The majority of developing countries will fail to achieve their targets for Universal Health Coverage (UHC)1 and the health- and poverty-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) unless they take urgent steps to strengthen their health financing. Just over a decade out from the SDG deadline of 20...30, 3.6 billion people do not receive the most essential health services they need, and 100 million are pushed into poverty from paying out-of-pocket for health services. The evidence is strong that progress towards UHC, core to SDG 3, will spur inclusive and sustainable economic growth, yet this will not happen unless countries achieve high-performance health financing, defined here as funding levels that are adequate and sustainable; pooling that is sufficient to spread the financial risks of ill-health; and spending that is efficient and equitable to assure desired levels of health service coverage, quality, and financial protection for all people— with resilience and sustainability.
more
The Country Cooperation Strategy is the World Health Organization’s corporate framework developed in response to a country’s needs and priorities. The 2022–2025 CCS is the fourth for WHO in Sierra Leone. It is a medium-term strategic document that defines a broad framework for WHO’s work, at... all levels, with the Government of Sierra Leone and all health partners for the next four years. This document is guided by the country’s major policy and strategy documents including the 2020 National Health and Sanitation Policy (NHSP); the 2021–2025 National Health Sector Strategic Plan (NHSSP); and the 2019–2023 National Medium-term Development Plan (NMTDP). The current CCS also reflects the broad priorities of WHO as outlined in its Thirteenth General Programme of Work (2019–2023, extended to 2025) with a focus on improving access to universal health coverage, protecting people from health emergencies, and improving people’s health and well-being. The CCS priorities are also in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) in Sierra Leone and will contribute to attaining the country's SDG targets
more
At its 48th session of Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH), the Committee noted the importance of water quality and safety in food production and processing. CCFH requested the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide guidan...ce for those scenarios where the use of “clean water” (i.e. water that does not compromise the safety of the food in the context of its use) was indicated in Codex texts and on
where it is appropriate to use “clean water”. In particular, guidance was sought for the use of irrigation water and “clean” seawater and on the safe reuse of processing water.
more
Diagnóstico y tratamiento de sífilis recomendaciones para los equipos de salud.
The chapter Fostering Health Systems’ Monitoring to Better Serve Older Populations is part of the publication series entitled Decade of Healthy Aging: Situation and Challenges. The publications are designed to favor the prioritization of effective actions at the local level as well as the monitori...ng of data and public health policies, and providing evidence-based information. Along with the objective of presenting the available updated knowledge about the situation of health and aging at the beginning of the Decade of Healthy Aging in the Americas, this publication gives information about health systems’ monitoring to better serve the needs of older adults and emphasizes the need for societies and health systems to better adapt to an aging population. It introduces the 360-tool as a guide to adapt health systems through monitoring tracers/indicators and highlighting the data and information that is readily available, disaggregated by age. This information can aid in decision-making and resource allocation to support older adults’ needs. Concerning the 360-tool development, a consensus has been reached on seven tracer indicators with high relevance to informing policy, and case studies in selected countries have assessed the feasibility of this approach. The list of indicators and the process related to the development of the tool are presented in this publication. The Decade of Healthy Aging 2021-2030 is a period to guide action towards the transformation of societies by fostering the inclusion of older people in every decision. This publication intends to contribute to this strategy and highlight the upcoming challenges and opportunities on healthy aging.
more
It is impossible to address the many complex needs of respiratory virus surveillance with a single surveillance system. Multiple systems, investigations and studies must each be fit-for-purpose to specific priority surveillance objectives, and only together can they provide essential information to ...policy-makers. In essence, each surveillance approach fit together as “tiles in a mosaic” that provides a complete picture of respiratory viruses and the impact of associated illnesses and interventions at the country level. This mosaic framework demonstrates how surveillance approaches may be implemented as coordinated and collaborative systems, well-matched to specific priority objectives.
more
Report of a global meeting on yaws eradication surveillance, monitoring and evaluation: Geneva, 29–30 January 2018. World Health Organization.
World Health Organization. (2021). Minimum technical standards and recommendations for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health care for emergency medical teams. World Health Organization.
The objectives of the meeting were:
1. To step up the commitment of national authorities and technical and financial partners toWHO’s elimination objective for g-HAT.
2. To share achievements, challenges and views on the elimination goal among countries and implementing partners.
3. To assess t...he status of critical technical aspects to be solved in research and development of drugs and diagnostic tools, epidemiology, vector control and animal reservoirs.
4. To define the mechanisms for strengthening and organizing collaboration and coordination among stakeholders.
more
Antibiotics 2022, 11(3), 329; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11030329.
The authors found that the most-represented antibiotics on the Rwandan market were amoxicillin, co-trimoxazole and cloxacillin. No counterfeit antibiotics were found in this study. However, substandard batches with moderate ...deviations were found, suggesting that regular quality control of antibiotics is needed in Rwanda.
more
This policy brief aims to provide a review of the current progress on implementing the Mali national action plan on AMR, identifies critical gaps, and highlights findings to accelerate further progress in the human health sector. The target audience includes all those concerned with implementing act...ions to combat antimicrobial resistance in Mali.
more
TUATION UPDATE
In the early morning of 6 February 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in southern Türkiye near the
northern border of Syria. The earthquake was followed 11 minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Many
aftershocks are still being felt across the region. Whilst the imp...act is still being assessed, initial reports evidence
significant damage in the areas of southern Türkiye and northern Syria.
In response, the Syria Ministry of Health (MoH) activated its emergency operations centre (EOC) on 6 Feb 2023
under the chairmanship of the Deputy Minister. In all affected governorates, public and private health facilities
and medical convoys have been repurposed to support the response and are being managed by the National
Ministry of Health (MoH) and Directorate of Health (DoH) at governorate level. Support has been directed to
affected areas, with medical convoys including 28 ambulances and 7 mobile clinics, deployed from the health
directorates of Damascus, Rural Damascus, Quneitra, Homs, Tartous, Aleppo and Latakia. At the same time, 4
more
Manual for step-by-step risk management for safely managed sanitation systems. 2nd edition.
This Sanitation safety planning (SSP) manual provides practical, step-by-step guidance to assist in the implementation of the 2018 World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines on sanitation and health and the ...2006 WHO Guidelines for safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater in agriculture and aquaculture. The approach and tools should be applied to all sanitary systems to ensure that they are managed to meet health objectives.
The SSP manual is targeted at a variety of users at different levels including; health authorities and regulators, local authorities, sanitation utility managers, sanitation enterprises and farmers, community-based organizations, farmers associations and nongovernmental organizations.
more
Sector Environmental Guidelines, Full technical Update
This global progress report attempts to lay the groundwork for the kind of accelerated action needed. Section 1 presents key data, trends and developments in women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being. That is followed in Section 2 by a deeper dive into the impact of the COVID-...19 pandemic, which has created and contributed to many threats and challenges to progress for women, children and adolescents. In Section 3, the report concludes with recommendations for accelerating progress towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda even in such challenging times, with an emphasis on partnership
and clear-eyed recognition of the consequences of failing to do better.
more
The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework is a World Health Assembly resolution adopted unanimously by all Member States in 2011. It brings together Member States, industry, other stakeholders and WHO to implement a global approach to pandemic influenza preparedness and response. The Frame...work includes a benefit-sharing mechanism called the Partnership Contribution (PC). The PC is collected as an annual cash contribution from influenza vaccine, diagnostic, and pharmaceutical manufacturers that use the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS). Funds are allocated for: (a) pandemic preparedness capacity building; (b) response activities during the time of an influenza pandemic; and (c) PIP Secretariat for the management and implementation of the Framework.
more
The WHO BioHub Biosafety & Biosecurity: criteria and operational modalities sets out the requirements to which laboratories wishing to receive biological materials as part of this international exchange system should abide, to ensure safe and secure operations. These provisions are in accordance wit...h the recommendations of the WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual 4th edition (LBM4), adopting an evidence- and risk-based approach to enable scalable and adaptable biosafety provisions and actions, proportionate to the assessed risk
more
These standards for the quality of paediatric care in health facilities form part of normative
guidance for improving the quality of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health care.
In view of the importance of the continuum of both the life-course and service delivery (1),
these standards bu...ild on the Standards for improving the quality of maternal and newborn
care in health facilities (2), during labour, childbirth and the early postnatal period.
more
The health sector In Ukraine is beginning to change in recent years. The sector, based on a system of health care (Semashko) originating from the Soviet Union, had been stagnant for many years. Remarkably little had changed since Independence and the health care system is as of today still character...ized by a very hierarchical and territorial system with large numbers of beds in institutional care settings. At the same time the Government of Ukraine has only limited resources available that are spread thin over the existing infrastructure
more