The development of this draft Proposed programme budget 2022–2023 comes at a unique moment for WHO. The world is in the grip of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and faces health, social and economic consequences on an unprecedented scale. Although it is not known when the COVID-19 pande...mic will end, recent encouraging vaccine results, in addition to the examples of countries that have achieved good results through public health measures, hold out the prospect of better days ahead. The full impact of the pandemic cannot yet be determined. But whatever its implications, the Secretariat will rise to the challenge and is ready to adapt so that it is fully equipped to support Member States for any eventuality in the future – to make sure that the world will never again have to face this kind of crisis.
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Join the campaign to call on countries and companies to ensure that by the time World Health Day arrives on 7 April, COVID-19 vaccines are being administered in every country, as a symbol of hope for overcoming both the pandemic and the inequalities that lie at the root of so many global health chal...lenges.
This call to action can be fulfilled through supporting COVAX and the ACT Accelerator to equitably distribute vaccines, treatments and diagnostics globally.
Sign the declaration!
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1 July 2021; Report shows big COVID-19-related HIV prevention programme service disruptions, but highlights that HIV service innovations and adaptations are possible.
A synthesis report on programme disruptions and adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 118 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover the following events:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Togo
Measles in Chad
Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Quality clinical care is at the heart of a robust, effective response to outbreaks. Frontline health workers need evidence-based tools and training to provide safe, effective and quality clinical care.
The Clinical Management channel includes videos on a range of diseases, such as Ebola, diphther...ia and influenza. The channel also hosts a full course series on COVID-19 which covers a holistic pathway of care of a patient, from screening and triage to rehabilitation and palliative care.
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Un appel à la réflexion et à l’action des chrétiens et des chrétiennes pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 et au delà
The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) released a joint document, “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solida...rity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19.” Its purpose is to encourage churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the importance of interreligious solidarity in a world wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. The document offers a Christian basis for interreligious solidarity that can inspire and confirm the impulse to serve a world wounded not only by COVID-19 but also by many other wounds.
Available in different languages: German, Spanish, English, Chinese, French. Portuguese, Arabic, Italian
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This country cooperation strategy (CCS) outlines how the World Health Organization (WHO) will work with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic over the next five years (2024–2028), supporting the implementation of the five-year health sector development plans and the Health Sector Reform Strategy ...2021–2030 to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic experienced substantial economic growth in the 30 years prior to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, contributing to reduced poverty and significant progress toward the SDGs. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought this development to a halt. It was anticipated that the COVID-19 recovery and the tremendous population growth in recent years would provide opportunities for a shift toward more sustainable and inclusive development in the years ahead. In 2023, however, the contrary was the case. Rural residents, including many ethnic minorities, continued to face marginalization because of limited access to education, health care and economic opportunities.
Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks, the country has made significant improvements in health. Nonetheless, progress has been uneven and not everyone has benefited from these achievements. In the mountainous region, many people lack access to quality health care because of the unequal distribution of well-trained health-care workers. Preventable deaths due to poor-quality health care for children and newborns, infants and mothers remain a concern, as do communicable diseases such as sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis. The increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases and the health impact of worsening climate change further heighten the need for strengthened and resilient health systems, which are at risk due to an underfunded health sector and weak economy.
This CCS aims to address remaining and future challenges as well as health needs while creating an impact that is sustainable. It identifies three strategic priorities and nine deliverables (Table 1) to support the attainment of the national vision of Health for all by all, as articulated in the 9th Health Sector Development Plan 2021–2025. It contributes to the country’s goals to achieve universal health coverage, graduate from least developed country status by 2026 and attain SDGs by 2030.
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Global food insecurity has markedly increased over the last two-years due to conflict, economic and political instability, displacement, environmental degradation and disasters, and major disruptions to global food systems because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, levels of hunger surpassed all pre...vious records with close to 193 million people acutely food insecure and in need of urgent assistance across 53 countries and territories. This represents an increase of nearly 40 million people compared to what was previously considered a record level high in 2020.
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The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a leading humanitarian agency dedicated to helping people whose lives have been shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Health comprises nearly half of IRC’s program portfolio globally and encompasses thr...ee sectors: 1) Primary Health (including child health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and mental health); 2) Nutrition; and 3) Environmental Health. IRC health programming across its portfolio, in terms of the size and breadth, responds to significant needs in crisis affected settings, improving health and wellbeing while reducing causes of ill-health.
This five-year Health Strategy sharpens our focus on where we can have the most impact. It guides our efforts in planning, technical assistance, business development, advocacy, and internal and external collaboration. Through this strategy, we will invest and grow in areas that will help us achieve high impact at scale for our clients. For the next five years these priorities will include: Nutrition; Immunization: Infectious Disease Prevention and Control; Last Mile Delivery of Primary Health Care: Clean Water.
Our strategy aligns with Strategy 100 (S100) and Strategy Action Plans (SAPs). It lays out how IRC, through health, nutrition, and Environmental Health (EH) programming, will advance the IRC’s S100 ambitions, respond to global trends, and capitalize on our value add. The strategy will be complemented by delivery plans that detail investments, actions, and roles and responsibilities to advance our priorities. At the end of FY24, we will take stock of the implementation of the strategy, measure progress towards achieving our goals, and review if it continues to be fit for purpose.
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n 2015, Member States of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its accompanying Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the third goal of the agenda focusing on health – good health and well-being. This has the attainment of universal health coverage (UHC) a...s its umbrella target. Since then, the WHO Regional Office for Africa has been supporting countries plan, and monitor progress towards this goal. This report represents an analysis of the evidence so far countries are making towards this goal, and includes the effect COVID-19 has had on its attainment so far. It also makes recommendations on how countries can prioritize their health actions post COVID-19, in a manner that allows acceleration of progress towards UHC.
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Presentations and agenda of the meeting held to update industry on the COVAX Facility and Gavi’s support for cold chain equipment (CCE) for COVID-19 vaccines.
Un an après le début de la pandémie, la COVID-19 a changé le monde et continue de peser sur notre quotidien. La pandémie a mis en évidence les lacunes des systèmes de santé tandis que le personnel de santé a été exposé au virus de façon
disproportionnée. Tout au long de l’année pas...sée, les infirmières ont affiché leur volonté et leur souplesse
en s’adaptant à de nouvelles méthodes de travail. Des millions d’infections à la COVID-19 ont été signalées parmi les agents de santé dans le monde et, hélas, le Conseil International des Infirmières (CII) a enregistré près de 3 000 décès qui lui sont
imputables parmi les infirmières dans 60 pays. Il est probable que le chiffre réel soit beaucoup plus élevé, le nombre d’infections et de décès parmi les agents de santé restant impossible à évaluer avec précision dans la mesure où de nombreux systèmes et pays n’ont pas assuré le suivi de cette question capitale.
Sur le long terme, les effets de la COVID-19, dont la « COVID longue » et le syndrome de stress posttraumatique différé, pourraient avoir d’importants effets délétères, en particulier sur le personnel infirmie
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Key questions
What is already known?
Critical illness is common throughout the world and COVID-19 has caused a global surge of critically ill patients.
There are large gaps in the quality of care for critically ill patients, especially in low-staffed and low-resourced settings, and mortal...ity rates are high.
Essential Emergency and Critical Care (EECC) is the effective lifesaving care of low-cost and low-complexity that all critically ill patients should receive in all wards in all hospitals in the world.
What are the new findings?
The clinical processes that comprise EECC and the essential care of critically ill patients with COVID-19 have been specified in a large consensus among clinical experts worldwide.
The resource requirements for hospitals to be ready to provide this care has been described.
What do the new findings imply?
The findings can be used across medical specialties in hospitals worldwide to prioritise and implement essential care for reducing preventable deaths.
Inclusion of the EEEC processes could increase the impact of pandemic preparedness and response programmes and policies for health systems strengthening.
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The world has been turned on its head by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This has provided a stark wakeup call on the severe under-financing of health systems around the world. It has laid bare the inequalities and limitations in the capacities of countries at all levels of develop...ment to prevent major health crises or respond to them. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 18(5): e0012091. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012091
The Lancet. 13 March 2022. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02868-3. Previous Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) studies have reported
national health estimates for Ethiopia. Substantial regional variations in socioeconomic status, population, demography, and access to hea...lth care within Ethiopia require comparable estimates at the subnational level. The GBD 2019 Ethiopia subnational analysis aimed to measure the progress and disparities in health across nine regions and two chartered cities.
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The article focuses on "The State of the World’s Children 2023" report published by UNICEF. It highlights the critical role of vaccines in saving lives and the challenges in global immunization efforts, especially for marginalized and underserved children. The report emphasizes the impact of COVID...-19 on routine immunization, leaving millions of children unprotected from preventable diseases. It calls for urgent measures to restore and improve vaccination coverage, ensure equity in vaccine access, strengthen primary healthcare systems, and build trust in vaccines. The report also advocates for innovations and sustainable funding to achieve immunization for every child.
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La présente Stratégie pour des infrastructures sanitaires de qualité en Afrique2021-2030 (SISQA) répond à une demande des gouverneurs de la Banque africaine de développement (la BAD ou la Banque) invitant l’institution à définir son rôle dans la lutte contre les déficits d’infrastructu...res sanitaires en Afrique, en s’appuyant sur son expertise en matière de développement des infrastructures. Cette demande reconnaît que la santé joue un caractère central dans l’amélioration de la qualité de vie des Africains et l’opportunité de réaliser leur potentiel. Elle répond également à la demande croissante des pays membres régionaux (PMR), qui souhaitent que la Banque les aide à combler les lacunes en matière d’infrastructures sanitaires nationales, que la crise de la COVID-19 et d’autres crises sanitaires ont mises en évidence.
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The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Syria officially declared a cholera outbreak on 10 September 2022, with the majority of cases reported from Aleppo, Deir-ez-Zor and Al-Hasakeh governorates. Since the situation report issued on 26 September 2022, the number of confirmed and suspected cases continues t...o rise. A total of 13 of 14 governorates are now affected, compared with 10 during the last reporting period.
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Update 1 October 2020.
This document provides guidance to Member States on the effective use of face masks/coverings in the community by individuals without COVID-19 symptoms in order to reduce potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2.a It also provides advice on the use of masks during home care for ...patients with COVID-19.
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