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.
more
This publication provides an overview of evidence and guidance on the growing challenge of workplace heat stress in the context of climate change. It highlights the health and productivity risks faced by billions of workers, especially in manual labor sectors. The report details the physiological, s...ocioeconomic, and mental health impacts of heat stress and outlines evidence-based strategies for prevention and mitigation. It emphasizes the need for occupational heat action programmes, stakeholder collaboration, and tailored interventions to protect vulnerable workers, reduce productivity losses, and support sustainable development in a warming world.
more
The brief on key findings from the 2025 edition of the WHO anaemia estimates provides a snapshot of the current status of anaemia among women aged 15–49 years at the country, regional, and global levels, along with progress toward achieving the global anaemia target by 2030, in alignment with the ...Sustainable Development Goals.
more
The 2022 report reviews the global malaria diagnostics market and technological landscape to support Unitaid’s 2023–2027 strategy for quality malaria case management. The report highlights the stalled progress of malaria control efforts, the gaps in access to diagnostics and the public health im...plications of P. falciparum HRP2/3 gene deletions, which compromise the accuracy of the widely used HRP2-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). The report analyses the malaria RDT market, noting supplier diversification, price trends and production shifts resulting from the pandemic. It also addresses the emerging point-of-care G6PD testing market, which is required to ensure the safe radical cure of P. vivax infections. It surveys technological innovation, including digital microscopy, hemozoin tests, nucleic acid detection and biosensors, while emphasising that RDTs and microscopy will remain the mainstay of case management in the near term. The report identifies market shortcomings, access barriers and opportunities to improve malaria case management and diagnostic coverage.
more
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.
more
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant global health challenge, with an estimated annual death rate of approximately one per 100,000 people in countries with low TB prevalence. Rapid reductions in TB cases and deaths worldwide depend on research breakthroughs, including the development of new vac...cines. There has recently been an increase in political commitment, as evidenced by two UN high-level meetings on TB in 2018 and 2023. The 2023 political declaration reaffirmed the goals set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the WHO's End TB Strategy, and established new targets for the period 2023–2027
more
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.
more
To guide the provision of quality palliative care services across the African region, the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) has developed a framework of core palliative care competencies that can be used by service providers, educators and other stakeholders to guide programmes development.
The guide helps patients to understand their rights in relation to the care received and provides insights into the common legal and
human rights issues they may encounter, and encourages them to share these with the health care provider for support. This booklet covers key issues that you mig...ht need to understand about ethical care, human rights and legal aspects. It aims to help people with serious illness as they face these issues, and give them guidance on how they can find solutions.
more
These guidelines have been developed in simple, user-friendly language and they explain the procedures for patients’ access to and the safe management of Schedule I and II drugs that are necessary for the treatment and relief of moderate to severe pain. They provide both procedures for acquisition... and information on records or documents that are necessary to ensure that these medicines are made available and accessible to patients across the entire health care delivery system (i.e. from tertiary institutions to primary level) and ensuring prevention of illicit non-medical use.
more
Universal health coverage (UHC) has a central place in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, as
it is a major target (3.8) under SDG 3 (Ensuring healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages). The World Health
Organization defines Universal Health Coverage (UHC) ...as a means through which all people and communities can use the
promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective,
while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship. UHC brings hope of better
health and protection for the world’s poorest.
more
The African Palliative Care Association is pleased to publish the first edition of Palliative Care Standards for Africa. The development of these standards was achieved through wide consultation with service beneficiaries and providers, and they have been developed to suit different levels of ... service delivery, from primary to tertiary. These standards are underpinned by the World Health Organization’s definition of palliative care, and recognise that scaling up palliative care requires a public health approach with four pillars: policy, education, drug availability and implementation. In addition, the increasing need to establish specific indicators of quality and effectiveness for palliative care has been a big driving force behind these comprehensive standards. It is APCA’s wish that they will provide a framework for the development of evaluation
and performance indicators that can facilitate programme improvement and development. The standards are designed to allow the development or improvement of palliative care across the different services levels, within the organisational capacity of various service providers. They describe a relationship between primary, intermediary and tertiary level service providers, with expectations for all providers articulated through detailed criteria for each standard. It is therefore expected that these standards will influence the planning and delivery of palliative care services at all levels of health care service delivery.
more
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.
more
IDMC's Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) is the authoritative source for data and analysis on the state of internal displacement for the previous year.
This report synthesizes the state of knowledge on the interlinkages between environmental degradation climate change conflict and mobility in the East and Horn of Africa, focusing on Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
On 13 August 2024, the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC) declared the multi-country mpox outbreak a public health emergency of continental security, with strong recommendations to improve surveillance and vaccine deployment in all AU Member States. On 14 August 2024, the WHO Director-G...eneral declared mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
more
Drawing on the World Health Organization’s package of NCD best buys, the report demonstrates how these evidence-based measures can help countries reduce premature deaths, strengthen health systems, and advance progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. It provides policymakers, donors, ad...vocates, and partners with a clear economic and social rationale for scaling up implementation of proven solutions. By framing NCD prevention and control as both a health and development priority, the report offers a roadmap for action that delivers benefits across populations, economies, and generations. The evidence is clear: investing in WHO’s best buys is not only possible—it is imperative. The time to act is now.
more
The global cholera statistics for 2024, showing an increase in both the number of people who fell sick and died from the disease.
Reported cholera cases rose by 5% and deaths by 50% in 2024 compared to 2023, with more than 6000 people dying from a disease that is both preventable and treatable. Whi...le these numbers are themselves alarming, they are underestimates of the true burden of cholera.
Weekly epidemiological record WER No 36, 2025, 100, 347–364
more
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).
more
Updated guidance on the integration of diabetes, hypertension and mental health services, and interventions to support adherence to antiretroviral therapy. The guideline offers practical implementation guidance for countries and key stakeholders as well as outlining key research gaps. As life expec...tancy for people living with HIV continues to increase, managing noncommunicable diseases, mental health, and adherence to antiretroviral therapy is essential to sustaining treatment success, quality of life, and engagement in care. A life course approach addresses these needs from childhood through older age. Service integration supports more person-centred, coordinated care across the life course.
more