Countries must invest at least 1% more of GDP on primary health care to eliminate glaring coverage gaps
At current rates of progress up to 5 billion people will miss out on health care in 2030
Countries must increase spending on primary healthcare by at least 1% of their gross domestic product (...GDP) if the world is to close glaring coverage gaps and meet health targets agreed in 2015, says this new report. They must also intensify efforts to expand services countrywide.
The world will need to double health coverage between now and 2030, according to the Universal Health Coverage Monitoring Report. It warns that if current trends continue, up to 5 billion people will still be unable to access health care in 2030 – the deadline world leaders have set for achieving universal health coverage. Most of those people are poor and already disadvantaged.
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What school closures under COVID-19 mean for children and young people in
crisis-affected contexts
Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common noncommunicable diseases worldwide. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region there has been a rapid increase in the incidence of diabetes mellitus and it is now the fourth leading cause of death. The increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus, the emergence of ...diabetes complications as a cause of early morbidity and mortality, and the enormous and mounting burden on health care systems make diabetes a priority health concern. These guidelines provide up-to-date, reliable and balanced information for the prevention and care of diabetes mellitus in the Region. The information is evidence-based and clearly stated to facilitate the use of the guidelines in daily practice. They are intended to benefit physicians at primary, secondary and tertiary level, general practitioners, internists and family medicine specialists, clinical dieticians and nurses as well as policy-makers at ministries of health. They provide the information necessary for decision-making by health care providers and patients themselves about disease management in the most commonly encountered situations.
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WHO today released its first roadmap to tackle postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) – defined as excessive bleeding after childbirth - which affects millions of women annually and is the world’s leading cause of maternal deaths.
Despite being preventable and treatable, PPH results in around 70 000 de...aths every year. For those who survive, it can cause disabilities and psychological trauma that last for years.
“Severe bleeding in childbirth is one of the most common causes of maternal mortality, yet it is highly preventable and treatable,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This new roadmap charts a path forward to a world in which more women have a safe birth and a healthy future with their families.”
The Roadmap aims to help countries address stark differences in survival outcomes from PPH, which reflect major inequities in access to essential health services. Over 85% of deaths from PPH happen in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Risk factors include anaemia, placental abnormalities, and other complications in pregnancy such as infections and pre-eclampsia.
Many risk factors can be managed if there is quality antenatal care, including access to ultrasound, alongside effective monitoring in the hours after birth. If bleeding starts, it also needs to be detected and treated extremely quickly. Too often, however, health facilities lack necessary healthcare workers or resources, including lifesaving commodities such as oxytocin, tranexamic acid or blood for transfusions.
“Addressing postpartum haemorrhage needs a multipronged approach focusing on both prevention and response - preventing risk factors and providing immediate access to treatments when needed - alongside broader efforts to strengthen women’s rights,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, WHO Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HRP, the UN’s special programme on research development and training in human reproduction. “Every woman, no matter where she lives, should have access to timely, high quality maternity care, with trained health workers, essential equipment and shelves stocked with appropriate and effective commodities – this is crucial for treating postpartum bleeding and reducing maternal deaths.”
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Forests, trees and green spaces, hereinafter ‘forests and trees’ for short, provide multiple goods and services that contribute to human health. These include medicines, nutritious foods and other non-wood forest products (NWFPs). Globally, at least 3.5 billion people use NWFPs, including medici...nal plants, which are particularly important for vulnerable groups and Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs).
During periods of crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for forest products typically increases amongst these groups. Forests and trees also contribute to better health by playing a role in climate change
mitigation and adaptation, contributing to regulating the carbon cycle, but also moderating the micro-climate, filtering pollutants from the air and protecting settlements against the effects of extreme events such as droughts and flash floods.
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Approximately 80% of the 463 million adults worldwide with diabetes live in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). A major obstacle to designing evidence-based policies to improve diabetes outcomes in LMICs is the scarce availability of nationally representative data on the current patterns... of treatment coverage. The objectives of this study were to estimate the proportion of adults with diabetes in LMICs who receive coverage of recommended pharmacological and non-pharmacological diabetes treatment; and to describe country-level and individual-level characteristics that are associated with treatment.
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As countries commit to achieving universal health coverage, it is imperative to ensure that the design and delivery of palliative care services place attention on quality of care, with action needed across all domains of quality health services: effectiveness, safety, people-centredness, timeliness,... equity, integration and efficiency. Providing compassionate, dignified and people-centred palliative care is an ethical responsibility of health systems.
This document provides a practical resource to support implementation of sustainable improvements in the quality of palliative care. It describes approaches to quality policy, strategy and planning for palliative care programmes and services, presents learning on quality of care arising from palliative care programmes, and offers considerations on measurement of quality palliative care services at all levels of the health system. The document also highlights relevant WHO resources available that further support the development of quality palliative care services.
The audience for this document is a general one that includes policy-makers, palliative care service planners, managers, practitioners and health care providers at all levels.
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Since December 2010, Malaria Consortium has been implementing an innovative approach to community management of severe acute malnutrition, together with an existing integrated community case management (ICCM) programme in South Sudan. This learning paper considers Malaria Consortiums experience of t...his combined approach in a highly complex context and shows whether the management of severe acute malnutrition is an effective, acceptable and feasible component of ICCM programming
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Directives opérationnelles à l’intention du personnel et des
administrateurs de programmes
PLOS Glob Public Health 4(12): e0004035. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0004035.
A new formulation of praziquantel, arpraziquantel (arPZQ), has been developed for preschool-
aged children (PSAC) to fill the treatment gap for this age group in schistosomiasis control and
elimination program...s. There is now a priority to ensure that the drug reaches all at-risk PSAC
in endemic areas, including hard-to-reach areas and populations. This study aimed to deter-
mine schistosomiasis treatment-related contextual factors among fishermen and island popu-
lations in Homa Bay County, Kenya, and to identify a suitable platform to deliver arPZQ.
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L’ampleur de la crise en 2021 s’est accentuée avec l’expansion de la violence et de l’insécurité dans tout le nord et le centre, et vers le sud du pays. Dans ce contexte de sous-investissements, de pauvreté chronique, de crise sociopolitique, les conflits, l’insécurité multiforme et ...les aléas climatiques (inondations et sécheresses) couplées aux conséquences socioéconomiques de la COVID-19, constituent les principaux déterminants de la crise humanitaire. La juxtaposition de ces aléas menace la vie, accentue les vulnérabilités préexistantes, fragilise les moyens d’existence des ménages affectés et amenuise leur capacité de résilience
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This resource presents "the minimum level of educational quality and access in emergencies through to recovery. The aim of the handbook is to enhance the quality of educational preparedness, response and recovery; to increase access to safe and relevant learning opportunities for all learners, regar...dless of their age, gender or abilities; and to ensure accountability and strong coordination in the provision of education in emergencies through to recovery...The INEE Minimum Standards are organised in five domains: Foundation standards; Access and learning environment; Teaching and learning; Teachers and other education; personnel; Education policy". Available in different languages: English, French, Arabic, Azerbajani, Bangla, Indonesia, Bosnian, Coratian, Serbian, Burmese, Chinese, Dari, Japanese, Nepali, Pashto, Portugese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese
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