Anopheles stephensi, a highly competent vector of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax, is considered an efficient vector of urban malaria. Until 2011, the reported distribution of An. stephensi was confined to certain countries of South Asia and parts of the Arabian Peninsula. Since then, the vector ...has been collected in Djibouti (2012), Ethiopia (2016), Sudan (2016), Sri Lanka (2017), Somalia (2019), and most recently Nigeria (2020) and Yemen (2021). WHO considers the spread of An. stephensi to be a major potential threat to malaria control and elimination in Africa and southern Asia and has recently launched an initiative against the spread of this vector in Africa.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a major global threat across human, animal, plant food and environmental sectors, threatening the effective treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi, resulting in prolonged illness and increased mor...tality, often felt hardest by the most vulnerable populations. AMR also endangers the sustainability of agri-food systems and food safety.
Since 2010 there is a strong commitment from FAO, OIE and PAHO to fight AMR, working together to mitigate the risks in the interconnection among the human health, animal health and the environment. In this context, the organizations now joined forces in the implementation of the project ‘Working Together to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance’ to ensure a coherent “One Health” approach recognizing the multidimensionality and necessity of an intersectoral response that is needed to address the problem of AMR.
The overall strategic objective of the three-year project (2020-22) supported and financed by the European Union (EU) is to contribute to tackle AMR through the implementation of National AMR Action Plans by working with seven Latin American partner countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
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The global emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is posing a threat to human health. Putting resources into the containment of AMR – including surveillance – is one of the highest-yield investments a country can make to mitigate its impact. In 2015, WHO launched the Global Antimicrobial Re...sistance Surveillance System (GLASS), the first global collaborative effort to foster AMR surveillance in bacteria causing acute infections. As of December 2018, 71 countries are enrolled in GLASS. The aim of this report is to document participation efforts and outcomes across these countries, and highlight differences and constraints identified to date. This report follows on from the first GLASS Report – Early implementation 2016-17, published in January 2018, and drawing on data from GLASS first data call in 2017.
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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.
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Tuberculosis (TB) and particularly drug-resistant TB continue to represent major public health threats in the WHO European Region. This document details the Tuberculosis action plan for the WHO European Region 2023–2030 as well as its monitoring and evaluation framework and outlines the visi...on and strategic actions for the TB response in the Region for this period. Developed through a Region-wide participatory consultation process, the TB action plan aims to support Member States to implement their national responses to the TB epidemic and provides strategies to enable the Region to reach the global End TB Strategy targets as well as aligning to the priorities of the European Programme of Work, 2020–2025 – “United Action for Better Health in Europe”.
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The escalating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pandemic is a global public health threat with extensive health, economic and societal implications. Resistance emerges because of selection pressure from rational and indiscriminate antimicrobial use in human health as well as in the veterinary, agricul...ture and environmental sectors. Infections caused by resistant bacteria result in longer duration of illness, higher mortality rates and increased costs associated with alternative treatment. AMR further constrains procedures that rely on antimicrobial prophylaxis, and AMR is recognized as a threat to theworld economy.
Journal of Public Health | Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 8–13 | doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdw015 | Advance Access Publication March 3 2016
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Overuse and misuse of antibiotics in animals and humans is contributing to the rising threat of antibiotic resistance. Some types of bacteria that cause serious infections in humans have already developed resistance to most or all of the available treatments, and there are very... few promising options in the research pipeline
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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)
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Taking a multisectoral, One Health approach is necessary to address complex health threats at the human-animal-environment interface, such as rabies, zoonotic influenza, anthrax, and Rift Valley fever. Such zoonotic diseases continue to have major impacts on health, livelihoods, and economies, and c...annot be effectively addressed by one sector alone.
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The risk of emergence and re-emergence of arboviruses with pandemic potential has increased as a global public health threat and will continue to do so in the years to come. The Global Arbovirus Initiative outlines an integrated approach across these viruses and disciplines that will enable optimal ...use of limited resources to achieve the greatest impact, particularly in areas with the heaviest arboviral burden and in areas that are at risk of emergence of arboviruses. Following a series of global consultations and review by the Technical Advisory Group on Arbovirus (TAG-Arbovirus), the Global Arbovirus Initiative and its 6 constituent pillars, each with strategic objectives and priority activities, are consolidated in this reference document.
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In recognition of the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), its increasing threat to human, animal and plant health, and the need for a One Health approach to address this issue, the 39th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) agreed it was important for the food safety comm...unity to play its part and re-established the ad hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TFAMR) ). The objectives of the Task Force were
to revise the current Codex Code of Practice to Minimise and Contain Antimicrobial Resistance and to develop new guidance on surveillance programmes relevant to foodborne AMR.
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Until fairly recently, debates about how to tackle the looming threat of antibiotic resistance have tended to focus on how to come up with new antibiotics
Epidemics and pandemics of infectious diseases are occurring more often, and spreading faster and further than ever, in many different regions of the world. The background factors of this threat are biological, environmental and lifestyle changes, among others. A potentially fatal combination of new...ly-discovered diseases, and the re-emergence of many long-established ones, demands urgent responses in all countries. Planning and preparation for epidemic prevention and control are essential. The purpose of the Managing epidemics handbook is to provide expert guidance on those responses. Building on the first edition, the second edition provides concise and basic up-to-date knowledge with which public health officials can respond effectively and rapidly at the very start of an outbreak. Part I of the handbook provides insights on epidemics of the 21st century and offers context on the upsurge of recent epidemics. Part II has been updated and offers 10 key facts about 19 deadly diseases including tips on the interventions required to respond. Part III presents various Tool boxes that summarize guidance on several important topics. The handbook focuses on practical and indispensable things to know about infectious diseases that are most important for national, political and operational decision-makers; it also links readers to more exhaustive WHO guidan
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Epidemics and pandemics of infectious diseases are occurring more often, and spreading faster and further than ever, in many different regions of the world. The background factors of this threat are biological, environmental and lifestyle changes, among others. A potentially fatal combination of new...ly-discovered diseases, and the re-emergence of many long-established ones, demands urgent responses in all countries. Planning and preparation for epidemic prevention and control are essential. The purpose of the Managing epidemics handbook is to provide expert guidance on those responses. Building on the first edition, the second edition provides concise and basic up-to-date knowledge with which public health officials can respond effectively and rapidly at the very start of an outbreak. Part I of the handbook provides insights on epidemics of the 21st century and offers context on the upsurge of recent epidemics. Part II has been updated and offers 10 key facts about 19 deadly diseases including tips on the interventions required to respond. Part III presents various Tool boxes that summarize guidance on several important topics. The handbook focuses on practical and indispensable things to know about infectious diseases that are most important for national, political and operational decision-makers; it also links readers to more exhaustive WHO guidan
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Effective malaria prevention is threatened by widespread and increasing vector insecticide resistance. Failure to mitigate this threat will likely result in an increased burden of disease, with significant cost implications. This new framework provides support for the development of a national insec...ticide resistance monitoring and management plan as part of a national malaria strategic plan.
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Even before the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, it was apparent that the world’s
directing and coordinating authority on international health work needed sustainable financing in order for Member States to address the evolving global health threats, ranging from those rooted in climate c...hange and social and financial conditions to emerging infectious diseases
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This report’s central premise is that diagnostics and therapeutics, and associated test to treat strategies, are fundamental components of the pandemic response, both for COVID-19 and for future health threats. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, this report reflects on the main challenges and k...ey solutions on the road to equitable access to diagnostics and therapeutics.
This report draws from experience gained through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Diagnostics and Therapeutics pillars, and includes the perspectives of collaborating stakeholders (countries, civil society representatives and the private sector). Building on these findings, this report proposes sixteen recommended actions to address what have been identified as key structural challenges and specifies a potential owner for each action.
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The Strategy provides a high-level unifying framework to leverage existing capacities, address barriers and strengthen the use of genomic surveillance in the detection, monitoring and response to public health threats. Genomic surveillance is part of the broader surveillance and laboratory system, a...nd its implementation should reinforce end-to-end capacities including sample collection, diagnostics, data sharing and analysis. The strategy aims to facilitate the connectivity between different disease control programs and surveillance networks. This interoperability will strengthen the cross-cutting essential public health laboratory functions underpinning genomics holistically. The strategy articulates the overarching goal, objectives and strategic actions needed. These are dependent on commitments from countries, partners and WHO for their implementation.
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This guidance document has been produced by WHO to assist blood services in the development of national plans to respond to any emerging infectious threats to the sufficiency or safety of the blood supply, whether from an existing infectious agent that is changing in incidence and spread, or from a ...newly identified infectious agent. It is intended that this document be followed to guide the national blood service through the process of planning how to respond in a timely, controlled and appropriate way to any specific infectious threat that may subsequently emerge. It is acknowledged that it is not only the blood supply that may be affected by such emerging infectious threats; in those countries undertaking transplantation, the supply of cell, tissues and organs may also be threatened. Increasingly, blood services are taking overall national responsibility for transplantation in their capacity as the organization responsible for the collection, processing, storage and supply of cells, tissues and organs. This approach is both sensible and appropriate, as the overall donor selection and screening processes are the same or very similar. This guidance document can therefore also be used to assist those bodies responsible for the provision of cells, tissues and organs to prepare for an emerging infectious threat.
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Key facts about major deadly diseases.This manual provides concise and up-to-date knowledge on 15 infectious diseases that have the potential to become international threats, and tips on how to respond to each of them.
You can download an interactive version directly at the website
http://www.who....int/emergencies/diseases/managing-epidemics/en/
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