- The goal of diagnostic testing for Ebola and Marburg virus diseases is to identify cases to provide timely and appropriate care and to stop disease transmission.
- All individuals meeting the case definition for Ebola or Marburg virus diseases should be tested.
- The recommended sample type ...for testing for orthoebolaviruses and orthomarburgviruses is whole blood or plasma for living patients, and oral swab for deceased individuals.
- Laboratory confirmation of Orthoebolavirus and Orthomarburgvirus infections and further species identification should be done using nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT).
- If a suspected case tests negative (living patient) and the blood was drawn less than 72 hours after symptom onset, a second test should be performed with blood drawn more than 72 hours after symptom onset.
- All manipulations in laboratory settings of samples originating from suspected, probable or confirmed cases of Ebola and Marburg virus diseases should be conducted with appropriate biosafety measures according to a risk-based approach.
- Whole or partial genome sequencing can be used to characterize viruses and complement epidemiologic investigations.
- Member States are strongly encouraged to share genetic sequence data (GSD) in publicly accessible databases.
- Member States are required to immediately notify the World Health Organization (WHO) under the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 of positive laboratory results.
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3 February 2021
Vaccine- and vaccination-related crises require a communication response that is different from the communication strategies used to promote the benefits and importance of vaccines in general. This document presents the technical guidance needed to develop a communication plan that ...is appropriate for managing crises related to vaccine safety. This guidance will be useful for managers in the areas of immunization and vaccine and vaccination safety. They will also help preparedness and response teams working in safety crises to optimize their communication plans in order to regain, maintain, or strengthen trust in vaccines, vaccination, and immunization programs in general.
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Zika and dengue viruses remain significant public health threats. These viruses share the same Aedes (Stegomyia) mosquito vectors and geographic distributions but infections cannot be readily distinguished clinically and need to be differentiated from each other, and from other circulating arboviral... and non-arboviral pathogens, using laboratory tests. This document provides guidance on current testing strategies for Zika and dengue virus infections with updates to the previous interim guidance for laboratory testing for ZIKV, addressing pregnant and non-pregnant patients respectively, and incorporates current guidance for dengue virus diagnostic testing. The choice of laboratory assays and interpretation of test results require careful consideration of epidemiology, patient history, and limitations of existing diagnostic tests.
This interim guidance is for use by staff of laboratories testing for Zika and dengue virus infections and for clinical practitioners and public health professionals providing clinical management or surveillance.
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This document was designed to inform educators, amongst others, about enhancing the pre-service curriculum with mental health Gap Action Programme Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) materials, which can provide future professionals with the theoretical and clinical knowledge they need to provide mental h...ealth in non-specialized health care settings.
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Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET): Disussion Paper 110
This report compiles evidence from published, grey literature and key informants on the UNMHCP
since its introduction in Uganda’s health system, and findings were further validated during a oneda...y
national stakeholder meeting.
Three main factors motivated introduction of the UNMHCP. First, Uganda, along with other lowincome countries, was unable to implement holistically the primary healthcare (PHC) concepts as set out in the Alma Ata Declaration. Second, the macro-economic restructuring carried out in the 1990s, which was an international conditionality for low-income countries to access development financing, influenced the trend towards more stringent prioritisation of health interventions as a means of rationing and targeting use of resources. Third, the government sought to achieve equity with a service package that would be universally available for all people.
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This publication offers practical advice on implementing HIV and STI programmes for transgender people, with a focus on transgender women, aligned with the 2011 Recommendations and the 2014 Key Populations Consolidated Guidelines. It contains examples of good practice from around the world that may ...support efforts in planning programmes and services, and describes issues that should be considered and how to overcome challenges.
This tool describes how services can be designed and implemented to be acceptable and accessible to transgender women. To accomplish this, respectful and ongoing engagement with them is essential.
This tool gives particular attention to programmes run by transgender people themselves, in contexts where this is possible.
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The goal of this addendum is to help management and staff
minimize the risk of TB transmission at facilities in resource limited settings in which a.) HIV-infected persons receive diagnosis, care, treatment,
and/or support, and b.) there is a high prevalence of HIV infection, both known
and... undiagnosed, in settings such as prisons, jails, other
detention centers, and drug rehabilitation centers.
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This module should always be used together with the
mhGAP Intervention Guide for Mental, Neurological
and Substance Use Disorders in Non-specialized Health
Settings (WHO, 2010), which outlines relevant general
principles of care and management of a range of other
mental, neurological and substa...nce use disorders.
(www.who.int/mental_health/publications/mhGAP_
intervention_guide/en/index.html)
In the future, this module may be integrated with other
products in the following ways:
– This module may be integrated – in its full form –
into future iterations of the existing mhGAP Intervention
Guide.
– The module will be integrated –in a simplified structure –
into a new product, the WHO-UNHCR mhGAP Intervention
Guide for Humanitarian Settings (planned for 2014).
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a major public health problem all over the world. Infections caused by resistant microbes fail to respond to treatment, resulting in prolonged illness and greater risk of death. This document focuses on the mechanism to develop a practically applicable h...ospital antibiotic policy and standard treatment guidelines (STG). In addition, the document contains information on various effective strategies for implementation of STG. It also discusses various activities and information required for the development of the antibiogram, antibiotic policy and standard treatment guidelines, such as surveillance programmes, the cause and controlling strategies for AMR and HAI; performance measures of antibiogram, antibiotic policy and standard treatment guidelines. A model hospital STG for community-acquired pneumonia in adults is included.
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A sanitary inspection is a simple, on-site evaluation (traditionally using a checklist) to help identify and support the management of priority risk factors that may lead to contamination of a drinking-water supply. Sanitary inspections are a well-established and widely-applied practice. They can su...pport water safety planning, and in some contexts, may be a simplified alternative to water safety plans.
This publication presents the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) sanitary inspection packages. These packages update the sanitary inspection forms in WHO’s 1997 Guidelines for drinking-water quality. Volume 3: surveillance and control of community supplies. With more than 25 years of practical experience with the application of sanitary inspections, these packages have been developed from a comprehensive evidence review and established good practices.
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