This programmatic brief explores how to expand HIV and STI prevention and contraceptive method options in contraceptive services and, thus, to reduce HIV and STI incidence among adolescent girls and women. It focuses on settings with extremely high HIV prevalence and incidence. This brief complement...s existing guidance on HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), amplifies calls for action and outlines more comprehensive approaches to integration of SRHR and HIV services. It also emphasizes the importance of SRHR for women living with HIV. It aligns with updated WHO recommendations for contraceptive eligibility for women at high risk of HIV and other HIV guidance for adolescent girls and young women.
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People living with HIV depend on life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) and access to ART must be maintained during periods of travel restrictions and lockdowns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Information note on HIV and COVID-19 addresses common concerns people living with HIV have rega...rding the risks of COVID-19 and how to minimize them. For HIV programme managers and health facilities providing HIV services, it identifies key points related to ensuring uninterrupted provision of ART, while protecting clients and staff from the risk of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
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These WHO interim recommendations on the use of the Pfizer – BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine against Covid-19 were developed on the basis of advice issued by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the evidence summary included in the background document referenced below.
fir...st issued 8 January 2021, updated 15 June 2021, updated 19 November 2021, updated 21 January 2022, updated 18 August 2022. Available in other languages https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/361720
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Children’s mental health is top concern for Ukrainian parents, new World Vision report finds; Studies show 22 per cent of people in conflict zones suffer mental disorders; Prevention programs must be urgently prioritised
In 1997, the Fiftieth World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA50.29 on the elimination of
lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem. Preliminary guidance from WHO printed in 2011 referred to “verification” as the official process by which the achievements of the Global Programme to El...iminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) would be confirmed. For the sake of harmonization, the terminology now used for elimination of lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem is “validation”. In 2015, the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases endorsed standardized processes for confirming and acknowledging success for all neglected tropical diseases targeted for eradication, elimination of transmission, or elimination as a public health problem.
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Available in Russian
A detailed overview is provided of the implementation of alcohol policies described in the 10 action areas of the European Action Plan to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol 2012–2020 (EAPA), including the current status of implementation of the five action areas of the WHO-led... SAFER initiative:
Strengthen restrictions on alcohol availability;
Advance and enforce drink–driving countermeasures;
Facilitate access to screening, brief interventions and treatment;
Enforce bans or comprehensive restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship and promotion; and
Raise prices on alcohol through excise taxes and pricing policies.
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The ninth WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic tracks the progress made by countries in tobacco control since 2008 and, marks 15 years since the introduction of the MPOWER technical package which is designed to help countries implement the demand-reduction measures of the WHO Framework Conventi...on on Tobacco Control. The report shows that many countries continue to make progress in the fight against tobacco, but efforts must be accelerated to protect people from the harms of tobacco and second-hand smoke.
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This short document summarizes the key content of the WHO report Reducing the harm from alcohol by regulating cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotion. It outlines the way that alcohol is being marketed across national borders – often by digital means – and often regardless of t...he social, economic or cultural environment in receiving countries. It highlights how increasingly sophisticated advertising and promotion techniques, including linking alcohol brands to sports and cultural activities, sponsorships and use of e-mails, SMS and social media, are being used to increase customer loyalty and gain new customers. The summary also explains that young people and heavy drinkers are increasingly targeted by alcohol advertising, often to the detriment of their health, and highlights the need for more effective national regulations and better international collaboration.
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Myanmar continues to experience a severe - and worsening - humanitarian and human rights crisis. Conflict and violence have escalated across the country, impacting children and their families and displacing more than 1.5 million people. Access of conflict-affected populations to services and deliver...y of humanitarian assistance has been further constrained by restrictions imposed on movement of both people and goods.
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This report is the annual global monitoring report documenting progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 targets 2.1 and 2.2. This year’s report explores the links between urbanization and changing food systems and how these changes are impacting the availability, affordability and des...irability of healthy diets, food security and malnutrition in all its forms. It shows that understanding the ways in which urbanization is shaping food systems will require using a rural-urban continuum lens. By mapping the interlinkages across the rural-urban continuum, governments can identify challenges created by urbanization and suitable policies, technologies, investments and governance mechanisms to help address them.
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This report found that many people with disabilities enter institutions as children and remain there for their entire lives. Most of these institutions visited by Human Rights Watch researchers did not provide for more than people’s basic needs, such as food and hygiene, with scarce contact with t...he community and little opportunity for personal development. Some residents are tied to their beds and given sedatives to control them.
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South Africa reported it fist case of COVID-19 on 5 March 2020. While the first cases were imported, local transmission has led to a rapid increase in the number of cases. As of 21 April 2020, more than 3,400 cases and 58 deaths had been confirmed. On 15 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a n...ational state of disaster, and the government has since taken several measures to curb the spread of the virus, including closing borders, implementing strict social distancing measures and a 35-day nation-wide lockdown. These measures, along with the global economic shock caused by the pandemic, are expected to generate rising needs requiring an immediate and urgent response. Although South Africa is considered an upper-middle-income country, the amount of disparities—social, economic, and gender—make the country particularly vulnerable during this emergency.
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The technical note calls for raising awareness among practitioners and policymakers about the importance of strong tobacco control measures for protecting the health and development of children, including banning tobacco advertising, implementing 100% smoke-free environments and raising taxes on tob...acco.
Exposure to tobacco smoke has devastating impacts throughout childhood and adolescence, starting from conception.
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Germany’s overall response to COVID-19 has been evaluated as reasoned and sound. Nonetheless, it has exposed weaknesses and blindspots in the German healthcare system regarding the inclusion of migrant groups. For instance, marginalised groups such as labour migrants and asylum-seekers are not con...sidered for tailored measures in the government’s response to COVID-19. On the other hand, certain efforts to include migrant groups, such as the provision of information in numerous languages, are unprecedented in the German context. They may point to increasing accommodation for diversity.
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This policy brief explores the impact of air pollution on health and address the air quality issue in the response to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). It also provides key actions that policy makers, NGOs and health professionals can take to ensure that every one can breathe clean air.