4th edition
The WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual (LBM) has been in broad use at all levels of clinical and public health laboratories, and other biomedical sectors globally, serving as a de facto global standard that presents best practices and sets trends in biosafety.
LBM encouraged countries t...o accept and implement basic concepts in biological safety and to develop national codes of practice for the safe handling of biological agents in laboratories within their geographical borders.
This fourth edition of the manual builds on the risk assessment framework introduced in the third edition. A thorough, evidence-based and transparent assessment of the risks allows safety measures to be balanced with the actual risk of working with biological agents on a case-by-case basis.
This novel evidence- and risk-based approach will allow optimised resource use and sustainable laboratory biosafety and biosecurity policies and practices that are relevant to their individual circumstances and priorities, enabling equitable access to clinical and public health laboratory tests and biomedical research opportunities without compromising safety.
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The Practical manual on laboratory strengthening, 2022 update provides practical guidance on implementation of WHO recommendations and best practices for TB laboratory strengthening. It is an updated version of the GLI Practical Guide to Laboratory Strengthening published in 2017 and provides the la...test practical guidance on use of newly recommended diagnostics as well as guidance in key technical areas, including quality assurance and quality management systems, specimen collection and registration, procurement and supply-chain management, diagnostic connectivity, biosafety, data management, human resources, strategic planning, and model algorithms. The key changes are:
inclusion of recent or updated WHO recommendations for tests to diagnose TB and detect drug resistance;
alignment with the latest WHO critical concentrations for phenotypic drug-susceptibility testing (DST) and the new definitions of pre-XDR-TB and XDR-TB;
updated information on building quality-assured TB testing and management capacity using the Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) approach (Score-TB package1);
updated information on assessing, analysing and optimising TB diagnostic networks; and
updated information on the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to detect mutations associated with drug resistance for surveillance purposes.
The document also provides references to resources and tools relevant for work on laboratory strengthening.
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The Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) is a medium-term strategic framework for cooperation between WHO and countries and outlines a shared agenda with priority areas of work for five years. The aim of this CSS is to define medium term vision for
WHO technical cooperation with the State of Eritrea ...for a 5-year period, 2023-2027, in support of the country’s Health Sector Strategic and Development Plan III (HSSDPIII) 2022-2026 aimed at improving the health status of its people
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The Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly through a decision on sustainable financing, adopted the recommendations of the Member States Working Group on Sustainable Financing, contained in Appendix 2 of the Working Group’s report to the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly. As part of the recommendat...ions, the Secretariat was requested to “explore the feasibility of a replenishment mechanism to broaden further the financing base, in consultation with Member States and taking into consideration the Framework of Engagement with Non-State Actors; and to present a report that includes relevant options for Member States to consider, to the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly, through the 152nd session of the Executive Board and the thirty-seventh meeting of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee in January 2023” (paragraph 39(f) of Appendix 2 of the Working Group’s report). In response to this request, the Secretariat reviewed the feasibility of a WHO replenishment mechanism in line with the principles set out by the Working Group on Sustainable Financing. It consulted with Member States through the work of the Agile Member States Task Group on strengthening WHO’s budgetary, programmatic and financing governance and benchmarked a set of replenishment mechanisms within and beyond the global health arena. This report outlines the Secretariat’s review and proposals on key elements of a potential WHO replenishment mechanism.
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The Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Improvement Training Package is intended to support the training of local outreach workers and their subsequent work in communities to promote improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practices to reduce diarrhea
Website for WHO Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention. The “NVI Year in Review 2017”, offers select highlights of the work of WHO’s Department for the Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention ...(NVI).
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Despite the development of point-of-care diagnostic tests for syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and trichomoniasis, none comply with all WHO criteria. This analysis overviews landscape analyses of point-of-care diagnostic technologies for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vagi...nalis and syphilis, available and in the pipeline. The target audience for the target product profiles is broad and includes clinicians, researchers working on diagnostics, laboratory experts, including, microbiologists and virologists, public health experts, epidemiologists, developers, and representatives for manufactures, including biotech engineers, policy-and decision-makers as well as representatives from regulatory bodies and agencies, donor agencies and international organizations.
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In 2019, following a request from the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH), the Codex Alimentarius Committee (CAC) approved new work at its 42nd Session on the development of guidelines for the control of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in leafy vegetables and in sprouts.
The obje...ctive of the report was to evaluate commodity-specific interventions used at all stages of fresh fruit and vegetable production from primary production to post-harvest activities, transportation, point of sale and consumer use. Emphasis was placed on the identification and evaluation of interventions used throughout the world to reduce microbiological hazards of fresh fruits and vegetables that contribute to the risk of foodborne illnesses, taking into consideration their effectiveness, practicality and suitability.
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This article is part two in a series of explainers on vaccine development and distribution. Part one focused on how vaccines work to protect our bodies from disease-carrying germs. This article focuses on the ingredients in a vaccine and the three clinical trial phases. Part three outlines the nex...t part of the vaccine journey: the steps from completing the clinical trial phases through to distribution
Available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian
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This handbook is for health care providers involved in the care of girls and women who have been subjected to any form of female genital mutilation (FGM). This includes obstetricians and gynaecologists, surgeons, general medical practitioners, midwives, nurses and other country-specific health profe...ssionals. Health-care professionals providing mental health care, and educational and psychosocial support – such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and health educators – will also find this handbook helpful.
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Ebola is a serious disease. Pre-deployment training and follow-up support is required to help personnel working in affected countries work safely and effectively. The ePROTECT course is a basic self-learning online introduction for personnel being deployed to work on the Ebola response. You can acce...ss the course from a computer or a tablet. Go to the website: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/training/health-safety/en/
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Contact tracing is a key component of the COVID-19 response, particularly as societies begin to lift non-pharmaceutical interventions. However, it is a time-consuming and resource-intensive effort that depends on a trained and motivated workforce. Emergent digital contact tracing and quarantine (...DCTQ) tools offer the potential to complement and strengthen conventional contact tracing initiatives on an unprecedented scale. Despite their visibility throughout the pandemic
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This checklist is for any organization or person supporting the routine use of evidence in
the process of policy-making. Evidence-informed policy-making (EIPM) is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and universal health coverage (UHC). Its importance is emphasized in WH...O’s Thirteenth General Programme of
Work 2019–2023 (GPW13). This checklist was developed by the WHO Secretariat of Evidence-Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) to assist its Member countries in institutionalizing EIPM. Government agencies (i.e. the staff of the Ministry of Health),
knowledge intermediaries and researchers focused on strengthening EIPM will find in this checklist some key steps and tools to help their work. While the health sector is a key target group for EVIPNet, this tool can be applied by stakeholders from
different social sectors
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Progress in reducing tobacco use is a key indicator for measuring countries’ efforts to implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – target 3.a under the Sustainable Development Goals agenda. Countries have adopted this indicator to report progress also towards the tobacco reducti...on target under the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2013–2020 and the WHO’s Global Programme of Work triple billions target.
Fourth edition.
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The way we talk about global issues affects how people think, feel and react to them. Recognising that language has the power to create social change, we have produced this guide with the inten-tion of setting out a different approach to communicating global issues—one that replaces the nar-rative... of development, aid and charity, with one of global justice and solidarity. The work presented here will continue to be developed over time as we continue to research and test these messages.
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In 2019, following a request from the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH), the Codex Alimentarius Committee (CAC) approved new work at its 42nd Session on the development of guidelines for the control of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in leafy vegetables and in sprouts.
The obje...ctive of the report was to evaluate commodity-specific interventions used at all stages of fresh fruit and vegetable production from primary production to post-harvest activities, transportation, point of sale and consumer use. Emphasis was placed on the identification and evaluation of interventions used throughout the world to reduce microbiological hazards of fresh fruits and vegetables that contribute to the risk of foodborne illnesses, taking into consideration their effectiveness, practicality and suitability.
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Japan has been implementing projects of global extension of medical technologies under an official development assistance policy to improve public health and medicine by promoting Japanese medical technologies worldwide. The current work examines the impact and goals of implementing this new scheme.... The scheme has involved dozens of projects that sent Japanese experts to partner countries and that invited their counterparts to Japan to showcase Japanese medical technologies. Approximately 50 projects have been implemented in 24 countries over 5 years, and 19,638 individuals have been trained. As a result, the introduced technology was adopted in national guidelines in 4 projects and the introduced equipment was procured in the partner country in 17 projects. In total, 912,334 individuals have benefitted from the introduction of these medical technologies. The concept of "creating shared value" (CSV) could help promote project success by both creating economic value and encouraging social progress. However, the sustainability of that business model remains in question in terms of the internationalization of CSV. Several successful projects improved medical care and led to new business opportunities.
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31 Oct 2022 his plan outlines how the ACT-Accelerator will support countries as the world transitions to long-term COVID-19 control.
Recognizing the evolving nature of the COVID-19 virus and pandemic, the plan outlines changes to ACT-A’s set-up and ways of working, to ensure countries co...ntinue to have access to COVID-19 tools in the longer term, while maintaining the coalition’s readiness to help address future disease surges.
Developed through a consultative process with ACT-A agencies, donors, industry partners, civil society organizations (CSOs) and Facilitation Council members, the plan summarizes priority areas of focus for the partnership’s pillars, coordination mechanisms and other core functions, and highlights the work to be maintained, transitioned, sunset, or kept on standby.
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The ethical governance of research assumes the existence of a national entity (or subnational if applicable, according to the constitution of a country) in charge of supervising the research ethics committees (RECs) that review and monitor research with human beings. This supervision includes the ac...creditation of the RECs that authorize them to operate in the jurisdiction in question. This tool has the objective of facilitating the work of accreditation of RECs and ensuring that it is carried out in accordance with international ethical standards.
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1 March 2021
This article is part of a series of explainers on vaccine development and distribution. Learn more about vaccines – from how they work and how they’re made to ensuring safety and equitable access – in WHO’s Vaccines Explained series.