The ICAT is a simple and practical approach for assessing the adequacy of existing infection prevention and control practices and provides specific recommendations for improving practices and monitoring their effectiveness over time
at the national and acute health care facility level
This guide to local production of WHO-recommended handrub formulations is separated into two discrete but interrelated sections:
Part A provides a practical guide for use at the pharmacy bench during the actual preparation of the formulation. Users may want to display the material on the wall of ...the production unit.
Part B summarizes some essential background technical information and is taken from WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care (2009). Within Part B the user has access to important safety and cost information and supplementary material relating to dispensers and distribution.
more
Health care-associated infection (HCAI) places a serious disease burden and has a significant economic impact on patients and health-care systems throughout the world. Yet good hand hygiene, the simple task of cleaning hands at the right times and in the right way, can save lives. World Health O...rganization (WHO) has developed evidence-based WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care to support health-care facilities to improve hand hygiene and thus reduce HCAI.
more
Report of the WHO/Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Consultation. The Consultation was organized back-to-back with the first annual meeting of the International Coordinating Group of the BMGF-funded project for human and dog rabies elimination in developing countries, held at WHO headquarters, Geneva,... Switzerland, from 5 to 7 October 2009. This allowed the Consultation to benefit from the participation of the national coordinators and advisers of the BMGF-funded projects in the Philippines, South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal) and the United Republic of Tanzania
more
This document aims to assist countries to take the first step towards better considering gender and equity issues in their efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), to inform the implementation of strategies in national action plans and contribute to improved reach and effectiveness of AMR e...fforts in the longer term. It is part of a series of papers being developed y WHO, FAO and OIE to build a better global evidence base for implementing AMR national action plans. This version is illustrated by examples from the health sector predominantly but
will be updated with advice from the food and animal sectors in due course.
more
This report provides insight into the work that UNFPA has been doing to tackle FGM across borders in these border areas, where country offices are implementing a wide range of initiatives to address the issue. The information provided in this report is structured into four pillars, namely those list...ed in the regional action plan to eliminate cross-border FGM endorsed by the Governments that participated in the interministerial meeting on ending cross-border FGM held in 2019.
more
A study set out to investigate the factors affecting the prevalence of the practice among cross-border communities in East Africa and the Horn of Africa and the extent to which people cross borders to practise or undergo FGM and the effects of the practice on the women and girls in those communities.... Changes were found in social norms in the cross-border communities investigated, indicating that the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) can be eradicated. Effective interventions to end FGM need to be tailored to communities’ belief systems if they are to be “owned” by and mobilize the communities to change their culture. This report summarises the findings.
more
This regional action plan provides a broad framework for the regional level to assist governments in accelerating the implementation of existing international, regional and national commitments on ending FGM. Formulating the plan has provided an opportunity for the region to identify broad prioritie...s, initiate strategic actions and determine responsibilities among different actors. It also ensures that anti-FGM campaign activities are seen not as standalone efforts but rather as an integral part of the African Union’s discussions, in line with the African Union initiative on eliminating FGM (Saleema Initiative)
more
In 2014, an estimated 40 million women of reproductive age were infected with Schistosoma haematobium, S. japonicum and/or S. mansoni. In both 2003 and 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that all schistosome-infected pregnant and breastfeeding women be offered treatment, with praz...iquantel, either individually or during treatment campaigns. In 2006, WHO also stated the need for randomized controlled trials to assess the safety and efficacy of such treatment. Some countries have yet to follow the recommendation on treatment and many programme managers and pregnant women in other countries remain reluctant to follow the recommended approach.
more
The Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark has evaluated for the second time how the most important players in the antibiotic market are addressing the rise of resistance and the global need for appropriate access to antibiotics. Although we can see progress — it’s hanging by a thread.
We have reac...hed a tipping point where large and prominent drugmakers have retreated from the antibiotics field and smaller innovative biotech companies have gone bankrupt due to the poor financial rewards on offer.
more
Millennium Development Goal 8E aims for affordable access to essential medicines. Essential medicines, as defined by WHO, are those that “satisfy the health-care needs of the majority of the population” and that should therefore “be available at all times in adequate amounts”. However, there... is a category of medicines that faces a unique challenge in terms of availability. These are the medicines governed by the international conventions on narcotic and psychotropic substances. “Controlled medicines” is the common definition for pharmaceuticals whose active principles are listed under the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, such as morphine and methadone; the 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances, such as diazepam and buprenorphine; and the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, such as ergometrine and ephedrine. The conventions list substances in “Schedules” according to their different levels of potential for abuse and harm, and the commensurate severity of control measures to be applied by countries.
more
This document provides additional guidance for the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals, and should be read in conjunction with the Recommended International Code of Practice for Control of the Use of Veterinary Drugs CAC/RCP 38-1993. Its obj...ectives are to minimize the potential adverse impact on public health resulting from the use of antimicrobial agents in food-producing animals, in particular the development of antimicrobial resistance. It is also important to provide for the safe and effective use of veterinary antimicrobial drugs in veterinary medicine by maintaining their efficacy. This document defines the respective responsibilities of authorities and groups involved in the authorization, production, control, distribution and use of veterinary antimicrobials such as the national regulatory authorities, the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, veterinarians, distributors and producers of food-producing animals.
more
Antibiotic Stewardship (AS) is a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials to improve patient outcomes, reduce microbial resistance, and decrease the spread of multi-drug resistant organisms. In clinical settings, stewardship activities focus on measuring and improving ...how antibiotics are prescribed by clinicians and used by patients. Improving antibiotic prescribing involves implementing effective strategies to modify prescribing practices to align them with evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis and management.
more
These Guidelines on prudent use of antimicrobials in human health are based on a technical report prepared by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) with input from EU Member States experts and stakeholders, which should be referred to for details of the methodology used in cr...eating the guidelines as well as for additional references
more
Mothers, newborns, young children and adolescents are losing 20 percent of their health and social services due to the COVID-19 pandemic says a Panel of senior global health experts.
Groupe indépendant d’experts de la redevabilité de l’initiative Chaque femme, chaque enfant. (2020). Dans la tourmente de la pandémie de COVID-19: la santé de la femme, de l’enfant et de l’adolescent dans le contexte de la couverture sanitaire universelle et des objectifs de dével...oppement durable : rapport 2020 : résumé d'orientation.
more
Since 24 February 2022, the war in Ukraine has caused widespread suffering to its people and serious damage
to the country’s infrastructure. Attacks on the country’s health system and its power network threaten people, compromise the provision of health care, and complicate the distribution of ...essential medicines and equipment.
more
Rabies is a fatal viral zoonosis and serious public health problem.1 All mammals are believed to be susceptible to the disease, and for the purposes of this document, use of the term animal refers to mammals. The disease is an acute, progressive encephalitis caused by viruses in the genus Lyssavirus....
2 Rabies virus is the most important lyssavirus globally. In the
United States, multiple rabies virus variants are maintained in wild mammalian reservoir populations such as raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats. Although the United States has been declared free from transmission of canine rabies virus variants, there is always a risk of reintroduction of these variants.The rabies virus is usually transmitted from animal to animal through bites. The incubation period is
highly variable. In domestic animals, it is generally 3 to 12 weeks, but can range from several days to months, exceeding 6 months.8 Rabies is communicable during the period of salivary shedding of rabies virus. Experimental and historic evidence documents that dogs, cats, and ferrets shed the virus for a few days prior to the onset of clinical signs and during illness. Clinical signs of rabies are variable and include inappetance, dysphagia, cranial nerve deficits, abnormal behavior, ataxia, paralysis, altered vocalization, and seizures. Progression to death is rapid. There are currently no known effective rabies antiviral drugs.
more