Known avoidable environmental risks to health cause at least 12.6 million deaths every year, and account for about one quarter of the global burden of disease (2016 data) (1). Air pollution alone causes about 7 million
deaths a year, placing it among the top global risks to health (2). Global envir...onmental challenges are on the rise, including climate change, rapid urbanization and increased resistance to drugs.
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This guidance document is designed to ensure that the process of iteratively managing the health risks of climate change is integrated into the overall National Adaptation Planning (NAP) process, including through assessing risks; identifying, prioritizing, and implementing adaptation options; and m...onitoring and evaluating the adaptation process.
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This visual guide provides an overview of the various means of support WHO offers to member states to advance climate-resilient health. The guide offers answers to key questions to understand WHO's support to countries on climate change and health, including: What are the impacts of climate change o...n health and the potential health co-benefits of climate change mitigation? How do we develop comprehensive plans and strategies to address climate-sensitive health risks and build climate-resilient health systems and facilities?
How do we access climate financing for climate change and health, including the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness programme? What interventions can be implemented to address climate-sensitive health risks and strengthen the resilience and environmental sustainability of health systems and facilities? How do we monitor progress made at national level on climate change and health?
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This special issue on Newborn Health in Global Health Action is being launched to share the experience of how to scale up a cost-effective package of newborn care that involves families, community health workers and health facilities. The results of this community randomized trial, the Uganda Newbor...n Study (UNEST), show that home visits in pregnancy and soon after delivery resulted in improved breastfeeding practices, skin-to-skin care immediately after birth, delaying a baby’s first bath, and hygienic care of the baby’s umbilical cord among the poorest households with lowest access to care.
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Health Policy Plan (2017) 32 (5): 603-612; 10 pp. 318 kB
The revised guidelines present two major changes to existing guidelines: (A) there are now just 2 categories of pneumonia instead of 3 (“pneumonia” which is treated at home with oral amoxicillin and “severe pneumonia” which requires injectable antibiotics) and (B) oral amoxicillin replaces o...ral cotrimoxazole as first line treatment, preferably in 250mg dispersible tablet form, twice daily for five days which can be reduced to three days in low HIV settings.
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The majority of developing countries will fail to achieve their targets for Universal Health Coverage (UHC)1 and the health- and poverty-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) unless they take urgent steps to strengthen their health financing. Just over a decade out from the SDG deadline of 20...30, 3.6 billion people do not receive the most essential health services they need, and 100 million are pushed into poverty from paying out-of-pocket for health services. The evidence is strong that progress towards UHC, core to SDG 3, will spur inclusive and sustainable economic growth, yet this will not happen unless countries achieve high-performance health financing, defined here as funding levels that are adequate and sustainable; pooling that is sufficient to spread the financial risks of ill-health; and spending that is efficient and equitable to assure desired levels of health service coverage, quality, and financial protection for all people— with resilience and sustainability.
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Africa is off track to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and lags behind in building resilient health systems
and health security, against a backdrop of limited resources. The world envisaged a significant role for governments
in funding the Sustainable Development Agenda, but inadeq...uate funding for health in African countries is
persistent, despite additional continental commitments to address the problem. When commitments to global health
targets and available fiscal space do not align, innovation is warranted.
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Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2014;35(3):179–85
Measuring progress towards universal health coverage.
This sixth edition of Health at a Glance Asia/Pacific presents a set of key indicators of health status, the determinants of health, health care resources and utilisation, health care expenditure and financing and quality of care across 27 Asia-...Pacific countries and territories. It also provides a series of dashboards to compare performance across countries and territories, and a thematic analysis on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Asia/Pacific health systems.
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The brief concludes that sustaining the continuity of EHS requires policies that ensure a whole-society and systems strengthening approach. This involves increased health care investment, community engagement, disease control regulations, and multisector approaches to improve resilience, EHS quality..., and equity.
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Poor quality health services are holding back progress on improving health in countries at all income levels.
Today, inaccurate diagnosis, medication errors, inappropriate or unnecessary treatment, inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities or practices, or providers who lack adequate training an...d expertise prevail in all countries.
The situation is worst in low and middle-income countries where 10 percent of hospitalized patients can expect to acquire an infection during their stay, as compared to seven percent in high income countries. This is despite hospital acquired infections being easily avoided through better hygiene, improved infection control practices and appropriate use of antimicrobials.. At the same time, one in ten patients is harmed during medical treatment in high income countries.
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