This week we see a huge and much needed focus on women with and at risk for cervical cancer. During the WHO Regional Committee for Africa in Dr Matshidiso Rebecca Moeti,the WHO Regional Director for Africa and partners showed the urgent need to act! And we saw that health doesn't exist in a vacuum: diabetes is impacted by tuberculosis; cancer treatment is impacted by incomplete data collection; ear health requires teamwork. NCD prevention requires that each NCD be treated in whole, from prevention to treatment, as part of the whole, taking other emergencies, inequities and structure into account.
NCD Stakeholder Dialogue Series on WHO Cancer Initiatives
6 September, 15:00 – 17:30 CET, (19.30 IST/8.00 USCT): WHO has launched three integrated cancer initiatives to drive health system strengthening and implementation of National Cancer Control Plans (NCCP). The initiatives share operational, cross-cutting approaches to the development of normative products and country engagement at all levels of WHO. This edition of the NCD Stakeholder Dialogue Series on WHO Cancer Initiatives aims: “Harnessing the experiences and perspectives of childhood cancer survivors and their families, to shape equitable and inclusive national policies: a discussion for Childhood Cancer Awareness month;” to gather insights, and best practices on the meaningful engagement of the Lived experience from childhood cancer survivors, parents and WHO partner organizations, aligning with the Global Initiative for childhood Cancer (GICC) objective of advancing prioritization of childhood cancer into national policies and delivering equitable services that meet the needs of children and their families.
It seeks to:
- convene people with lived experience of childhood cancer and WHO strategic partners to advance the meaningful engagement of survivors and their families in co-creation of policies and best-practice interventions for impact on both the quality and outcomes in childhood cancers.
- facilitate exchange to foster new GICC collaborations and partnerships at local, national, regional which connect child and young adult cancer survivors’ networks, promoting their active participation into national and regional policy dialogues to strengthen country engagement towards achieving GICC objectives.
For further information contact Roberta ORTIZ SEQUEIRA
Cervical Cancer Elimination at the WHO AFRO Regional Committee
Member States of the WHO Africa Region convened in Gaborone, Botswana, 28 August to 1 September 2023. Cervical cancer elimination featured prominently during the week.
In his opening remarks at the Regional Committee, the WHO Director-General acknowledged the region’s recent efforts to tackle cervical cancer: “I’m pleased to note that HPV coverage in the region increased from 26% in 2021 to 33% this year.”
Later, during a side event on August 31, Ministers of Health, WHO representatives, donors and partners reaffirmed their commitment to cervical cancer elimination and called for increasing our collective efforts to reach the global strategy’s 90-70-90 targets. WHO’s recent recommendations permitting the option of a single-dose HPV vaccination schedule was cited by many of the participants as a critical opportunity for gaining momentum, as countries stive to expand coverage of services across the entire continuum of prevention and treatment The first lady of Botswana, cervical cancer survivors, and numerous ministers of health joined the call for a broad mobilization. Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, underscored the importance of increasing access to vaccination, screening and treatment, to address the inequities of cervical cancer in the African Region. Hon. Ms Bjørg Sandkjær, Norway’s State Secretary for International Development, urged donors and partners to each bring to the table their piece of the puzzle. The event was co-hosted by Burkina Faso, Comoros, Liberia and Malawi, along with WHO-AFRO, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Graça Machel Trust, UNITAID, UNICEF, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Financing Facility.
For further information contact Richard Freeman
Eye health and the world of work
September 5: Join the ILO for the virtual launch of the policy brief Eye health and the world of work where the importance of addressing healthy vision as an occupational safety and health priority will be discussed. Work-related visual impairments are estimated to affect 13 million workers globally. Visual impairments can lead to decreased access to decent work, hinder inclusion and pose a threat to workers’ long-term health and well-being. People with visual impairments experience a 30% decrease in employment. Poor eye health has a negative impact not only on those directly affected but also on the global economy, costing an estimated $411 billion annually in lost productivity, according to The Lancet Global Health Commission.
The panel event will bring together experts in order to:
· raise awareness of the new policy brief
· generate dialogue about the challenge of addressing eye health in the work place
· encourage collaboration between all stakeholders on this important issue, including the eye health sector, employers organizations, workers organization and governments, in order to facilitate progress and work toward implementing the recommendations of the report.
For further information contact Stuart Keel keels@who.int
Button: ILO website
Health systems recovery in the context of COVID-19 & protracted conflict
I am pleased to share with you the special collection of 24 articles including an overarching editorial on Health systems recovery in the context of COVID-19 and protracted conflict recently published in the Frontiers in Public Health. The learning documented in this collection will help inform our support to member states in the radical reorientation of health system towards primary health care as the foundation of universal health coverage. The collection describes maintaining essential NCD health services, notably NCDs, to reduce the need for NCD outpatient services, building resilience through investment, developing national guidelines for the management of NCDs and other routine clinics at hospitals and care arrangements for vulnerable groups as well as adopting strategies to ensure essential health services were maintained and any previous progress on both communicable and noncommunicable diseases was not lost. The collection has been co-edited by WHO and the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI). It follows the WHO’s position paper on Building health systems resilience for UHC and health security during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond and its seven recommendations and has several WHO offices have contributed to the collection as authors or peer-reviewers. This collection – focused largely on the operational aspects – represents evidence and learning from more than 60 countries across six WHO regions. It harnesses the experience of frontline actors and stakeholders with responsibility for policy, planning, and delivery of COVID-19 responses, and the maintenance of essential health services. Alongside WHO colleagues, the solicited audience for this collection are policy-makers, planners, and managers at national, subnational, and community levels, partners, and the research and academic community.
For further information contact Suraya DALIL
Air pollution and health workers
5 September 2023 at 13.00-14.15 CEST: The What actions can health workers take to protect patients, individuals, and communities from the impacts of air pollution? One of the key target audiences for this year Clean Air Day is health professionals. Join a groundbreaking webinar “New opportunities for air pollution and health education: launching an OpenWHO online course for health workers,” taking place in the run up to the 2023 UN International Day for Clean Air for blue skies. Air pollution is one of the main risk factors for health being responsible for 7 million deaths each year. It affects all of us, everywhere, with 99% of the population being exposed to toxic air. It is also one of the major drivers of climate change, the greatest threat to global health of our time. To solve this environmental crisis, we need to work together at all levels. This is why this year Clean Air Day’s theme is "Together for Clean Air", which well resonates with WHO's mission to safeguard human health and the environment while promoting multisectoral action. In a landmark collaboration with over 30 international experts, WHO has developed the first WHO Air Pollution and Health Training toolkit specifically tailored for health workers (APHT) to be unveiled at the end of 2023. The toolkit includes downloadable and interactive training resources to inform and empower health care professionals. In anticipation of the toolkit’s launch, a readily accessible OpenWHO online training will be released at the margins of the 2023 UN International Day for Clean Air for blue skies.
The webinar aims to:
- Launch the OpenWHO online course on air pollution and health: an introduction for health workers.
- Showcase key initiatives aimed at raising awareness and equipping health professionals to tackle air pollution and protect public health.
- Preview the upcoming Air Pollution and Health Training toolkit targeting health workers (APHT).
For further information contact NEIRA, Maria Purificacion <NeiraM@who.int>
New insights from the COVID-19 pandemic response
4 September, 09.30: Launch of country case studies which identify and highlight new insights from the COVID-19 pandemic response. Join the event to learn how countries have harnessed a PHC approach for steering their health systems’ responses during crises. Full details about the agenda and key speakers in the flyer below.
Objectives
- Discuss lessons from the case studies within the context of WHO’s ongoing support to accelerate national efforts on PHC
- Highlight how many COVID-19 response activities have been institutionalized and integrated into ongoing national plans and programmes
- Showcase specific innovations and lessons in maintaining essential health services
- Discuss the role of PHC in pandemic preparedness and response and progress towards universal health coverage in advance of the UN HighLevel Meetings at the UN General Assembly in September 2023
- The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (AHPSR) and the WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care (SP-PHC), in collaboration with WHO regional and country offices, supported close to 50 in-country research teams to conduct case studies examining PHC in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For further information contact Veronica Riemer
Tuberculosis & diabetes: invest for impact
Diabetes is associated with about twice the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease and a higher risk of multidrug-resistant TB. To respond to the increasing burden of TB and diabetes, people-centred services are required to meet the needs and preferences of affected persons as far as possible, and to minimize the time and financial costs incurred by the end user for accessing services. Programmes should therefore work together to define and reorient models of care to ensure the provision of integrated services, preferably at the same time and location and as close as possible to people in need of the services. WHO has published an information note providing practical information on planning for integrated tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes services. Examples of models of integrated care are shared, along with an emphasis on planning collaborative health programmes inclusive TB and diabetes specific interventions. Proposed indicators to monitor implementation are featured, along with the essential medicines and equipment for diabetes management in primary care.
For further information contact Mai Eltigany
The new National Cancer Control Strategy 2023-2027
July: The Ministry of Health in Kenya launched its third National Cancer Control Strategy 2023-2027 together with its Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework in an event attended by the Principal Secretary, of the State Department of Medical Services, Mr. Harry Kimtai, on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary for Health.
The strategy, which was costed with support from WHO at over $300 million to implement, has five key pillars, aligned to the cancer control continuum:
- Prevention and early detection; Imaging,
- Pathology and laboratory medicine,
- Treatment, Palliative care, and Survivorship;
- Advocacy, Partnerships, Coordination and Financing;
- Strategic information, Registration, Surveillance and Research.
The successful development and launch of this document was enabled by the technical guidance of the UN agencies; WHO, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and together we look forward to its successful implementation by all stakeholders in cancer toward reducing the preventable burden of cancer and improving the quality of life of cancer patients.
For further information please contact Nashwa Skaik
Outcomes from the Consultation on the Make Listening Safe Initiative
From June 7 to 9, the World Health Organization and International Telecommunication Union hosted the fifth "Consultation on the Make Listening Safe Initiative". This significant gathering brought together nearly 60 experts and stakeholders from around the world who convened to address the preventable noise-induced hearing loss from recreational sources. For the first time, the program included a dedicated focus on safe listening within the realms of video gaming and esports, marking a crucial step forward in recognizing and addressing the auditory risks associated with these rapidly growing forms of entertainment. The consultation provided a platform for in-depth discussions, interactive workshops, and informative presentations around the theme of promoting responsible listening practices across diverse contexts, including personal devices and systems, live venues and events and video gaming and esports. Participants delved into cutting-edge research, examined developments for existing safe listening standards, such as “Safe listening devices and systems: a WHO-ITU standard (also known as H.870)”, the regulatory frameworks impacting sound-related industries, and explored innovative strategies to counter the risks associated with unsafe listening habits. Work has already begun in this area, including a number of projects working to adapt existing WHO and ITU standards in educational contexts, the launch of a new coordinated social media and website (listensafe.org), and an upcoming live music festival case study, which will aim to implement the WHO’s global standard for safe listening venues and events.
For further information contact MULAS, Peter Nicholas
Mobilizing women across Africa for the elimination of cervical cancer
Health4Life Fund has announced a long-term partnership with the Africa Federation of Soroptimist International, a global grassroots women’s organization, to advocate, raise awareness, and mobilize funds to eliminate cervical cancer across Africa. Last month, some 1,700 Soroptimists from the organization’s five federations gathered in Dublin, Ireland where they had the opportunity to hear more about this exciting collaboration. Members from all continents shared personal and often very poignant stories highlighting a common desire to put an end to cervical cancer. The event served to rally women across the worldwide Soroptimist network to raise funds for joint action in Africa and promote the importance of vaccination, regular screening, and early treatment everywhere. The partnership, in support of country-level joint action toward the 90/70/90 goals of the WHO cervical cancer elimination strategy, aims to put women and adolescent girls at the heart of this fight and make this invisible disease increasingly visible.
For further information contact HUBBARD MERIEAU, Linda Lee
Empowering Ugandan Primary Care Workers: Early Roll-Out of the Basic Rehabilitation Package Clinical Resource
August 7 to 11, Uganda: In May this year, the World Health Assembly endorsed the resolution on Strengthening Rehabilitation in Health Systems which, among other actions, urged Member States to expand rehabilitation to all levels of care, from primary to tertiary, and to ensure the availability and affordability of quality and timely rehabilitation services everywhere but specifically in underserved rural and remote areas. To support Member States to move forward with this action, the WHO's Rehabilitation Programme is developing a Basic Rehabilitation Package Clinical Resource (BRP-CR).
An early roll-out of the BRP-CR took place in Uganda from August 7 to 11, 2023. Sixteen primary care workers (doctors, clinical workers, and nurses) underwent training focused on identifying individuals with rehabilitation needs, conducting assessments, providing rehabilitation interventions, and monitoring care. Additionally, sixteen occupational and physical therapists facilitated the training as mentors and supervisors. The training included lectures, practical demonstrations and role-playing scenarios with patients. Pre- and post-tests were administered to participants to assess knowledge. Focus group discussions with the participants were also conducted to evaluate the validity, acceptability, and feasibility of the BRP-CR. The findings and recommendations will contribute to further develop the BRP-CR before its official launch.
For further information contact tannora@who.int and duttinea@who.int
Please send your updates for inclusion in the next edition of the NCDs Newsflash: johannesa@who.int
