In where under-five mortality is high and vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem, two high-dose supplements of vitamin A per year, spaced four to six months apart, can strengthen children’s immune systems and improve their chances of survival.
During much of early childhood – from... 6 months to 5years of age – two high doses of vitamin A every year can prevent blindness and hearing loss, boost children’s immunity against diseases like measles and diarrhoea and provide critical protection against death. Like all forms of malnutrition, vitamin A deficiency is a marker of inequality. In countries where diets are lacking in vitamin A and infections and deaths are prevalent, supplementation programmes give vulnerable children a better chance to survive, develop and thrive.
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Since the release of the first volume in May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to rage around the world. By mid-March, 2021, countries around the globe had reported over 123 million cases—a nearly five-fold increase since this report’s previous volume—and over 2.7 million deaths attrib...uted to the disease. And while new case loads are currently on the rise again, the global health community has already administered almost 400 million doses of vaccines, at last offering some signs of hope and progress.
Economic impacts threaten to undo decades of recent progress in poverty reduction, child nutrition and gender equality, and exacerbate efforts to support refugees, migrants, and other vulnerable communities. National and local governments—together with international and private-sector partners—must deploy vaccines as efficiently, safely and equitably as possible while still monitoring for new outbreaks and continuing policies to protect those who do not yet have immunity.
More than ever, the world needs reliable and trustworthy data and statistics to inform these important decisions. The United Nations and all member organizations of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) collect and make available a wealth of information for assessing the multifaceted impacts of the pandemic. This report updates some of the global and regional trends presented in Volume I and offers a snapshot of how COVID-19 continues to affect the world today across multiple domains.
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Annual report on global preparednessfor health emergencies
The next pandemic is not a question of if, but when—and the world is woefully unprepared, according to the first annual report from the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board. The WHO and the World Bank convened the independent group after ...the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Global News reports. Within 36 hours, a contagion like the 1918 flu could sweep the globe and take 50 to 80 million lives while wreaking havoc on the global economy, the report warns. And that’s just one possibility.
What would it take to get prepared? An investment of $1-$2 per person per year could create “acceptable” level of preparedness.
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Introduction The novel Coronavirus (nCoV) epidemic in 2019 -2020 has recently emerged. The route of transmission is not totally known, although it is known that it can spread from person to person, and local health care systems may be ill-equipped to handle a large-scale outbreak. Furthermore, misco...nceptions and misinformation about the disease often spreads rapidly in such epidemics.
In previous epidemics mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) has been identified as a key priority. MHPSS ensures the well-being of the affected populations, and counter-acts the threats to public health and safety that fear, stigmatization and misconception pose. Access to information, knowledge about the disease and how it spreads, make it easier for the affected to feel supported and calm, and to comply with instructions. Furthermore, psychosocial support to staff and volunteers help the operation as work conditions are extremely stressful.
This briefing note provides background knowledge on the MHPSS aspects related to nCoV and suggests MHPSS activities that can be implemented. The messages can be helpful for those in contact with patients or relatives and feel the strain of working and living during the epidemic. The briefing is aimed both at those working in any capacity with those affected by nCoV and for the MHPSS responders who implement MHPSS activities and interventions for everyone affected.
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UNFPA has been implementing programming for women and girls through Women Friendly Health Spaces (WFHSs), which provide access to critical services, information and support. The WFHS is providing: psychosocial counseling services; awareness raising sessions on PSS in the community; and life skills &... vocational training opportunities. The WFHS also facilitates referral to other services including Psychosocial Counseling Centers (PSCCs).
The aim of this guidance note is to provide an overview of approaches on how to successfully integrate adolescent and youth (A&Y) programming into the WFHSs. UNFPA activities for women’s and girl’s protection in health facilities aim to protect women and girls including child marriage. Given that vulnerable women and girls in Afghanistan continue to access health facilities, particularly for reproductive health and maternal health services, it is crucial to provide support for survivors in the same location to improve access to essential psychosocial and protection support for women and girls. To support the integration of A&Y in the WFHS programming each WFHS will be supported by two full time Youth Educators. A female Youth Educator who will be working within the WFHS and a male Youth Educator who will be working in the community. The role of the Youth educators is to increase A&Y awareness and knowledge on living healthy lifestyles and ensuring a referral system to services in existing facilities.
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This brief guidance note seeks to provide advice on protecting and supporting the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in Europe. It describes key principles and appropriate interventions to guide all those who are designing and organizing emergency servi...ces and/or providing direct assistance to the affected people
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ПРактИЧеское РукоВодстВо для соВместных меРоПРИятИй.
9th edition; 4th English edition 2020
WHO practical guidelines. 2nd edition
2nd edition.
The tool kit provides learning objects and curricular content to support the competencies for those proficiency/trainee levels
Disaster Recovery Toolkit
The Disaster Recovery Framework (DRF) Guide for the Health Sector provides guidance on how to implement a comprehensive, integrated, and structured approach to disaster recovery. Its overarching goal is to minimize the impact of the disaster on communities and help countries to recover quickly and e...ffectively from disasters, in coordination with key stakeholders.
The DRF Guide for the Health Sector is adapted from the generic DRF Guide, and draws on the Implementation Guide For Health Systems Recovery in Emergencies, the Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management Framework as well as the Disaster Recovery Guidance Series. The guide also makes links with multi-sectoral, government-led recovery planning processes such as the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), and it supports the implementation of the HDPN.
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Establishing trauma referral pathways to provide urgent life-saving assistance for displaced populations and civilians remaining in Ar-Raqqa.
In July 2017, a WHO team comprising an external trauma care specialist and two WHO staff members visited the governorates of Ar-Raqqa and neighbouring Al-Ha...sakeh to assess the situation
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Lessons learned from recent public health events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola virus disease, Zika virus disease outbreaks, and other public health threats, including earthquakes and floods, have highlighted the need for countries to continuously develop, strengthen, and maintain capacities r...equired under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR (2005)).
Developing capacities for health security in a country requires the engagement of public and private entities across a broad range of sectors, including human and animal health, agriculture, environment, finance, security, emergency management, education, and transportation. The World Health Organization (WHO) is mandated through various resolutions, decisions, and reports of the World Health Assembly, and through the IHR (2005), to provide technical guidance and support to its Member States in developing, strengthening, and maintaining their health systems, including capacities required under the IHR (2005).
For countries to better prevent, prepare for, detect, notify, respond to, and recover from public health emergencies, they must build and maintain IHR core capacities and support the strengthening of health emergency prevention, preparedness, response, and resilience (HEPR) capacities. National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS), as capacity development plans, provide the tasks and resources needed to ensure adequate capacities are in place to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from public health events in a sustainable manner. Investing in the resilience of these capacities within national health systems at national and local levels not only improves national health security but also helps safeguard economic, social, and political developments.
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At the end of 2023, WHO convened our first-ever annual WHO Stakeholder Review Conference for Prevention and Response to Sexual Misconduct. Aimed at joint learning and frank discussion on challenges faced in the achieving zero tolerance for all forms of sexual misconduct by aid workers, the Conferenc...e brought together Member States, Civil Society Organizations, United Nations Agencies and Programmes, academia and media joined by WHO personnel. A set of recommendations to support all agencies are documented in the Conference Report. In addition, WHO’s Director-General hosted a social engagement segment on the evening of Day 1 to further underscore the centrality of a victim and survivor-centred approach, to celebrate progress however small, and to reaffirm commitment and renew energy for the journey ahead. The Conference took place on 30 November and 1 December 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland
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