WHO & Regional Offices [to 22 July 2017]

Discovering who misses out on health: the example of Indonesia
21 July 2017 – While many countries have improved the overall health of their populations, national averages don’t tell the whole story: groups of people can miss out on health services for a variety of reasons. WHO has developed a set of resources to monitor health inequalities – one of which, the Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT), was recently tested in Indonesia, allowing the country to analyse and interpret inequalities in health.

WHO urges action against HIV drug resistance threat
News release
20 July 2017 | GENEVA – WHO alerts countries to the increasing trend of resistance to HIV drugs detailed in a report based on national surveys conducted in several countries. The Organization warns that this growing threat could undermine global progress in treating and preventing HIV infection if early and effective action is not taken.
The WHO HIV drug resistance report 2017 shows that in 6 of the 11 countries surveyed in Africa, Asia and Latin America, over 10% of people starting antiretroviral therapy had a strain of HIV that was resistant to some of the most widely used HIV medicines. Once the threshold of 10% has been reached, WHO recommends those countries urgently review their HIV treatment programmes.
:: HIV drug resistance report 2017
“Antimicrobial drug resistance is a growing challenge to global health and sustainable development,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “We need to proactively address the rising levels of resistance to HIV drugs if we are to achieve the global target of ending AIDS by 2030.”…

Highlights
Training on refugee and migrant health for policy-makers and aid workers
July 2017 – Over 1.3 million refugees and migrants have arrived to Europe since 2015. To help aid workers and policy-makers better manage the health aspects of this mass influx of people WHO has launched the first Summer School on Refugee and Migrant Health.

New International Food Safety Standards protecting consumer health and ensuring fair practices in trade
July 2017 – Members of the international food standards-setting body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, are considering today the adoption of international standards and code of practices.

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Weekly Epidemiological Record, 21 July 2017, vol. 92, 29/30 (pp. 405–416)

:: Progress towards measles elimination in Bangladesh, 2000–2016 :: Performance of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance and incidence of poliomyelitis, 2017

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Disease outbreak news
:: Cholera – Kenya  21 July 2017
:: Dengue fever – Sri Lanka  19 July 2017
:: Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – China  19 July 2017

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WHO Regional Offices
Selected Press Releases, Announcements
WHO African Region AFRO
:: The HIV Self-Testing Africa (STAR) project in Zambia shows potential for increasing uptake and coverage of HIV testing  21 July 2017 [Lusaka]
:: WHO establishes an Emergency Hub in Nairobi  21 July 2017
:: Progress towards Malaria Elimination in The Gambia  21 July 2017
:: WHO’s support to the response of the acute watery diarrhoea outbreak in Ethiopia’s Somali Region  20 July 2017
:: Gambia launches National Tobacco Control Act 2016 whilst WHO honours national tobacco control champions for 2017  20 July 2017
:: WHO scales up cholera response with 500 000 doses of oral cholera vaccine for vaccination campaign in South Sudan  19 July 2017

 
WHO European Region EURO
:: European Union presidency discussions consider policy options for alcohol labelling 21-07-2017
:: Summer School sets course for intercountry collaboration and capacity-building on refugee and migrant health 19-07-2017
:: Rescue in the Mediterranean: learning from the Italian experience 18-07-2017
:: WHO to improve health care in northern Syria with integrated network 18-07-2017