The new WHO guidelines provide clinical management recommendations for four of the most widespread arboviruses affecting humans: dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever.
An integrated approach is vital, as these four diseases often present with similar symptoms, especially in the early stages... of infection, and multiple arboviruses may circulate simultaneously in certain regions. This makes clinical differentiation challenging, particularly where diagnostic testing is not readily available.
This guideline is available in online format on the MAGICapp platform
more
Since the 1960s, the Tanzanian government has been striving to improve access to quality healthcare, including primary care. However, tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant public health concern, with an estimated prevalence rate of 528 cases per 100,000 people. However, currently, only 36% of TB c...ases are detected, leaving many undiagnosed within the community. Challenges include low community awareness, long distances to diagnostic centres and delayed health-seeking behaviour.
To address these issues, the Ministry of Health (MOHCDGEC) adopted the ENGAGE TB approach, involving NGOs, civil society organisations (CSOs) and other non-state actors in community-based TB activities. This has increased the number of active organisations from five to approximately twenty.
Building on this success, the Ministry has developed national operational guidelines for community-based TB, TB/HIV and drug-resistant TB interventions, with the aim of improving collaboration between communities and health facilities. These guidelines will be updated regularly, and stakeholders are urged to comply fully with them and support TB control efforts.
more
In November 2022, WHO launched a strategy to address antimalarial drug resistance in Africa, emphasizing the need for stronger surveillance. While regional monitoring networks have been active in other regions, most in Africa have not convened since 2017–2018. To renew collaboration, WHO organized... a meeting bringing together countries from the African and Eastern Mediterranean regions. Participants shared recent data on antimalarial efficacy and resistance. While artemisinin-based combination therapies remain highly effective, some sites in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania reported lower-than-expected efficacy of artemether–lumefantrine. Delayed parasite clearance linked to Plasmodium falciparum Kelch-13 mutations was noted in Eritrea, Rwanda, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. Discussions highlighted challenges in therapeutic efficacy studies, molecular marker surveillance and the need for improved genotyping to distinguish relapses from new infections.
more
In June 2021, a virtual workshop on ECAMM and NCAMM for malaria microscopists was held, with participants from ten South-East Asian countries in attendance. The workshop covered topics such as microscopy training and quality assurance, as well as the challenges posed by the pandemic, including asses...sment disruptions and limited national reference laboratory capacity. Key recommendations emphasised the importance of improving diagnostic quality, building national and peripheral microscopy capacity, providing regular refresher training and using digital tools to support malaria elimination efforts.
more
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 has significantly altered the epidemiology of other infectious diseases, making investigations into its co-infection with malaria particularly relevant in endemic regions. This review examines the epidemiological, incubation and clinical features of the two diseases, high...lighting the diagnostic challenges and strategies for accurate detection. Emerging immunological and genetic evidence indicates that prior exposure to malaria may reduce the severity of outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection through mechanisms involving ACE2 downregulation, TLR signalling, T-cell activation and upregulation of coinhibitory receptors. Additionally, potential control measures are discussed, including vaccine development, the repurposing of antimalarial drugs, the exploration of natural products, innovations in bioinsecticides, and the strengthening of electronic disease surveillance. These insights provide valuable guidance for clinical management and public health policy, while emphasising the need for continued research into the complex interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and malaria.
more
Malaria remains a significant public health concern in the SADC region, accounting for 20% of childhood deaths, as well as prompting numerous outpatient visits and hospitalisations. Around three-quarters of the population, including 35 million children under the age of five and 8.5 million pregnant ...women, are at risk. Transmission patterns vary from high and stable in the north to malaria-free in the south, with low, unstable and seasonal zones in between. Although interventions such as indoor residual spraying (IRS), insecticide-treated nets (ITNs/LLINs), intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp), rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have reduced the malaria burden, challenges persist in terms of funding, human resources, surveillance, and cross-border coordination. Achieving malaria elimination in the SADC region requires harmonised regional standards, strengthened surveillance, and improved access to quality treatment and policy prioritisation.
Accessed on 27/08/2025.
more
The Guidelines for the Use of the APCA African Palliative Outcome Scale (POS) has been developed by the APCA, in collaboration with
stakeholders, to help appropriately trained health practitioners and researchers across the region to utilise the APCA African POS in their work place (Powell et... al, 2007; Warria et al, 2007). Not only do the guidelines provide a clear rationale for measuring palliative care outcomes, but they also outline practical information on how to use the tool to collect data and analyse its results. So why is there a need for these guidelines?
Palliative care as a concept and discipline is not well understood across Africa, and its development is still embryonic in many countries. While there are many obstacles that hinder palliative care development on the continent, a key challenge is the lack of accurate information about the palliative care being provided and its outcomes. The APCA African POS is a useful tool to help us measure these outcomes and, given that
measuring palliative care outcomes remains a relatively new concept, it is important to guide people on how to use the tool. Of course, these guidelines are not intended to address everything related to the measurement of palliative care outcomes; they contain only essential information for providers. More detailed information on the use of outcome tools, and in particular within the research setting, can be gained from contacting relevantly trained professionals.
more
The document provides a standardized protocol for evaluating the Early Warning Alert and Response Network (EWARN), a surveillance system used during humanitarian emergencies when regular national health surveillance may be disrupted. The purpose of EWARN is to detect outbreaks of communicable diseas...es early and enable rapid public health response. The guidance explains how the system should be assessed in terms of its structure, implementation, effectiveness, and usefulness. It outlines the key steps of evaluation: preparation, system description, data collection, and post-evaluation reporting. The protocol highlights common challenges observed in previous EWARN implementations, such as delays in establishing the system, limited data quality, weak outbreak response, and lack of clear transition plans back to routine surveillance systems. It emphasizes the need to evaluate both weekly disease reporting and alert verification processes, and to review attributes such as simplicity, data quality, timeliness, sensitivity, and stability. The document also provides templates for interviews, data review forms, and laboratory assessment, as well as guidance on conducting remote evaluations when access is limited. The overall goal of the protocol is to ensure that EWARN functions effectively to detect and respond to outbreaks and that practical recommendations are developed to improve the system’s performance and sustainability in emergency settings.
more
The Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) calls for making AMR a core component of professional education and training. In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) published Competency framework for health workers’ education and training on AMR to ensure that academic institutions ...and regulatory agencies provided pre-service and in-service training to equip health workers with the adequate competencies to address AMR. This was followed by Health workers’ training and education on AMR: curricula guide, which outlines the learning objectives and expected outcomes of pre-service training of health workers to improve curricula. These tools were designed to strengthen the capacity of health workers in various settings to address the growing challenge of AMR.
more
Pathogens . 2021 Nov 16;10(11):1493.doi: 10.3390/pathogens10111493
.Chronic manifestations of Chagas disease present as disabling and life-threatening condi-tions affecting mainly the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems. Although meaningful research has outlined the different molecular mech...anisms underlying Trypanosoma cruzi’s infection and the host-parasite interactions that follow, prompt diagnosis and treatment remain a challenge, particu-larly in developing countries and also in those where the disease is considered non-endemic. This review intends to present an up-to-date review of the parasite’s life cycle, genetic diversity, virulence factors, and infective mechanisms, as well as the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment options of the main chronic complications of Chagas disease.
more
The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region webpage discusses the impact of unhealthy diets on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. It highlights unhealthy eating as a major risk factor for these conditions and recommends increasing the consumption of frui...ts, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains while reducing salt, sugar, and fat intake. Additionally, it advises replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats. The page emphasizes that improving dietary habits is not just an individual responsibility but a societal challenge, requiring a comprehensive and culturally sensitive approach.
more
The WHO Global Learning Laboratory (GLL) for Quality UHC links the experiences, expertise, and wisdom of people across the world on important issues relating to quality in the context of UHC. The GLL is a safe space to share knowledge, experiences and ideas; to challenge ideas and approaches; and to... spark new thinking for quality UHC
more
Inclusive Project Cycle Management - This Inclusive Project Cycle Management (IPCM) training package has been developed for CBM staff and Partner Organisations worldwide. The Trainers’ Manual will guide CBM trainers. It contains the curriculum for the course and training resources for trainers to ...help them deliver the course. The training will be successful if the trainers make sufficient planning time to prepare in advance and to respond to partners training needs. Different contexts and different partners may require different emphasis on areas that may be a challenge. This training material is not suggested as a prescriptive manual but as a suggested framework that can be added to and deepened as required. This means adapting the course to the local context and training needs and competencies of partners. In particular, it would be good to supplement or replace case studies included in the course with local case studies (refer Handout 8) and to have participants draw on their own examples.
more
In 2023, the World Health Organization was responding to 72 health emergencies, including 19 grade-3 emergencies which required the highest level of activation, reaching millions of people. The annual report on WHO’s response to health emergencies in 2023 outlines the increasingly critical role of... WHO at global, regional and country levels, and across the key elements of effective emergency response, including emergency coordination and planning, operational and logistic support, and community engagement and protection. The huge scale and complexities of health emergencies in the 21st century require a strategic shift towards not only meeting the immediate needs of vulnerable communities, but also building community and health system resilience to all hazards – a challenge that both WHO and its partners must continue to meet.
more
April 2022 Volume 35 Issue 2 e00152-21
Population movements have turned Chagas disease (CD) into a global public health problem. Despite the successful implementation of subregional initiatives to control vectorial and transfusional Trypanosoma cruzi transmission in Latin American settings where t...he disease is endemic, congenital CD (cCD) remains a significant challenge. In countries where the disease is not endemic, vertical transmission plays a key role in CD expansion and is the main focus of its control. Although several health organizations provide general protocols for cCD control, its management in each geopolitical region depends on local authorities, which has resulted in a multitude of approaches. The aims of this review are to (i) describe the current global situation in CD management, with emphasis on congenital infection, and (ii) summarize the spectrum of available strategies, both official and unofficial, for cCD prevention and control in countries of endemicity and nonendemicity. From an economic point of view, the early detection and treatment of cCD are cost-effective. However, in countries where the disease is not endemic, national health policies for cCD control are nonexistent, and official regional protocols are scarce and restricted to Europe. Countries of endemicity have more protocols in place, but the implementation of diagnostic methods is hampered by economic constraints. Moreover, most protocols in both countries where the disease is endemic and those where it is not endemic have yet to incorporate recently developed technologies. The wide methodological diversity in cCD diagnostic algorithms reflects the lack of a consensus. This review may represent a first step toward the development of a common strategy, which will require the collaboration of health organizations, governments, and experts in the field.
more
More than 800,000 asylum seekers and migrants have arrived in Europe by sea in 2015, with most traveling onward to northern and western EU countries. According to UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, 84 percent were from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, or Iraq – all countries experienci...ng conflict, widespread violence and insecurity, or countries with highly repressive governments. European Union governments should take urgent action to bring Europe’s response to the refugee challenge, now a full blown EU crisis, in line with their legal responsibilities and stated values.
more
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is currently one of the most relevant arboviruses to public health. It is a member of the Togaviridae family and alphavirus genus and causes an arthritogenic disease known as chikungunya fever (CHIKF). It is characterized by a multifaceted disease, which is distinguished fr...om other arbovirus infections by the intense and debilitating arthralgia that can last for months or years in some individuals. Despite the great social and economic burden caused by CHIKV infection, there is no vaccine or specific antiviral drugs currently available. Recent outbreaks have shown a change in the severity profile of the disease in which atypical and severe manifestation lead to hundreds of deaths, reinforcing the necessity to understand the replication and pathogenesis processes. CHIKF is a complex disease resultant from the infection of a plethora of cell types. Although there are several in vivo models for studying CHIKV infection, none of them reproduces integrally the disease signature observed in humans, which is a challenge for vaccine and drug development. Therefore, understanding the potentials and limitations of the state-of-the-art experimental models is imperative to advance in the field. In this context, the present review outlines the present knowledge on CHIKV epidemiology, replication, pathogenesis, and immunity and also brings a critical perspective on the current in vitro and in vivo state-of-the-art experimental models of CHIKF.
more
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing threat to our health, causing at least 700,000 deaths globally every year. The death toll attributed to AMR is predicted to rise, with most lives lost in low and middle income countries (LMICs).
AMR is also a critical challenge for many other sectors, inc...luding animal health and welfare, aquaculture, agriculture, food safety and broader socioeconomic development. A coordinated, cross-sectoral and multi-pronged approach is needed at all levels of government to ensure an effective and targeted response to this mounting resistance.
more
Introduction : de nos jours, face à la pénurie grandissante de
personnel de santé qualifié et face au défi de l’atteinte des
Objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement, la participation
communautaire est devenue une réalité incontournable. Dans
la zone sanitaire Avrankou Adjarra Ak...pro-Missérété (3A) du
département de l’Ouémé, les relais sont appuyés par l’UNICEF
et l’ONG Africare. L’objectif de notre travail a été d’étudier
la qualité de l’apport des relais dans la mise en oeuvre de la
PCIME-Communautaire.
2014/2 Vol. 26 | pages 241 à 24 SFSP Santé Publique
Introduction: With the growing shortage of qualified healthcare
professionals and the challenge of achieving the Millennium
Development Goals, community participation has become an
essential reality. In the Avrankou Adjarra Akpro-Missérété (3A)
health zone of the Ouémé department, community volunteers are
supported by UNICEF and the NGO Africare. The objective of this
study was to assess the quality of the contribution of community
volunteers to implementation of community-based integrated
management of childhood illness (IMCI).
SFSP Santé Publique » 2014/2 Vol. 26 | pages 241 à 248
more
As a conflict between two major agricultural powers, the Russia–Ukraine war has various negative socioeconomic impacts that are now being felt internationally and might worsen, notably, for global food security. If the war deepens, the food crisis will worsen, posing a challenge to many countries,... especially those that rely on food imports, such as those in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Simultaneously, the war came at a bad time for global food markets because food prices were already high due to disruptions in the supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, strong global demand, and poor harvests in some countries. Understanding how conflict-related disruptions in global food and fertilizer markets might affect price and availability is critical for understanding the overall impact on global food security. Further, four months into the war, its implications for food security suggest that this review is timely, urgent, and highly needed.
more