The Asia-Pacific Community Mental Health Development (APCMHD) project has been established in 2005 to explore diverse leading models or approaches to community mental health service delivery in the Asia-Pacific region. The objective is to illustrate and promote best practice in mental health care in... the community through use of information exchange, current evidence and practical experience in the region.
more
The following is a breakdown of key considerations to guide planning and resource allocation for COVID-19 preparedness and response to support UNHCR regional and country operations in Public Health, WASH, Shelter and Settlements programmes. While some of the activities are more relevant in camps or ...settlements it is important to assess the availability of all services outlined. These are based on the Strategic preparedness and Response Plan for COVID 19 and UNHCR guidance for operations and, where relevant, operation or site level outbreak preparedness and response plans.
more
The OpenWHO course titled "Interventions for Noncommunicable Diseases in Primary Health Care" provides guidance on screening, detection, diagnosis, and management of major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases (asthma and chron...ic obstructive pulmonary disease), and early cancer detection within primary health care settings. It emphasizes delivering high-impact essential NCD interventions through a primary healthcare approach to enhance early detection and timely treatment. This course is part of the SEARO NCD PEN-HEARTS series, which includes four courses aimed at enabling learners to plan and deliver NCD services effectively.
more
For the purpose of this document, Interprofessional is defined as: Multiple health disciplines with diverse knowledge and skills who share an integrated set of goals and who utilize interdependent collaboration that involves communication, sharing of knowledge and coordination of services to provide... services to patients/clients and their care-giving systems. This best practice guideline, Developing and Sustaining Interprofessional Health Care: Optimizing patients/clients, organizational, and system outcomes is intended to foster healthy work environments. The focus in developing this guideline was identifying attributes of interprofessional care that will optimize quality outcomes for patients/clients, providers, teams, the organization and the system. This guideline identifies best practices to enable, enhance and sustain teamwork and interprofessional collaboration, and to enhance positive outcomes for patients/clients, systems and organizations. It is based on the best available evidence; where evidence was limited, the recommendations were based on the consensus of expert opinion.
more
The WHO document "Integrating the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and sexual and reproductive health programmes: implementation guidance" provides a framework for integrating noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) into existing health programs for HIV/AIDS, tub...erculosis (TB), and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). It emphasizes the importance of a people-centered approach to enhance healthcare accessibility and efficiency, especially in low-resource settings. The document outlines strategies for strengthening policy, financing, capacity building, and health system infrastructure. It offers actionable steps, tools, and case studies to support countries in reducing the burden of NCDs through integrated, holistic care within primary health services.
more
Primary health care, as outlined in the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata and again 40 years later in the 2018 WHO/UNICEF document A vision for primary health care in the 21st century: towards universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, is a whole-of-government and whole-of-society a...pproach to health that combines the following three components: multisectoral policy and action; empowered people and communities; and primary care and essential public health functions as the core of integrated health services.(1) Primary health care-oriented health systems are health systems organized and operated so as to make the right to the highest attainable level of health the main goal, while maximizing equity and solidarity. They are composed of a core set of structural and functional elements that support achieving universal coverage and access to services that are acceptable to the population and that are equity enhancing. The term “primary care” refers to a key process in the health system that supports first-contact, accessible, continued, comprehensive and coordinated patient-focused care.
more
Paying for performance (P4P) provides financial incentives for providers to increase the use and quality of care. P4P can affect health care by providing incentives for providers to put more effort into specific activities, and by increasing the amount of resources available to finance the delivery ...of services. This paper evaluates the impact of P4P on the use and quality of prenatal, institutional delivery, and child preventive care using data produced from a prospective quasi-experimental evaluation nested into the national rollout of P4P in Rwanda. Treatment facilities were enrolled in the P4P scheme in 2006 and comparison facilities were enrolled two years later. The incentive effect is isolated from the resource effect by increasing comparison facilities’ input-based budgets by the average P4P payments to the treatment facilities. The data were collected from 166 facilities and a random sample of 2158 households. P4P had a large and significant positive impact on institutional deliveries and preventive care visits by young children, and improved quality of prenatal care. The authors find no effect on the number of prenatal care visits or on immunization rates. P4P had the greatest effect on those services that had the highest payment rates and needed the lowest provider effort. P4P financial performance incentives can improve both the use of and the quality of health services. Because the analysis isolates the incentive effect from the resource effect in P4P, the results indicate that an equal amount of financial resources without the incentives would not have achieved the same gain in outcomes.
more
Recovery from COVID-19 has been challenging in Guatemala. As a result of the prolonged socio-economic impact of the pandemic, the average poverty rate nationwide has increased by almost 5%. This rise in the poverty level further exacerbates preexisting vulnerabilities and erodes the limited safety n...ets available to vulnerable populations. Year after year, recurrent disasters and humanitarian crises aggravate the historic social gaps that result in high levels of vulnerability, multidimensional poverty, and overall deprivation of essential services among hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans. According to the World Risk Report 2020, Guatemala is the tenth country with the highest level of exposure to disaster worldwide. Globally, it ranks 28th regarding vulnerability according to the 2021 INFORM’s risk index and 62nd in the Global Climate Risk Index 2021.
In 2020, Guatemala faced a record-breaking and devastating hurricane season with extreme rainfall, catastrophic winds, and deadly landslides, from which the country has not yet recovered. Unfortunately, recurrent extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Julia that hit Central America in early October 2022, progressively but deeply eroded a weak health infrastructure and local health systems.
more
The objectives of the research presented in this report were to identify case studies of community-led HIV-related health and social inclusion service delivery organizations in eastern and southern Africa; describe the typologies of the services provided; and identify evidence of their service deliv...ery and contribution beyond HIV, including advancing universal health coverage.
more
Bull World Health Organ 2020;98:773–780
Universal health coverage (UHC) depends on a strong primary health-care
system. To be successful, primary health care must be expanded at community and household levels as much of the world’s population still lacks access to health facilities for basic... services. Abundant evidence shows that community-based interventions are effective for improving health-care utilization and outcomes when integrated with facility-based services. Community involvement is the cornerstone of local, equitable and integrated primary health care.
more
The guidelines begin with an overview of the determinants of mental health among children and adolescents before reviewing related South African policies and legislation. The document then discusses strategies to build skills among caregivers, teachers and other frontline providers of mental health ...interventions as well as those for counselling professionals. The guidelines conclude by identifying priority areas for mental health services among children and adolescents, including the prevention of child and substance abuse as well as services for those living with intellectual disabilities
more
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has shown that public financial management (PFM) should be an integral part of the response. Effectiveness in financing the health response depends not only on the level of funding but also on the way public funds are allocated and spent, this is determined by the PFM r...ules, and how money flows to health service providers. So far, early assessments have shown that PFM systems ranged from being a fundamental enabler to acting as a roadblock in the COVID-19 health response. While service delivery mechanisms have been extensively documented throughout the pandemic, the underlying PFM mechanisms of the response also merit attention. To highlight the importance of PFM in health emergency contexts, this rapid review analyses various country PFM experiences and identifies early lessons emerging from the financing of the health response to COVID-19. The assessment is done by stages of the budget cycle: budget allocation, budget execution, and budget oversight. Identifying lessons from the varying PFM modalities used to finance the response to COVID-19 is fundamental both for health policy-makers and for finance authorities to prepare for future health emergencies.
more
Primary health care is about caring for people, rather than simply treating specific diseases or conditions. Good primary health care is made up of three parts: empowered people and communities who can take care of and advocate for their health; ensuring multisectoral policy and action to systematic...ally address social, economic, environmental and commercial determinants of health; and primary care and essential public health functions as the core of integrated health services. Primary health care can meet the majority of a person’s health needs throughout their life. With a strong foundation of primary health care, together we can achieve #HealthForAll
more
HEARTS provides a set of locally adaptable tools for strengthening the
management of CVD in primary health care.
HEARTS is designed to enhance implementation of WHO PEN by providing:
• operational guidance on further integrating CVD management
• technical guidance on evaluating the impact of... CVD care on patient outcomes.
For countries not using WHO PEN, CVD management can still be integrated into
primary health care. The process of implementing HEARTS will vary, depending
on country context, and may require a significant reorienting and strengthening
of the health system. At some sites, existing CVD management services may be
reoriented toward a risk-based approach, while other sites may adopt a public
health approach, strengthening management of particular risk factors such as
hypertension. Whether or not introducing CVD management into primary care is a
new intervention, successful implementation will require engagement with national and local health planners, managers, service providers, and other stakeholders.
more
Evidence- and rights-based national policies, guidelines and legislation play a key role in improving sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (SRMNCAH), framing the enabling environment for equitable provision and accessibility of quality services. The SRMNCAH policy sur...vey monitors the existence of national SRMNCAH laws, policies, strategies and guidelines and the extent to which they are aligned with WHO recommendations on SRMNCAH. This publication reports on the findings from the 2023 WHO SRMNCAH policy survey.
more
The purpose of these guidelines is to give practical advice to doctors so that all services and models of care used by doctors and health workers are encouraged to consider the use of telemedicine as a part of normal practice. These guidelines will assist the medical practitioner in pursuing a sound... course of action to provide effective and safe medical care founded on current information, available resources, and patient needs to ensure patient and provider safety.
more
Every year, nearly 250 million people move across borders temporarily or permanently for a job opportunity, studying, to flee a crisis back home, or for other reasons. Another 750 million move for similar reasons within the borders of their countries. With the understanding that human mobility affec...ts public health, and health affects human mobility and migrants, for decades, IOM has been providing critical health services to women, children and men on the move, while standing by governments for technical and operational support as needed. In 2019, in lower-income settings and in complex emergencies, along the world’s most perilous migration routes, in the aftermath of natural disasters or in response to disease outbreaks, IOM’s health teams have provided hundreds of thousands with primary health-care consultations, mental health and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health care, pre-migration health services, and much more.
This year, more than ever before, as the world reels from the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19, we have experienced that health is a cross-cutting component of overall human development and well-being.
more
This updated Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030 builds upon its predecessor and sets out clear actions for Member States, the WHO Secretariat and international, regional and national partners to promote mental health and well-being for all, to prevent mental health conditions for thos...e at-risk and to achieve universal coverage for mental health services. While the updated action plan includes new and updated indicators and implementation options, the original four major objectives remain unchanged: more effective leadership and governance for mental health; the provision of comprehensive, integrated mental health and social care services in community-based settings; implementation of strategies for promotion and prevention; and strengthened information systems, evidence and research.
In English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian available
more
Aims of the CNS programme:
- To provide accessibility to quality nursing care and related services including clinical assessment and personalized care for persons enrolled/entitled to CNS services.
- To enhance the independence and health outcomes of entitled persons by avoiding early admi...ssion to hospital and/or residential care by providing access to CNS.
- To provide nursing, midwifery and advanced/specialized care through CNS delivered by a skills mix of registered and enrolled nurses.
- To facilitate provision of preventive, promotive and rehabilitative services to the community.
more
Atlas of African Health Statistics 2022: Health situation analysis of the WHO African Region
Since 2019, we have been implementing Phase 2 of the regional Transformation Agenda, which informs and aligns with the global WHO Transformation, to ensure WHO is accountable, driven by re- sults and provid...ing value for money in the pursuit of better health. Our global priority in this period is to contribute to delivering on the triple billion targets of expanding universal health coverage, protecting people from emergencies, and promoting health and well-being for people across the Region.
This year’s Atlas of African Health Statistics is being produced in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic that we have been expe- riencing for over two years. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, together with other health emergencies in the WHO African Re- gion, is yet again testing the strength and resilience of our health systems. Indeed, the impact of COVID-19 is visible in the disruption of services. The report also presents the latest data for more than 50 health-related indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals and WHO’s “triple billion” targets and provides comprehensive country-level statistics using the results chain of the AFRO frame- work of actions for strengthening health systems to achieve UHC and the health-related SDGs.
more