The number of general health staff skilled in psychological treatment for depression is limited, and learning psychological treatments tends to require considerable training and supervision. Relaxation may be a relatively simple form of psychological treatment. It has been frequently studied in rese...arch studies as an active condition and as a control condition.
Q 5: Is relaxation training better (more effective than/as safe as) than treatment as usual in adults with depressive episode/disorder?
more
The military offensive by the Russian Federation in Ukraine which began February 2022 has triggered one of the world’s fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crisis, with geopolitical and economic ripples felt across the globe. The ongoing war has caused large-scale disruptions to the deliv...ery of health services and a near-collapse of the health system. But the crisis also saw an extraordinary mobilization and crisis response to a health emergency by WHO and its more than 100 partners.
more
This bulletin focuses on the situation in Ukraine and several key refugee-receiving countries (Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia), with the understanding that other countries in the European Region are also receiving Ukrainian refugees and WHO is pr...oviding technical support to them.
more
The report provides a global knowledge base on suicide and suicide attempts as well as actionable steps for countries based on their current resources and context to move forward in suicide prevention.
During the 17 years since Surgical approaches to the urogenital manifestations of lymphatic filariasis was first published, there has been heightened awareness of the physical, economic and emotional burden of the genitourinary manifestations of filariasis. With the impetus to provide better guidanc...e for care of those suffering from LF, this update was both warranted and timely.
At the outset, the Committee noted that barriers continue to exist in care of patients affected by LF-associated morbidity. These barriers include lack of information for patients as well as for many healthcare providers, including general surgeons and others within health systems
This update offers a new consensus of the Committee regarding the staging of hydroceles caused by LF, also known as “filariceles”. It recommends integrating LF surgery with other efforts to strengthen surgical care by assessing health facilities for their surgical readiness using the WHO surgical assessment tool or “SAT”. It also recommends integratinghernia surgery with hydrocele surgery and integrating standards for prevention of surgical site infection (SSI).
The update revises recommendations for standard procedures and processes, offers an algorithm for diagnosis (including the use of ultrasound) and discusses postoperative care. It recommends collecting data using the staging and grading system described by Capuano and Capuano along with other metrics for public health management of LF.
A multifaceted approach has therefore been recommended to coordinate public health outreach with national surgical planning and local health systems to include supporting partners such as nongovernmental organizations. Surgical camps with mobile teams, as well as training of personnel at DCP3 “first level” or WHO Level II hospitals (depending on region and resources), have important roles for reducing LF morbidity.
more
Training in monitoring and epidemiological assessment of mass drug administration for eliminating lymphatic filariasis: learners’ guide. World Health Organization.
This Quick Reference Handbook of Selected Congenital Anomalies and Infections is a companion tool to Birth defects surveillance: a manual for programme managers, and is intended for use by front-line health care professionals who are diagnosing and collecting data on congenital defects and infection...s. When used in conjunction with the manual, the tools in this handbook will help the reader to: identify an initial list of congenital anomalies to consider for monitoring;describe the tools needed to define and code identified cases; define specific congenital anomalies under surveillance.
more
The conditionality of this recommendation is largely driven by the current higher unit cost of pyrethroid-PBO ITNs compared
to pyrethroid-only LLINs and therefore the uncertainty of their cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, as PBO is less wash-resistant
than pyrethroids, its bioavailability declines ...faster over the three-year estimated life of an ITN; therefore, the added impact of
pyrethroid-PBO ITNs over that of pyrethroid-only LLINs may decline over time. The evidence comes from two sites in
eastern Africa with pyrethroid resistance and not from other geographies where transmission levels and vector characteristics
may vary. PBO acts by inhibiting certain metabolic enzymes, primarily oxidases, and so are likely to provide greater protection
than pyrethroid-only LLINs where mosquitoes display mono-oxygenase-based insecticide resistance mechanisms.
more
Plus de 700 000 personnes perdent la vie par suicide chaque année. La réduction d’un tiers du taux mondial de mortalité par suicide d’ici à 2030 est à la fois un indicateur et une cible (la seule pour la santé mentale) dans les objectifs de développement durable des Nations Unies et dans ...le Plan d’action global de l’OMS pour la santé mentale 2013–2030. Le treizième programme général de travail 2019–2023 de l’OMS comprend le même indicateur avec une réduction de 15 % à l’horizon 2023.
Le monde n’est pas sur la bonne voie pour atteindre les cibles de la réduction du suicide fixées pour 2030. L’OMS encourage les pays à prendre des mesures pour prévenir le suicide, idéalement par le biais d’une stratégie nationale intégrée de prévention du suicide. Les gouvernements et les communautés peuvent contribuer à la prévention du suicide en mettant en œuvre l’approche LIVE LIFE de l’OMS, dont le but est de servir de base pour commencer la prévention du suicide, et dont ils peuvent s’inspirer pour élaborer une stratégie nationale intégrée de prévention du suicide. Le présent guide s’adresse à tous les pays, qu’ils disposent actuellement ou non d’une stratégie nationale de prévention du suicide.
more
25 Nov 2022
The WHO Guidelines for malaria bring together the Organization’s most up-to-date recommendations for malaria in one user-friendly and easy-to-navigate online platform.
The WHO Guidelines for malaria supersedes 2 previous WHO publications: the Guidelines for the treatment of mala...ria, third edition and the Guidelines for malaria vector control. Recommendations on malaria will continue to be reviewed and, where appropriate, updated based on the latest available evidence. Any updated recommendations will always display the date of the most recent revision in the MAGICapp platform. With each update, a new PDF version of the consolidated guidelines will also be available for download on the WHO website.
This version of the Guidelines includes updates to the case management of malaria, specifically the addition of new molecules for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria and optimization of the dosage regimen for anti-relapse treatment, along with updates on the use of antimalarial medicines in special risk populations including pregnant women.
more
Although Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) have been isolated from a variety of food production animals, they are most commonly associated with ruminants from which we derive meat and milk. Because of the widespread and diverse nature of ruminant-derived food production, coupled with the... near ubiquity of STEC worldwide, there is no single definitive solution for controlling STEC that will work alone or in all situations. Instead, the introduction of multiple interventions applied in sequence, as a “multiple-hurdle scheme” at several points throughout the food chain (including processing, transport and handling) will be most effective.
This report summarizes the review and evaluation of interventions applied for the control of STEC in cattle, raw beef and raw milk and raw milk cheese manufactured from cows’ milk, and also evaluates available evidence for other small ruminants, swine and other animals. The information is presented from primary production, to the end of processing, providing the reader with information on the currently available interventions based on the latest scientific evidence.
This work was undertaken to support the development of guidelines for the control of STEC in beef, raw milk and cheese produced from raw milk by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH).
more
WHO’s sentinel surveys of acquired HIV resistance to dolutegravir among people receiving dolutegravir-containing antiretroviral therapy is intended for easy and frequent implementation. Results from sentinel surveys provide insight into the prevalence and year-over-year trends of dolutegravir resi...stance in adults, children and adolescents receiving dolutegravir-based ART.
This sentinel method is implemented complementary to WHO-recommended methods for estimating nationally representative levels of acquired HIV drug resistance.
more
The guide contains valuable tools for wound care and the rehabilitation of people affected by Buruli ulcer. It is also helpful for peripheral health centres in areas where Buruli ulcer is endemic and to people and their families affected by the disease
The purpose of this TPP is to communicate the minimum and ideal characteristics desired to meet the need for discriminating low levels of risk for transmission, i.e. targeted prevalence thresholds in the surveyed areas. An in vitro diagnostic test is needed for the detection of analyte(s) specific t...o Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori to aid in the surveillance of defined geographic areas as to whether infection and/or transmission potential has increased (recrudescence) or decreased (elimination of transmission).
more
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.*
more
This document is a guide defining requirements for quality and safety for malaria rapid diagnostic testing services to safeguard the quality of the results, the safety of the operators and patients and that of the environment for use by national malaria control programmes, regulators, implementers a...nd rapid diagnostic providers.
more
The Global guidance framework for the responsible use of the life sciences: mitigating biorisks and governing dual-use research (the framework) aims to provide values and principles, tools and mechanisms to support Member States and key stakeholders to mitigate and prevent biorisks and govern dual-u...se research.
The framework adopts the One health approach and focuses on the role that responsible life sciences research can play in preventing and mitigating risks caused by accidents, inadvertent or deliberate misuse with the intention to cause harm to humans, nonhuman animals, plants and agriculture, and the environment.
more
This technical brief describes the re-affirmed WHO recommendation on ultrasound examination in the context of routine antenatal care and outlines policy and programme implications for translating this recommendation into action at the country level.