Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global human, animal, plant and environment health threat that needs to be addressed by every country. The impacts of AMR are wide-ranging in terms of human health, animal health, food security and safety, environmental effects on ecosystems and biodiversity, and ...socioeconomic development. Just like the climate crisis, AMR poses a significant threat to the delivery of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The response to the AMR crisis has been spearheaded through the global action plan on antimicrobial resistance (GAP-AMR), developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015, in close collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and formally endorsed by the three organizations’ governing bodies and by the Political Declaration of the high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on AMR in 2016. In 2022, the three organizations officially became the Quadripartite by welcoming the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) into the alliance “to accelerate coordination strategy on human, animal and ecosystem health”.
The aim of the GAP-AMR is to ensure the continuity of successful treatment with effective and safe medicines.
Its strategic objectives include:
• improving the awareness and understanding of AMR;
• strengthening the knowledge and evidence base through surveillance and research;
• reducing the incidence of infection through effective sanitation, hygiene and infection prevention measures; optimizing the use of antimicrobial medicines in human and animal health; and
• developing the economic case for sustainable investment that takes account of the needs of all countries and increasing investment in new medicines, diagnostic tools, vaccines and other interventions.
With the adoption of the GAP-AMR, countries agreed to develop national action plans (NAPs) aligned with the GAP-AMR to mainstream AMR interventions nationally. Individually, the Quadripartite took action to advance AMR interventions in their respective sectors. FAO adopted a resolution on AMR recognizing that it poses an increasingly serious threat to public health and sustainable food production, and developed an AMR action plan to support the resolution’s implementation. For its part, WOAH developed a strategy on AMR aligned with the GAP-AMR, acknowledging the importance of a One Health approach to AMR. Similarly, more recently, UNEP’s governing body, the United Nations Environment Assembly, recognized that AMR is a current and increasing threat and a challenge to global health, food security and the sustainable development of all countries, and welcomed the GAP-AMR and the NAPs developed in accordance with its five overarching strategic objectives
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Classical rabies caused by RABV occurs worldwide besides some isolated countries and Western Europe that are regarded rabies free. Carnivores, especially of the canidae family represent the principal reservoir species and are responsible for the maintenance of the infectious cycle and hence for the ...presence of the disease (see Epidemiology of rabies). While wildlife rabies maintained by different reservoirs hosts predominantly occurs in the Northern hemisphere, canine rabies is by far more important for public health in the developing world.
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All lyssaviruses have evolved closely with distinct natural reservoir hosts. The latter are animals species in which a pathogen of an infectious disease are maintained independently. For lyssaviruses, these are a wide range of mammalian species within the Carnivora and Chiroptera (bats) orders with ...a global distribution.
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“Guide to facilitate the implementation of the WHO/UNICEF “Guidance on developing a national deployment and vaccination plan for COVID-19 vaccines” for Africa
t contains action-oriented lists of critical topics to address and checklists tailored to the context of African Union Member States.
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The contents of this guide aim to guide the development of one comprehensive national deployment and vaccination plan, as proposed and outlined by the guidance – and underlines the need for countries to develop their vaccination plans.
This guide is not meant as a tool to assess deployment readiness. The recommendation to Member States is to use the VIRAT/VRAF 2.0 tool for that, which builds on the COVAX Vaccine Introduction Readiness Assessment Tool (VIRAT) and the World Bank’s Vaccine Readiness Assessment Framework (VRAF).
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“Guide to facilitate the implementation of the WHO/UNICEF “Guidance on developing a national deployment and vaccination plan for COVID-19 vaccines” for Africa
A guide on how to prevent and address social stigma surrounding coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for Government, media and local organisations working on the disease.
Available in different languages: Arabic, English, French, Indonesia, Hindi, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Vientmese, Bengali, Malay, Portu...guese, Spanish, Tamil, Chinese
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Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 9313. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159313. A mixed-methods study, using an online survey and in-depth interviews, was conducted. Participants included Mental Health Focal Points at the Ministries of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) country ...and regional offices, and civil society representatives. Responses were received from 28 countries out of 55 contacted. The implementation level, based on standard guidelines, of MHPSS activities was below 50% in most countries. The most implemented MHPSS activities were establishing coordination groups (57%) and developing MHPSS strategy (45%), while the least implemented activities included implementing the developed MHPSS strategy (32%) and establishing monitoring and evaluation mechanisms (21%). Key factors that hindered implementing MHPSS activities included lack of political commitment and low prioritisation of mental health during emergencies, as it was seen as a “less important” issue during the COVID-19 pandemic, when more importance was given to infection prevention and control (IPC)
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Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Jul [date cited]. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2607.200915
Infection control instructions call for use of alcohol-based hand rub solutions to inactivate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. We determined the virucidal activity of World Health Organization–recommen...ded hand rub formulations, at full strength and multiple dilutions, and of the active ingredients. All disinfectants demonstrated efficient virus inactivation.
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Scientific brief
8 April 2020
The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the issues in regulating and managing international emergency in a selection of large and small-scale sudden onset disasters (SODs). In doing so, it aims to contribute to several key international commitments as well as its objective in disaste...rs and emergencies to “reduce the consequences the event may have on world health and its social and economic implications”.
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To understand the patterns of Rwanda’s achievements in health development, it is important to explore how Rwanda addresses the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) particularly those related to routine conditions in which people are born, live and work. It is in this particular context that a case ...study on Rwanda’s Performance in Addressing Social Determinants of Health was conducted by the Rwanda Ministry of Health, with technical and financial support from the World Health Organization (WHO). The overall goal of the exercise was to document Rwanda's recent initiatives that contribute to the advancements of the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health.
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With some 134,073,166 people living in endemic communities at risk of infection, Nigeria is the most endemic country in Africa and requires preventive chemotherapy (PC) for a total of 26.3 million persons. The National Schistosomiasis Elimination Programme (NSCHEP), with the support of international... partners, has been implementing PC in Nigeria since 2009 and most recently will need to revise its current strategy (Additional file 1). For example, the new World Health Organization (WHO) guideline has six key recommendations that will dramatically change the implementation of schistosomiasis elimination in endemic countries [3]. However, its impact and programmatic implications will vary from country to country, hence the need for a country-specific analysis. This article discusses these recommendations with specific reference to the challenges and opportunities in Nigeria. We summarise the key pointers in Additional file 1: Box 1 against the six recommendations of the WHO 2022 guideline.
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Bioethics 519 (online) doi:10.1111/bioe.12145 Volume 29 Number 8 2015 pp. 488–596;
Pandemic plans recommend phases of response to an emergent infectious disease (EID) outbreak, and are primarily aimed at preventing and mitigating human-to-human transmission. These plans carry presumptive weight ...and are increasingly being operationalized at the national, regional and international level with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO). The conventional focus of pandemic preparedness for EIDs of zoonotic origin has been on public health and human welfare. However, thisfocus on human populations has resulted in strategically important disciplinary silos. As the risks of zoonotic diseases have implications that reach across many domains outside traditional public health, including anthropological, environmental, and veterinary fora, a more inclusive ecological perspective is paramount for an effective response to future outbreaks.
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The Comprehensive Rural Health Project, Jamkhed (CRHP), has been working among the rural poor and marginalized for the past 45 years. Founded in 1970 by Drs. Raj and Mabelle Arole to bring healthcare to the poorest of the poor, CRHP has become an organization that empowers people and communities to ...eliminate injustices through integrated efforts in health and development. CRHP works by mobilizing and building the capacity of communities to achieve access to comprehensive development and freedom from stigma, poverty, and disease. Pioneering a comprehensive approach to community-based primary healthcare (also known as the Jamkhed Model), CRHP has been a leader in public health and development in rural communities in India and around the world. At the core of this comprehensive community-based approach is its embrace of equity for all, utilizing healthcare as a means to break the cycle of poverty. The work of CRHP has been recognized by the WHO and UNICEF, and has been introduced to communities around the world.
accessed 23.07.2021
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The greatest risk to persons engaging in international medical emergency response is poor preparation.
The In Control handbook hopes to provide a remedy.
At the time of writing, we are living through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a health emergency that disregards physical borders, brin...gs into focus social inequalities and affects people on every continent. This shared challenge requires unprecedented measures and the collaboration of the brightest minds to support global health protection through this crisis and beyond. Healthcare infrastructures have to be strengthened, public health capacities and processes upgraded, medical countermeasures and vaccinations found and psychosocial side-effects treated.
Solidarity is the normative order of the day and the human species has to collaborate to face this invisible threat. Hiding and living in fear is not an option in this interconnected world. We have both a responsibility and an opportunity to make substantial contributions to a safer, healthier and more sustainable future for us all.
The existence of this handbook is an impressive example of solidarity. Over 50 authors from more than 15 institutes and organisations have come together voluntarily within a very short time to make their expertise available and enable cross-sectoral thinking. Knowledge is bundled, resources are combined, information gaps are filled. The In Control handbook is not a theoretical treatise of possible dangers, but a collection of subject-matter expertise, written by experts and practitioners who have shaped health topics over the past 20 years in the most diverse corners of the world.
The Centre for International Health Protection at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is collaborating with its partners and investing heavily in the build-up of operational know-how and capacity to support health crisis response abroad. This is done by preparing and enabling professionals to deploy safely across the world to assist those in need. In Control addresses the multi-faceted challenges of an international deployment. Readers will find not only technical medical information, but also insights into, for example, the fragility of our environment, the cultural differences that influence risk communication or the dilemmas arising from social distancing. Legal principles are highlighted, along with ethical guidance to ensure that our actions and decisions correspond to the highest moral standards.
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Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a lethal neglected tropical disease (NTD) transmitted by the bite of infected tsetse flies. The disease is also known as “sleeping sickness”. During the 20th century it caused enormous suffering in the endemic areas in sub-Saharan Africa. HAT transmission l...ast soared in the late 1990s, triggering a renewed, coordinated and very successful control effort. In this paper, we present achievements towards HAT elimination, with a focus on the WHO road map targets for 2020. In particular, reported cases continue to decline, from over 30,000 cases per year at the turn of the century to 663 cases in 2020. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, HAT surveillance was largely sustained, and the network of health facilities able to diagnose and treat the disease further expanded. Looking to the future, the World Health Organization (WHO) set bold new targets for HAT in its 2021–2030 road map for NTDs, namely: the elimination of transmission of gambiense HAT, which occurs in western and central Africa, and the elimination as a public health problem of rhodesiense HAT, which is found in eastern and southern Africa. The strong commitment of national health authorities and the international community will be essential if these goals are to be achieved.
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