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The health impacts of climate change are no longer a distant threat. They are being felt here and now and becoming more extreme.
To address these threats, the WHO Asia-Pacific Centre for Environment and Health in the Western Pacific Region (ACE) was established in 2019 through a partnership with
...
the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment of the Republic of Korea and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Centre’s mission is to strengthen cooperation and drive action where environment and health meet. This focus on environmental health has created a strong foundation for system-wide change.
This strategic plan builds directly on that work. Over the next five years, the Centre will expand its reach, supporting countries to take practical, systems-based action that ensures healthier people, healthier environments and a healthier planet.
more
On Global Handwashing Day, WHO and UNICEF have released the first-ever global Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Community Settings to support governments and practitioners in promoting effective hand hygiene outside health care – across households, public spaces and institutions. Framing hand hygiene
...
as a public good and a government responsibility, the Guidelines translate evidence into ready-to-adopt actions that enable sustainable access to effective hygiene services. This will reduce diarrhoeal disease, acute respiratory infections and other preventable illnesses, strengthening routine public health where people live, work, visit and study, and emergency preparedness, including outbreaks like cholera.
Despite clear benefits, 1.7 billion people still lacked basic hand hygiene services at home in 2024, including 611 million with no facility at all. Meeting the 2030 target will require accelerated progress – about a doubling in the global rate, and much faster in specific settings (up to 11-fold in least-developed countries and 8-fold in fragile contexts). Hand hygiene remains one of the most cost-effective health investments, reducing diarrhoea by 30% and acute respiratory infections by 17%, with large, measurable gains for population health.
“Clean hands save lives, but results at scale require policy, financing and accountability,” said Dr Ruediger Krech, Director a.i, Department of Environment, Climate Change, One Health & Migration at the World Health Organization. “These Guidelines help countries move beyond fragmented projects to government-led systems that make soap, water, and conditions conducive to everyday hand hygiene the norm.”
“Children and young people pay the highest price when basic hygiene is out of reach,” said Cecilia Scharp, Director, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Team, Programme Group, UNICEF. “These Guidelines provide practical steps to ensure facilities are accessible when they need to be – in homes, schools, markets, and transport hubs – so every child can learn, play and thrive with dignity.”
more
This Climate terminology bank provides key definitions and facts related to climate and resilience for Uganda’s refugee response. Its goal is to build a common understanding among stakeholders and support the integration of climate-smart practices in humanitarian efforts.
This plan, approved by the Organization’s 62nd Directing Council, was shaped by extensive consultations with countries and stakeholders, and commits to transformative health outcomes over the next six years, tackling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), mental health, health security, fragmented healt
...
h systems and services, and the elimination of communicable diseases, amongst others.
“The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that the Region of the Americas is stronger when we work together,” said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Director. “This Strategic Plan harnesses our collective strength to build resilient health systems, reduce disease burden, and improve health and well-being for all across the Americas.”
The plan builds on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed gaps in health systems while highlighting the power of joint action. It targets measurable impacts in countries, such as reducing maternal mortality, reversing rising suicide rates, and eliminating diseases like leprosy and Chagas.
more
Strengthening global health security to protect the world against future epidemics and pandemics requires well-tested and decentralized capacities for the local detection and rapid containment of outbreaks of infectious disease. For such capacities to translate into effective response actions, ind
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ividuals and teams must be well connected and coordinated, despite differences in the size, geography, technical focus or constituency of their parent institution.
more
Abrupt reductions in international HIV assistance in 2025 have deepened existing funding shortfalls. The OECD estimates that external health assistance is projected to drop by 30–40% in 2025 compared with 2023, causing immediate and even more severe disruption to health services in low- and middle
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-income countries.
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The document provides guidance and tools for training health professionals in outbreak investigation. It explains why such training is essential, outlines the methodology for conducting short, practical courses, and describes how lectures, case studies, and exams are used to build skills needed for
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detecting, investigating, and responding to public health events. It also details how to plan, organize, and implement the training, including required resources, team roles, and evaluation procedures.
more
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases for humans. It is caused by a paramyxovirus virus, manifesting as a febrile rash illness. The incubation period for measles usually is 10–14 days (range 7–23 days) from exposure to symptom onset. Initial symptoms (prodrome) generally consist of feve
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r, malaise, cough, conjunctivitis, and coryza. The characteristic maculopapular rash appears two to four days after onset of the prodrome. Patients are usually contagious from about four days before rash onset until four days after its appearance.
more
he United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Gender Equality Strategy 2022-2025 has
been created during turbulent times. Multiple crises and risks are threatening the world and
we are witnessing an alarming backlash against women’s rights and gender equality. Since the
COVID-19 pandemic h
...
it, women have been nearly twice as likely to lose their jobs compared to
men. Yet less than 20 percent of policy measures implemented by countries across the world have
addressed women’s economic insecurity. Gender inequality also takes a toll on men and other
affected groups. For men, rigid gender norms can fuel risky behaviours resulting in violence, poor
health, and lower life expectancy.
more
The UNICEF Gender Equality Action Plan, 2026–2029 provides the road map
for the organization’s key commitments to advancing gender equality and the
empowerment of all girls and women, anchored in the UNICEF Strategic Plan,
2026–2029.
This report describes efforts in nine countries, supported by the 2gether 4 SRHR programme and other partners, highlighting the results achieved and learning on improving the health and wellbeing of adolescent and young mothers and their families. Key insights include the importance of responsive se
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rvice delivery and social support as well as service provision across sectors.
more
The Global Aids Strategy 2026-2031
recommended
United- Towards Ending AIDS. The Global AIDS Strategy 2026-2031 focuses global efforts for the future of the AIDS response to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and sustain the HIV response after 2030. This is a strategy uniting the world.
The Strategy will shape the June 2026 United Natio
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ns General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS and its political declaration. It provides all actors in the field with guidance to overcome the challenges and to ensure effective country-led AIDS responses. The Global AIDS Strategy 2026-2031 includes new global targets for 2030 and resource needs estimates.
more
This document aims to provide public health authorities in European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries with guidance for improved preparedness planning taking the lessons that have been identified through various activities in the context of recent public health crises (e.g. COVID-1
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9 pandemic, mpox multi-country outbreak 2022–23) and translating them to concrete advice. This document, together with the ECDC recommendations on the implementation of public health and social measures (PHSMs) for health emergencies and pandemics published in 2024, form a package of concrete recommendations for preparedness planning for the EU/EEA countries. Lessons learned primarily from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also from the response to the multicountry mpox outbreak in 2022–23, were collected through various activities from Member States, the European Commission, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the WHO Regional Office from Europe. We have then presented these in the form of specific recommendations for planners within each phase of the continuous cycle of preparedness (Anticipation, Response and Recovery), following a prototype structure of a preparedness and response plan. In each section, we have presented a relevant example from a Member State or international organisation to illustrate their practice or attempt to implement lessons after COVID-19 or the mpox outbreak. These examples were identified either through literature review or communication with representatives of the countries within ECDC’s network for Preparedness and Response.
more
The document “Public Health Surveillance for Cholera – Guidance Document (2024)” provides practical recommendations for countries on how to design, implement, and strengthen cholera surveillance systems. Developed by the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC), it outlines the minimum req
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uirements for detecting, confirming, reporting, and monitoring cholera cases and outbreaks.
The guidance explains the core functions of cholera surveillance, including case detection, laboratory testing (such as RDTs, culture, and PCR), routine data collection, outbreak notification, case and field investigation, data analysis, and performance monitoring. It also describes how surveillance strategies should be adapted depending on whether a country is experiencing no outbreak, clustered transmission, or community transmission.
Overall, the document aims to help countries establish adaptive, fit-for-purpose surveillance systems that enable early outbreak detection, guide timely response measures, and support long-term cholera control and elimination efforts.
more
The WHO publication “Surveillance, case investigation and contact tracing for mpox: interim guidance” provides updated global technical guidance on monitoring and responding to mpox (formerly known as monkeypox). It explains how countries should conduct surveillance to detect new outbreaks, car
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ry out case investigation including clinical assessment and lab specimen collection, and perform contact tracing to monitor people exposed to confirmed or probable cases in order to stop transmission and protect at-risk groups. The guidance includes practical recommendations for how long contacts should be monitored (e.g., daily for 21 days without requiring quarantine if symptom-free) and advising good hygiene and reduced exposure risk during the monitoring period. This interim guidance is intended to support public health authorities worldwide in strengthening mpox outbreak detection, response, and reporting.
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Populations affected by emergencies are continually at risk of outbreaks of epidemic-prone diseases and other public health hazards. This operational guidance aims to guide decision-making on when and how to implement and strengthen Early Warning Alert and Response (EWAR) in preparation for and resp
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onse to emergencies. Each module aims to provide updated operational guidance for EWAR practices, which may be more easily understood and applied during emergencies. Through its application, this operational guidance aims to contribute to:
- earlier detection of acute public health events
- earlier and more effective response
- reduced impact of emergencies on health
- increased trust of the population in the (public) health system
- fulfilling our collective commitments to the International Health Regulations (IHR,
2005).
This guidance was developed jointly by 69 experts from more than 20 organizations from global level to country level.
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The document “Pandemic Planning Response Guide” provides guidance for organizations on how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a pandemic. It explains what a pandemic is and emphasizes the importance of advance planning to reduce disruptions to operations. The guide presents a structure
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d response framework based on different pandemic phases—from early alert and pre-pandemic preparation to the active pandemic phase and the recovery period afterward. For each phase, it outlines triggers, strategic actions, and practical tasks organizations should implement, such as establishing communication plans, ensuring business continuity, supporting remote work, managing supply chains, and protecting employee health and safety. In addition, the guide discusses key planning considerations like crisis communication, mental health impacts, transportation disruptions, and workforce management. Overall, the document serves as a practical template to help organizations maintain essential services and adapt their operations during a global health emergency.
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The publication "Aligning national drought plans with global and national policy frameworks" provides governments and practitioners with practical guidance on how to align national drought plans (NDPs) with existing policy, legal and institutional frameworks to enable effective implementation. It po
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sitions policy alignment as a core requirement for moving from reactive drought response to proactive, risk-based drought management, in line with national development priorities and international commitments.The report presents two complementary methodologies that support alignment across both the planning and implementation phases of NDPs. A multicriteria assessment framework is used to review the quality, readiness and internal coherence of drought plans, while a policy alignment approach examines how drought is recognized and addressed across sectoral policies, institutional mandates and coordination mechanisms.
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