The COVID-19 pandemic has led to large increases in healthcare waste, straining under resourced healthcare facilities and exacerbating environmental impacts from solid waste. This report quantifies the additional COVID-19 healthcare waste generated, describes current healthcare waste management syst...ems and their deficiencies, and summarizes emerging best practices and solutions to reduce the impact of waste on human and environmental health. The recommendations included in the report build on actions in the WHO manifesto for a healthy recovery from COVID-19: prescriptions and actionables for a healthy and green recovery. They target the global, national and facility levels to promote a “win–win” scenario for COVID-19 PPE use, testing and vaccinations that are safe and support environmental sustainability.
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This report presents key findings from a study carried out on the ‘Mainstreaming quality of care in empanelled hospitals under PMJAY’. It provides a detailed analysis of current coverage and perceptions of quality accreditation and certification across PMJAY empanelled hospitals from three diffe...rent states
(Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat).
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Access to safe blood and blood products is recognized as one of the key requirements for delivery of modern health care in the journey towards health for all. The foundation of safe and sustainable blood supplies depends on the collection of blood from voluntary non-remunerated and low-risk donors. ...Data from the WHO Global Database for Blood Safety (GDBS) brings out several inadequacies related to the supply and safety of blood and blood products. These inadequacies include a number of variations in safe blood practices across the world, including the quantity of blood donated (voluntary and replacement types), quality and adequate testing of the donated blood (immunohaematology [IH] and transfusion-transmitted infections [TTIs]), rational use of blood and blood components such as appropriate patient blood management protocols. These variations are very high in countries of the South-East Asian Region and most of them are either low- or middle-income countries (LMICs).
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This fourth annual report monitors global progress towards the 2023 target for global elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFA), highlighting achievements during the past year (October 2021 – September 2022). Countries are responding to the World Health Organization (WHO) call t...o action by putting into place best-practice TFA policies. Mandatory TFA policies are currently in effect for 3.4 billion people in 60 countries (43% of the world population); of these, 43 countries have best-practice policies in effect, covering 2.8 billion people (36% of the world population).
Over the past year, several additional countries took action to eliminate industrially produced TFA: best-practice policies came into effect in India in January 2022, Uruguay in May 2022 and Oman in July 2022. Best-practice policies were passed in Bangladesh in November 2021 (to come into effect in December 2022) and in Ukraine in September 2020 (to come into effect in October 2023), best-practice TFA policies are projected to pass soon in Mexico, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.
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This guideline provides global, evidence-informed recommendations on a number of specific issues related to the management of severe acute malnutrition in infants and children, including in the context of HIV.
This manual provides a practical method for determining the pharmacovigilance indices. It is designed to be simple and can be understood by any worker in pharmacovigilance without formal training in monitoring and evaluation. Pharmacovigilance as a medical discipline is crucial in preventing medicin...e-related adverse effects in humans, promoting patient safety, and the rational use of medicines. The indicators proposed in this manual are based on the expected functions of pharmacovigilance centres as described in the WHO Mimimum Requirements for a Functional Pharmacovigilance System (1) (see Annex 1 of the manual).
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This template dossier complements and should be used after fulfilling the criteria and preconditions specified in the Process of validation of elimination of kala-azar as a public health problem in South-East Asia. The national kala-azar programme should be in the consolidation phase of elimination;... that is, the annual incidence of kala-azar in the implementation unit is maintained below 1 case (new plus relapse) per 10 000 population for a minimum of 3 consecutive years.
The template is designed to help national kala-azar elimination programmes prepare a dossier documenting the essential evidence supporting the request to the World Health Organization (WHO) to validate the status of kala-azar elimination as a public health problem in their country. The information presented in this document will help independent assessors understand the national programme’s specific context, achievements and relevant epidemiological data.
The dossier should be organized according to the following sections:
- Description of the country context and health system capabilities
- Historical data and delineation of endemic areas
- Surveillance and elimination activities
- Epidemiological data
- Vector control strategy and activities
- Post-validation surveillance plan
Once the dossier is prepared, it should be examined and duly endorsed by the National Task Force on kala-azar elimination and/or neglected tropical diseases, or a similar body, before submission to WHO.
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23 March 2021
The meeting addressed the last key area, that is, determining the best method or combination of diagnostic methods for a control programme for S. stercoralis infections in humans.
Dr Montresor’s presentation highlighted that while there is currently no “gold standard” for the... diagnosis of S. stercoralis, there is a felt urgency to optimize diagnostic regimens that are currently available, and in the context of population-based testing (as opposed to individual focused diagnostics in clinical settings).
In other words, the diagnostic test(s) should have good accuracy, but we should remember that in public health we do not aim at individual diagnosis: rather, we need a tool that should help to estimate the prevalence in a population.
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South Africa has faced many challenges over the past two decades, accomplishing profound positive changes in the social structure and government of the nation. This has not yet fully translated into better health for the population, however, particularly the poorest segment. In fact, the p...opulation has lost ground since the 1990s in virtually all important health indicators, leaving South Africa with a high burden of infectious disease.
August 2011, Vol. 101, No. 8 SAMJ
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The English terminology, and its translations into Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish, are available on the UNISDR website at: www.unisdr.org/publications and on PreventionWeb at: www.preventionweb.net
NSW Disaster Mental Health Handbook 5
The Disaster Mental Health Manual and associated handbooks are intended as a resource for mental health staff who are seeking background information and practical guidance and resources to assist in a disaster mental health response.
Journal of Virus Eradication 2016; 2 (Supplement 4): 1–6
Review
The power relations around global decisions which shape population health can be changed through new alliances and information flows. The Democratising Global Health Governance Initiative, of which WHO Watch is a project, is designed to contribute to improved population health (and health equity) th...rough new alliances and information flows.
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