5 May 2021
This Information Note is intended to assist national TB programmes and health personnel worldwide to maintain essential tuberculosis (TB) services during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the recovery phase. It is important that recent progress made in TB prevention and care is not reversed b...y COVID-19. The WHO Global TB Programme, along with WHO regional and country offices, developed this note in response to questions received from Member States and other partners since the start of the pandemic. The note includes references to other published WHO information products relevant to TB practitioners. WHO continues to monitor the situation closely for any changes that may influence this note and will issue updates should any factors change.
more
This report is the first of its kind. It brings together various data sets to present the current status of hand hygiene, highlight lagging progress, and call governments and supporting agencies to action, offering numerous inspiring examples of change.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hand hygiene ...received unprecedented attention and became a central pillar in national COVID prevention strategies. However, concern with hand hygiene should not only be as temporary public health measure in times of crisis, but as a vital everyday behaviour that contributes to health and economic resilience. Hand hygiene is a highly cost-effective investment, providing outsized health benefits for relatively little cost.
Despite efforts to promote hand hygiene, the rates of access to hand hygiene facilities remain stubbornly low. If current rates of progress continue, by the end of the SDG era in 2030, 1.9 billion people will still lack facilities to wash their hands at home.
This report presents a compelling case for investment in five key ‘accelerators’ as a pathway towards achieving hand hygiene for all – governance, financing, capacity development, data and information, and innovation. These accelerators are identified under the UN-Water SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework.
more
Despite the significant role of vector control in national leishmaniasis control programmes, the programmatic community perceives vector control as the weakest component of leishmaniasis control strategies in terms of resources, scientific evidence of the usefulness of interventions and capacity for... quality-assured implementation. Therefore, the main objective of this manual is to provide practical tools, techniques and procedures to strengthen sand fly control and surveillance in order to improve implementation of leishmaniasis control programmes. The manual provides a rationale for programme managers in different geographical regions on the types of vector control interventions to be used in different epidemiological and environmental settings and also how to measure their impact.
more
This document is a guide for national authorities who are responsible for managing public health responses to COVID-19
5 Nov. 2020
The policy brief provides a concise summary of information and considerations to ensure optimal management of influenza during the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes a list of technical guidance and other resources to assist policy makers with monitoring the situation, preventing seasonal i...nfluenza, reducing severe complications and mortality, protecting specific populations and communicating to and engaging with the public.
more
Data received as of July 3, 2017 | WHO and UNICEF estimates of national immunization coverage - next revision available July 15, 2018
Is the first appendix for the Psychological First Aid Field for Schools (PFA-S) Operations Guide. This appendix provides recommendations for school staff (including principals and administrators, teachers, health-related professionals, and support staff) on providing Psychological First Aid at a sch...ool.
more
Policy Brief November 2021 Available in English, Spanish and Portuguese
The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled the ongoing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) global crisis due to the increase in the use of antibiotics to treat COVID-19 patients, disruptions to infection prevention and control practices in o...verwhelmed health systems, and diversion of human and financial resources away from monitoring and responding to AMR threats. Moreover, AMR is likely to have caused more COVID-19 deaths, as secondary bacterial infections can worsen the outcome of severe and critical COVID-19 illness. Therefore, it is more urgent than ever to prioritize efforts towards AMR containment and support countries to improve the detection, characterization and rapid response to emerging AMR.
more
Senegal’s substantial and sustained progress against malaria is an inspiring public health success story, and a source of potential lessons for other countries on the path to elimination. This case study describes three major success factors—(1) outstanding leadership and partner engagement, (2)... the achievement and maintenance of high intervention coverage levels, and (3) a thriving data culture—and explores several exciting new opportunities to consolidate and expand upon Senegal’s two decades of impact.
more
Operational Guidelines for the national and district health workers & planners.
These new approaches include use of selective chemotherapy, Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs), Zinc for treatment of cholera in children and complementary use of OCV
Review of International, Regional and National Policies and Legal Frameworks that Promote Migrants and Mobile Populations' Access to Health and Malaria Services in the Greater Mekong Subregion (Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam)
Migrants and mobile popul...ations face many obstacles in accessing equitable essential health care services due to factors such as living and working conditions, education level, gender, irregular migration status, language and cultural barriers, anti-migrant sentiments, and lack of migrant-inclusive health policies among others. Despite significant progress having been made in the context of malaria control in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), human movements can impact malaria transmission patterns and potentially introduce drug-resistant parasites. This legal framework review therefore serves as a guidance document on approaches to address malaria and malaria elimination for migrant and mobile populations (MMPs) in five countries of the GMS.
more
There is no guarantee that a successful pilot program introducing a reproductive health innovation can also be expanded successfully to the national or regional level, because the scaling-up process is complex and multilayered. This article describes how a successful pilot program to integrate the S...tandard Days Method (SDM) of family planning into existing Ministry of Health services was scaled up nationally in Rwanda.
more
There has been no systematic comparison of how the policy response to past infectious disease outbreaks and epidemics was funded. This study aims to collate and analyse funding for the Ebola epidemic and Zika outbreak between 2014 and 2019 in order to understand the shortcomings in funding reporting... and suggest improvements. Methods: Data were collected via a literature review and analysis of financial reporting databases, including both amounts donated and received. Funding information from three financial databases was analysed: Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Development Assistance for Health database, the Georgetown Infectious Disease Atlas and the United Nations Financial Tracking Service. A systematic literature search strategy was devised and applied to seven databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, HMIC, Global Health, Scopus, Web of Science and EconLit. Funding information was extracted from articles meeting the eligibility criteria and measures were taken to avoid double counting. Funding was collated, then amounts and purposes were compared within, and between, data sources.
more
Policy Brief
Accessed: 20.11.2019
The Rwanda Malaria Strategic Plan 2020–2024 outlines Rwanda’s national strategy to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality by at least 50% compared to 2019 levels. The vision is a malaria-free Rwanda contributing to socioeconomic development.
The plan includes strengthening prevention through lo...ng-lasting insecticide-treated nets, indoor residual spraying, and larval source management; ensuring universal access to testing and treatment; improving surveillance and data use; and enhancing program management, coordination, and financing. It also emphasizes community engagement and behavior change to ensure at least 85% of the at-risk population adopts protective practices.
The strategy builds on past lessons, involves multi-sectoral collaboration, and aligns with global malaria goals. It highlights equity, quality services, and evidence-based interventions as guiding principles, aiming to mobilize national and international resources for sustained impact.
more
The objectives of the meeting were to agree on coordinated and aligned support to the 3 countries’ national health recovery plans (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone); to identify cross-cutting areas and opportunities for integration; to identify ways to improve implementation modalities; and to identi...fy actions including technical assistance needed to support the countries in the process of building resilient health systems.
The outcomes of the meeting consisted in proposed country action plans to move forward with the implementation of the recovery plans. The action plans includes:priorities and areas of work; activities needed to improve implementation modalities; technical assistance needs.
more
An overview of validation structures and responsibilities at national, regional and global levels.
This governance document supplements the global guidance document. Validation of elimination requires rigorous assessment at the national, regional and global levels of the impact and process indicato...rs and the fulfilment of the four foundational requirements for (1) data quality, (2) strong programmes, (3) laboratory quality and (4) human rights, gender equality and community engagement.
more
Observations from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) WHO collaborative cross-national study