The report identifies major global gaps in WASH services: one third of health care facilities do not have what is needed to clean hands where care is provided; one in four facilities have no water services, and 10% have no sanitation services. This means that 1.8 billion people use facilities that l...ack basic water services and 800 million use facilities with no toilets. Across the world’s 47 least-developed countries, the problem is even greater: half of health care facilities lack basic water services. Furthermore, the extent of the problem remains hidden because major gaps in data persist, especially on environmental cleaning.
This report also describes the global and national responses to the 2019 World Health Assembly resolution on WASH in health care facilities. More than 70% of countries have conducted related situation analyses, 86% have updated and are implementing standards and 60% are working to incrementally improve infrastructure and operation and maintenance of WASH services. Case studies from 30 countries demonstrate that progress is being propelled by strong national leadership and coordination, use of data to direct resources and action, and the mutual benefits of empowering health workers and communities to develop solutions together.
more
Yaws is targeted for eradication by 2030, using a strategy based on mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin. New diagnostics are needed to aid eradication. Serology is currently the mainstay for yaws diagnosis; however, inaccuracies associated with current serological tests makes it difficu...lt to fully assess the need for and impact of eradication campaigns using these tools. Under the recommendation of the WHO Diagnostic Technical Advisory Group (DTAG) for Neglected Tropical Diseases(NTDs), a working group was assembled and tasked with agreeing on priority use cases for developing target product profiles (TPPs) for new diagnostics tools.
more
South Sudan continues to struggle with a severe health crisis affecting 8.9 million people, primarily in flood- and conflict-affected regions with population movements (displacement and returns), and disease outbreaks. The nation's health system, heavily reliant on international aid, faces staffing ...and resource shortages. Vulnerable groups, including women, children, the elderly, and those with disabilities, have limited healthcare access and face heightened risks of mortality and illness.
The life expectancy at birth (55 years) is among the lowest globally, as mortality rates remain among the highest with neonatal, infant, under-five mortality rates estimated at 39.63, 63.76 and 98.69 deaths per 1000 live births respectively, and a maternal mortality ratio of 1,223 deaths per 100,000 live births. Although some disease specific mortality rates such as TB and AIDS-related mortality have declined, mortality due to malaria and non-communicable diseases have increased over the past five years.
The main causes of morbidity remain communicable diseases; malaria, is the top cause of morbidity (64%) and mortality (45%) among outpatients, followed by pneumonia and diarrhea.20 Several Counties report malaria cases above the threshold perennially especially during the rainy seasons, affecting mainly children under five years. The last malaria indicator survey (2017) estimated malaria prevalence of 32%, 34% and 18% among children under-five, protection of civilian’s sites, and internally displaced persons, respectively.
more
The Committee discussed the implications for preparedness for smallpox-like events reflected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Committee noted how quickly diagnostics and vaccines could be developed and deployed when resources and political will were abundant. This rapidity was also due to the f...act that the genetic sequence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) had been shared worldwide. It was noted that in one country SARS-CoV-2 had been reconstructed in a laboratory from the viral genome sequence before the first case of COVID-19 had been reported, highlighting the benefits of synthetic biology technologies for accelerated development of diagnostics as well as the oft-described potential risks. Lessons learned about clinical care during the COVID-19 pandemic were also discussed.
more
Bonchial asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease in the world. In Kenya, it has been estimated that about 7.5% of the Kenyan population, nearly 4 million people, are currently living with asthma. Many cases tend to be underdiagnosed and undertreated which leads to high levels of morbid...ity and avoidable deaths. The consequences of poorly controlled asthma, including physical, mental, social, and economic impacts, are magnified in the poor on account of poor access to asthma services and sub-optimal quality of those services. With these guidelines, Kenya's Ministry of Health aims to work towards embedding asthma care in Universal Health Care (UHC) to ensure that quality asthma services are available in primary care settings with
referral networks strengthened for those who may require secondary and tertiary care. These national asthma guidelines will also ensure that treatment for asthma is standardized in both the public and the non-state health care sector.
more
Available in Englisch, French, Spanish and Chinese
The document provides guidelines for the management of acute diarrhoea, highlighting improved oral rehydration solutions (ORS) with reduced osmolarity and zinc supplementation. It emphasizes their effectiveness in reducing the duration and severity... of diarrhoeal episodes and preventing future cases. Aimed at families, communities, and healthcare professionals, it seeks to integrate these practices into routine care at home and in health centers.
more
The document provides guidelines for the prevention and control of cholera outbreaks. It focuses on key strategies such as improving access to safe drinking water, ensuring proper sanitation, and promoting hygiene practices to prevent the spread of the disease. The guidelines also emphasize the impo...rtance of early detection, prompt treatment with oral rehydration solutions (ORS) or intravenous fluids, and the strategic use of antibiotics in severe cases. Additionally, it discusses the role of community education and collaboration with health authorities to effectively manage cholera outbreaks.
more
Countries across the world are facing diverse epidemiological situations with varying response
capacities and access to life saving tools. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that national authorities continue to apply a risk-based approach when implementing measures related to COVID-19... and international travel while respecting the dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of travellers. This approach should consider the risk posed by travel for the importation and exportation of cases in the context of the evolving epidemiology, including the emergence and circulation of virus variants of concern; the expansion of the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out; and lessons learned while responding to the pandemic, including on the early detection and management of cases and the application of public health and social measures.
more
Contact tracing for COVID-19 is the process of identifying, assessing, and managing people who have been exposed to someone who has been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, while quarantine is the separation of contacts from other people after exposure to a probable or confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 i...nfection. In the context of growing global population immunity from COVID-19 vaccination and past SARS-CoV-2 infection, WHO recommends that identification, contact, quarantine and follow-up should be prioritized for individuals at high risk who have been in contact with a confirmed or probable case of SARS-CoV-2 infection, rather than targeting all contacts. This updated guidance also introduces shorter recommended quarantine periods, including the ability to further shorten quarantine through the use of testing. National and local health authorities should use risk-based approaches to contact tracing and quarantine that include reviewing and adjusting to their local circumstances and disease epidemiology, population immunity, their health system’s capacities, and risk tolerance.
more
There is a broad consensus nowadays that the Earth is warming up as a result of greenhouse gas emissions caused by anthropogenic activities. It is also clear that current trends in the fields of energy, development and population growth will lead to continuous and ever more dramatic climate change. ...This is bound to affect the fundamental prerequisites for maintaining good health: clean air and water, sufficient food and adequate housing. The planet will warm up gradually, but the consequences of the extreme weather conditions such as frequent
storms, floods, droughts and heat-waves will have sudden onset and acute repercussions. It is widely accepted that climate change will have an impact on the spread of infectious diseases in Europe, which is likely to bring about new public health risks in the majority of cases. Transmission of infectious diseases depends on a number of factors, including climate and environmental elements. Foodborne and waterborne diseases, for instance, are associated with high temperatures. Disease-transmitting vectors (e.g. mosquitoes, sandflies and ticks) are highly sensitive to climate conditions, including temperature and humidity; their geographical distribution will widen as climate conditions change, potentially allowing them to spread into regions where they are not currently able to live.
The primary purpose of this manual on climate change and infectious diseases is to raise the awareness and the level of knowledge of health workers at national, regional and local levels in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the health risks associated with climate change and infectious diseases. This manual was devel-
oped as part of the WHO Regional Office for Europe project, Protecting health from climate change: a seven–country initiative, implemented with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
more
Rabies is a disease of animals but too often the outcome is gauged in terms of human suffering and
death. Despite this, in areas of the world where rabies is endemic there is often a lack of communication between veterinary and medical professionals, to the extent that the disease continues to thri...ve and potential victims are not treated. The problem is partly
exacerbated by a lack of awareness and experience of the disease and of what to do when confronted by suspect cases. In these technologically advanced days, although it is possible to learn “all there is to know” about almost any subject, it is sometimes difficult to distil the essence.
more
Website last accessed ob 14.04.2023
Los trematodos transmitidos por los alimentos son zoonosis y sus patógenos sólo pueden transmitirse al ser humano tras completar un complejo ciclo vital, algunas de cuyas etapas tienen lugar en un hospedador animal intermediario. El primer hospedador interme...diario de todas las especies de trematodos son los caracoles de agua dulce. El segundo hospedador difiere según la especie: en el caso de la clonorquiasis y la opistorquiasis son los peces de agua dulce, y en el de la paragonimiasis, los crustáceos.
more
The document provides guidelines for the prevention and control of cholera outbreaks. It focuses on key strategies such as improving access to safe drinking water, ensuring proper sanitation, and promoting hygiene practices to prevent the spread of the disease. The guidelines also emphasize the impo...rtance of early detection, prompt treatment with oral rehydration solutions (ORS) or intravenous fluids, and the strategic use of antibiotics in severe cases. Additionally, it discusses the role of community education and collaboration with health authorities to effectively manage cholera outbreaks.
more
Patients with retreatment tuberculosis (TB) represent those
who have been treated previously for onemonth ormorewith
anti-TB drugs and who have been diagnosed once again with
the disease.These patientsmainly include relapses, treatment
after failure, or loss to follow-up on a first-line treatmen...t
regimen [1]. The number of these patients is not negligible.
In 2014, of the 6.3 million TB cases that were notified
by National TB Programmes (NTPs) to the World Health
Organization (WHO), approximately 700,000 patients were
already previously treated
more
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0.27 Causes of Dengue Fever
1:09 Signs and Symptoms of Dengue Fever
2:30 Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever
3:53 Diagnosis of Dengue Fever
4:10 Treatment of Dengue Fever
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms typically beg...in three to fourteen days after infection. This may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash.Recovery generally takes two to seven days. In a small proportion of cases, the disease develops into the life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, or into dengue shock syndrome, where dangerously low blood pressure occurs.
Dengue is spread by several species of mosquito of the Aedes type, principally A. aegypti.The virus has five different types;infection with one type usually gives lifelong immunity to that type, but only short-term immunity to the others. Subsequent infection with a different type increases the risk of severe complications. A number of tests are available to confirm the diagnosis including detecting antibodies to the virus or its RNA.
more
A atual pandemia de COVID-19 constitui um desafio excepcional e sem precedentes para que as autoridades competentes, com responsabilidades nos sistemas nacionais de controlo da segurança dos alimentosa, possam continuar a desempenhar as suas funções e atividades ...de rotina, de acordo com os regulamentos nacionais e as recomendações internacionais. Em muitos países, os funcionários das autoridades competentes estão, em grande parte, trabalhando a partir de casa, usando o teletrabalho como prática normal, visto que todas as reuniões presenciais foram canceladas ou reagendadas como teleconferências. É um desafio manter, sem interrupção, as atividades normais de rotina, tais como a inspeção das operações do negócio alimentar, a certificação das exportações, o controlo dos alimentos importados, a monitorização e vigilância da segurança da cadeia de abastecimento alimentar, a amostragem e análise dos alimentos, a gestão de incidentes alimentares, o aconselhamento sobre segurança dos alimentose regulamentos para a indústria alimentar, para além da comunicação com o público sobre questões de segurança dos alimentos.
more
There is strong evidence of the impact CHWs can have on health outcomes for their communities. Justification for investment in in CHWs has been well established, but there remain questions about how to find the resources to do this sustainably. Real and practical challenges to building and supportin...g a strong community health workforce persist- challenges that existed before Ebola, but in many cases have become even worse
more
Antibiotics are among the most frequently prescribed classes of drugs and it is estimated that approximately 50% of antibiotic use, in both the outpatient and inpatient settings, is inappropriate. At the same time, in contrast to any other class of drugs, every antibiotic use has a potential public ...health consequence – inappropriate use may not harm only the individual patient, but contributes to societal harm by exerting an unnecessary selective pressure that may lead to antibiotic resistance among bacteria. This video based course will introduce learners to the basic principles of appropriate antibiotic use, demonstrate how to apply these principles to the management of common infections, and outline how to develop and maintain an antimicrobial stewardship program. We will offer a number of illustrative cases, recognizable to the practicing physician in his or her practice to engage learners in the thought processes that lead to optimal decision making, improved outcomes of individual patients, and harm reduction vis-a-vis the bacterial ecology.
more
Due to the particular Amazonian situation of vectorial transmission based mostly on the wild cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi with diversity of triatomine vectors involved in effective transmission, and the variety of eco-epidemiological situations that facilitate such transmission, the countries of the A...mazon agreed that the development and strengthening of preventive actions based on comprehensive surveillance and detection of effective vectorial transmission, based on mandatory notification of acute or chronic cases, was required. In addition, it was recommended that surveillance and prevention and/or vector control actioDue to the particular Amazonian situation of vectorial transmission based mostly on the wild cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi with diversity of triatomine vectors involved in effective transmission, and the variety of eco-epidemiological situations that facilitate such transmission, the countries of the Amazon agreed that the development and strengthening of preventive actions based on comprehensive surveillance and detection of effective vectorial transmission, based on mandatory notification of acute or chronic cases, was required.
more
Since May 2019, Confirmation of 4 new emergence of type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV2) in Bambari (2) and Bimbo (2) health districts without any genetic link between them and other known viruses ; Bambari Health District: CAF-RS4-BAM-19-058, onset of paralysis: May 02, 2019. 07 positive contac...ts with the same genetic link. Community samples CAF-RS4-BAM-19-058CC14 and CAF-RS4-BAM-19-058CC17 positive, genetically related to each other but not genetically linked to the CAF-RS4-BAM-19-058 index case (new emergence)
more