Stop TB Communicable Diseases
- The goal of diagnostic testing for Ebola and Marburg virus diseases is to identify cases to provide timely and appropriate care and to stop disease transmission.
- All individuals meeting the case definition for Ebola or Marburg virus diseases should be tested.
- The recommended sample type ...for testing for orthoebolaviruses and orthomarburgviruses is whole blood or plasma for living patients, and oral swab for deceased individuals.
- Laboratory confirmation of Orthoebolavirus and Orthomarburgvirus infections and further species identification should be done using nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT).
- If a suspected case tests negative (living patient) and the blood was drawn less than 72 hours after symptom onset, a second test should be performed with blood drawn more than 72 hours after symptom onset.
- All manipulations in laboratory settings of samples originating from suspected, probable or confirmed cases of Ebola and Marburg virus diseases should be conducted with appropriate biosafety measures according to a risk-based approach.
- Whole or partial genome sequencing can be used to characterize viruses and complement epidemiologic investigations.
- Member States are strongly encouraged to share genetic sequence data (GSD) in publicly accessible databases.
- Member States are required to immediately notify the World Health Organization (WHO) under the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 of positive laboratory results.
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This working paper was conceived to offer practical tips and suggestions on how to establish and sustain the multisectoral coordination needed to develop and implement National Action Plans on AMR (NAPs). It is intended for anyone with responsibility for addressing AMR at country level. Drawing on b...oth the published literature and the operational experience of four ‘focal countries’ (Ethiopia, Kenya, Philippines and Thailand), it summarizes lessons learned and the latest thinking on multisectoral working to achieve effective AMR action.
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Guidelines
HIV testing services
July 2015
Supplement to the 2016 consolidated Guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for Treating and Preventing HIV infection
HIV Treatment
First WHO Global Ministerial Conference
Ending TB in the Sustainable Development Era: A Multisectoral Response
Moscow, Russian Federation, 16-17 November 2017
Building on the 2021 Interim guidance, this second version and update, incorporates the lessons and feedback from the hepatitis pilots that successfully demonstrated the feasibility of measuring hepatitis B and C impact targets to demonstrate elimination, whilst highlighting challenges caused by hig...h disease burden in some countries, as well as delays in reaching mortality targets due to the long natural history of disease progression to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
The path to elimination provides a framework with 3 levels of achievements for which WHO certification is available. Each stepwise progression from bronze to silver to gold tiers will promote an iterative expansion of prevention, diagnosis and treatment services for viral hepatitis services and strengthen measurement systems to support attainment of the 2030 elimination goals.
This updated version also includes changes, clarifications and new guidance on alternative measurement approaches for country validation of elimination. Through the validation process, WHO and partners continue to provide country support for strengthening health system capacity and patient-centred services that respect and protect the human rights of people living with viral hepatitis and ensures meaningful engagement of communities in the national, regional and global viral hepatitis response.
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Vaccines are powerful weapons in the fight against pandemic viruses as shown by responses to both the 2009 H1N1 influenza and the COVID-19 pandemics. However, planning for accessing, allocating and deploying vaccines in a pandemic situation is a complex endeavour, beset with multiple challenges at a...ll levels – local, regional and global. The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners have prepared this revised guidance document to assist countries update their national deployment and vaccination plans (NDVPs) by leveraging global learnings from past pandemic responses, including the recent COVID-19 vaccination effort. The development and testing of a NDVP would not only advance pandemic preparedness efforts but would also have benefits in terms of increasing national capabilities to manage other health emergencies which require emergency vaccination campaigns.
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On 31st December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. On 7th January 2020, Chinese authorities identified a new strain of Coronavirus as the causative age...nt for the disease. The virus has been renamed by WHO as SARS-CoV-2 and the disease caused by it as COVID-19. The disease since its first detection in China has now spread to over 200 countries/territories, with reports of local transmission happening in more than 160 of these countries/territories. As per WHO (as of 1st April, 2020), there has been a total of 823626 confirmed cases and 40598 deaths due to COVID-19 worldwide.
In India, as on 2nd April, 2020, 1965 confirmed cases (including 51 foreign nationals) and 50 deaths reported from 29 States/UTs. Large number of cases has been reported from Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
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Replacement of Annex 2 of WHO Technical Report Series, No. 964... morbidity. These preparations are included in the WHO List of Essential Medicines and should be part of any primary health care package where snakebites occur. Currently, there is an urgent need to ensure availability of safe, effective and affordable antivenoms, particularly to those in developing countries and to improve the regulatory control over the manufacture, import and sale of antivenoms.>
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Evaluation report
December 2014
A module from the suite of health service capacity assessments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemicINTERIM GUIDANCE5 February2021
The Community needs, perceptions and demand: community assessment toolcan be used by countries to conduct a rapid pulse survey of community health needs and perceptio...ns around effective use of essential health services during the COVID-19 outbreak. The assessment helps to establish an early warning system on the need to implement coping strategies to continue to respond to communities’ health needs throughout the course of the pandemic. This assessment tool is informed by WHO and partner tools and guidance on community health needs, continuity of essential health services and readiness planning for COVID-19
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Severe bacterial infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among people with advanced HIV disease, after tuberculosis and cryptococcal disease. For countries to reach the end-AIDS targets for 2030, there is a need to establish a roadmap for managing severe bacterial infections and re...duce mortality. The purpose of the meeting was to
Review the current research and implementation data on the use of prophylactic antibiotics (specifically azithromycin/macrolides) as part of the AHD package of care; To review options for preventing SBIs that are in line with goals of reducing AMR; Present the current evidence on diagnostics for SBI; Discuss research gaps and implementation challenges.
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The purpose of this Emergency Response Framework (ERF) is to clarify WHO’s roles and responsibilities in this regard and to provide a common approach for its work in emergencies. Ultimately, the ERF requires WHO to act with urgency and predictability to best serve and be accountable to populations... affected by emergencies.
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Trachoma, caused by particular serovars of Chlamydia trachomatis, is the leading
infectious cause of blindness. Infection is transmitted within ocular and nasal secretions that are passed from person to person on fingers, fomites (such as clothing) and eye-seeking flies (particularly Musca sorbens)....
Ophthalmic infection is associated with an inflammatory conjunctivitis known as “active trachoma”. Repeated episodes of active trachoma can scar the eyelids. In some individuals this leads to trachomatous trichiasis (TT), in which one or more eyelashes on the upper
eyelid touch the eye. TT is extremely painful. It can be corrected surgically, but, if left untreated, may lead to corneal opacification, resulting in vision impairment and blindness.
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Technical Brief
July 2017