The WHO laboratory biosecurity guidance follows and complements the revision of the Laboratory biosafety manual, fourth edition and provides principles and measures to prevent lapses and incidents throughout the whole value chain of handling high-consequence biological material, technology and infor...mation. The document shares global best practice and covers the biosecurity part of the biological risk management lifecycle, starting from collection, transportation, storage and experiment, and in specific context such as every type of biomedical laboratory, research activities, repository and biobank. It also provides key considerations and best practices for institutional, national and international levels, including regulatory oversight.
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Map of Distribution of fascioliasis, worldwide, latest year available.
Foodborne trematodes are a group of diseases that include the parasites Clonorchis, Opisthorchis, Fasciola and Paragonimus. These parasitic flukes have a complex life cycle involving diverse definitive hosts and one or two inter...mediate hosts. Foodborne trematodes cause infection in humans via the consumption of contaminated food (raw fish, crustaceans or vegetables). Infection can result in severe liver and lung disease and together these diseases are estimated to cause 2 million life years lost to disability and death worldwide every year.
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WHO is working with Viamo, a global social enterprise improving lives via mobile, to provide WHO’s COVID-19 information, including vaccines, to the hardest to reach populations, in their languages, through the mobile phones they own. This includes people with simple phones (feature phones) or with... limited access to the internet. Since the onset of COVID-19, Viamo’s 3-2-1 Service has become a trusted, toll-free source of life-saving COVID-19 health information for people in 19 countries. Listeners dial in and access important messages that help them make better informed decisions to live healthier lives.
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WHO is working closely with our offices in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, as well as partners to rapidly respond to the health emergency triggered by the conflict and to minimize disruptions to the delivery of critical healthcare services.
WHO continues to deliver much-needed support on urge...nt health needs.
During the crisis, health must remain a priority pillar, with health workers being protected so they can continue to save lives and with health systems and facilities being protected so that they remain functional, safe and accessible to all who need essential medical services. It is imperative to ensure that life-saving medical supplies – including oxygen – reach those who need them
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An estimated 1.3 billion people – or 16% of global population worldwide – experience a significant disability today. Persons with disabilities have the right to the highest attainable standard of health as those without disabilities. However, the WHO Global report on health equity for persons w...ith disabilities demonstrates that while some progress has been made in recent years, the world is still far from realizing this right for many persons with disabilities who continue to die earlier, have poorer health, and experience more limitations in everyday functioning than others. These poor health outcomes are due to unfair conditions faced by persons with disabilities in all facets of life, including in the health system itself. Countries have an obligation under international human rights law to address the health inequities faced by persons with disabilities. Furthermore, the Sustainable Development Goals and global health priorities will not progress without ensuring health for all.
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A new formulation of a drug to prevent excessive bleeding following childbirth could save thousands of women’s lives in low- and lower-middle-income countries, according to a study led by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with MSD for Mothers and Ferring Pharmaceuticals.
Curren...tly WHO recommends oxytocin as the first-choice drug for preventing excessive bleeding after childbirth. Oxytocin, however, must be stored and transported at 2–8 degrees Celsius, which is hard to do, in many countries, depriving many women of access to this lifesaving drug. When they can obtain it, the drug may be less effective because of heat exposure.
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Advances in the treatment of pediatric cancer have made it possible to expand initiatives beyond cure and cover aspects such as early detection, continuity of treatment and reduction in toxicity. All this has paved the way for a more comprehensive vision of patient care, which means better chances o...f healing and a fuller life - objectives of the World Initiative against Childhood Cancer. Within this comprehensive care, psychosocial care includes the social, psychological, spiritual and functional dimensions of the disease process of patients. This series includes guidelines and standards based on evidence that guarantee the quality of said care. The standards are the result of discussion and review by different professionals from Latin America and the Caribbean. Module 1 focuses on psychosocial evaluation as a strategy to support the objectives of the World Initiative against Childhood Cancer, and as a tool for health professionals to gather the necessary information to offer these patients a comprehensive approach focused on well-being, adaptation to the disease process, and adherence to treatment.
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For 100 cases among which 60 cases of children ≥ 5 years old and 40 cases of children < 5 years old and adults.
The new Pneumonia kit 2020 is specially designed to provide sufficient child-size antibiotics to treat pneumonia, targeting children under 5 years of age. It aims to provide life-savi...ng treatment based on the WHO protocols WHO treatment guidance Pneumonia should be treated with antibiotics.
The antibiotic of choice is amoxicillin dispersible tablets. Most cases of pneumonia require oral antibiotics, which are often prescribed at a health centre.
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Everyone, all over the world, deserves to live a long life in full health. In order to achieve this goal, we need a comprehensive picture of what disables and kills people across countries, time, age, and sex. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) provides a tool to quantify health loss from hundreds o...f diseases, injuries, and risk factors, so that health systems can be improved and disparities can be eliminated.
You can have access to GBD Resources, Data Visualizations, Studies & Reports; Data, Country Profiles and the Lancet GBD Studies
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Cryptococcal disease, particularly cryptococcal meningitis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among people living with HIV with advanced HIV disease. It is estimated that it is responsible for nearly 19% of AIDS-related mortality, second only to tuberculosis. Rapid screening, diagnosi...s and linking to appropriate treatment are critical actions national programs must take to reduce the burden of disease.
WHO in 2022 introduced updated guidelines for diagnosing, preventing, and managing cryptococcal disease among adults, adolescents and children living with HIV. This policy brief provides a summary of the key recommendations, clinical considerations, and also stresses the importance of ensuring access to life-saving antifungals. There is an urgent need for countries to scale-up management for not just cryptococcal meningitis, but address cryptococcal disease in the context of a package of care for advanced HIV disease as recommended by WHO.
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Map of Distribution of opisthorchiasis, worldwide, latest year available.
Foodborne trematodes are a group of diseases that include the parasites Clonorchis, Opisthorchis, Fasciola and Paragonimus. These parasitic flukes have a complex life cycle involving diverse definitive hosts and one or two i...ntermediate hosts. Foodborne trematodes cause infection in humans via the consumption of contaminated food (raw fish, crustaceans or vegetables). Infection can result in severe liver and lung disease and together these diseases are estimated to cause 2 million life years lost to disability and death worldwide every year.
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While virtually unheard of in developed countries, NTDs are a group of medically diverse parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases common in tropical and subtropical areas. NTDs affect more than 1.5 billion people annually, causing death, blindness, disfigurement, chronic pain, cognitive impairmen...t and other long-term disabilities that create obstacles to education, employment, economic growth and overall
development. When measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), the NTD burden is greater than malaria or tuberculosis.
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troke, a major Non-Communicable Disease (NCD), is responsible for 3.5% of disabilityadjusted life year (DALY) in India.Apart from risk factors like hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases and positive family history, other lifestyle related factors such as unhealthy diet, obesity, lack of physical ac...tivity, stress and tobacco use account for its occurrence. Changes in lifestyles, behavioural patterns, demographic profile (aging population), socio-cultural and technological advancements are leading to sharp increases in the prevalence of stroke. The disease by and large can be prevented by making simple changes in the way people live their lives or simply by changing our lifestyle.
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The Global Breast Cancer Initiative aims to address disparities in access to care to reduce mortality rates globally. Patient navigation is an evidence-based personalized intervention designed to guide patients through often complex cancer care systems to receive timely access, particularly in low-i...ncome and minority populations. It is useful in settings with limited availability, fragmented healthcare systems and socioeconomic barriers that hinder early detection and treatment. It is proven to significantly reduce delays, improve patient adherence to care and enhance survival rates. The model involves helping individuals and their families to tackle barriers such as cultural stigma, misinformation, and psychosocial, among others, that can delay or prevent access to timely care. It can also reduce financial strain, streamline care coordination and improve the overall quality of life by connecting patients with affordable treatment options and support systems to address their needs in the course of treatment.
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A lot has happened this year. While we continued to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, we were hit by disease outbreaks and
humanitarian crises. Yet, despite these challenges, we marched on, resolute in resolving critical health systems issues to increase
access to quality healthcare services. To furth...er our vision and bring concrete actions to reality, under
the leadership of the Government of South Sudan, we developed the Health Sector Strategic Plan to define the strategic
approaches, key interventions, mapping resource needs, and the implementation framework to strengthen the health system
to deliver essential quality health services equitably for 2023 to 2027. For WHO, this Plan will usher in a new reality -- access
to lifesaving or health-promoting interventions is doable and possible, making the health sector fairer, especially for those
unable to pay
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The larval stage of the parasite Taenia solium can encyst in the central nervous system causing neurocysticercosis, which is the main cause of acquired epilepsy in the countries in which the parasite is endemic. Endemic areas are those with the presence (or likely presence) of the full life cycle of... Taenia solium. The parasite is most prevalent in poor and vulnerable communities in which pigs roam free, open defecation is practiced, basic sanitation is deficient, and health education is absent or limited. Several tools are available for the control of Taenia solium. Preventive chemotherapy for Taenia solium taeniasis, which is directed at the adult tapeworm, is one of them. Other tools focus on pig management, pig vaccination and treatment, sanitation and hygiene, and community education. Three potential drugs—niclosamide, praziquantel, and albendazole—have been considered for use for preventive chemotherapy in Taenia solium taeniasis control programs through mass drug administration or targeted chemotherapy. In this Guideline, we provide recommendations for preventive chemotherapy in Taenia solium-endemic areas using niclosamide, praziquantel, or albendazole, including at which dose and in which population groups.
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The aims of these guidelines are to provide guidance to health-care providers (i.e. the end-users of these guidelines: physicians, nurses, pharmacists and caregivers) on the adequate relief of pain associated with cancer. They also assist policy-makers, programme managers and public health personnel... to create and facilitate appropriately balanced policies on opioids and prescribing regulations for effective and safe cancer pain management. Proper and effective stewardship of opioid analgesics in the cancer treatment setting is essential to ensure the safety of patients and to reduce the risk of diversion of medicine into society.
The goal of cancer pain management is to relieve pain to a level that allows for an acceptable quality of life.
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The document "Cystic Fibrosis Key Findings 2023 for Care Providers" by the Pennsylvania Department of Health summarizes recent findings and insights related to cystic fibrosis (CF). It highlights key statistics on the prevalence and outcomes of CF, emphasizes best practices for patient care, and pro...vides recommendations for healthcare providers. The document discusses improvements in treatment protocols, advances in medical research, and strategies to enhance patient quality of life. It also includes guidance on early detection, genetic testing, and comprehensive management plans to support affected individuals and their families.
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