In this report, potential reasons for this apparent
contradiction between cherished human values
and observed social actions are explored with a
view to better formulating concrete steps that
governments and other stakeholders can take to
reshape social attitudes and public policy.
The executive summary of the WHO Global oral health status report presents a snapshot of the most recent data on major oral diseases, risk factors, health system challenges and opportunities for reform. The report’s clear conclusion is that the status of global oral health is alarming and requires... urgent action. The report will serve as a reference for policy-makers and an orientation for a wide range of stakeholders across different sectors to guide advocacy towards better prioritization of oral health in global, regional and national contexts. In addition, the report provides, as a separate online resource, the first-ever country oral health profiles for all 194 WHO Member States, giving unique insights into key areas and markers of oral health that are relevant for decision-makers.
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This thematic brief accompanies the Working for Health 2022–2030 Action Plan, serving as a background and rationale to the related actions of the Working for Health progression model (see Annex). The brief aims to inform Member States, nonstate actors and other users of the Action Plan on the con...text of health and care workforce education and employment, including the relevant policy landscape, key challenges and future directions.
In doing so, it provides an expanded exploration of the themes beyond what is provided in the Action Plan itself and reflects the topical issues and considerations that shaped its design, including those issues identified in the Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly Resolution WHA74.14 to protect, safeguard and invest in the health and care workforce. The importance of these themes was again emphasized at the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly, when Resolution WHA75.17: Human resources for health was co-sponsored by over 100 Member States, calling for the adoption and implementation of the Working for Health 2022–2030 Action Plan and utilization of the related Global Health and Care Worker Compact.
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The world is off track to make significant progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) (SDG target 3.8) by 2030 as improvements to health services coverage have stagnated since 2015, and the proportion of the population that faced catastrophic levels of out-of-pocket (OOP) health spending has i...ncreased.
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Weekly epidemiological record 18 July 2025
This report summarizes application of the SAFE strategy against trachoma during 2024. It includes estimates of the global population at risk of trachoma blindness based on district-by-district data submitted to WHO by national programmes.
Stigma and discrimination related to mental health conditions are widespread and harmful. Reducing stigma and discrimination can benefit families, societies and economies – it can save lives. The toolkit offers practical guidance on how to achieve this, based on three core evidence-based principle...s: leadership or co-leadership by people with lived experience, social contact, and inclusive partnerships. These 3 principles can be realized using a four-step process: identify and define aims, plan and prepare, launch and learn and reflect and proceed. Twelve case studies from all across the world are provided to demystify the process. Stigma and discrimination can be ended if each of us acts as one using the principles in this toolkit.
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Humanitarian emergencies and crises (Humanitarian emergencies and crises) are large-scale events that may result in the breakdown of health care systems and society, forced displacement, death, and physical, psychological, social and spiritual suffering on a massive scale. Current responses to Human...itarian emergencies and crises rightfully focus on saving lives, but for both ethical and medical reasons, the prevention and relief of pain, as well as other physical and psychological symptoms, social and spiritual distress, also are imperative. Therefore, palliative care, should be integrated into responses to Humanitarian emergencies and crises. The principles of humanitarianism and impartiality require that all patients receive care and should never be abandoned for any reason, even if they are dying. Thus, there is significant overlap in the principles and mission of palliative care and humanitarianism: relief of suffering; respect for the dignity of all people; support for basic needs; and accompaniment during the most difficult of times
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The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, a collaborative endeavour of the World
Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank and the Harvard School of Public Health,
drew the attention of the international health community to the burden of neurological
disorders and many other chronic conditions. T...his study found that the burden of neurological
disorders was seriously underestimated by traditional epidemiological and health
statistical methods that take into account only mortality rates but not disability rates. The
GBD study showed that over the years the global health impact of neurological disorders
had been underestimated.
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This document contains a series of desk reviews for the eight ENGAGE-TB priority countries supported by the Global Fund (DRC, Kenya, Indonesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tanzania). The document provides a situation assessment and gap analysis about the state of community based TB ac...tivities in these countries. The focus on these eight countries was justified by the high prevalence of TB and the very high number of missed/unreported cases.
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This paper provides case studies of several food product improvement policies from across the WHO European Region. The aim is to share country experience, assess the various merits of the different approaches, discuss lessons learned, and provide guidance for best practice that may be more widely ap...plicable across the European Region.
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The aims of these guidelines are to provide guidance to health-care providers (i.e. the end-users of these guidelines: physicians, nurses, pharmacists and caregivers) on the adequate relief of pain associated with cancer. They also assist policy-makers, programme managers and public health personnel... to create and facilitate appropriately balanced policies on opioids and prescribing regulations for effective and safe cancer pain management. Proper and effective stewardship of opioid analgesics in the cancer treatment setting is essential to ensure the safety of patients and to reduce the risk of diversion of medicine into society.
The goal of cancer pain management is to relieve pain to a level that allows for an acceptable quality of life.
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WHO TRS N°1012.
Key updates include: (i) surveillance strategies, including cross-sectoral linking of systems and suitable diagnostics; (ii) the latest recommendations on human and animal immunization; (iii) palliative care in lowresource settings; (iv) risk assessment to guide management of bite... victims; and (v) a proposed process for validation and verification of countries reaching zero human deaths from rabies.
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Module 1
Clinical
July 2017
Module 1: Clinical. This module is for clinicians, including physicians, nurses and clinical officers. It gives an overview of how to provide PrEP safely and effectively, including: screening for substantial risk of HIV; performing appropriate testing before initi...ating someone on PrEP and while the person is taking PrEP; and how to follow up PrEP users and offer counselling on issues such as adherence.
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The scope of this PPC document is to serve as a guide to address the unmet public health need for a PPE system that protects the HW-F in tropical climate
s while caring for patients and providing heavy duty essential health services.
The characteristics described in this guidance are targeted fo...r PPE used in
health clinics, hospitals and communities in low resource settings where there is lack of advanced environmental controls and equipment. The purpose is to ensure harmonization in PPE design and its use to avoid confusion and exacerbating the risk of infections in HW-F. The principles of this PPC document can also be considered in risk reduction strategies
in other healthcare settings.
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Module 6
Pharmacists
July 2017
Module 6: Pharmacists. This module is for pharmacists and people working in pharmacies. It provides information on the medicines used in PrEP, including on storage conditions. It gives suggestions for how pharmacists and pharmacy staff can monitor PrEP adherence... and support PrEP users to take their medication regularly.
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The Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) was established by World Health Organization Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland in January 2000 to assess the place of health in global economic development. Although health is widely understood to be both a central goal and an important outcome ...of development, the importance of investing in health to promote economic development and poverty reduction has been much less appreciated. We have found that extending the coverage of crucial health services, including a relatively small number of specific interventions, to the world’s poor could save millions of lives each year, reduce poverty, spur economic development, and promote global security.
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