This guidance covers different options for banning or phasing out a pesticide and suggests related risk reduction measures to be taken during the phase-out period. A key focus of this guidance is how to take action to manage, prevent, minimize, and communicate about identified risks during the imple...mentation of a phase-out strategy. It contains a description of legal aspects to consider when phasing out a product and illustrates how a risk communication plan can be structured and implemented. How different stakeholders may be involved when a pesticide is going to be phased out is also described.
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STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES - PREVENTION AND CARE FOR CHILD SURVIVORS
National tuberculosis (TB) prevalence surveys provide a nationally representative measurement of the burden of TB disease in the population, at a given point in time. Repeat surveys allow assessment of trends and tracking of progress towards national and global targets for reductions in TB disease b...urden. Survey data also provide important insights that can help national TB programmes to identify ways to improve TB diagnosis and treatment.
National TB prevalence surveys are relevant in countries that do not yet have national disease notification and vital registration systems that are of sufficiently high quality and coverage to allow reliable tracking of TB disease burden.
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Integrated Outbreak Analytics (IOA) applies a multidisciplinary approach to understanding outbreak dynamics and to inform outbreak response. It aims to drive comprehensive, accountable, and effective public health and clinical strategies by enabling communities, and national and subnational health a...uthorities to use data for operational decision-making. IOA embraces a holistic perspective of outbreak dynamics throughout: from the trigger questions to the data that are collected or accessed, to the interpretation of results and the recommendations that follow. In addition, IOA promotes co-development and monitoring of evidence informed actions.
The IOA toolkit aims to provide a clear understanding of IOA and highlight the importance of using an integrated, holistic approach to manage outbreak responses. It provides step-by-step guidance for setting up IOA and putting IOA principles into action. Finally, this toolkit provides guidance on applying IOA in humanitarian and emergency contexts, offering a practical and adaptable approach to informing public health emergency responses.
Developed based on the model from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), its creation involved extensive consultation with experts experienced in IOA applications. The toolkit was piloted in Tanganyika Province, DRC, as well as Somalia and Sudan, demonstrating its adaptability to diverse emergency scenarios. It builds upon an existing array of tools, templates, reports, case studies, animations, and publications used by stakeholders in diverse contexts.
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The Compendium of Solid Waste Management in Humanitarian Contexts is a comprehensive, structured and userfriendly manual and planning guide that provides a systematic overview of existing Solid Waste Management (SWM) technologies and approaches appropriate for use in humanitarian contexts.
This guide aims to provide an overview of successful practice from the field for the disaster risk reduction/management practitioner interested in EWS. It presents guiding principles that will build a strong foundation for the design or strengthening of EWS at any level. It is not an operational, bu...t a strategic, guide that insists on asking the right questions and exploring all perspectives prior even to deciding whether or not early warning is the appropriate tool for a given context.
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The Training Toolkit for Community Early Warning Systems is an operational manual that aims to strengthen early warning systems in a developing country context. It accompanies and should put into practice the guiding strategic principles found in the Community Early Warning Systems: Guiding Principl...es.
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The Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS) Checklist is a practical tool consisting of major components and actions that national governments, community organizations and partners within
and across all sectors can refer when developing or evaluating early warning systems
Exposure to air pollution has significant adverse health effects, leading to nearly 1 in every 8 deaths globally. Air pollution affects all age groups, from unborn children to older people, in both high- and low-income nations.
The ongoing global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) poses unique diagnostic and clinical management challenges in regions where seasonal epidemic-prone diseases are endemic. Diseases such as dengue, malaria, seasonal influenza, leptospirosis, chikungunya, scrub typhus and bacterial infections often... present with febrile syndromes that mimic or co-exist with SARS-CoV-2 infection, complicating diagnosis and treatment. This document provides guidelines for preventing, diagnosing and managing such co-infections. A high level of suspicion is essential during the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, taking into account region-specific disease prevalence. While the WHO's case definition for SARS-CoV-2 is broad and sensitive, the need for parallel testing for co-infections, in accordance with the protocols of the MoHFW, ICMR, NVBDCP and NCDC, is necessitated by overlapping clinical features. Ensuring the availability of reliable rapid diagnostic kits and applying integrated clinical and laboratory approaches are crucial to improving patient outcomes in the context of concurrent infections.
Accessed on 26/08/2025.
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In line with the Defeating meningitis by 2030: a global road map, the WHO guidelines on meningitis diagnosis, treatment and care Executive Summary provides a summary of the evidence-based recommendations for the clinical management of children and adults with community-acquired meningitis, including... acute and long-term care. Meningitis poses a significant public health threat, despite successful efforts to control the disease globally. The burden of morbidity and mortality from meningitis remains high, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and in settings experiencing large-scale, disruptive epidemics.
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The objective of this guideline is to present the complete set of all WHO recommendations and best practice statements relating to abortion. While legal, regulatory, policy and service-delivery contexts may vary from country to country, the recommendations and best practices described in this docume...nt aim to enable evidence-based decision-making with respect to quality abortion care.
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The annual bulletin of the Mekong Malaria Elimination (MME) programme is a yearly report that reviews ongoing efforts to combat multidrug resistance and eliminate malaria in the 6 countries of the Greater Mekong subregion (GMS): Cambodia, China (Yunnan province), Lao People's Democratic Republic, My...anmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.
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This guidance synthesizes current evidence on dengue laboratory testing and diagnostics and provides practical recommendations for laboratories, clinicians, public health officials, and programme managers involved in dengue diagnosis, surveillance, and control, in the context of the global emergency.... It includes a diagnostic algorithm for suspected cases, outlining appropriate testing methods based on days post symptom onset.
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Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have emerged as conditions of great public health concern in Kenya accounting for 39% of deaths annually. The Ministry of Health through the Department of Non-Communicable Diseases has adopted the vision of achieving a nation free from preventable burden of NCDs. Fur...ther, the mission of this strategy is to halt and reverse the rising burden of NCDs through effective multisectoral collaboration and partnerships by ensuring Kenyans receive the highest attainable standard of NCD continuum of care that is accessible, affordable, quality, equitable and sustainable thus alleviating suffering, disease and death for their well-being and socio-economic development.
The scope of NCDs covered by this strategy include; cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, mental health conditions, violence and injuries, hemoglobinopathies, haemophilia and other bleeding disorders, auto immune diseases, chronic renal diseases, epilepsy and other neurological disorders, chronic skin conditions and oral diseases and conditions. It equally addresses seven risk factors; tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets and toxins, physical inactivity, indoor air pollution, environmental pollutants and toxins and stress.
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In this guide, the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) has put together evidence‑based information on the use of specific opioids commonly used in the management of moderate‑to‑severe pain to manage both cancer and non‑cancer pain. APCA hopes that this guide will be a useful tool i...n aiding health professionals at all levels of healthcare delivery to assess and manage pain using opioids. All opioids included in this guide are listed on the WHO model list of essential medicines but we remind readers that oral morphine is the standard opioid of choice for managing moderate‑to‑severe pain and we recommend that it should be made available at all times.
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Access to medicines is essential for attainment of universal health coverage, which is central to achievement of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. Controlled medicines include those such as opioids, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, amphetamines and others with identified or emergent cl...inical indications. WHO recognizes that these medicines are necessary for pre- and post-operative care, for sedation, for the management of both acute and chronic pain, for palliative care, as anticonvulsants (anti-epileptics), for the management of anxiety disorders and for the management of substance use disorders, including as opioid agonist therapy (OAT).
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Lesotho’s Social and Behaviour Change Communication Strategy is a strategic response to the high levels of HIV and TB prevalence in the country that are exacerbated by the persistence of structural and sio-economic difficulties, such as poverty, unemployment, gender inequality and more. This strat...egy aims to address these issues.
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On Global Handwashing Day, WHO and UNICEF have released the first-ever global Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Community Settings to support governments and practitioners in promoting effective hand hygiene outside health care – across households, public spaces and institutions. Framing hand hygiene ...as a public good and a government responsibility, the Guidelines translate evidence into ready-to-adopt actions that enable sustainable access to effective hygiene services. This will reduce diarrhoeal disease, acute respiratory infections and other preventable illnesses, strengthening routine public health where people live, work, visit and study, and emergency preparedness, including outbreaks like cholera.
Despite clear benefits, 1.7 billion people still lacked basic hand hygiene services at home in 2024, including 611 million with no facility at all. Meeting the 2030 target will require accelerated progress – about a doubling in the global rate, and much faster in specific settings (up to 11-fold in least-developed countries and 8-fold in fragile contexts). Hand hygiene remains one of the most cost-effective health investments, reducing diarrhoea by 30% and acute respiratory infections by 17%, with large, measurable gains for population health.
“Clean hands save lives, but results at scale require policy, financing and accountability,” said Dr Ruediger Krech, Director a.i, Department of Environment, Climate Change, One Health & Migration at the World Health Organization. “These Guidelines help countries move beyond fragmented projects to government-led systems that make soap, water, and conditions conducive to everyday hand hygiene the norm.”
“Children and young people pay the highest price when basic hygiene is out of reach,” said Cecilia Scharp, Director, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Team, Programme Group, UNICEF. “These Guidelines provide practical steps to ensure facilities are accessible when they need to be – in homes, schools, markets, and transport hubs – so every child can learn, play and thrive with dignity.”
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This plan, approved by the Organization’s 62nd Directing Council, was shaped by extensive consultations with countries and stakeholders, and commits to transformative health outcomes over the next six years, tackling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), mental health, health security, fragmented healt...h systems and services, and the elimination of communicable diseases, amongst others.
“The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that the Region of the Americas is stronger when we work together,” said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Director. “This Strategic Plan harnesses our collective strength to build resilient health systems, reduce disease burden, and improve health and well-being for all across the Americas.”
The plan builds on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed gaps in health systems while highlighting the power of joint action. It targets measurable impacts in countries, such as reducing maternal mortality, reversing rising suicide rates, and eliminating diseases like leprosy and Chagas.
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