The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), in accordance with recommendations from various WHO committees, has developed three flagship programmes to support Member States in the African region to prepare for, detect and respond to public health emergencies. They are the re...sult of extensive consultations with more than 30 African government ministers, technical actors, partners across the continent as well as regional institutions such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), whose contributions have shaped the priority activities. This report provides the second quarterly summary of progress in implementing the flagship programmes.
more
A global food crisis fuelled by conflict, climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic is growing because of the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine driving rising prices of food, fuel and fertilizer. Millions of people across the world are at risk of being driven into starvation unless action is taken... now to respond together and at scale. Due to the unprecedented overlap of crises, WFP’s annual operational requirements are at an all-time high of US$22.2 billion, with confirmed contributions so far at US$4.8 billion (22 percent). WFP is calling for coordinated action to address this crisis.
more
Working towards better COVID-19 outcomes in the WHO European Region.From the first COVID-19 cases in Europe reported on
24 January 2020, the pandemic reached 1 million cases
within 3 months, 10 million cases within 8 months, and
100 million cases in Europe alone within 2 years. Over
the course o...f its two years, COVID-19 has claimed over
1.6 million lives across Europe and Central Asia. The
World Health Organization (WHO) European Region has
accounted for close to a third of the cumulative global
COVID-19 cases and deaths.
more
Taking the whole of Africa approach to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to require coordinated efforts from multiple stakeholders from across the continent. Africa CDC would like to acknowledge the deep partnership and continued support of AUDA-NEPAD, AVAREF, WHO AFRO, the Bill a...nd Melinda Gates Foundation and the Mastercard Foundation. These partners have helped to shape and drive the continent’s strategic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and have offered support to ensure the continent receives a fair and equitable share of the COVID-19 vaccine without delay.
We look forward to continuing and deepening our partnership for the benefit of the public health of Africa.
more
The African Development Bank has launched a consultation process with health ministers and other partners as it develops a strategy to drive enhanced access to health services across Africa through 2030.
Input from ministers in the Bank’s 54 regional member countries, development partners and c...ivil society is expected to strengthen the Bank’s Strategy for Quality Health Infrastructure in Africa (2021-2030). A robust scoping study titled “Good Health and Well-being” underpins the strategy.
more
State of Health in the EU Cycle.
With the coronavirus (COVID-19) once again spreading rapidly, and the re-introduction of containment measures to flatten the curve of the epidemic, it is crucial for policymakers to plan effective strategies to re-open their economies to avoid further re-confinement...s. This should include much more effective testing, tracing and isolation policies that people can easily follow, as well as improved social distancing measures
more
Community pharmacists are the health professionals most accessible to the public and are a cornerstone of primary health care. The role of community pharmacists is expanding globally. This report provides an overview of existing components and provisions of the legal and regulatory framework for com...munity pharmacies and their activities in Europe. It presents the diverse approaches to community pharmacy licenses and to establishment of new pharmacies and their ownership. It also details the framework for community pharmacy operating requirements (including opening hours, workforce, premises and equipment, services provided and identification of a community pharmacy) and the types of activity undertaken. Provisions associated with possible alternative forms of dispensing medicines (over-the-counter medicines, prescription-only medicines, dispensing by medical doctors and online medicine sales) are also described
more
In the last decade, Timor-Leste has made remarkable progress in strengthening its health system and improving the health status of its population. This has resulted in an increased life expectancy, and the achievement of Millennium Development Goals such as a reduction in infant and under-five morta...lity, an improvement in maternal and child health outcomes, and an increase in immunization coverage. Further, the country has successfully eliminated infectious diseases such as polio, measles, and maternal and neonatal tetanus. There is full political commitment to reducing the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) by 80% and the number of deaths due to TB by 90% by 2030. The country has made great progress in the context of the pandemic, having established numerous quarantine facilities/isolation centres; trained health-care workers; streamlined the procurement and supply of medicines, consumables, personal protective equipment and other equipment; and strengthened the capacity in critical care across secondary and tertiary health care, to better respond to future pandemics and other disaster situations.
more
Research Paper.
As the fighting in Syria winds down, international humanitarian organisations (IHOs) operating from Damascus are hopeful that the Syrian government’s interference in their work will decrease. However, the government is attempting to formalise its influence over humanitarian operat...ions.
Throughout the Syrian conflict, the government has imposed multiple administrative processes on humanitarian organisations to limit their ability to operate independently. This includes restricting the operational environment; undermining organisational independence; imposing local partners; influencing procurement procedures; and preventing direct monitoring and evaluation.
While some level of coordination with the government might be a pragmatic necessity to ensure the safety of operations in regime-controlled areas, this cooperation should not enable the government to use aid for military or political purposes. Consequently, international humanitarian organisations have an ethical dilemma in how they provide aid in these areas without undermining their principles of humanity, independence, impartiality and neutrality.
more
Child marriage is a widespread practice across Turkana, a nomadic pastoralist region in Kenya. This report explores the issue through the voices of those girls affected by it.
In the early morning of 6 February 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in southern Türkiye near the
northern border of Syria. The earthquake was followed 11 minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Many
aftershocks are still being felt across the region. Whilst the impact is still bei...ng assessed, initial reports evidence
significant damage in the areas of southern Türkiye and northern Syria.
In response, the Syria Ministry of Health (MoH) activated its emergency operations centre (EOC) on 6 Feb 2023
under the chairmanship of the Deputy Minister. In all affected governorates, public and private health facilities
and medical convoys have been repurposed to support the response and are being managed by the National
Ministry of Health (MoH) and Directorate of Health (DoH) at governorate level. Support has been directed to
affected areas, with medical convoys including 28 ambulances and 7 mobile clinics, deployed from the health
directorates of Damascus, Rural Damascus, Quneitra, Homs, Tartous, Aleppo and Latakia
more
Documentation of Best Practices and Bottlenecks to Program Implementation in Senegal
SUMMARY REPORT
Accessed at March 2014
A learning resource for facilitators, parents, caregivers, and persons with cerebral palsy | Version 1 - Released March 2008
The Child Protection handbook provides a synthesis of good practice and learning and enables better advocacy and communication on child protection risks, needs and responses. Standards addressing child protection needs cover core work areas and critical issues. Those addressing strategy relate to ca...se management, community-based child protection, child-friendly spaces and protection of excluded children. A fourth set of standards gives guidance on how workers in other sectors can ensure that their programmes are accessible and beneficial to children. DOCUMENT ALSO AVAILABLE IN: Arabic, Chinese, French, Indonesian, Korean, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu on http://cpwg.net/minimum_standards-topics/cpms-full-version/.
more
WHO’s Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) defines the Organization’s medium-term vision for working in and with a particular country. The CCS, developed in the context of global and national health priorities, examines the overall health situation in a country, including the state of the health s...ector, socioeconomic status and the major health determinants.
This CCS sets out WHO’s strategic framework for collaboration with the Syrian Arab Republic, from June 2022 until June 2025, in light of the 12 years of crisis that have had a devastating impact on the health sector and infrastructure of basic services. It carefully considers the current and projected issues during its transition from continued humanitarian assistance to recovery, resilience and development. The consolidation of health policies and strategies and health system strengthening, based on the strengthening of primary health care (PHC), aims to contribute to the achievement of national and global development and health goals and the targets of the SDGs.
more
Food safety and antimicrobial resistance research: A One Health perspective. Presented at the Emerging Pathogens Institute Seminar Series, Gainesville, Florida, 26 July 2019
Research in Brief.
The international community’s predominant response to the Venezuelan migration crisis remains focused on humanitarian relief. This is important, for two populations: a) the over 50,000 ‘pendular’ migrants who go back and forth across the border every day in order to access ...food and basic services; b) those who seek residency in Colombia or another country, and require immediate support in terms of food, shelter, and medical access. However, Betts states, for the over 1.2 million migrants who have settled in Colombia, a longer-term vision is needed, which must be based on seeing Venezuelan migration as a development opportunity that can benefit both migrants and citizens
more
Strengthening Community responses to HIv Treatment and Prevention