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.
more
This paper examines how diaspora and local organisations have responded to the crisis in Syria, how they evolved and the challenges that they face - and how international aid organisations and disapora and local groups can better work together in a new aid model.
WHO guidelines for pandemic preparedness and response in the nonhealth sector
Lymphatic filariasis is a vector-borne neglected tropical disease that causes damage of the lymphatic system and can lead to lymphoedema (elephantiasis) and hydrocele in infected individuals. The global baseline estimate of persons affected by lymphatic filariasis is 25 million men with hydrocele an...d over 15 million people with lymphoedema. At least 36 million persons remain with these chronic disease manifestations. The disease is endemic in 72 countries. In 2016, an estimated total population of 856 million were living in areas with ongoing transmission of the causative filarial parasites and requiring mass drug administration (MDA). Lymphatic filariasis disfigures and disables, and often leads to stigmatization and poverty. Hundreds of millions of dollars are lost annually due to reduced productivity of affected patients. WHO has ranked the disease as one of the world’s leading causes of permanent and long-term disability.
more
This consultative version of the guideline is the product of literature reviews, discussions and contributions from diverse stakeholders, as well as UNISDR-nominated experts appointed specifically for the development of the Words into Action guideline for Build back better in recovery, rehabilitatio...n and reconstruction.
Disaster impacted countries and communities are oftentimes much better equipped to Build Back Better during the extended period of recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction when they have taken actions to strengthen recovery capacity and decision-making effectiveness prior to the onset of disaster.
more
These guidelines provide a recommendation on iodine thyroid blocking (ITB), via oral administration of stable iodine, as an urgent protective action in responding to a nuclear accident. This recommendation aims to support emergency planners, policy makers, public health specialists, clinicians and o...ther relevant stakeholders, in order to strengthen public health preparedness for radiation emergencies in WHO Member States as required by the International Health Regulations (IHR) and in line with the international safety standards (GSR Part 7). The scope of the guidelines is confined to public health aspects of planning and implementation of ITB before and during a radiation emergency, such as dosage and timing of ITB administration, adverse effects of stable iodine, its packaging, storage, and distribution.
These guidelines supersede the 1999 WHO Guidelines for Iodine Prophylaxis following Nuclear Accidents.
more
Guidelines for the registration of microbial, botanical and semiochemical pest control agents for plant protection and public health uses.
These guidelines are intended to guide pesticide regulatory authorities in the registration of microbial, botanical, and semiochemical pest control agents for p...lant protection and public health uses.
more
(Health Systems in Transition, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2014)
No publication year indicated
The specific objectives of the plan are to:
- Scale up evidence-based, cost effective interventions through effective strategies within a HSS approach and provide equitable coverage with quality.
- Reduce neonatal mortality by improved home-based newborn ...care, early identification of sick newborns and improved access to institutional newborn care of adequate quality.
- Reduce common childhood illness related mortality (due to pneumonia and diarrhoea in all areas and malaria in endemic areas) by improving key family and community practices, community-based early diagnosis and management and referral care for complicated cases.
more
By December of 2019, an estimated 5.3 million Venezuelans would have left the country, migrating in search of opportunities, health services and an overall search to improve the socio-economic conditions of themselves and their families. This is the largest migration in the history of the Americas. ...Migrants are one of the most vulnerable populations, exposed to human trafficking, abuse, exploitation and violence.
This Emergency Appeal seeks funds to reach this vulnerable population through a range of services that are aimed at preserving the dignity of migrant populations and increasing their wellbeing. These services are: shelter; livelihoods and basic needs; health services; water, sanitation and hygiene services; protection gender and inclusion. T
more
The WHO Regional Office for Europe, the WHO Collaborating Centre on Culture and Health at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) and the National Institute of Mental Health (Czechia) convened a workshop on culture and reform of mental health care in central and eastern Europe on 2–3 October 201...7 in Klecany, Czechia. The aim of this workshop was to improve understanding of the key cultural aspects that impact and drive mental health-care reform in the central and eastern European region. This report outlines the key points and recommendations made by participants in relation to this objective.
more
Miscellaneous
Chapter J.8
PQDx 0181-031-00
WHO PQ Public Report
March/2017, version 3.0
Antimicrobial resistance is a global crisis that threatens a century of progress in health and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. There is no time to wait. Unless the world acts urgently, antimicrobial resistance will have disastrous impact within a generation.
Guía para personal de Primera Línea de Respuesta a la COVID-19.
Esta Guía básica de habilidades psicosociales es un proyecto del Grupo de Referencia
del Comité Permanente entre Organismos sobre Salud Mental y Apoyo Psicosocial en
situaciones de emergencia (IASC MHPSS RG). El proyecto fue apo...yado por las agencias
miembros del IASC MHPSS RG, con amplias aportaciones de los sobrevivientes de
COVID-19 y el personal de primera línea de respuesta contra la COVID-19.
more
There are varying Christian perspectives on medical ethics, depending onthe differing beliefs, principles and practicesthat undergird them. Notonly are there numerous Christian churches and organisations but,within and between these, there are varying schools of thought that seek to ... guide theological and ethical enquiry. In addition, most Christian believers are encouraged to make their own personal ethical decisions. While biblical and theological reflection,especially on the life and teaching of Jesus, will play an important role in many individuals’ decision making, others will base their decisions more loosely on a mixture of their Christian ‘background’, their personal experience and their daily interaction with people and current ideas. It is not possible, therefore, to present a definitive Christian perspective on medical ethics, but it is possible to identify many of the features that contribute, consciously or, perhaps more often, subconsciously, to the perspectives that most Christians have.
more
Transformation and outlook
This report presents the findings from a ‘deep dive’ undertaken by UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office to consider the experiences in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and the Pacific. The target audience for this report ...includes OPDs and humanitarian actors at global, regional, and country levels.
more