4 August 2021. Currently, Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine COMIRNATY® (Tozinameran) is the only COVID-19 vaccine that should be stored and transported at -60ºC to -86ºC ultra-low temperature (ULT) conditions. Prior to use the vaccine can be transferred to -20ºC freezer or +2-8ºC refrigerator at... the lower store levels and immunization service points. However, vaccine shelf life is affected when vaccine is transferred to a different storage temperature. Health workers in charge of managing the storage, transport and administration of the vaccine should be well trained to maintain vaccine quality. Good cold chain planning, strong management of vaccine supply, logistics and distribution, including installation and effective monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the storage equipment and infrastructure, are also necessary.
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This report provides a comprehensive overview of the progress made by India in terms of establishment and functionality of Special Newborn Care Units (SNCUs) during the two year period from April 2013 to March 2015. It describes the progress in the operational status (numbers, bed strength, human re...source availability), the profile of babies admitted in these units and of those babies who died during stay. In addition it provides individual state specific statistics to facilitate differential planning and better monitoring of these units in India.
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3 February 2021
Las crisis relacionadas con las vacunas y la vacunación requieren una respuesta de comunicación diferente a las estrategias comunicacionales para promover los beneficios y la importancia de las vacunas en general. Este documento presenta las orientaciones técnicas necesarias para... desarrollar un plan de comunicación adecuado para manejar las crisis relacionadas con la seguridad de las vacunas y de la vacunación. Estas orientaciones les serán útiles a los actores relevantes de nivel gerencial en el área de la inmunización y de la seguridad de las vacunas y la vacunación.
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This publication aims to provide updated guidance on the specific use of yellow fever laboratory assays in the context of surveillance to be used across the Global Yellow Fever Laboratory Network for disease surveillance. In the recent years, new commercial assays became available and are now recomm...ended for use by WHO and this publication will support national program on the use of compound laboratory assays as per the most recent recommended testing algorithms. This piece is aligned with the elimination effort set in the comprehensive global strategy to eliminate yellow fever epidemics (EYE) strategy 2017-2026 and where its advisory laboratory technical working group actively contributed to its development. The target audiences are policy-makers and health workers.
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The portable diagnostic imaging technology covered by this document will serve not only the pressing demands for tuberculosis screening and triage but also other diseases. Therefore, the requirements, accessories, hardware and software packages listed in the following specifications are described in... detail in order to serve also other pathologies and conditions, like trauma and pneumonia.
Through the definition of "minimum technical requirements", this document is recommended to support decision-making regarding the selection, incorporation, allocation and use of portable X-ray systems and is intended for health care providers, managers of imaging departments, procurement and regulatory agencies, policymakers and planning officers in ministries of health, as well as biomedical engineering professionals, medical physicists, the private health sector, medical device industry and intergovernmental and international agencies.
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The WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases organized an expert meeting on monitoring of digital marketing of unhealthy products to children and adolescents in June 2018. Based on that meeting, this report aims to provide a tool to support Member States in moni...toring digital marketing of unhealthy products to children; the resulting tool – the so-called CLICK monitoring framework – is flexible and can be adapted to national context. The report also describes current digital marketing strategies, the challenges arising from current practices, and some policy options to tackle digital marketing to children and adolescents.
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WHO Technical Report Series, No. 961, 2011, Annex 8 - These guidelines are intended to provide a description of ways in which pharmacists can improve access to health care, health promotion and the use of medicines on behalf of the patients they serve. The role of FIP is to provide leadership for na...tional pharmacy professional organizations, which in turn provide the impetus for setting national standards. The vital element is the commitment of the pharmacy profession worldwide to promoting excellence in practice for the benefi t of those served. The public and other professions will judge the pharmacy profession on how its members translate that commitment into practice in all settings, especially community and hospital pharmacy settings.
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Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the principal cause of morbidity, disability and premature mortality in Azerbaijan. The most effective way to reduce the NCD burden is to prevent NCD development, by addressing thebehavioural risk factors underlying NCDs at the population and individual leve...ls: smoking, alcohol use, excessive salt intake, low physical activity, overweight and obesity, and unhealthy diets. In Azerbaijan, a national survey of the prevalence of major NCD risk factors, aligned with the WHO-endorsed STEPwise approach to surveillance (STEPS) methodology, was conducted in 2017.
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This document facilitate the preparation of a risk communication and community engagement strategy for vaccination against COVID-19. Its goal is to help to strengthen the communication and planning capacities of the ministries or secretariats of health and other agencies in charge of communicating ...about new COVID-19 vaccines in the Americas.
Available in English, Spanish and Portuguese
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Policy brief, 24 July 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected older people disproportionately, especially those living in long-term care facilities. In many countries, evidence shows that more than 40% of COVID-19 related deaths have been linked to long-term care facilities, with figures being as h...igh as 80% in some high-income countries. Concerted action is needed to mitigate the impact across all aspects of long-term care, including home- and community-based care, given that most users and providers of care are those who are vulnerable to severe COVID-19.
This policy brief provides 11 policy objectives and key action points to prevent and manage COVID-19 across long-term care. Its intended audience is policy makers and authorities (national, subnational and local) involved in the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief builds on currently available evidence on the measures taken to prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID‑19 pandemic across long-term care services including care providers
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The thirty-seventh meeting of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee was held in Geneva from 25 to 27 January 2023 and chaired by Ms Aishath Rishmee (Maldives). The Committee adopted its agenda and agreed its programme of work. In his opening remarks, the Director-General emphasized the ...crucial work on the financial future of the Organization, most significantly implementation of the Programme budget 2022−2023 and development of the Proposed programme budget 2024−2025, which would be the first to benefit from the agreed increase in assessed contributions. He welcomed the work of the Agile Member States Task Group on Strengthening WHO’s Budgetary, Programmatic and Financing Governance with its recommendations for long-term improvements in reform, prevention of and response to sexual abuse and harassment, new web-based information portals and a new replenishment process for consideration by Member States. Efforts were also under way to improve impact at country level, and he would continue to report to Member States on progress. He was heading an agile, proactive and fast-responding WHO, committed to implementing plans approved by Member States.
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The document provides the NICE Quality Standard for managing Type 2 diabetes in adults (QS209). It outlines evidence-based recommendations for preventing Type 2 diabetes, structured education, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), medication such as SGLT2 inhibitors, and regular care processes to mon...itor complications. The guidelines emphasize individualized care, addressing health inequalities, and improving patient outcomes. They are intended to support healthcare professionals and services in delivering high-quality, equitable diabetes care.
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Policy brief. HIV testing services (HTS) and anti-retroviral therapy (ART) have been scaled up substantially. It is estimated that, globally, nearly 80% of people with HIV now know their status. With the offer of immediate ART initiation and improved treatment options, access to and uptake of treatm...ent have increased, too. Now, most people with HIV who know their status are obtaining treatment and care.
In response to these changes in the global HIV epidemic, WHO is encouraging countries to use three consecutive reactive tests for an HIV-positive diagnosis as their treatment-adjusted prevalence and national HTS positivity fall below 5% .
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WHO recommends artemisinin-based combination therapies for treating uncomplicated malaria, alongside studies to monitor treatment effectiveness. Given the threat of antimalarial resistance, including partial resistance in several African countries, molecular tools are vital for tracking resistance. ...In 2015, WHO launched the External Quality Assessment scheme for nucleic acid amplification testing to ensure reliable lab results. Coordinated by WHO and operated by the United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service for Parasitology, the scheme provides quality-controlled specimens and reports to help improve testing accuracy. Experts recently discussed expanding the scheme to include antimalarial resistance markers.
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23 February 2021
This document describes the medical devices required for the clinical management of COVID-19, selected and prioritized according to the latest available evidence and interim guidelines. This includes: oxygen therapy, pulse oximeters, patient monitors, thermometers, infusion and suc...tion pumps, X-ray, ultrasound and CT scanners as well as personal protective equipment. In order to facilitate access to quality assured priority medical devices, the document also includes technical and performance characteristics, related standards, accessories and consumables. It is intended for policy-makers and planning officers in Ministries of Health, procurement and regulatory agencies, intergovernmental and international agencies as well as the medical device industry.
This document is an update to the List of priority medical devices for COVID-19 case management and Technical specifications for invasive and non-invasive ventilators for COVID-19.
This document complements the Technical specifications of personal protective equipment for COVID-19.
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This module is part of the WHO series The Immunological Basis for Immunization, which was initially developed in 1993 as a set of eight modules, comprising one module on general immunology and seven modules each devoted to one of the vaccines recommended for the Expanded Programme on Immunization, i....e. vaccines against diphtheria, measles, pertussis, polio, tetanus, tuberculosis and yellow fever. Since then, this series has been updated and extended to include other vaccines of international importance. The main purpose of the modules is to provide national immunization managers and vaccination professionals with an overview of the scientific basis of vaccination against a range of important infectious diseases. The modules developed since 1993 continue to be vaccine-specific, reflecting the biological differences in immune responses to the individual pathogens and the differing strategies employed to create the best possible level of protection that can be provided by vaccination. The modules also serve as a record of the immunological basis for the WHO recommendations on vaccine use, published in the WHO vaccine position papers.*
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A new story book that aims to help children understand and come to terms with COVID-19 has been produced
With the help of a fantasy creature, Ario, “My Hero is You, How kids can fight COVID-19!” explains how children can protect themselves, their families and friends from coronavirus and how to... manage difficult emotions when confronted with a new and rapidly changing reality.
Available in more languages
The book – aimed primarily at children aged 6-11 years old – is a project of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, a unique collaboration of United Nations agencies, national and international nongovernmental organizations and international agencies providing mental health and psychosocial support in emergency settings.
Available in different languages
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A module from the suite of health service capacity assessments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemicINTERIM GUIDANCE5 February2021
The Community needs, perceptions and demand: community assessment toolcan be used by countries to conduct a rapid pulse survey of community health needs and perceptio...ns around effective use of essential health services during the COVID-19 outbreak. The assessment helps to establish an early warning system on the need to implement coping strategies to continue to respond to communities’ health needs throughout the course of the pandemic. This assessment tool is informed by WHO and partner tools and guidance on community health needs, continuity of essential health services and readiness planning for COVID-19
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19 de março de 2020. Introdução Este documento fornece orientações rápidas sobre o uso de máscaras médicas em comunidades, em domicílios e em unidades de saúde em áreas que relataram surtos causados pelo novo coronavírus de 2019 (2019-nCoV). Destina-se a profissionais de saúde pública ...e de prevenção e controle de infecção (IPC), gerentes de atenção à saúde, profissionais de saúde e agentes comunitários de saúde. Será revisado à medida que mais PCI dados estiverem disponíveis. Com as informações disponíveis atualmente, sugere-se que a via de transmissão humano a humano do 2019-nCoV seja por gotículas respiratórias ou contato. Qualquer pessoa que esteja em contato próximo (dentro de 1 metro) com alguém com sintomas respiratórios (por exemplo, espirros, tosse, etc.) está sob risco de exposta a gotículas respiratórias potencialmente infectantes. Máscaras médicas são máscaras cirúrgicas ou de procedimento que são planas ou com pregas (algumas são como copos); elas são afixadas na cabeça com tirasa.
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