Mental disorders impose an enormous burden on society, accounting for almost one in three years lived with disability globally. •In addition to their health impact, mental disorders cause a significant economic burden due to lost economic output and the link between mental disorders and costly, po...tentially fatal conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV, and obesity.•80% of the people likely to experience an episode of a mental disorder in their lifetime come from low- and middle-income countries.• Two of the most common forms of mental disorders, anxiety and depression, are prevalent, disabling, and respond to a range of treatments that are safe and effective. Yet, owing to stigma and inadequate funding, these disorders are not being treated in most primary care and community settings.
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31 Oct 2022 his plan outlines how the ACT-Accelerator will support countries as the world transitions to long-term COVID-19 control.
Recognizing the evolving nature of the COVID-19 virus and pandemic, the plan outlines changes to ACT-A’s set-up and ways of working, to ensure countries co...ntinue to have access to COVID-19 tools in the longer term, while maintaining the coalition’s readiness to help address future disease surges.
Developed through a consultative process with ACT-A agencies, donors, industry partners, civil society organizations (CSOs) and Facilitation Council members, the plan summarizes priority areas of focus for the partnership’s pillars, coordination mechanisms and other core functions, and highlights the work to be maintained, transitioned, sunset, or kept on standby.
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2020 is a critical year for our Joint Programme as we collectively define the path to getting back on track to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Our revised timelines for adoption of the next strategy are highly ambitious. We need the full support of all the tremendously dedicated people in UNAIDS-w...ithin our staff, our board and all our stakeholders to make this happen.
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Interim guidance, 26 October 2021
This interim guidance has been developed on the basis of the advice issued by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization at its meeting on 5 October 2021.
SAGE said moderately and severely immunocompromised persons should be offered an addition...al dose of all WHO approved vaccines “since these individuals are less likely to respond adequately to vaccination following a standard primary vaccine series and are at high risk of severe COVID-19 disease.”
People aged 60 and older who received the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines should get a third dose too, the experts added, though use of other vaccines may also be considered depending on supply and access.
“When implementing this recommendation, countries should initially aim at maximizing 2-dose coverage in that population, and thereafter administer the third dose, starting in the oldest age groups”, they said.
SAGE has also reviewed a vaccine developed by Indian company Bharat Biotech and will issue a policy recommendation after WHO greenlights it for emergency use.
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WHO‘s Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer, launched today, outlines three key steps: vaccination, screening and treatment. Successful implementation of all three could reduce more than 40% of new cases of the disease and 5 million related deaths by 2050.
Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) remain disproportionately affected by HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), with 26 per cent of new infections attributed to this population. AGYW face many personal, social and structural barriers to access, uptake and use of traditional HIV prevention me...thods. Oral Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is proven to be highly effective as an additional prevention choice for reducing the risk of HIV acquisition, including for AGYW. Successful uptake and adherence to PrEP is critical in its effectiveness as an HIV prevention method, however, the current demand for PrEP by AGYW is low with suboptimal adherence.
Within the ESA region, there is currently great impetus to address these challenges and scale up PrEP for AGYW. A critical aspect of this is to leverage the learnings and evidence from implementation of how to improve the demand and quality of PrEP programming for this population. Improving the Quality of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Implementation for Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Eastern and Southern Africa examines the current efforts in the region to accelerate and scale up evidence-based PrEP delivery platforms. The implementation brief provides current knowledge and builds on WHO guidance to provide key considerations for implementation, including driving demand and improving quality, as well as focus on wider combination prevention and integration agendas.
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This regional summary draws on the WHO Global oral health status report (2), published in 2022, which provides a comprehensive overview of the global oral disease burden, the global health importance of oral health and the impact of oral diseases over the life course.
The summary focuses on the ...oral health status in the Western Pacific Region and is split into four sections: (a) oral diseases are global and regional health problems; (b) the burden of the main oral diseases; (c) key challenges and opportunities towards oral health for all in the Western Pacific Region; and (d) road map towards UHC for oral health 2030. This regional summary is based on the 27 Member States in the Region.
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Orientations provisoires 16 décembre 2020
Le présent document résume les orientations de santé publique actuelles de l’OMS pour la surveillance de la maladie à coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) chez l’homme due à une infection par le coronavirus 2 du syndrome respiratoire aigu sévère (SARS-Co...V-2) (ci-après désignée « surveillance de la COVID-19 »).
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La méningite est mortelle et débilitante ; elle frappe brutalement ; elle a de graves conséquences sanitaires, économiques et sociales et touche tous les âges de la vie dans tous les pays du monde. La méningite bactérienne peut être à l’origine d’épidémies, entraîner la mort dans les... 24 heures et un patient sur cinq peut rester handicapé à vie à la suite d’une infection. La plupart des cas et des décès dus à la méningite pourraient être évités par la vaccination mais les progrès obtenus pour la vaincre sont bien moins rapides que ceux réalisés contre d’autres maladies à prévention vaccinale.
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Este documento traz recomendações para a implementação de planos operacionais em redes de serviços de saúde, tanto na atenção primária (incluindo assistência domiciliar) quanto em hospitais, para reorganizar a entrega dos serviços e ganhar eficiência na gestão e expansão da oferta de l...eitos, considerando a complexidade crescente dos casos. Essas recomendações concentram-se na gestão dos serviços de saúde para reorganizar e expandir a resposta desses serviços de acordo com a evolução da epidemia. Este documento de trabalho será atualizado na medida em que novos conhecimentos e evidências em relação ao SAR-Cov2 forem disponibilizados, e as recomendações fornecidas devem ser adaptadas para a realidade de cada país, considerando-se as características do respectivo sistema de saúde.
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This document provides interim guidance for effective risk communication around Zika virus transmission and potential complications. A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and these potential complications has not yet been proven. In this uncertainty, effective communication strategies s...hould be implemented to enable people to take the best informed decisions about protecting themselves, their families and communities. This interim guidance is intended to be used by risk and health communication managers, staff and volunteers at global, regional or country level; communications professionals; anthropologists; sociologists; healthcare providers;hospital administrators; community leaders; programme managers;
and policymakers.
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O Plano Nacional de Preparação e Resposta para a doença por novo coronavírus (COVID-19) é uma ferramenta estratégica de preparação e resposta a uma potencial epidemia pelo vírus SARS-CoV-2. Este Plano tem como referencial as orientações da Organização Mundial da Saúde e do Centro Europ...eu de Prevenção e Controlo de Doenças, sendo o documento de referência nacional no que respeita ao planeamento da resposta a COVID-19. Apesar do conhecimento atualmente disponível em relação a características do SARSCoV-2 nomeadamente o seu comportamento patogénico, potencial de transmissibilidade e outros fatores determinantes não estar completo, é útil considerar, para efeitos de implementação de medidas, uma analogia entre a atual epidemia por SARS-CoV-2 e a gripe pandémica. Apesar de desafiantes, estas características tornam ainda mais premente o planeamento estruturado para diferentes cenários nesta emergência de saúde pública.
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The Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) launched Ending Cholera: A Global
Roadmap to 2030 (Global Roadmap) (1), a strategy that aims to reduce global cholera
deaths by 90% and eliminate the disease in at least 20 countries by 2030. It is
organized according to three main axes:
• E...nsuring early detection and response to contain outbreaks; (2)
• Adopting a multisectoral approach to prevent and control cholera in hotspots; and
• Establishing an effective coordination mechanism for technical support, resource
mobilization and partnership at local and global levels.
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167,607 dengue cases, including 720 deaths, reported from 1 January to 27 July 2019: 97% higher than in 2018, in spite of a delayed rainy season.
Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 0.43% as of 27 July 2019 is lower than in the same time period in 2018 (0.54%), but still significantly higher than the reg...ional average of 0.22% in the Western Pacific.
The Philippines Department of Health (DOH) declared a National Dengue Epidemic on 6 August 2019, urging all regional DOH offices to step up dengue surveillance, case management and outbreak re-sponse, clean-up drives, and vector control in health facilities and communities, conduct Sabayang 4-O’Clock Habit Para sa Deng-Get Out focusing on search and destroy of mosquito breeding sites, and to enable LGUs to use their quick response funds to help address the epidemic.
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This review of the IFRC support to the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society response to the 2012 cholera outbreak provides ideas and concepts to promote a more coherent and evidence based rationale on how to make more effective use of IFRC global assets to stop, control, mitigate and respond to cholera ep...idemics. No fit and healthy person should die from cholera – that should be the indicator of success.
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This regional report on the situation of tuberculosis (TB) in the Americas contains information from 2019, provided by the countries of the Region through the World Health Organization TB data collection system. These data have been consolidated and analyzed at the regional level. In addition to pre...senting the epidemiological and programmatic situation of TB in the Americas, the report aims to raise awareness and to motivate and encourage all stakeholders in the prevention and control of this disease, to accelerate efforts towards TB elimination in the Region, and to achieve the targets of the End TB Strategy. The report records the Region's achievements, but also the gaps in the work being carried out in diagnosis, treatment, comorbidities, vulnerable populations, risk factors, and funding, among other issues. Based on the information presented, specific recommendations are provided for further progress.
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Since the last situation report on the multi-country outbreak of cholera was published on 1 June 2023 (covering data reported until 15 of May), no new country reported a cholera outbreak. In total, 24 countries have reported cases since the beginning of 2023. The WHO African Region remains the most ...affected region with 14 countries reporting cholera cases since the beginning of the year. The overall capacity to respond to the multiple and simultaneous outbreaks continues to be strained due to the global lack of resources, including shortages of the Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) and cholera supplies, as well as overstretched public health and medical personnel, who are dealing with multiple parallel disease outbreaks and other health emergencies. Based on the large number of outbreaks and their geographic expansion, as well as a lack of vaccines and other resources, WHO continues to assess the risk at global level as very high.
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Since the last situation report on the multi-country outbreak of cholera was published on 6 July 2023 (covering data reported until 15 of June), and as of 15 July 2023, one new outbreak of cholera was reported from India on 15 May 2023. In total, 25 countries have reported cases since the beginning ...of 2023. The WHO African Region remains the most affected region with 14 countries reporting cholera cases since the beginning of the year. The overall capacity to respond to the multiple and simultaneous outbreaks continues to be strained due to the global lack of resources, including shortages of the Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) and cholera supplies, as well as overstretched public health and medical personnel, who are dealing with multiple parallel disease outbreaks and other health emergencies. Based on the large number of outbreaks and their geographic expansion, as well as a lack of vaccines and other resources, WHO continues to assess the risk at global level as very high.
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Primary health care offers a cost–effective route to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). However, primary health-care systems are weak in many low- and middle-income countries and often fail to provide comprehensive, people-centred, integrated care. We analysed the primar...y health-care systems in 20 low- and middle-income countries using a semi-grounded approach. Options for strengthening primary health-care systems were identified by thematic content analysis. We found that: (i)despite the growing burden of noncommunicable disease, many low- and middle-income countries lacked funds for preventive services; (ii)community health workers were often under-resourced, poorly supported and lacked training; (iii)out-of-pocket expenditure exceeded 40% of total health expenditure in half the countries studied, which affected equity; and (iv)health insurance schemes were hampered by the fragmentation of public and private systems, underfunding, corruption and poor engagement of informal workers. In 14 countries, the private sector was largely unregulated. Moreover, community engagement in primary health care was weak in countries where services were largely privatized. In some countries, decentralization led to the fragmentation of primary health care. Performance improved when financial incentives were linked to regulation and quality improvement, and community involvement was strong. Policy-making should be supported by adequate resources for primary health-care implementation and government spending on primary health care should be increased by at least 1% of gross domestic product. Devising equity-enhancing financing schemes and improving the accountability of primary health-care management is also needed. Support from primary health-care systems is critical for progress towards UHC in the decade to 2030.
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The One Health approach can help achieve progress and promotes synergies on national and global priorities by generating synergies at the human-animal-environmental interface. While evidence is still scare, it is likely that the approach is highly cost-effective and improves effectiveness of core pu...blic health systems, through reducing morbidity, mortality, and economic costs of disease outbreaks. It also contributes to economic development through strengthening public health systems at the human-animal-environment interface protects health, agricultural production, and
ecosystem services
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