This week WHO cancer experts are preparing to connect the dots between HIV and cervical cancer at a conference in Australia, technical help is offered for breast cancer treatment in Trinidad and Tobago, the summer school on NCDs concludes in Lyon, while Self Care Day is celebrated with key self-care tips and a new edition of the Primary Health Care Newsletter is issued.

WHO @ the 12th IAS Conference on HIV Science

23 – 26 July: Brisbane, Australia - and online: The International AIDS Society and its partners are organizing a one-day pre-meeting, titled “Putting people first in the prevention, treatment and care of HPV-related cancers for people living with HIV”, in conjunction with IAS 2023, the 12th IAS Conference on HIV Science. Women living with HIV are 6 times more likely to develop cervical cancer compared to women without HIV. WHO will hold several key satellite sessions to share its latest scientific and normative work. Leading the delegation are Dr Prof Jerome SALOMON WHO-ADG and Meg Doherty Director of WHO’s Global HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections Programmes. Dr Meg Doherty will be making a keynote address on “HPV-related cancers: Burden, WHO recommendations, progress and opportunities for integration.” While Maribel Almonte Pacheco will make a presentation on Cervical cancer screen, triage and treatment” in Session 2 – State of the art guidance for HPV vaccination, screen and treat.”The WHOs Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative aims to eliminate this preventable and curable cancer.

For further information contact the WPRO Office

Regional Workshop on Implementing the WHO Southeast Asia NCD Roadmap 

12-15 June: Dhaka, Bangladesh: A workshop was held for implementing the NCD Roadmap, 2022-2030, aiming to support countries in the prioritization and acceleration of NCD prevention and management with a specific focus on accelerating the prevention and control of hypertension and diabetes, identifying the most impactful NCD interventions within their context, closing the gasps in cancer care services through regional collaboration and Integrating NCD services in when responding to emergency situations.

Key outcomes were a discussion on committing for a regional target for scaling up enrolment of people with hypertension and diabetes for protocol-based care together tobacco control, salt reduction, and elimination of trans-fatty acids. Another outcome was the establishment of the platform SEACanGrid to facilitate networking among institutions, shared learning and resources, standard resource stratified treatment, workforce capacity building technical backstopping and collaborative research. In her opening address at the, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director WHO South-East Asia Region said “We are at a history-defining juncture. We have guidance on an expanded set of ‘Best Buys’ in the form of a menu of policy options and cost-effective interventions for the prevention and control of NCDs”. The workshop witnessed a diverse participation of senior officials of the Member States, global partners and WHO staff. Participants shared their good practices and visited the Saturia Upazila Health Complex and the community centre primary health settings in the Manikganj district to observe the integrated NCDs services in primary health care.

For further information contact GUNAWARDENA, Nalika

A Systems Approach Summer School

 Summer-school “A systems approach to the promotion of healthy lifestyles”

18-20 July, Nice, France: The WHO Regional Office for Europe, the Université Côte d’Azur and the Ulysseus European University are hosting a summer school to build capacity of researchers and policy makers to navigate systems thinking and systems-based approaches from theory to practice. The summer school is designed for PhD students, early and mid-career professionals working in public health with a particular focus on the prevention of noncommunicable diseases through the promotion of physical activity and healthy diets. Featuring keynote presentations from WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, President of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) Dr Iveta Nagyova, and Director-General of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) Dr Milka Sokolovic, along with leading global experts in systems thinking and complexity science. Day 2 and 3 will be involve practical group work for in-person participants to provide insights and build capacity in how to facilitate consensus among different stakeholders while also providing a platform for strengthening multisectoral collaboration across complex systems. The course content was developed with support from leading experts including Dr Ruth Hunter (Queen’s University Belfast) and Dr Tarra Penney (York University).

Further information contact: Stephen WHITING

Primary Health Care Newsletter

Newsletter of the WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care

July: Issue 8 of the Newsletter of the WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care is issued. It reports on the many events and developments of the WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care (SP-PHC) during the second quarter of the year such the the 76th World Health Assembly, the Technical Advisory Group on the governance of the private sector for universal health coverage (UHC), the thematic working group meeting of the WHO South-East Asia Region's PHC Forum and other events and actions in Tunisia, Guinea and Ethiopia.

For further information contact MERU, Nikon Francesca

Updated WHO Country Presence Portal

“One-stop shop” for information on WHO’s presence in countries, illustrated by country impact stories updated

 12 July: What can you find in the Portal?

·         Country Profiles: population data, key health statistics, burden of diseases, National Health Policy, Strategy and Plan, Country Cooperation Strategy

·         Country Presence: location of country offices and their accessibility, WCO's financial and human resources, funding sources and top donors

·         WR Profiles: information about Heads of Country Offices, contact details, Official List of Addresses

·         Link to the Dashboards: Triple billions, WHO Health Emergency, Country Support Plans as well as the Country Cooperation Strategy tracker

·         UN Resident coordinator lists, UNSDCFs and WHO's engagement with UN country teams (UNCT)

·         Country Stories section is a repository of a series of narratives demonstrating WHO’s contributions towards tangible results and impact at the country level.

How the Portal can help in your work 👇

·         Indispensable for organizing missions to countries, territories or areas

·         Provides quick access to information on country offices for drafting letters and memos

·         A helpful resource for operational planning, and resource mobilization at country level

·         Facilitates learning across various areas of WHO’s work in different contexts and regions

·         Provides information on the United Nations County Team (UNCT) for collaboration across the wider UN in countries.

The Portal will be integrated into the forthcoming OneWHO intranet project to be launched in October 2023.

For further information contact NAMJILSUREN, Oyuntungalag

For more information, feedback or requests for updates, please write using this link.

Learn how to navigate the Portal here.

WHO Director-General Remarks 

Weekly Press Conference – 19 July

19 July: The Director-General of WHO spoke on Rehabilitation:

I have noted ... the university’s current work on obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles, and research to find novel therapeutic approaches to cardiovascular conditions, rare diseases and nervous system disorders. 

“One of the biggest contributors to keeping people trapped in poverty is the lack of rehabilitation services for those who need them”.

“For most people, rehabilitation services, including assistive technologies, are often out-of-pocket expenses that they cannot afford”.

“Ensuring access to quality rehabilitation services, without financial hardship, is an essential part of every country’s journey towards universal health coverage”.

“Last week, WHO launched the World Rehabilitation Alliance, a global network focused on promoting rehabilitation as an integral part of universal health coverage”.

“The World Rehabilitation Alliance is a powerful demonstration of the collaborative spirit of the rehabilitation community and the importance of bringing together the voices of many stakeholders to promote one message”.

For further information contact the Director-General

Self-Care Day

24 July is Self-Care Day and marks the end of Self-Care Month. WHO defines self-care as individuals, families and communities’ promoting and maintaining their own health, preventing disease, and coping with illness and disability, with or without the support of a health worker. Self-Care month has raised additional awareness about self-care and self-care interventions, celebrated the benefits that they bring to people’s lives and what’s been achieved so far and called for renewed commitments and action to expand health systems to include self-care interventions. Learn more by visit WHO’s self-care health topic page, watch our new video on self-care and take time to think about how you can practice self-care each day to help improve your health and well-being. 

For further information contact the WHO Europe office

WHO/Europe series of webinars on alcohol and public health

These webinars are designed to provide valuable insights to a wide range of individuals with an interest in alcohol and its impact on public health. The webinars feature leading experts in the field and give an opportunity to gain knowledge, engage with experts and contribute to the discourse surrounding alcohol and public health in Europe & beyond.

   🗓️ Webinars are held regularly until 4 September 2023

   ⏰ Each webinar lasts for 60 minutes.

   🌐 The webinars will be conducted in English.

   🆓 Attendance is free!

   📝 Prior registration is required here: Webinar Registration - Zoom

Even if you are unable to attend a webinar in real-time, recordings of each session will be made available on the WHO/Europe website: Webinar series: Alcohol and Public Health (open for all) (who.int)

25 July 2023, 10:00–11:00 CEST

Alcohol use disorders: early detection and treatment: https://www.who.int/europe/news-room/events/item/2023/07/25/default-calendar/webinar--alcohol-use-disorders

4 September 2023, 10:00–11:00 CEST

Alcohol cultures and stigma: overview of key concepts

For further information contact: alolsen@who.int