Epidemics 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 newly-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 this “Managing epidemics” manual is to provide expert guidance on those responses.
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Tokar et al. Health Research Policy and Systems (2019) 17:23 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-019-0415-4
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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Community Health Volunteers
The Practical manual on laboratory strengthening, 2022 update provides practical guidance on implementation of WHO recommendations and best practices for TB laboratory strengthening. It is an updated version of the GLI Practical Guide to Laboratory Strengthening published in 2017 and provides the la...test practical guidance on use of newly recommended diagnostics as well as guidance in key technical areas, including quality assurance and quality management systems, specimen collection and registration, procurement and supply-chain management, diagnostic connectivity, biosafety, data management, human resources, strategic planning, and model algorithms. The key changes are:
inclusion of recent or updated WHO recommendations for tests to diagnose TB and detect drug resistance;
alignment with the latest WHO critical concentrations for phenotypic drug-susceptibility testing (DST) and the new definitions of pre-XDR-TB and XDR-TB;
updated information on building quality-assured TB testing and management capacity using the Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) approach (Score-TB package1);
updated information on assessing, analysing and optimising TB diagnostic networks; and
updated information on the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to detect mutations associated with drug resistance for surveillance purposes.
The document also provides references to resources and tools relevant for work on laboratory strengthening.
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This report aims to improve the assessment of mental health needs in the Americas by providing an updated and nuanced picture of: (a) the disability resulting from mental, substance use, and specific neurological disorders, plus self-harm, alone and in combination with premature mortality; (b) the i...mbalance between mental health spending and its related disease burden; and (c) the inadequate allocation of the meager mental health spending by countries of the Region
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Review of International, Regional and National Policies and Legal Frameworks that Promote Migrants and Mobile Populations' Access to Health and Malaria Services in the Greater Mekong Subregion (Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam)
Migrants and mobile popul...ations face many obstacles in accessing equitable essential health care services due to factors such as living and working conditions, education level, gender, irregular migration status, language and cultural barriers, anti-migrant sentiments, and lack of migrant-inclusive health policies among others. Despite significant progress having been made in the context of malaria control in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), human movements can impact malaria transmission patterns and potentially introduce drug-resistant parasites. This legal framework review therefore serves as a guidance document on approaches to address malaria and malaria elimination for migrant and mobile populations (MMPs) in five countries of the GMS.
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January 2020 to December 2021
The National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS and STIs 2017-2024 spells out the objectives and targets that we have jointly committed to achieve. The plan describes the strategies and activities that will need to be implemented on the ground across India's 36 States and Union Territories with the help of... AIDS Control Societies, District AIDS Prevention and Control Units, Regional Institutes, communities, development partners and the private sector. We must urgently scale up our efforts to avert new HIV infections and provide care and treatment to people living with HIV to materialise our commitment of ending AIDS in India by 2030.
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ຢາຕ້ານເຊື້ອຈຸລະຊີບ (Antimicrobial medicines) ມີຄວາມສໍາຄັນຫຼາຍຕໍ່ວຽກງານການແພດ, ສາທາລະນະສຸກ, ສຸຂະພາບສັດ ແລະ ການຜະລິດອາຫານ. ເນ...່ອງຈາກວ່າ ຢາດັ່ງກ່າວນີ້ ແມ່ນໃຊ້ເພື່ອປ້ອງກັນ ແລະ ປິ່ນປົວພະຍາດຊືມເຊື້ອ ທີ່ມີ ຈໍາພວກເຊື້ອຈຸລິນຊີ (Bacteria) ເປັນຫນື່ງໃນສາເຫດທີ່ເຮັດໃຫ້ຄົນ ແລະ ສັດເສຍຊີວິດ ໃຫ້ຫຼຸດລົງໄດ້ ແລະ ມີບົດບາດຫຼາຍໃນວົງ ການແພດແຜນປະຈຸບັນ ເປັນຕົ້ນແມ່ນ ການຜ່າຕັດ ຊຶ່ງມີຄວາມສ່ຽງຕໍ່ການຕິດເຊື້ອໄດ້ງ່າຍຈຶ່ງຈໍາເປັນຕ້ອງໄດ້ເພິ່ງພາຢາຕ້ານເຊື້ອຈຸລະ ຊີບ ທີ່ມີປະສິດທິພາບເພື່ອປ້ອງກັນ ແລະ ປິ່ນປົວການຕິດເຊື້ອທີ່ອາດເກີດຂຶ້ນ. ນອກຈາກນີ້ແລ້ວ ມັນຍັງມີຄວາມຈໍາເປັນສໍາລັບ ປ້ອງກັນ ແລະ ປິ່ນປົວ ໃນວຽກງານສັດຕະວະແພດ ແລະ ການກະສິກໍາ ເປັນຕົ້ນ: ການລ້ຽງສັດ, ການປະມົງ, ການປູກຝັງ ແລະ ມີຄວາມສໍາຄັນຕໍ່ ສຸຂະພາບສັດ ພືດ ຕ່ອງໂສ້ການຜະລິດອາຫານ ແລະ ເສດຖະກິດຂອງຊາດອີກດ້ວຍ.
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The internationally recognized criteria for diagnosis of neurocysticercosis include a requirement for neuroimaging techniques, such as computerized tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ideally supported by serology. These facilities are not available in all settings, especially i...n rural areas of low-income countries, making it difficult to identify and treat patients. Additionally, there is controversy about the role, type and duration of anthelmintic, antiinflammatory and antiepileptic drug (AED) treatments for different forms of neurocysticercosis.
These guidelines were developed to assist health-care providers in appropriate, evidence-based management of parenchymal neurocysticercosis. The guidelines do not address other forms of neurocysticercosis and do not include management of extraparenchymal disease (including cysticerci in the cerebral ventricles or subarachnoid space). The aim of the guidance is to improve decision-making to ensure appropriate patient care and to avoid misdiagnoses and inappropriate treatment of patients with neurocysticercosis.
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The primary audience for this guidance is persons
working directly in vector-borne disease prevention
and control, including programme managers,
researchers and field workers. A brief technical
background is provided for the benefit of persons
without expertise in vector-borne diseases; readers...
working in the field may wish to skip the background
section and begin with the discussion of ethical
issues and values in Chapter 3. The guidance cannot
offer universally applicable answers to the complex
ethical issues raised, nor can it provide a checklist of
issues that are necessarily relevant in all situations.
Rather, its goal is to help readers recognize aspects
of their work that raise significant ethical challenges
and to respond to these challenges in accordance
with internationally accepted values and norms.
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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in the treatment and care of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This report examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to NCD medicines, and the policies and strategies implemented by countries and health sys...tems to anticipate and mitigate stresses across NCD medicine supply chains. The full range of upstream and downstream impacts are investigated, including: manufacturing; procurement, importation and last mile delivery; patient-level effects through affordability and availability; and the effects on NCD medicine availability by category of disease. The report culminates in recommended actions and interventions for key stakeholders in the NCD pharmaceutical supply chain, including governments, regulatory authorities, manufacturers and the private sector; as well as directions for future research for improving access and supply chain access resilience.
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COVID‑19 strategic preparedness and response
The pandemic has emphasized the high risk of avoidable harm to patients, health workers, and the general public, and has identified a range of safety gaps across all core components of health systems at all levels.
The rapid review ‘Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for patient safety’ ex...plores impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic did have on patient safety in terms of risks and avoidable harm, specifically in terms of diagnostic, treatment and care management related issues as well as highlights the main patterns of these implications within the broader health system context.
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