This report’s central premise is that diagnostics and therapeutics, and associated test to treat strategies, are fundamental components of the pandemic response, both for COVID-19 and for future health threats. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, this report reflects on the main challenges and k...ey solutions on the road to equitable access to diagnostics and therapeutics.
This report draws from experience gained through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Diagnostics and Therapeutics pillars, and includes the perspectives of collaborating stakeholders (countries, civil society representatives and the private sector). Building on these findings, this report proposes sixteen recommended actions to address what have been identified as key structural challenges and specifies a potential owner for each action.
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Harm Reducation, Decriminalization and Zero Discrimination for People who use Drugs
The "Global NCD action plan" provides a road map and a menu of policy options for countries to take in order to attain the 9 voluntary global targets, including that of a 25% relative reduction in premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases by 2...025. The main focus of this action plan is on 4 types of NCDs (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes) which make the largest contribution to morbidity and mortality due to NCDs, and on 4 shared behavioural risk factors (tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol).
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Improvements in water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and wastewater management in all sectors are critical elements of preventing infections and reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as identified in the Global Action Plan to combat AMR. Yet, at present, WASH and wastewater management... actors and improvement actions are under-represented in AMR multi-stakeholder platforms and national action plans (NAPs). This WHO/FAO/OIE technical brief on WASH and wastewater management to reduce the spread of AMR provides a summary of evidence and rationale for WASH and wastewater actions within AMR NAPs and sector specific policy to combat AMR. Evidence and actions are presented in the domains of; coordination and leadership, households and communities, health care facilities, animal and plant production, manufacturing of antimicrobials, and surveillance and research.
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. Interim Guidelines. This interim guideline lays out some basic principles of optimal nutritional care for adults and paediatric patients during treatment and convalescence in Ebola treatment units, community care centres or to other centres where Ebola patients are receiving care and support. It h...ighlights the key clinical problems in patients affected by Ebola virus disease (EVD) that may interfere with their nutritional status and overall clinical support in the context of the current Ebola crisis, and summarizes their nutritional needs. It does not provide specific advice on fluid management in cases of vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration or parenteral nutrition
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Coordinated Use of Anthelminthic Drugs in Control Interventions: a Manual for Health Professionals and Programme Managers
The Health Systems in Transition (HiT) series consists of country-based reviews that provide a detailed description of a health system and of reform and policy initiatives in progress or under development in a specific country.
This document introduces four strategic objectives and twelve operational principles for good pharmaceutical procurement. These objectives and principles have been developed and endorsed by the Interagency Pharmaceutical Coordination Group (IPC), involving the pharmaceutical advisers of the United ...Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. The aim of this document is to improve pharmaceutical procurement practices.
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Lancet Psychiatry 2016;3: 415–24
Strengthening resource tracking and monitorig health expanditure
The Facilitator’s Guide for the basic-needs based Response Options Analysis and Planning (ROAP) is a step-by-step guide comprising tools and templates to carry out a multi-sectoral response analysis and planning of response options, in a sudden-onset or chronic crisis.
Being that so, the Guide i...s conceived to be applied hand in hand with the BNA Guidance and Toolbox, and other assessments methodologies. It is expected to assist in analysing data from different sources - including humanitarian staff’ own
knowledge and experience on the sector, cash, protection matters - to come up with response decisions
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The report provides a brief introduction to patents and licences and their effect on the market for antiretroviral (ARV) medicines. It gives an overview of the patent landscape with respect to a select number of ARV medicines in developing countries as of April 2014. The focus is primarily on those ...ARVs that are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as new ARVs that have either recently obtained regulatory approval or are in phase III clinical trials.
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The WHO Global tuberculosis report 2024 provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic, and of progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, at global, regional and country levels. This is done in the context of global TB commitments, strategies and targets.
Economic Issues, Policies and Option for Action
Chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kill more than
four million people every year and affect hundreds
of millions more. These diseases erode the health
and well-being of the patients and have a negative
impact on families and societies. Women ...and
children are particularly vulnerable, especially those
in low and middle income countries, where they are
exposed on a daily basis to indoor air pollution from
solid fuels for cooking and heating. In high income
countries, tobacco is the most important risk factor
for chronic respiratory diseases, and in some of
these countries, tobacco use among women and
young people is still increasing.
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