Meeting Report
Bangkok, Thailand 8-11 August 2016
Group psychological help for adults impaired by distress in communities exposed to adversity
With this manual, the World Health Organization (WHO) is responding to requests from colleagues around the world for a group version of the manual Problem Management Plus (PM+), which was developed for adul...ts impaired by distress in communities who are exposed to adversity. Aspects of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) have been changed to make them feasible in communities that do not have many specialists. To ensure maximum use, the intervention is developed in such a way that it can help people with depression, anxiety and stress, whether or not exposure to adversity has caused these problems. It can be applied to improve aspects of mental health and psychosocial well-being no matter how severe people’s problems are.
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The reports bring together the latest findings and conclusions about the state of resistance to artemisinins and artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), summarize WHO’s current policy and treatment recommendations, and highlight areas of concern.
Recent United Nations Conferences of the Parties (COPs) have demonstrated that health professionals are
playing an increasingly prominent role in calling for rapid action to address the climate crisis.
This publication provides guidance on reducing disability and premature deaths from coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and peripheral vascular disease in people at high risk, who have not yet experienced a cardiovascular event.
The new WHO guidelines provide recommended steps for safe phlebotomy and reiterate accepted principles for drawing, collecting blood and transporting blood to laboratories/blood banks.
Testing and diagnosis of hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) infection is the gateway for access to both prevention and treatment services, and is a crucial component of an effective response to the hepatitis epidemic. Early identification of persons with chronic HBV or HCV infection enables them to recei...ve the necessary care and treatment to prevent or delay progression of liver disease. Testing also provides an opportunity to link people to interventions to reduce transmission, through counselling on risk behaviours and provision of prevention commodities (such as sterile needles and syringes) and hepatitis B vaccination.
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Report of a regional workshop, New Delhi, India, 29–30 September 2014
To reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease and its subsequent problems, the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia organized a regional workshop on sodium intake and iodized salt for Member States in the South-East Asi...a Region. The general objective of the workshop was to strengthen an integrated approach for sodium reduction and salt iodization programmes in the Member States of the Region. The specific objectives included reviewing the current sodium reduction and salt iodization strategies in the Member States of South-East Asia, provide training to the participants in standardized approaches for dietary estimation of salt/sodium and urinary iodine estimation.
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The report is geared towards mayors, local government officials and city policy planners.It highlights key areas where city leaders can tackle the drivers of NCDs, including tobacco use, air pollution, poor diets and lack of exercise, and improve road safety.
From anti-tobacco actions in Beijing a...nd Bogor, to road safety initiatives in Accra and Bangkok, a bike sharing scheme in Fortaleza, and actions to create walkable streets for seniors that have reduced elderly pedestrian deaths by 16% in New York City, the report aims to share knowledge between urban policy planners.
Of the 19 case studies cited, 15 are from developing countries, where 85% of premature adult deaths through NCDs take place, and over 90% of road traffic fatalities are recorded. You can download the case studieson the website https://www.who.int/ncds/publications/tackling-ncds-in-cities/en/.
Over 90% of future urban population growth will be in low or middle-income countries, and seven of the world’s 10 largest cities are in developing countries.
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FAO and WHO jointly developed a comprehensive tool to assist Member states in assessing the effectiveness of national food control system. The FAO/WHO Food Control System Assessment Tool comprises 162 assessment criteria under 25 system competencies over 4 Dimensions. This introductory booklet is de...veloped to facilitate application of the assessment tool.
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Snakebite envenoming is a potentially life-threatening disease that typically results from the injection of a mixture of different toxins (“venom”) following the bite of a venomous snake. Envenoming can also be caused by venom being sprayed into a person’s eyes by certain species of snakes tha...t have the ability to spit venom as a defence measure. Not all snakebites result in envenoming: some snakes are non-venomous and venomous snakes do not always inject venom during a bite. About 50–55% of all snakebites result in envenoming. Snake venoms are complex mixtures of protein and peptide toxins, varying from one species to another, and even within species. The toxins in snake venoms are evolutionarily adapted to interact with a large variety of cellular targets in the organisms exposed to them. In humans and animals, snakebite envenoming affects multiple organ systems (depending on the particular species of snake and the classes of toxins present in the venom) and can cause, among other things: haemorrhage and prolonged disruption of haemostasis, neuromuscular paralysis, tissue necrosis, myolysis (muscle degeneration), cardiotoxicity, acute kidney injury, thrombosis and hypovolaemic shock.
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The Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly through a decision on sustainable financing, adopted the recommendations of the Member States Working Group on Sustainable Financing, contained in Appendix 2 of the Working Group’s report to the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly. As part of the recommendat...ions, the Secretariat was requested to “explore the feasibility of a replenishment mechanism to broaden further the financing base, in consultation with Member States and taking into consideration the Framework of Engagement with Non-State Actors; and to present a report that includes relevant options for Member States to consider, to the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly, through the 152nd session of the Executive Board and the thirty-seventh meeting of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee in January 2023” (paragraph 39(f) of Appendix 2 of the Working Group’s report). In response to this request, the Secretariat reviewed the feasibility of a WHO replenishment mechanism in line with the principles set out by the Working Group on Sustainable Financing. It consulted with Member States through the work of the Agile Member States Task Group on strengthening WHO’s budgetary, programmatic and financing governance and benchmarked a set of replenishment mechanisms within and beyond the global health arena. This report outlines the Secretariat’s review and proposals on key elements of a potential WHO replenishment mechanism.
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Las Guías para la calidad del agua de consumo humano: pequeños sistemas de abastecimiento de agua se han elaborado para tratar las necesidades y oportunidades asociadas a los pequeños sistemas de abastecimiento, con el fin de facilitar la mejora progresiva hacia unos servicios seguros y sostenibl...es de agua de consumo humano para todas las personas. Estas Guías se basan en la recomendación principal de las Guías para la calidad del agua de consumo humano de la Organización Mundial de la Salud, y proporcionan orientación sobre la aplicación de esas recomendaciones a los pequeños sistemas de abastecimiento de agua en particular. El objetivo de estas Guías consiste en ayudar a los gobiernos y a los profesionales a mejorar la seguridad del agua de consumo humano suministrada a través de pequeños sistemas de abastecimiento.
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In January 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a new road map to address the burden of disease and death imposed by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The end of the first year of the 2021-2030 NTD road map is an opportunity to take stock of where we stand and how we plan to move fo...rward.
Considerable progress has been made since 2012 when the first road map was adopted. As of 6 June 2022, forty-six countries have eliminated at least one NTD, while 600 million people no longer require treatment because they are no longer exposed to risks associated with the pathogens that previously harmed them. In some cases, diseases that have plagued humanity for centuries, such as sleeping sickness and Guinea worm disease, are at an all-time low. Less tangible, but also important, there has been significant progress in the way NTDs are viewed. Additionally, the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on NTD programmes is evident.
This brochure is the first in a series of advocacy briefs for the new NTD road map presenting highlights of success and challenges towards attaining the 2030 goals.
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