Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi.
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections ha...rder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.
Antimicrobials - including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics - are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.
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Buruli ulcer is caused by Mycobacterium and belongs to the family of bacteria that causes tuberculosis and leprosy. Although the causative organism of Buruli ulcer is an environmental bacterium, the mode of transmission to humans remains unknown. The organism produces a unique toxin – mycolactone ...– that causes the damage to the skin. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to minimizing morbidity, costs and prevent long-term disability.
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Welcome to the Global Information System on Resources for the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders. These pages present data collected from WHO Member States in broad categories: governance, policy and financing, service organization and delivery, human resources and national informat...ion systems. The latest data were collected in 2014 with the WHO Global Survey on Resources for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders (ATLAS-SU survey). The global information system presents all available data to monitor the progress in advancing treatment coverage for substance use disorders (health target 3.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030)
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WHO convened the fifth stakeholders meeting on the elimination of HAT due to infection with Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (g-HAT) and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (r-HAT) in Geneva, Switzerland, on 7–9 June 2023. The meeting was held again in person after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandem...ic and jointly for both forms of the disease. The previous meetings on g-HAT held in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as on r-HAT in 2015, 2017 and 2019, and jointly for g-HAT and r-HAT in 2021 (8) reinforced the partnership and commitment for HAT elimination and structured the mechanisms of collaboration within the WHO network for HAT elimination. The network includes NSSCPs, groups developing new tools, international and nongovernmental organizations involved in disease control, and donors.
Fewer than 1000 cases of HAT annually have been reported over the past 5 years, which is a historic achievement. The area at risk has been substantially reduced. The elimination of HAT as a public health problem at the global level has been achieved.
The new road map for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) 2021−2030 (“the road map”) with the target to interrupt the transmission of g-HAT requires the strengthened and sustained efforts of all stakeholders, national authorities and partners, under WHO coordination. It will take disproportionally high efforts and innovative strategies to find the last cases of g-HAT and neutralize its transmission. Given the limited resources and other competing public health priorities, this is a challenge that requires our joint commitment.
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Human Resources for Health Observer Series No. 16
Human Resources for Health201816:49; https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-018-0315-7
The shortage of human resources for health, and in particular physicians, is one of the major barriers to achieve universal access to HIV care and treatment. In September 2005, a pilot program of nurse-centered antiretroviral treatment (ART) prescription was launched in three rural primary health ce...nters in Rwanda. We retrospectively evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of this task-shifting model using descriptive data.
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Phiri et al. Human Resources for Health (2017) 15:40
DOI 10.1186/s12960-017-0214-3
This paper has been prepared to inform discussion at the conference “Beating the DRUM - Domestic Resource Use and Mobilization for accelerating progress towards SDG3,”. Many countries face critical shortfalls in domestic resource use and mobilization (DRUM) for health, threatening to push health... goals out of reach. DRUM failures weaken human capital formation, a vital input to economic growth. Countries need more and better health spending. The first step is to apply already-proven DRUM solutions, adapting them to new contexts. However, in many countries, even the best achievable DRUM performance will not be enough. New solutions are needed, including private-sector engagement and a next generation of DAH. The “Beating the DRUM” conference offers a platform for countries and partners to dialogue and build joint strategy. While each country’s situation is unique, shared lines of action are emerging.
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The Lancet Planetary Health Volume 6, ISSUE 4, e342-e349, April 01, 2022. Human impacts on earth-system processes are overshooting several planetary boundaries, driving a crisis of ecological breakdown. This crisis is being caused in large part by global resource extraction, which has increased dra...matically over the past half century. We propose a novel method for quantifying national responsibility for ecological breakdown by assessing nations’ cumulative material use in excess of equitable and sustainable boundaries.
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The HRH Global Resource Center eLearning platform offers free courses developed by technical experts in the fields of human resources for health, health informatics and health service delivery to build the capacity of country-based users in critical skills development.
This free online course on Climate Change Negotiations and Health features key information on climate change and its impacts on human health, provides an overview of the international climate change negotiations so far, and considers entry points to address health issues and priorities within climat...e change negotiations and policies.
The course provides clear, concise, and up-to-date information for anybody interested in addressing the health risks arising from climate change. The course is self-paced and includes a series of self-standing interactive lessons with different activities, exercises, case studies and videos, as well as links to other useful resources. Upon successful completion of the course, participants can receive a certificate of completion.
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PLOS Glob Public Health 2(8): e0000272. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000272
Sepsis is a major global health problem, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Improving patient care requires that healthcare providers understand patients’ priorities and provide quality care within the confines of... the context they work. We report the perspectives of patients, caregivers and healthcare workers regarding care quality for patients admitted for sepsis to public hospitals in Uganda and Malawi. This qualitative descriptive study in two hospitals included face-to face semi-structured interviews with purposively selected patients recovering from sepsis, their caregivers and healthcare workers. In both Malawi and Uganda, sepsis care often occurred in resource-constrained environments which undermined healthcare workers’ capacity to deliver safe, consistent and accessible care. Constraints included limited space, strained; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) amenities and practices, inadequate human and material resources and inadequate provision for basic needs including nutrition. Heavy workloads for healthcare workers strained relationships, led to poor communication and reduced engagement with patients and caregivers.
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Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) has been an alarming global public health issue. The disease affects mainly poor and marginalized people in low-resource settings and is caused by two subspecies of haemoflagellate parasite, Trypanosoma brucei and transmitted by tsetse flies. Progress made in HAT ...control during the past decade has prompted increasing global dialogue on its elimination and eradication. The disease is targeted by the World Health Organization (WHO) for elimination as a public health problem by 2020 and to terminate its transmission globally by 2030, along-side other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD). Several methods have been used to control tsetse flies and the disease transmitted by them. Old and new tools to control the disease are available with constraints.
Currently, there are no vaccines available. Efforts towards intervention to control the disease over the past decade have seen considerable progress and remarkable success with incidence dropping progressively, reversing the upward trend of reported cases. This gives credence in a real progress in its elimination. This study reviews various control measures, progress and a highlight of control issues, vector and parasite barriers that may have been hindering progress towards its elimination.
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Climate change is damaging human health now and is projected to have a greater impact in the future. Low- and middle-income countries are seeing the worst effects as they are most vulnerable to climate shifts and least able to adapt given weak health systems and poor infrastructure. Low-carbon appro...ach can provide effective, cheaper care while at the same time being climate smart. Low-carbon healthcare can advance institutional strategies toward low-carbon development and health-strengthening imperatives and inspire other development institutions and investors working in this space. Low-carbon healthcare provides an approach for designing, building, operating, and investing in health systems and facilities that generate minimal amounts of greenhouse gases. It puts health systems on a climate-smart development path, aligning health development and delivery with global climate goals. This approach saves money by reducing energy and resource costs. It can improve the quality of care in a diversity of settings. By prompting ministries of health to tackle climate change mitigation and foster low-carbon healthcare, the development community can help governments strengthen local capacity and support better community health.
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The desired impact of the OH JPA is a world better able to prevent, predict, detect and
respond to health threats and improve the health of humans, animals, plants and the
environment while contributing to sustainable development. The OH JPA aims to work
towards this vision in the following way:
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• Provide a framework for action and propose a set of activities the four organizations
can offer together to advance and sustainably scale up One Health.
• Provide upstream policy and legislative advice and technical assistance, to help
set national targets and priorities across the sectors for the development and
implementation of One Health legislation, initiatives and programmes.
• Take stock of existing cross-sectoral global and regional initiatives around One
Health, identify and advise on synergies and overlaps, and support coordination.
• Mobilize and make better use of resources across sectors, disciplines and
stakeholders.
• The OH JPA is guided by a theory of change and makes use of One Health principles
to strengthen collaboration, communication, capacity building and coordination
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The strategic plan reflects shared commitments to enhance collaboration between environmental, animal (wildlife and domestic) and human health, and building new One Health workforce capacity through higher institutions of learning. The strategy also outlines interventions to be undertaken by governm...ent institutions and other partners to enhance existing structures and pool together additional resources to prevent and control zoonotic diseases and other events of public health importance. Successful implementation of the strategy will contribute to the realization of vision 2020 by improving public health, food safety and security, and hence significantly improve the socioeconomic status of the people of Rwanda. It is in this regard that we call upon implementing institutions, bilateral and multilateral partners, civil society and the private sector to join us in implementing the One Health strategy in Rwanda.
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Rwanda’s national health sector is focused on the equitable delivery of high-quality health services. The Government of Rwanda (GoR) recognizes that developing human resources in the health sector is a critical factor to the well-being of the population. Development of the health workforce has bee...n guided by the Human Resources for Health (HRH) Programme (2012-2019) and its successor, the National Strategy for Health Professions Development (NSHPD) (2020-2030). Rwanda has made significant progress in enhancing its skilled health workforce, with notable improvements in the health professional-to-population ratio over the past decade, attaining 13.4 doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, and dentists per 10 000 people in 2022. Despite such progress, health workforce levels remain below national and global recommendations.
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This guide is available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese
This guide consolidates COVID-19 guidance for human resources for health managers and policy-makers at national, subnational and facility levels to design, manage and preserve the workforce necessary to manage the COVI...D-19 pandemic and maintain essential health services.
The guide identifies recommendations to protect, support and empower health workers at individual, management, organizational and system levels.
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It focuses on nine major priority areas, namely: Leadership and Governance for Health; Health Service Delivery; Human Resources for Health; Health Financing; Health Information Systems; Health Technologies; Community Ownership and Participation; Partnerships for Health Development; and Researc...h for Health.
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