WHO convened the fifth stakeholders meeting on the elimination of HAT due to infection with Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (g-HAT) and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (r-HAT) in Geneva, Switzerland, on 7–9 June 2023. The meeting was held again in person after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandem...ic and jointly for both forms of the disease. The previous meetings on g-HAT held in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as on r-HAT in 2015, 2017 and 2019, and jointly for g-HAT and r-HAT in 2021 (8) reinforced the partnership and commitment for HAT elimination and structured the mechanisms of collaboration within the WHO network for HAT elimination. The network includes NSSCPs, groups developing new tools, international and nongovernmental organizations involved in disease control, and donors.
Fewer than 1000 cases of HAT annually have been reported over the past 5 years, which is a historic achievement. The area at risk has been substantially reduced. The elimination of HAT as a public health problem at the global level has been achieved.
The new road map for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) 2021−2030 (“the road map”) with the target to interrupt the transmission of g-HAT requires the strengthened and sustained efforts of all stakeholders, national authorities and partners, under WHO coordination. It will take disproportionally high efforts and innovative strategies to find the last cases of g-HAT and neutralize its transmission. Given the limited resources and other competing public health priorities, this is a challenge that requires our joint commitment.
more
Masangane Case Study
The Vesper Society commissioned ARHAP to do research on the integrated Masangane HIV/AIDS programme affiliated with the Moravian Church in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Completed in 2006, this study aimed to understand the role of the religious health assets of the Masangane ART ...programme for public health, as a model for a replicable response to HIV/AIDS. A crucial aspect of this research involved teasing out what value is added to this programme by its faith-based nature. Field work for this case study consisted of more than 20 key informant interviews of various stakeholders: Masangane staff and management; church leaders; health seekers; donors and health providers. Health seekers also answered 77 questionnaires and were involved in two focus groups.
more
International commitment to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem worldwide is supported by resolution WHA51.11 of the World Health Assembly .1 Important progress towards this goal has been made by harnessing the mostly informal relationships that exist between partners including Member Stat...es, the World Health Organization (WHO), academic institutions, donors and nongovernmental organizations. Recognizing that work remains to be done and that the 2020 target2 for elimination is rapidly approaching, in February 2015 the WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases convened a group of academic institutions that had for many years helped WHO to implement its mandate on trachoma and to work towards establishing a Network of WHO collaborating centres (WHOCCs) for Trachoma. The report of that meeting has been published.
more
نظرة عامّة على التقنيّات المستخدمة لمعالجة النفايات المُعدِية والحادّة الناتجة عن مرافق الرعاية الصحيّة
This document provides an overview of specific health care waste technologies for the treatment of solid ...infectious and sharp waste. For each technology, details of its operation, effects on the environment and health, requirements for installation, capacities for treating waste, examples of consumables and advantages and disadvantages are described. The document is designed for health care facility administrators and planners, WASH and infection prevention control staff, national planners, donors and partners.
more
In order to assist UN country teams in scaling up country preparedness and response to COVID-19, WHO has developed these learning modules as a companion to the Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response.
This course in available in Engish, Russian and Arabic
The t...raining is intended:
For UN country teams (UNCTs)
For other relevant stakeholders, including partners, donors and civil society
To support national readiness and preparedness for COVID-19
To help countries increase their capacity to respond to COVID-19
To increase international coordination for response and preparedness
To streamline the process of coordinating resources and assessing country preparedness level
This learning package consists of 3 modules with videos and downloadable presentations.
more
This guide provides practical, step-by-step guidance on how to organize, implement, and monitor community-based care for DR TB. It is equally useful for program planning or supervision. The target audience for this guide is TB Program Managers, governments, policy makers, nongovernmental organizatio...ns (NGOs), donors and TB advocates.
This guide does not replace other guidelines and documents that contain important medical information, such as Guidelines for the Programmatic Management of Drug-resistant TB (WHO, 2008 and 2011 updates), and Management of MDR-TB: A Field Guide (WHO, 2009).
more
EngenderHealth's tool kit of related job aids is designed to help users support individuals in making informed and voluntary family planning decisions. The first volume in the series "Realizing Rights in Sexual and Reproductive Health Services," Choices in Family Planning: Informed and Voluntary Dec...ision Making is intended for use by a wide range of audiences in different family planning settings, including service providers, trainers, managers of service programs, managers and members of community-based organizations, policymakers, and donors.
more
This guidance note on Syria is the first in a series of comprehensive Q&As, which aims to give practical guidance on how to comply with EU sanctions when providing humanitarian aid, in particular medical assistance, to fight the coronavirus pandemic. By clarifying the responsibilities and processes ...for the provision of this aid, this note should facilitate the task of humanitarian operators in Syria. It should speed up the channelling of equipment and assistance to fight the coronavirus pandemic in Syria. It is addressed to all actors involved in the supply of humanitarian aid, such as the competent authorities of EU Member States, which manage the implementation of EU sanctions, and public and private operators (donors, NGOs, banks and other actors involved in humanitarian activities), which must comply with EU sanctions when providing assistance.
more
This Technical Brief focuses on current principles and approaches to Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) management, highlighting key constraints, gaps in knowledge and areas still lacking consensus. It is intended to inform ongoing debates among practitioners, national partners, donors and analysts o...n what information and evidence on best practices are currently available, where the gaps are, and priorities for going forward.
more
Health system resilience is not an inevitable byproduct of any investment in health but must be intentionally programmed and developed with necessary input, investment and contextualization. This technical product aims to guide national, subnational, and global health actors to operationalize the co...ncept of health system resilience for advancement of universal health coverage, health security and ultimately better health for all. It supports the translation of relevant conceptual guidance and high-level recommendations into practical actions.
The specific objectives are to:
present a concise overview of the concept of health system resilience;
provide a roadmap outlining practical and foundational steps for building health system resilience to be adapted to different contexts;
share examples of actions and tools, including stakeholder roles, to support country application of the roadmap.
The target audience for this work is the various stakeholders involved in strengthening health systems and public health including management of emergencies (from prevention and preparedness to response and recovery) and other public health challenges in countries. This ranges from the donors, policy-makers and decision-makers at global, national and subnational levels to the implementing institutions and line managers of health system functions and services across the health system building blocks.
more
The meeting of leprosy programme managers in the South-East (SE) Asia Region was convened by the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia (WHO-SEARO) from 11 to 13 April 2023 in Kolkata, India. The meeting was attended by 40 participants, including 15 national focal points from nine countries, five e...xperts, partners, donors and WHO staff members, including those from the Global Leprosy Programme (GLP).
The objectives of the meeting were to:
- review the current situation and progress of leprosy elimination in the Member States;
- discuss the updates on the new guidance and tools from the Global Leprosy Programme;
- facilitate experience-sharing and catalyse discussions to identify innovative practices, solutions and remaining gaps across countries to enhance leprosy elimination activities; and
- determine priority actions and support needs for accelerating leprosy elimination in the Region.
more
Integrated community case management (ICCM) – an approach where community-based health workers are trained to identify, treat and refer children under-five with pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria – is increasingly being used across sub-Saharan Africa to supplement the gaps in basic healthcare prov...ision. ICCM programmes have been endorsed by major international organisations and donors, and many African Ministries of Health as a key strategy for reducing child mortality.
This learning paper describes Malaria Consortium’s approach to and experience of engaging local communities in integrated community case management (ICCM) in Uganda, Zambia and Mozambique.
more
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is an umbrella term for a diverse group of debilitating infections that represent the most common afflictions for 2.7 billion people living on less than US$2 per day. Major efforts have recently re-focused attention on NTDs, including structured advocacy by the Bil...l and Melinda Gates Foundation, technical and political support by WHO and large-scale drug donation programs by pharmaceutical companies. An analysis of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) for NTDs in 2009 showed that Development Assistance Committee members and multilateral donors had largely ignored funding NTD control projects. This study reviews the changes since 2009 and finds an increased engagement by pharmaceutical manufacturers through drug donation programs substantially increased by the ‘London Declaration’ in 2012, a focused effort of 77 public and private partners on control or elimination of the 10 most common NTDs, but no increase in ODA for NTDs between 2008 and 2012. The allocation of ODA still does not reflect the respective importance of these diseases.
more
Focusing on preventing and mitigating COVID-19 related risks, the standards aim to protect the health and safety of personnel, while ensuring that organizations continue to deliver on their mandates. Attention is paid to non-discrimination and ensuring that all personnel, regardless of nationality o...r contractual type is equally covered and protected by the minimum standards in the COVID-19 context. It is acknowledged that the implementation of such standards may entail additional costs for organizations, for which a dialogue with donors may be warranted.
more
This document provides an overview of specific health care waste technologies for the treatment of solid infectious and sharp waste. For each technology, details of its operation, effects on the environment and health, requirements for installation, capacities for treating waste, examples of consuma...bles and advantages and disadvantages are described. The document is designed for health care facility administrators and planners, WASH and infection prevention control staff, national planners, donors and partners.
more
The Western Pacific Region is the largest and most diverse region in the world, made up of 37 countries and territories in the Pacific, Oceania and parts of Asia, with a population of more than 1.9 billion people stretching over an area from China and Mongolia in the north to New Zealand in the sout...h. In 1999, 22 countries and territories in the Pacific joined together and launched the Pacific Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis. Shortly after, the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis was launched in 2000. In 2004, 12 countries in the Asia subregion of the Western Pacific Region and Southeast Asian Region joined and developed the Mekong-Plus Strategic Plan for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis. Since then, significant efforts have been made by all endemic countries, with annual mass drug administration (MDA) as a principal strategy, through strong partnership with the WHO and other donors and partners. As a result, by the end of 2019, 10 of 22 endemic countries in the region, including 8 of 16 countries in the Pacific and 2 countries in the Asia subregion, achieved WHO validation for elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) as a public health problem. All the other countries are either progressing with post-MDA surveillance or accelerating efforts by adoption of the new triple drug therapy strategy and enhancement of MDA campaigns to tackle persistent transmission. Some 85% of the originally endemic implementation units have stopped MDA and the number of people requiring MDA for LF in the Western Pacific Region was reduced by 72% from 2000 to 2018. This paper reviews the progress, key success factors and remaining challenges and indicates the way forward to achieve LF elimination in the Western Pacific Region.
more
The main objectives of these guidelines are:
A. To create awareness among the CBM family (International Office, Member Associations, Regional Offices, Country Offices and partners) on the opportunity savings groups create to attain socio-economic empowerment of a significantly larger number of pers...ons with disabilities particularly among the poorest of the poor.
B. Lobbying mainstream savings group providers and donors to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in their programmes as a right as a catalyst of inclusive development.
C. To highlight and illustrate the key steps and procedures that are required to link persons with disabilities through CBR programmes with existing mainstream savings groups and/or promote development of disability specific savings groups.
more
This guide provides an overview of the major elements that must be considered before, during and after the implementation of antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) for SARS-CoV-2. This guide is complementary to policy guidance issued by the World Health Organization (WHO). The guide may ...appeal to a range of audiences including Ministries of Health, donors, public and private organizations/agencies acting as implementing partners and community based and civil society organizations with experience working on health, especially organizations familiar with similar testing campaigns for other disease programmes like HIV and malaria
more
In northern Myanmar, nearly 100,000 people continue to live in displacement camps in Kachin and northern Shan States. Most were first displaced by fighting between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army in 2011, and many have been displaced multiple times, including in recent months. ...Approaching seven years of displacement, and despite ongoing and often increasing needs, displaced persons in northern Myanmar face decreasing aid and protection services. Over the past two years, the Government of Myanmar has dramatically increased restrictions on delivery of aid to this displaced population at the same time that the overall amount of aid provided by international donors has decreased.
more
The 2022 Aid Transparency Index reveals that more aid organisations than ever before are publishing good quality information and score “very good” or “good” in the global ranking. However, the whole data set could be under threat as the Aid Transparency Index, the only tool driving tangible ...improvements in data quality, is set to close for lack of funding.
Produced by Publish What You Fund, the Index is the only independent measure of aid transparency among the world’s major aid donors. At a time of climate, hunger, health and debt crises, and some worrying trends in the way official development assistance (ODA) is counted, transparency is more important than ever.
more