sections. It also considers the complex dynamics and limitations of health systems and organizations and relation...ships between women, health professionals and organization of health care services.
more
Q7. SCOPING QUESTION: In adults with moderate-severe depressive disorder, what is the effectiveness and safety of antidepressant medication (ADM) in comparison with psychological treatment?
The WHO mhGAP programme’s existing guidelines recommend that either structured brief psychological treatm...ents (e.g., interpersonal psychotherapy or cognitive behavioural therapy, including behavioural activation) or antidepressant medication (e.g., SSRIsi and tricyclic antidepressants) be considered in adults with moderate-severe depression. Health care workers need to know whether these treatments have different effects, including side-effects, in treating depressive disorder in the short and long term, in order to improve clinical decision-making.
more
The global prevalence, morbidity and mortality related to childhood asthma among children has increased significantly over the last 40 years. Although asthma is recognized as the most common chronic disease in children, issues of underdiagnosis and undertreatment persist. There are substantial globa...l variations in the prevalence of asthma symptoms in children, with up to 13-fold differences between countries. The rising number of hospital admissions for asthma may reflect an increase in asthma severity, poor disease management and/or the effect of poverty. The financial burden of asthma is relatively high within developed countries (those for which data is available) spending 1 to 2% of their healthcare budget on this condition. Established in 1989, the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) attempts to raise awareness about the increasing prevalence of asthma, improve management and reduce the burden of asthma worldwide. Despite global efforts, GINA has not achieved its goal, even among developed nations. There are multiple barriers to reducing the global burden of asthma, including limited access to care and/or medications, and lack of prioritization as a public healthcare priority. In addition, the diversity of healthcare systems worldwide and large differences in access to care require that asthma management guidelines be tailored to local needs.
more
The World Health Organization organized a Consultation of National Leprosy Programme managers, partners and affected persons to discuss the draft Global Leprosy Strategy, 2021--2030. This virtual event took place from 26 to 30 October 2020. It was attended by more than 450 stakeholders. Contribution...s were shared through 70 presentations made by stake holders from all Regions. The presentations covered the key strategic approaches: global context, challenges in countries, contact tracing and post exposure prophylaxis, disability care, interruption of transmission and elimination of disease, stigma and d iscrimination, research. In addition to numerous comments received through the chat box and by email, the conclusions and recommendations of this Consultation will guide finalizing the post 2020 Global Leprosy Strategy.
more
Bonchial asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease in the world. In Kenya, it has been estimated that about 7.5% of the Kenyan population, nearly 4 million people, are currently living with asthma. Many cases tend to be underdiagnosed and undertreated which leads to high levels of morbid...ity and avoidable deaths. The consequences of poorly controlled asthma, including physical, mental, social, and economic impacts, are magnified in the poor on account of poor access to asthma services and sub-optimal quality of those services. With these guidelines, Kenya's Ministry of Health aims to work towards embedding asthma care in Universal Health Care (UHC) to ensure that quality asthma services are available in primary care settings with
referral networks strengthened for those who may require secondary and tertiary care. These national asthma guidelines will also ensure that treatment for asthma is standardized in both the public and the non-state health care sector.
more
1st edition.
Unitaid’s report describes a slate of new devices that can more efficiently identify dangerously ill children so that they can be treated immediately. These tools make it easier to recognize danger signs, and support integrated approaches to reducing childhood deaths from the three ...greatest childhood killers: malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea.
The report also highlights tests that can determine whether or not a child has an illness that can be treated with antibiotics. Viral infections are a common cause of childhood fevers, but cannot be cured with antibiotics. Although many children seeking care at clinics have fever, three-quarters by some estimates, only a small fraction of those have an illness that can be treated with an antimalarial or antibiotic drug
more
The practical guidance in the operational handbook aims to inform the development or revision of national policies and related implementation guidance on the management of TB in children and adolescents under programmatic circumstances and at different levels of the health system. The operational ha...ndbook can also help countries adequately plan for the uptake of interventions to better address the specific needs of children and adolescents with or at risk of TB. It can contribute to national efforts to build capacity among national and subnational programme managers and among health workers at all levels of the health care system.
more
Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) remain disproportionately affected by HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), with 26 per cent of new infections attributed to this population. AGYW face many personal, social and structural barriers to access, uptake and use of traditional HIV prevention me...thods. Oral Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is proven to be highly effective as an additional prevention choice for reducing the risk of HIV acquisition, including for AGYW. Successful uptake and adherence to PrEP is critical in its effectiveness as an HIV prevention method, however, the current demand for PrEP by AGYW is low with suboptimal adherence.
Within the ESA region, there is currently great impetus to address these challenges and scale up PrEP for AGYW. A critical aspect of this is to leverage the learnings and evidence from implementation of how to improve the demand and quality of PrEP programming for this population. Improving the Quality of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Implementation for Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Eastern and Southern Africa examines the current efforts in the region to accelerate and scale up evidence-based PrEP delivery platforms. The implementation brief provides current knowledge and builds on WHO guidance to provide key considerations for implementation, including driving demand and improving quality, as well as focus on wider combination prevention and integration agendas.
more
July 2021. This publication brings together important clinical and programmatic updates produced by WHO since 2016 and provides comprehensive, evidence-informed recommendations and good practice statements within a public health, rights-based and person-centred approach.
These guidelines bring in... the most recent guidance on HIV testing strategies - the entry point for HIV prevention and treatment - and include comprehensive guidance on infant diagnosis. Key recommendations are presented on rapid antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation and the use of dolutegravir. Updated recommendations are included on the timing of ART for people with TB, and the use of point-of-care technologies for treatment monitoring.
more
About one fourth of the world’s population is estimated to have been infected with the tuberculosis (TB) bacilli, and about 5–10% of those infected develop TB disease in their lifetime. The risk for TB disease after infection depends on several factors, the most important being the person’s im...munological status. TB preventive treatment (TPT) given to people at highest risk of progressing from TB infection to disease remains a critical element to achieve the global targets of the End TB Strategy, as reiterated by the second UN High Level Meeting on TB in 2023. Delivering TPT effectively and safely necessitates a programmatic approach to implement a comprehensive package of interventions along a cascade of care: identifying individuals at highest risk, screening for TB and ruling out TB disease, testing for TB infection, and choosing the preventive treatment option that is best suited to an individual, managing adverse events, supporting medication adherence and monitoring programmatic performance
more
Chapter 1 provides new data on the latest developments in the global treatment effort, highlighting positive trends as well as aspects that require improvement. Chapter 2 summarizes the impact of the scale-up in reducing AIDS-related mortality and new HIV infections. Chapter 3 examines the sequence ...of steps in the continuum of care from HIV diagnosis to successful provision of ART services and outlines key supportive innovations. Chapter 4 discusses the implications and anticipated impact of the new "Consolidated guidelines on the use of ARV drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection
more
The revised guidelines contain recommendations for specific administrative, environmental controls and respiratory protection, following the assessment made by an external group of experts convened as members of the Guideline Development Group. Moreover, these guidelines focus on interventions speci...fic to preventing transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bridging with the core components of infection prevention and control programmes at the national and acute health care facility level
more
Infectious disease outbreaks are periods of
great uncertainty. Events unfold, resources
and capacities that are often limited
are stretched yet further, and decisions
for a public health response must be
made quickly, even though the evidence
for decision-making may be scant. In
such a... situation, public health officials,
policy-makers, funders, researchers, field
epidemiologists, first responders, national
ethics boards, health-care workers, and public
health practitioners need a moral compass
to guide them in their decision-making.
more
The State of the world’s nursing 2020 report provides the latest, most up-to-date evidence on and policy options for the global nursing workforce. It also presents a compelling case for considerable – yet feasible – investment in nursing education, jobs, and leadership.
The primary chapters... of the report outline the role and contributions of nurses with respect to the WHO “triple billion” targets; the health labour market and workforce policy levers to address the challenges to nurses working to their full potential; the findings from analysis of National Health Workforce Account (NHWA) data from 191 Member States and progress in relation to the projected shortfall of nurses by 2030; and forward-looking policy options for an agenda to strengthen the nursing workforce to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, improve health for all, and strengthen the primary health care workforce on our journey towards universal health coverage.
more
WHO, in partnership with the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has published global standards for prosthetics and orthotics. Its aim is to ensure that prosthetics and orthotics services are people-centred an...d responsive to every individual’s personal and environmental needs. The standards advocate for the integration of prosthetics and orthotics services into health services, under universal health coverage. Implementation of these standards will support countries to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and towards the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
The standards provide guidance on the development of national policies, plans and programmes for prosthetics and orthotics services of the highest standard. The standards are divided into two documents: the standards and an implementation manual. Both documents cover four areas of the health system:
policy (governance, financing and information);
products (prostheses and orthoses);
personnel (workforce);
and provision of services.
The Standards have been developed through consultation with experts from around the globe via a steering group, development group and external review group.
more
In 2018 and early 2019, the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s cultural contexts of health and well-being project worked alongside the University of Exeter’s WHO Collaborating Centre on Culture and Health, the Minsk Regional Centre for Psychiatry and Addiction, and the Institute of Mental Health o...f the Ukrainian Catholic University to engage researchers, practitioners, health-care workers and other relevant stakeholders in a series of workshops on the cultural contexts of early life trauma in Belarus and Ukraine.
more