Improving access to assistive technology for everyone, everywhere.
The first WHO Priority Assistive Products List was launched in May 2016. The List includes hearing aids, wheelchairs, communication aids, spectacles, artificial limbs, pill organizers, memory aids and other essential items for many... older people and people with disabilities to be able to live a healthy, productive and dignified life.
Available in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish
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Chinese Medicine, (2016) 11:37
Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of herbal products, and they are disappearing at a high speed. This article reviews global trends, developments and prospects for the strategies and methodologies concerning the conservation and sustainable use of me...dicinal plant resources to provide a reliable reference for the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants. We emphasized that both conservation strategies (e.g. in situ and ex situ conservation and cultivation practices) and resource management (e.g. good agricultural practices and sustainable use solutions) should be adequately taken into account for the sustainable use of medicinal plant resources. We recommend that biotechnical approaches (e.g. tissue culture, micropropagation, synthetic seed technology, and molecular marker-based approaches) should be applied to improve yield and modify the potency of medicinal plants.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13020-016-0108-7
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For each medicine the Formulary provides information on use, dosage, adverse effects, contraindications and warnings, supplemented by guidance on selecting the right medicine for a range of conditions
Technical Report
AIDS Medicines and diagnostics service
July 2015
Access to safe blood and blood products is recognized as one of the key requirements for delivery of modern health care in the journey towards health for all. The foundation of safe and sustainable blood supplies depends on the collection of blood from voluntary non-remunerated and low-risk donors. ...Data from the WHO Global Database for Blood Safety (GDBS) brings out several inadequacies related to the supply and safety of blood and blood products. These inadequacies include a number of variations in safe blood practices across the world, including the quantity of blood donated (voluntary and replacement types), quality and adequate testing of the donated blood (immunohaematology [IH] and transfusion-transmitted infections [TTIs]), rational use of blood and blood components such as appropriate patient blood management protocols. These variations are very high in countries of the South-East Asian Region and most of them are either low- or middle-income countries (LMICs).
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Access to health workers who are fit for purpose, motivated and protected is a fundamental force of health service delivery and the achievement of universal health coverage and the health and health-related Sustainable Development Goals. Data and knowledge of the distribution, skill mix and future d...evelopment needs of the health workforce can mean the difference between enabling or impeding health systems performance, inclusive economic growth and global health security preparedness and response
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Access to medical personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential for routine healthcare delivery, and a critical tool for containing outbreaks, as well as preventing and responding to pandemics. It is one of our most effective tools against COVID-19, and an undervalued tool more generally in infec...tion control.
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Antibiotic resistance has been recognized as a major global health threat and optimizing prescribing is one of the most effective measures to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics. The quality of prescribing depends mostly on those prescribers belonging to clinical medical specialties... having direct contact with patients. These doctors, who comprise the majority of antibiotic prescribers,undergo long-term undergraduate and postgraduate training that shapes their professional knowledge and behaviour
J Antimicrob Chemother2019;74: 3611–3618doi:10.1093/jac/dkz375 Advance Access publication 3 September 2019
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Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease 2017, 2(4), 50
This is a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data in a longitudinal study on asymptomatic, LF antigen-positive and -negative young people in Myanmar. Rapid field screening was used to identify antigen-positive cases and a group of antige...n-negative controls of similar age and gender were invited to continue in the study. ... Results demonstrate that sub-clinical changes associated with infection can be detected in asymptomatic cases. Further exploration of these low-cost devices in clinical and research settings on filariasis-related lymphedema are warranted.
https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed2040050
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Supply of essential medicines and health technologies (6 April 2020)
This paper is one of a set of technical guidance papers developed by the WHO Regional Office for Europe to provide practical information and resources for decision-makers on measures to strengthen the health system response to C...OVID-19.
The purpose of this paper is to provide WHO Regional Office for Europe Country Offices and Member States with guidance on how to maintain supplies of medicines and health technologies, including devices, diagnostics and blood products, during the COVID-19 outbreak.
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The report aims to capture lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and to highlight the opportunity for more ambitious global action: expanding sustainable access to vaccines for all towards
the Immunization Agenda 2030 and pandemic prevention, preparedness and response efforts. The report is organized ...in two sections: the first section provides WHO insights on global vaccine market dynamics, drawing from data provided by Member States, which are, in turn, analysed and displayed in the second section.
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Lack of Access to Reproductive Healthcare in Sudan’s Rebel-Held Southern Kordofan
ຢາຕ້ານເຊື້ອຈຸລະຊີບ (Antimicrobial medicines) ມີຄວາມສໍາຄັນຫຼາຍຕໍ່ວຽກງານການແພດ, ສາທາລະນະສຸກ, ສຸຂະພາບສັດ ແລະ ການຜະລິດອາຫານ. ເນ...່ອງຈາກວ່າ ຢາດັ່ງກ່າວນີ້ ແມ່ນໃຊ້ເພື່ອປ້ອງກັນ ແລະ ປິ່ນປົວພະຍາດຊືມເຊື້ອ ທີ່ມີ ຈໍາພວກເຊື້ອຈຸລິນຊີ (Bacteria) ເປັນຫນື່ງໃນສາເຫດທີ່ເຮັດໃຫ້ຄົນ ແລະ ສັດເສຍຊີວິດ ໃຫ້ຫຼຸດລົງໄດ້ ແລະ ມີບົດບາດຫຼາຍໃນວົງ ການແພດແຜນປະຈຸບັນ ເປັນຕົ້ນແມ່ນ ການຜ່າຕັດ ຊຶ່ງມີຄວາມສ່ຽງຕໍ່ການຕິດເຊື້ອໄດ້ງ່າຍຈຶ່ງຈໍາເປັນຕ້ອງໄດ້ເພິ່ງພາຢາຕ້ານເຊື້ອຈຸລະ ຊີບ ທີ່ມີປະສິດທິພາບເພື່ອປ້ອງກັນ ແລະ ປິ່ນປົວການຕິດເຊື້ອທີ່ອາດເກີດຂຶ້ນ. ນອກຈາກນີ້ແລ້ວ ມັນຍັງມີຄວາມຈໍາເປັນສໍາລັບ ປ້ອງກັນ ແລະ ປິ່ນປົວ ໃນວຽກງານສັດຕະວະແພດ ແລະ ການກະສິກໍາ ເປັນຕົ້ນ: ການລ້ຽງສັດ, ການປະມົງ, ການປູກຝັງ ແລະ ມີຄວາມສໍາຄັນຕໍ່ ສຸຂະພາບສັດ ພືດ ຕ່ອງໂສ້ການຜະລິດອາຫານ ແລະ ເສດຖະກິດຂອງຊາດອີກດ້ວຍ.
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Expanding access to quality health services through task sharing
This is a pocket-sized manual for use by doctors, senior nurses and other senior health workers who are responsible for the care of young children at the first referral level in developing countries. It presents up-to-date clinical guidelines which are based on a review of the available published ev...idence by subject experts, for both inpatient and outpatient care in small hospitals where basic laboratory facilities and essential drugs and inexpensive medicines are available. It focuses on the inpatient management of the major causes of childhood mortality, such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, severe malnutrition, malaria, meningitis, measles, HIV infection and related conditions. It covers neonatal problems and surgical conditions of children which can be managed in small hospitals. This pocket book is part of a series of documents and tools that support the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI).
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Incorporating Malawi Essential Medicines List (MEML)
Second Edition
AIDS Medicines and diagnostics services
July 2015
This Indicator-Based Pharmacovigilance Assessment Tool (IPAT) was developed as a comprehensive performance metric for pharmacovigilance and medicine safety systems.
Buruli ulcer caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans is a neglected tropical disease characterized by extensive ulceration involving predominantly the upper and lower limbs of patients. The disease is common in rural tropical communities in West and Central Africa, where access to proper health care is lim...ited. Pathogenesis of the characteristic painless ulcers is linked to the elaboration by M. ulcerans of a lipid toxin called mycolactone that has potent cytopathic, immunosuppressive, and analgesic effects on a host of cells in cutaneous tissues. Mycolactone is known to profoundly inhibit secretion of a plethora of proteins that are essential for wound healing. Even though a combination antibacterial therapy of streptomycin and rifampicin for 8 weeks is effective for treatment, it relies on good and appropriate wound management to prevent secondary bacterial infections and improve healing. Evidence-based interventions for wound care in Buruli ulcer disease are often lacking and have relied on expert advice and recommendations. Surgical interventions are limited to debridement of necrotic tissue and grafting of extensive ulcers, usually after antibiotic therapy. Patients’ rehabilitation is an important component of care to reduce disabilities associated with the disease and proper integration into the community after treatment.
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