Beyond Malaria is an educational short film that explores the wider social, economic and health system issues related to controlling malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Moving beyond the clinical aspects of the disease, the film highlights structural inequalities, poverty, access barriers and community-l...evel realities that hinder the effective prevention and treatment of malaria. Through interviews, case studies and on-the-ground footage, the film emphasises the importance of integrating public health efforts with the local context, community engagement and sustainable development strategies. Ultimately, the film advocates a more holistic approach to malaria, considering not only the parasite and the patient, but also the systems and societies in which they exist.
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Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection, and two types of HPV (16 and 18) cause nearly 50% of high-grade cervical pre-cancers. HIV and cervical cancer are inextricably linked. Women living with HIV are six times more likely to develop cervical cancer, which is o...ne of the AIDS-defining illnesses and the most common cancer among women living with HIV globally. Cervical cancer is a preventable, curable disease and can be eliminated as a public health problem with primary and secondary prevention, treatment, and care of cervical cancer, in combination with addressing social, health and other inequalities and integrated approaches.
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The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), in accordance with recommendations from various WHO committees, has developed three flagship initiatives to support Member States in the African region to prepare for, detect and respond to public health emergencies. They are the r...esult of extensive consultations with more than 30 African government ministers, technical actors, and partners across the continent as well as regional institutions such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), whose contributions have shaped the priority activities. This report provides the fourth quarterly summary of progress in implementing the flagship initiatives.
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Lessons learned from recent public health events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola virus disease, Zika virus disease outbreaks, and other public health threats, including earthquakes and floods, have highlighted the need for countries to continuously develop, strengthen, and maintain capacities r...equired under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR (2005)).
Developing capacities for health security in a country requires the engagement of public and private entities across a broad range of sectors, including human and animal health, agriculture, environment, finance, security, emergency management, education, and transportation. The World Health Organization (WHO) is mandated through various resolutions, decisions, and reports of the World Health Assembly, and through the IHR (2005), to provide technical guidance and support to its Member States in developing, strengthening, and maintaining their health systems, including capacities required under the IHR (2005).
For countries to better prevent, prepare for, detect, notify, respond to, and recover from public health emergencies, they must build and maintain IHR core capacities and support the strengthening of health emergency prevention, preparedness, response, and resilience (HEPR) capacities. National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS), as capacity development plans, provide the tasks and resources needed to ensure adequate capacities are in place to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from public health events in a sustainable manner. Investing in the resilience of these capacities within national health systems at national and local levels not only improves national health security but also helps safeguard economic, social, and political developments.
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Monkeypox virus is an orthopoxvirus that causes human monkeypox, a viral disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, including fever and rash. Following the worldwide eradication of smallpox in 1980, monkeypox emerged as the most significant orthopoxvirus infection in humans. Cases are most often rep...orted from rural areas of Central and West African countries, particularly in regions close to tropical rainforest where people may have contact with infected animals. Someone can become infected through direct contact with respiratory droplets of another person who has monkeypox in the home or in a health facility, or with contaminated materials such as bedding. Although these are the main modes of person-to-person transmission, monkeypox outbreaks tend to occur in small clusters of a few cases without leading to widespread community transmission. For this reason, outbreaks can be easily controlled when responded to rapidly. On several occasions, monkeypox has been reported in other regions due to importation by travelers or infected animals. This course provides a general introduction to the disease through a video and accompanying downloadable presentation that can be reviewed at your own pace. It is intended for health personnel responsible for prevention and control of monkeypox, and for the general public.
The content and scope of this course on monkeypox have been tailored for outbreaks in African countries where the disease is endemic. The course material was last updated in 2020 and may not reflect most recent WHO guidance issued for the multi-country outbreak in 2022.
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Issue Brief 33: Since 21 June 2023, 57 024 new cholera cases, including 399 new death have been reported worldwide (European Center for Disease Prevention and Control). In total, 25 countries have reported cases since the beginning of 2023. The major underlying causes of potential outbreaks are poor... environmental infastructure, lack of health care services, lack of save water and sanitation as well as increase population movement. Climate change becomes an additional trigger, as extreme climate events like cyclones,floods and droughts reduce access to clean water and create an ideal environment for cholera to thrive. The overall capacity to respond to the multiple outbreaks is obstructed by a global lack of resources.
This issue brief provides an overview of the current outbreaks, treatment guidelines, information material, countries strategies and more.
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Self-care interventions are among the most promising and exciting new approaches to improve health and well-being, both from a health systems perspective and for people who use these interventions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) uses the following working definition of self-care: Self-care i...s the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker. The scope of self-care as described in this definition includes health promotion; disease prevention and control; self-medication; providing care to dependent persons; seeking hospital/specialist/primary care if necessary; and rehabilitation, including palliative care. It includes a range of self-care modes and approaches. While this is a broad definition that includes many activities, it is important for health policy to recognize the importance of self-care, especially where it intersects with health systems and health professionals.
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The World Health Organization’s comprehensive antenatal care (ANC) guideline WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience was first published in 2016 with the objective of improving the quality of routine health care that all women and adolescent girls receive during p...regnancy. The overarching principle – to provide pregnant service users with a positive pregnancy experience – aims to encourage countries to expand their health-care agendas beyond survival, with a view to maximizing health, human rights and the potential of their populations. Recognizing that ANC provides a strategic platform for important health-care functions, including health promotion and disease prevention, 14 out of the 49 recommendations in the WHO 2016 ANC guideline relate to nutritional interventions in pregnancy.
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The World Health Organization’s comprehensive antenatal care (ANC) guideline WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience was published in 2016 with the objective of improving the quality of routine health care that all women and adolescent girls receive during pregnan...cy. The overarching principle – to provide pregnant service users with a positive pregnancy experience – aims to encourage countries to expand their health-care agendas beyond survival, with a view to maximizing health, human rights and the potential of their populations. Recognizing that ANC provides a strategic platform for important health-care functions, including health promotion and disease prevention, 14 out of the 49 recommendations in the WHO 2016 ANC guideline relate to nutrition in pregnancy.
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Foodborne trematode infections cause 2 million life years lost to disability and death worldwide every year.
People become infected by eating raw fish, crustaceans or vegetables that harbour the parasite larvae.
Foodborne trematodiases are most prevalent in East Asia and South America.
Foodborne ...trematode infections result in severe liver and lung disease.
Safe and efficacious medicines are available to prevent and treat foodborne trematodiases.
Prevention and management of food-borne trematodes requires cross-sectoral collaboration on the human-animal and ecosystems interface.
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Issue Brief 31: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) can occur when viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi change over time. There is no longer a response to medicines, and the infection treatment gets really difficult which increases the risk of a disesase spread, which can lead to severe health problems.... AMR is an increasing threat to global public health worldwide that requires cross-sectional and cross-disciplinary action. It is present in every country and is spurred by several human-made factors, including over- and/or inadequate use of antibiotics, poor hygiene and infection prevention control, and excessive usage of antibiotics outside the health care sector e.g. in life stock production.
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Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a re-emerging mosquito borne alphavirus responsible
for the recent outbreak in the Americas. Immunologically naïve population in the Americas favors the spread of epidemics. Chikungunya fever is characterized by an abrupt febrile illness, polyarthralgia and maculopapul...ar rash. In chikungunya fever, shock or severe hemorrhage is very rarely observed; the onset is more acute and the duration of fever is shorter than dengue disease. The pain is much more pronounced and localized to the joints and tendons in chikungunya fever, in comparison to dengue fever. There is no specific and effective antiviral therapy and vaccines are still in trails. The only effective preventive measures consist of individual protection against mosquito bites and vector control. Disease prevention is important due to the
economic burden it entails. Clinicians need to distinguish chikungunya fever between dengue fever and other diseases to give a successful treatment and prevent disease spreading.
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Mosby’s Pocket Guide to Nursing Skills and Procedures, eighth edition, is
a practical, portable reference for students and practitioners in the
clinical setting. Grouped alphabetically, 85 commonly performed skills
are presented in a clear, step-by-step format that includes:
■ Purpose for pe...rforming each skill
■ Guidelines to help students in delegating tasks to assistive
personnel
■ List of equipment required
■ Rationales to explain why specific techniques are used
■ Full-color photographs and drawings to provide visual
reinforcement
In addition, Safety Alerts are included in the skills to highlight important
information about patient safety and effective performance.
Current Standard Precautions guidelines from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention are incorporated throughout. Preprocedure
and postprocedure protocols are conveniently located on the inside
back cover.
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In sum, the goal is to understand the need to increase fiscal space for health as a prerequisite, but within the framework of efforts to transform the health system. These changes should foster equitable and efficient expenditures and create or strengthen comprehensive integrated health systems with... a first level of care capable of solving health problems and coordinating networks, based on a primary health care approach that offers not only curative care but also health promotion and disease prevention services.
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The Global Health Network is an open source platform that provides trusted knowledge, guidance, tools and resources to support the generation of more and better health research data. During emerging outbreaks it is vital to learn as much as possible to generate evidence on best practice for preventi...on, diagnosis and treatment and to facilitate effective preparedness and response for future outbreaks.
This pop-up space for 2019 Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (formerly 2019-nCoV) supports evidence generation by pooling protocols, tools, guidance, templates, and research standards generated by researchers and networks working on the response to this outbreak. Findings from previous outbreaks, largely obtained during MERS and SARS, are also available. This all aims to make research faster and easier and to enable standardised, quality data to be collected and prepared for sharing.
Latest updates will be provided on transmission as well as recommendations for healthcare professionals on transmission, disease management, and care.
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This page provides open-access online parenting resources during COVID-19 on one-on-one time, keeping it positive, structure up, bad behaviour, keep calm and manage stress, and talking about COVID-19. These resources, available in 30+ languages, were developed by Parenting for Lifelong Health, who a...re working with WHO, UNICEF, the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, the Internet of Good Things, USAID and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Available in 90 languages!
Parenting for Lifelong Health provides open-access online parenting resources during COVID-19. We are working with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNODC, the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, USAID, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventio...n, World Without Orphans, the World Childhood Foundation, the Internet of Good Things and Clowns Without Borders South Africa.
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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to transform our world. They are a call to action to end poverty and inequality, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy health, justice and prosperity. It is critical that no one is left behind. In 2015, all the countries in the United... Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It sets out 17 Goals, which include 169 targets. These wide-ranging and ambitious Goals interconnect. SDG 3 is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. It has 13 targets measured through 26 indicators. However, a person’s health and well-being are affected not only by disease and treatment, but also by social and economic factors such as housing, poverty and education. Health targets can therefore also be found across the other SDGs. This fact sheet shows how alcohol consumption undermines commitments to achieve 13 of the 17 SDGs, impacting on a range of health-related indicators, such as child health, infectious diseases and road injuries as well as much broader range of indicators related to economic and social development, environment and equality. The inclusion of a specific target on harmful use of alcohol (SDG 3.5: strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol) into the SDGs demonstrates the key role of alcohol within the global development agenda. The factsheet highlights positive examples of Member States’ experiences. It provides a short overview of the most cost-effective and feasible policy recommendations to reduce alcohol consumption and alcohol-attributable burden in the WHO European Region, in line with the European Action Plan to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol. It also suggests some important resources for Member States. This factsheet was launched as part of the European Awareness Week on Alcohol Related Harm 2020.
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The Global Health Security Agenda programme develops national capacity to prevent zoonotic and non-zoonotic diseases while quickly and effectively detecting and controlling diseases when they do emerge. The Emerging Pandemic Threats programme improves national capacity to pre-empt the emergence and ...re-emergence of infectious zoonotic disease and to prevent the next pandemic.
Action against emerging pandemic threats is taken through projects on: Avian influenza, Middle East respiratory syndrome, Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 and Emergency equipment stockpile. With high-impact diseases that jump from animals to humans on the rise, these programmes are reducing the risk to lives and livelihoods from national, regional and global disease spread.
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Diabetes is a significant public health issue that affects approximately one in 10 adults globally, with type 2 diabetes accounting for 90–95% of cases. This chronic condition causes considerable morbidity and mortality and is growing in impact, with cases projected to rise from 537 million in 202...1 to 784 million by 2045.1 As cases rise, it is imperative to ensure the healthcare workforce is prepared to care for affected individuals. However, there is a growing global shortage of healthcare workers, which was estimated, pre pandemic, to reach 15 million by 2030.2 Therefore, all of the healthcare workforce will need to be utilised to their fullest potential in order to address the growing global burden of diabetes. Pharmacists will continue to be essential in this endeavour.
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