This report offers a summary of the provided support and recommendations on priority activities for IPC improvement at national and facility levels. The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted areas for improvement in the IPC programme at national and facility levels. Improvements in the IPC programme were ac...hieved during the acute phase of the pandemic response. WHO will continue to support the Ministry Health of Ukraine and the Public Health Centre, as well as health facility managers and health-care providers, on the next steps to ensure the sustainability of progress achieved and to further enhance IPC in health-care settings.
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The WHO continuously reviews available data on SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. For this version, the global epidemiological
situation of the COVID-19 pandemic as of 21 January 2022 – at a time when the Omicron VOC had been identified in 171
countries across all six WHO Regions and was rapidly re...placing Delta worldwide – was considered Omicron has a substantial growth advantage, higher secondary attack rates and a higher observed reproduction number than Delta.
There is now significant evidence that immune evasion contributes to the rapid spread of Omicron. Other factors may be a shorter
serial interval (by about 0.8 to 1.2 days compared to Delta) and potential increased intrinsic transmission fitness . There is
growing evidence that with Omicron, there is lower vaccine effectiveness (VE) against infection and symptomatic disease soon after vaccination compared to Delta. There is also evidence of accelerated waning of VE over time of the primary series against infection and symptomatic disease for the studied vaccines. Further studies are required to better understand the drivers of transmission and declining incidence in various settings. These factors include the intrinsic transmission fitness properties of the virus, degree of immune evasion, vaccination coverage and level of vaccine-derived and post-infection immunity, levels of social mixing and degree of application of public health and social measures (PHSM).
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This document aims to describe a minimum set of surveillance activities recommended at the national level to detect and monitor the relative prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and outline a set of activities for the characterization and assessment of risk posed by these variants. A set of indicators ...is also provided to standardize monitoring and public reporting of variant circulation.
The document is primarily intended for national and sub-national public health authorities and partners who support implementation of surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 variants
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A guide to increasing coverage and equity in all communities in the African Region
Expanded Programs on Immunization (EPI) is responsible for vaccines and vaccination to control, eliminate and eradicate vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs). Having strong immunization systems to deliver vaccines ...to those who need them most will play a significant role in achieving the health, equity and economic objectives of several global development goals.
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Manual for use in primary care.
There is substantial evidence for the benefits of screening and brief intervention in primary health care for alcohol problems. However, there is a need for screening and brief interventions with cross-cultural relevance for substances other than alcohol or tobacco,... such as cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine and opiates.
The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) was developed for the World Health Organization (WHO) by an international group of substance abuse researchers to detect and manage substance use and related problems in primary and general medical care settings. Primary health care professionals are well-positioned to provide interventions targeted to all substances irrespective of their legal status.
The ASSIST screening test version 3.0 is available in English and in 10 other languages (Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Portugüse, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian).
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Based on the survey, five principles for deinstitutionalization were identified: community-based services must be in place; the health workforce must be committed to change; political support at the highest and broadest levels is crucial; timing is key; and additional financial resources are needed.
This is a resource pack for a Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) surveys about Zika virus and its suspected complications such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
This resource and associated advice was requested by governments and response partners as a way to rapidly obtain valuab...le and insightful information in order to tailor interventions to better address people's needs at community level, thereby contributing to the overall public health response to Zika virus and its potential complications. It can be used in communities with Zika virus transmission or those at risk.
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This report explores the reasons why global health is critical to medicine and what this means for medical education. It argues that an understanding of global health is important for all students and practicing doctors, rather than being an ‘add-on’ or ‘option’ for specialization.
The content of these guidelines acknowledges that wasting and undernutrition in HIV-infected children reflect a series of failures within the health system, the home and community and not just a biological process related to virus and host interactions.
The guidelines do not cover the feeding of i...nfants 0 to 6 months old, because the specialised care in this age group is already addressed in other WHO guidelines and documents.
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The Regional strategy for measles control recommends that a second opportunity for measles immunization be provided to all children irrespective of their vaccination status or history of clinical measles. The preferred method of provision of a second opportunity is through Supplemental Immunization ...Activities (SIAs) targeting children 9 months to 14 years in catch-up campaigns and 9 months to 4 or 5 years during periodic follow-up campaigns
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WHO recommends interpersonal therapy (IPT) as a possible first line treatment for depression. With this new manual, the World Health Organization (WHO) gives guidance on the use of interpersonal therapy (IPT) using a 8 session group protocol. The manual - which is part of WHO’s mhGAP programme - d...escribes IPT in a simplified format for use by supervised facilitators who may not have received previous training in mental health.
Available in Swahili and Farsi
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Interim guidance, 6 October 2021
Direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins (antigens) in nasal swabs and other respiratory secretions using lateral flow immunoassays (also known as rapid diagnostic tests, RDTs) offers a faster and less expensive method to test for SARS-CoV-2 than the reference ...method, nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs). This interim guidance offers recommendations on the priority uses of antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) in specific populations and settings, including (i) for primary case detection in symptomatic individuals suspected to be infected and asymptomatic individuals at high risk of COVID-19, (ii) for contact tracing, (iii) during outbreak investigations and (iv) to monitor trends of disease incidence in communities. Ag-RDTs meeting minimum performance requirements can be used outside of clinical and laboratory settings, including in communities, by trained operators in accordance with instructions. The guidance additionally provides recommendations on implementation, product selection and storage.
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