A handbook for leaders and managers
Important Guideline for Ebola prevention and control
It is designed for the following uses:
- for prevention through preparedness--to help African health facilities make advance preparations for responding with appropriate precautions when a VHF (including Ebola) case is suspected.
- for pl...anning and conducting in-service training to strengthen standard precautions and VHF isolation precautions.
- as a rapid reference when a VHF (i.e. Ebola) case appears at a health facility where no previous VHF preparations have been made.
more
It provides insight into WHO’s work that aims to improve the health of the people of the United Republic of Tanzania in collaboration with key stakeholders.
A total of 18 laboratories from 13 countries participated in the four rounds of EQA: 10 laboratories from eight African endemic countries, four of which participated in all four rounds and three in three rounds. The overall results showed that the median performance of these laboratories improved ov...er the four rounds. However, the proportion of laboratories reporting false–positive cases remains high and indicates a problem of specificity probably due to contamination. The proportion of laboratories reporting both false–positive and false–negative results raises the issue of the quality of the data reported by WHO in Africa as well as the results of the studies carried out in these different laboratories in various countries.
more
Buruli ulcer is caused by infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans. The disease is reported in more than 33 countries worldwide, but only about half of these countries regularly report data to WHO; most cases are reported from subregions of West and Central Africa. The mode of transmission is not known....
About half of those affected are children aged under 15 years; there is no gender difference. Diagnosis is based mainly on clinical and epidemiological characteristics. Of the four methods used for laboratory confirmation (microscopy, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), histopathology and culture), PCR is the most rapid and widely used. Other rapid methods for detection of mycolactone in lesions from suspected cases, such as fluorescent thin-layer chromatography, are under evaluation in four countries in Africa.
Research to develop point-of-care tests is in progress. Treatment of Buruli ulcer comprises 8 weeks of combined antibiotics (rifampicin and clarithromycin). Complementary therapies such as wound care, skin graft and prevention of disability are needed in some cases to ensure full recovery.
The target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for control of Buruli ulcer is for countries to achieve a rate of case confirmation by PCR of at least 70%. All endemic countries have at least one PCR facility to support confirmation of cases. However, most countries in the WHO African Region have not been able to reach the target, and the rate of case confirmation has been declining
more
WHO needs US$2.54 billion to provide life-saving assistance to millions of people around the world facing health emergencies. WHO’s Health Emergency Appeal is a consolidation of WHO’s priorities and financial requirements for 2023 to carry out health interventions in emergency and humanitarian r...esponses. The number of people in need of humanitarian relief has increased by almost a quarter compared to 2022, to a record 339 million. WHO is responding to an unprecedented number of intersecting health emergencies: climate change-related disasters such as flooding in Pakistan and food insecurity across the Sahel in the greater Horn of Africa; the war in Ukraine; and the health impact of conflict in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and north eastern Ethiopia – all of these emergencies overlapping with the health system disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreaks of measles, cholera, and other killers. Contributions to the appeal can be fully flexible, flexible across a region, or flexible within a country appeal.
more
The previous report of the WHO Expert Committee on this disease
followed a meeting in 1995. Intensive, coordinated efforts against HAT during
the intervening 18 years have resulted in a decrease in incidence to a point at
which elimination is considered feasible. This report provides informati...on about
new diagnostic approaches, new therapeutic regimens and better understanding
of the distribution of the disease with high-quality mapping. The roles of human
and animal reservoirs and the tsetse fly vectors that transmit the parasites are
emphasized. The new information has formed the basis for an integrated strategy
with which it is hoped that elimination of HAT will be achieved. The report also
contains recommendations on the approaches that will lead to elimination of the
disease.
more
Anopheles stephensi is a mosquito species that is capable of transmitting both Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria parasites. Unlike the other main mosquito vectors of malaria, it thrives in urban and man-made environments. Originally native to parts of South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, A...n. stephensi has been detected, to date, in 7 countries in the African continent.
more
Disability inclusive shelter programming enables persons with disabilities to contribute more to their communities, participate more in consultations and decision-making, and facilitate their own protection. The key concepts include: Disability inclusive shelter programming is both a process and an ...outcome. By engaging persons with disabilities in the process, we will also improve the outcomes for persons with disabilities.
The disability community has the slogan “Nothing about us without us,” reminding that we should include and work with persons with disabilities and their representative groups rather than plan or make decisions on their behalf. Persons with disabilities should be engaged throughout shelter programme planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
more
During the Programme Managers’ Review Meeting of Central and East Africa and South-East Asia (online meeting, June 2022), experts proposed additional regional and national subtargets related to VL incidence, as defined below. These targets can be revisited as progress is reviewed and access to dia...gnosis and treatment and surveillance improves.
more
Animicrobial resistance (AMR) was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the
top 10 health threats facing humanity. The effects of AMR are far-reaching as it cuts across sectors and affects food safety,
nutrition security, livelihoods, environment and, consequently, attainment o...f several sustainable development goals (SDGs)
more
WHO convened the fifth stakeholders meeting on the elimination of HAT due to infection with Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (g-HAT) and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (r-HAT) in Geneva, Switzerland, on 7–9 June 2023. The meeting was held again in person after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandem...ic and jointly for both forms of the disease. The previous meetings on g-HAT held in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as on r-HAT in 2015, 2017 and 2019, and jointly for g-HAT and r-HAT in 2021 (8) reinforced the partnership and commitment for HAT elimination and structured the mechanisms of collaboration within the WHO network for HAT elimination. The network includes NSSCPs, groups developing new tools, international and nongovernmental organizations involved in disease control, and donors.
Fewer than 1000 cases of HAT annually have been reported over the past 5 years, which is a historic achievement. The area at risk has been substantially reduced. The elimination of HAT as a public health problem at the global level has been achieved.
The new road map for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) 2021−2030 (“the road map”) with the target to interrupt the transmission of g-HAT requires the strengthened and sustained efforts of all stakeholders, national authorities and partners, under WHO coordination. It will take disproportionally high efforts and innovative strategies to find the last cases of g-HAT and neutralize its transmission. Given the limited resources and other competing public health priorities, this is a challenge that requires our joint commitment.
more
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the world’s top 10 public health threats. The World Health Organization (WHO) in the African Region, using the Antimicrobial Stewardship assessment tool, has assessed Member States progress on strengthening national capacity need for effective implementatio...n of antimicrobial stewardship interventions to mitigate the threat posed by AMR. The African Region bears the bulk of the global burden of AMR, which drives up health care costs and the increases the economic burden on families and societies. Ultimately, this puts the achievements of modern medicine at risk when infections can no longer be treated with first-line antibiotics. In 2019, the deaths associated with and those directly attributable to bacterial resistance were estimated around 4.95 million and 1.27 million respectively. Left unchecked, deaths from drug resistant infections will surpass the predicted annual death toll of 10 million by 2050.
more
This report highlights the increasing public health
burden of road traffic injuries and fatalities in
the Region. Road traffic deaths are becoming a
significant problem in Africa, rising at a faster rate
than in any other region. Fatalities increased by
nearly one fifth in the decade from 2010 ...to 2021,
with almost one quarter of a million people killed
on Africa’s roads within that decade
more
Human strongyloidiasis is a chronic parasitic disease caused by infection with Strongyloides stercoralis, a soil-transmitted helminth that is estimated to infect 300–600 million people worldwide. This neglected tropical disease (NTD) is endemic globally, predominately in the South-East Asia, Afric...an and Western Pacific regions, and in South and Central America. Strongyloidiasis has a wide range of clinical presentations, including subclinical disease, symptomatic disease (often with diarrhoea, abdominal pain and urticaria) and a rare but deadly complication of hyperinfection with disseminated disease. The feared complication of disseminated strongyloidiasis can occur in the setting of immunocompromising conditions (e.g. human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 infection and malignancies) or immunosuppressive medications (e.g. steroids) and has an estimated case-fatality rate exceeding 60%. The standard treatment for chronic S. stercoralis infection is oral medication with ivermectin.
more
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has determined that the upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (2005...) (IHR). Dr Tedros’s declaration came on the advice of an IHR Emergency Committee of independent experts who met earlier in the day to review data presented by experts from WHO and affected countries. The Committee informed the Director-General that it considers the upsurge of mpox to be a PHEIC, with potential to spread further across countries in Africa and possibly outside the continent.
more