The Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders presents a comprehensive overview of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm and policy responses as well as treatment capacities for alcohol and drug use disorders worldwide. The report is based on data collec...ted by WHO from Member States and organized in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals health target 3.5 which calls on countries to strengthen “the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol”. The chapter on alcohol and health continues the series of WHO global status reports on alcohol and health and presents the latest available data on the status of, and trends in, alcohol consumption, as well as estimates of the alcohol-attributable disease burden and descriptions of policy responses worldwide. On the basis of data collected from countries on the treatment of substance use disorders the report describes the status of key components of treatment responses to alcohol and drug use disorders and proposes a new service capacity index for these disorders as an additional contextual indicator for monitoring progress in this domain of SDG health target 3.5. The report concludes with broad directions for international action to accelerate progress towards achievement of SDG health target 3.5.
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Genomic sequencing has been an essential tool in generating virological data, driving the laboratory response, and better understanding the dispersal and evolutionary patterns of SARS-CoV-2. In addition to the characterization of the global circulation patterns, early detection of SARS-CoV-2 variant...s inside each country is critical to complement the epidemiological and virological surveillance
9 February 2021
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Orientations provisoires, 2 février 2021
e document est une mise à jour des orientations provisoires de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) intitulées Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak: rights, roles and responsibilities of health workers, including key considerations... for occupational safety and health,publiées le 18 mars 2020(1). La présente version, qui se fonde sur les données récentes disponibles, fournit des conseils sur les mesures de santé et de sécurité au travail pour les agents de santé et les services de santé au travail dans le contexte de la pandémie de COVID-19. De plus, elle actualise les droits et responsabilités en matière de santé et de sécurité au travail des agents de santé conformément aux normes de l’Organisation internationale du Travail (OIT).
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Highlights
The third corridor for delivery of humanitarian assistance from Sudan to South Sudan is open.
In response to the drastic increase in humanitarian needs, WFP continues to scale up its assistance in Eastern Equatoria, Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Lakes states.
Construction w...orks of four cross-drainage structures along Juba-Kajo Keji road under WFP’s Feeder Road project have been completed as planned.
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Thailand is exposed to flooding, landslides, drought, earthquakes, tsunamis, heat waves, forest fires, and epidemics. Thailand is also exposed to technological hazards such as chemical accidents. Flooding is the natural hazard with the most significant impact on human life, livelihoods, and the econ...omy for the country. The occurrence of droughts has increased in recent years due to the effects of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, which brings drier-than-average rainfall conditions. Drought has adversely impacted the country’s agriculture sector, which employs around one third of the country’s workforce.
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Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important threats to the health worldwide. Antimicrobial resistance or drug resistance is the reduction of the pharmaceutical effects of a drug against a disease or reduction of its effectiveness in improving the clinical signs of a disease. Antimicrobial ...resistance occurs naturally but misuse of antibiotics in human and animals significantly accelerates the process of developing antimicrobial resistance. In fact, antimicrobial resistance refers to the resistance of a microorganism to one or more antimicrobial drugs which had been previously sensitive to these drugs. Antimicrobial resistance can occur in a wide variety of pathogens including bacteria, parasites, viruses, fungi, and cancer cells and may threaten the life of every person, in every age, and in every country
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The 20th century was a period of unprecedented ecological change, with dramatic reductions in natural ecosystems and biodiversity and equally dramatic increases in people and domestic animals. Never before have so many animals been kept by so many people—and never before have so many opportunities... existed for pathogens to pass from wild and domestic animals through the biophysical environment to affect people causing zoonotic diseases or zoonoses. The result has been a worldwide increase in emerging zoonotic
diseases, outbreaks of epidemic zoonoses as well as a rise in foodborne zoonoses globally, and a troubling persistence of neglected zoonotic diseases in poor countries.
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The Cholera Fact Sheet is available in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, and Haitian Kreyol. This heavily-illustrated, easy-to-read handout provides information for preventing, diagnosing and treating cholera with limited resources. It offers instructions for purifying drinking water and prepari...ng a rehydration drink at home.
You can link to the English sheet, which includes links to all other languages: http://en.hesperian.org/hhg/Cholera_Factsheet#utm_source=MedBox&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=cholera_hw
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The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the SAFER initiative in 2018 to address the global health and societal challenges posed by alcohol-related harm. The initiative outlines five key strategies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and its associated consequences. These include strengthening... restrictions on alcohol availability by implementing and enforcing policies to limit its accessibility and advancing drink-driving countermeasures, such as low blood alcohol concentration limits and random breath testing, to reduce alcohol-impaired driving incidents.
Additionally, SAFER emphasizes facilitating access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment for individuals with alcohol use disorders, ensuring that healthcare systems are equipped to provide effective support. Another core strategy is enforcing comprehensive bans or restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship, and promotion to minimize its influence, particularly on vulnerable populations such as youth. Finally, the initiative advocates raising alcohol prices through excise taxes and pricing policies to make it less affordable and thereby reduce consumption.
By implementing these evidence-based, cost-effective measures, the SAFER initiative aims to reduce the global burden of alcohol-related deaths and disabilities, fostering healthier societies worldwide.
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Poor diets are the major cause of death and disease globally, driving high levels of obesity and noncommunicable diseases. Cheap, heavily marketed, ultra-processed, energy-dense and nutrient-poor food and drinks that are high in fat, sugar and salt play a major role. The high-sugar content of these ...products leads to consumption levels much higher than recommended. The World Health Organization recommends that sugar intake should be reduced to just 5% of energy intake by using fiscal policies and food and drink reformulation strategies. Over the previous decade, the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has implemented several policies aimed at reducing sugar intake. We compare the soft drinks industry levy and the sugar reduction programme, examining how differences in policy design and process may have influenced the outcomes. Success has been mixed: the mandatory levy achieved a reduction in total sugar sales of 34.3%, and the voluntary reduction programme only achieved a 3.5% reduction in sugar levels of key contributors to sugar intake (despite a target of 20%). Both policies can be improved to enhance their impact, for example, by increasing the levy and reducing the sugar content threshold in the soft drinks industry levy, and by setting more stringent subcategory specific targets in the sugar reduction programme. We also recommend that policy-makers should consider applying a similar levy to other discretionary products
that are key contributors to sugar intake. Both approaches provide valuable learnings for future policy in the United Kingdom and globally
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Информационный бюллетень Июнь 2020 г.
Уязвимые группы населения в контексте ответных мер в отношении COVID-19
Vulnerable populations during COVID-19 response - Drug users
The COVID-19 pandemic has put significant pressure on health systems all around the world. The drastic measures established to contain its spread are creating serious impediments to economic activity (including agrifood systems) and, consequently, to livelihoods and food security and nutrition.
The World Health Organization's fact sheet on opioid overdose highlights the significant global health issue posed by opioids, which include natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic compounds used primarily for pain management. Misuse and unsupervised use can lead to dependence and severe health probl...ems. In 2019, approximately 600,000 deaths were attributed to drug use, with nearly 80% related to opioids; about 25% of these were due to overdose. An opioid overdose is characterized by pinpoint pupils, unconsciousness, and breathing difficulties. The fact sheet emphasizes the importance of increasing access to naloxone, an opioid antagonist that can rapidly reverse overdose effects, and advocates for training individuals likely to witness an overdose in its administration. It also underscores the need for comprehensive strategies, including preventive measures, treatment for opioid dependence, and policies to reduce opioid availability.
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The monkeypox virus (MPXV) clade I epidemic that has been affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) since November 2023 has recently spread to several other African countries including Burundi, Rwanda,
Uganda and Kenya. The size of these outbreaks could be larger than reported due to un...der-ascertainment and
under-reporting.
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The World Health Organization's Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO EMRO) highlights the significant health and social consequences of harmful alcohol use. Excessive alcohol consumption is linked to over 200 diseases and injuries, including liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, various cancers, hemo...rrhagic stroke, and hypertension. Globally, it results in approximately 3.3 million deaths annually, surpassing fatalities from HIV/AIDS, violence, or tuberculosis. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, while overall alcohol consumption is low, there is a concerning rise among adolescents and young adults, with patterns of heavy episodic drinking posing significant health risks. In response, the WHO has developed a global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, aiming to improve health and social outcomes by decreasing disease and death associated with alcohol consumption.
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In the time of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), sex and drug use will continue, regardless of physical distancing orders and policies. People who previously met in community gathering venues such as bars and clubs may now meet in different sites, ones that are “hidden” or less accessible. This, i...n turn, may hinder efforts to reach them with prevention interventions, such as condoms, lubricants, and needle–syringe programmes. With the widespread loss of livelihood and fewer employment opportunities, transactional sex, sex work and sexual exploitation may increase. Anxiety about the pandemic and personal vulnerability also may lead to some disruption in community cohesion, and to changes in the social and sexual norms that influence behaviour.
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Alcohol can be a source of enjoyment. However, it can also be a drug or a source of addiction, with negative consequences for your health and the people around you.
Accessed: 14.03.2019
As climate impacts intensify across the globe, nations must dramatically increase funding and implementation of actions designed to help vulnerable nations and communities adapt to the climate storm
Recommendations for the adaptation of Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) at temporary sites for COVID-19 vaccination. Draft Version 2.3, November 2021
The report provides an overview of alcohol consumption, related health harm, and policy responses in 30 European countries (EU Member States, Norway, and Switzerland). It highlights the high levels of alcohol consumption in the WHO European Region, which contribute to a significant disease burden co...mpared to other regions. The report covers trends in alcohol consumption and harm between 2010 and 2016, noting some progress in reducing alcohol-attributable mortality but stagnation in consumption reduction and heavy episodic drinking.
The assessment of alcohol policies shows variability in implementation across countries, particularly in areas like pricing and reducing the negative consequences of drinking. It emphasizes the need for stronger evidence-based policies, such as better regulation, taxation, and accessibility restrictions, to further reduce alcohol-related harm and achieve health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
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