Around the world, an estimated 3.6 billion people remain offline, with most people who are unconnected living in low-income countries.The collaboration will start in the Asia Pacific region and then roll out globally. The goal is to reach everyone with vital health messages, whatever their connectivity level.
COVID-19 Strategy Update released14 April 2020 The COVID-19 strategy update provides guidance for countries preparing for a phased transition from widespread transmission to a steady state of low-level or no transmission. It aims for all countries to control the pandemic by mobilizing all sectors and communities to prevent and suppress community transmission, reduce mortality and develop safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics. One of the main things we’ve learned in the past months about #COVID19 is that the faster all cases are found, tested, isolated & cared for, the harder we make it for the virus to spread. This principle will save lives & mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 15, 2020 Key materials:COVID-19 Strategy Update
She added: “It is important that governments avoid the mistake of tightening fiscal policy too quickly, as happened after the last financial crisis. Without continued government support, bankruptcies and unemployment could rise faster than warranted and take a toll on people’s livelihoods for years to come. Policymakers have the opportunity of a lifetime to implement truly sustainable recovery plans that reboot the economy and generate investment in the digital upgrades much needed by small and medium-sized companies, as well as in green infrastructure, transport and housing to build back a better and greener economy. ”
It calls for the intensification of efforts to control the pandemic, and for equitable access to and fair distribution of all essential health technologies and products to combat the virus. It also calls for an independent and comprehensive evaluation of the global response, including, but not limited to, WHO’s performance.
Hand Hygiene Day mobilizes people around the world to increase adherence to hand hygiene in health care facilities. This year, the campaign theme, “Save Lives: Clean your hands”, is aligned with the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife and highlights the critical role of nurses and midwives in infection prevention, protecting health care workers and patients.
To reopen schools, the document recommends measures relating to hygiene and daily practices, as well as physical distancing and tele-schooling. It also covers monitoring of schools after re-opening.
Mental health is an important part of overall health and wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It may also affect how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices during an emergency.
The future of the high-rise: Creating people-centric spaces August 7, 2020 – As the world becomes more urban, more people will live and work in high-rises. What will that mean for builders, real-estate companies, and tenants? In this edition, The Next Normal explores the high-rise of 2030.
One of the main things we’ve learned in the past months about #COVID19 is that the faster all cases are found, tested, isolated & cared for, the harder we make it for the virus to spread. This principle will save lives & mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.
WHO and FIFA launched the “Pass the message to kick out coronavirus” campaign, led by world-renowned footballers. The campaign promotes five key steps for people to follow to protect their health in line with WHO guidance, focused on hand washing, coughing etiquette, not touching your face, physical distance and staying home if feeling unwell.
It is essential to characterize this syndrome and its risk factors, to understand causality, and describe treatment interventions. It is not yet clear the full spectrum of disease, and whether the geographical distribution in Europe and North America reflects a true pattern, or if the condition has simply not been recognized elsewhere.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect countries differently. Challenges to any international travel at this time may include mandatory quarantines, travel restrictions, and closed borders. Foreign governments may implement restrictions with little notice, even in destinations that were previously low risk. If you choose to travel internationally, your trip may be severely disrupted, and it may be difficult to arrange travel back to the United States.
Since first learning of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China on 31 December, WHO has been responding rapidly, working to help countries, communities and individuals keep safe from COVID-19. WHO has issued guidance, convened scientists, called for more equipment for health workers and more.
Properly funded, it will provide laboratory materials for testing, supplies to protect health workers and medical equipment to treat the sick. It will bring water and sanitation to places facing shortages, and will help humanitarian workers and supplies get to where they are needed most to support the COVID-19 response.
WHO issued guidance on considerations in adjusting public health and social measures, such as large-scale movement restrictions. To minimise the risk of a resurgence when lifting "lockdowns", countries should use six criteria.
WHO teams up with the International Olympic Committee to improve health through sport 16 May 2020 WHO signed an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to work together to promote health through sport and physical activity. This collaboration is timely because the current COVID-19 pandemic is particularly affecting people with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The agreement has a special focus on preventing NCDs through sport.Other areas of collaboration include working with host countries to ensure the health of athletes, supporters and workers at the games as well as addressing NCD risk factors, including water quality and air pollution. The two institutions will also work to ensure that the games leave a healthy legacy in host countries through enhanced awareness of the value of sport and physical activity.The two organizations also intend to work together promote grassroots and community sports programmes that have a further reach within the general public, particularly among girls, older people and people living with disability who may find it harder to keep active and healthy.Together we will:-Advocate for physical activity-#BeatNCDs & promote healthier lifestyles-Strengthen the health legacy of major sporting events-Promote grassroots & community sports programmes -Strengthen collaboration between Ministries of Sport & Ministries of Health pic.twitter.com/wkYZY8Nd7m— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 16, 2020
In an online feature story, WHO told the story of Sania, a midwife in a governmental hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, who reassured Razia, a 25-year-old woman expecting her second child, about how she could take COVID-19 precautions to feel more confident after a complicated first birth. The piece went on to detail how patient safety is being improved in Pakistan’s hospitals.
At the same time, and with the virus continuing to spread, investing in health professionals and systems must remain a priority. The OECD says global co-operation and co-ordination are essential, as greater funding and multilateral efforts will be needed to ensure that affordable vaccines and treatments will be deployed rapidly in all countries when available.
A relentless commitment to science, solutions and solidarity15 April 2020Speaking at the COVID-19 media briefing, WHO's Director-General stressed that our "commitment to public health, science and to serving all the people of the world without fear or favour remains absolute." Since the beginning, @WHO has been fighting the #COVID19 pandemic with every ounce of our soul and spirit. We will continue to work with every country and every partner, to serve the people of the world, with a relentless commitment to science, solutions and solidarity. pic.twitter.com/7UrxtxQYwp— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 15, 2020 "The United States of America has been a longstanding and generous friend to WHO, and we hope it will continue to be so.We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organization.With support from the people and government of the United States, WHO works to improve the health of many of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.In due course, WHO’s performance in tackling this pandemic will be reviewed by WHO’s Member States and the independent bodies that are in place to ensure transparency and accountability. This is part of the usual process put in place by our Member States.No doubt, areas for improvement will be identified and there will be lessons for all of us to learn.But for now, our focus – my focus – is on stopping this virus and saving lives.WHO is grateful to the many nations, organizations and individuals who have expressed their support and commitment to WHO in recent days, including their financial commitment.We welcome this demonstration of global solidarity, because solidarity is the rule of the game to defeat COVID-19.WHO is getting on with the job."Key materials:WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 15 April 2020
WHO and the European Investment Bank (EIB) will boost cooperation to strengthen public health, supply of essential equipment, training, and investment in countries most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first phase will address urgent needs and strengthen primary health care in ten African countries. The agreement establishes a close collaboration to overcome market failure and stimulate investments in global health, accelerating progress towards Universal Health Coverage.
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The WHO Academy app provides health workers with access to up-to the-minute guidance, tools, training, and virtual workshops that will help them care for COVID-19 patients and protect themselves. The app is built around the needs expressed by 20,000 global health workers in a WHO Academy survey.
Today, WHO is launching dedicated messaging services in Arabic, French and Spanish with partners WhatsApp and Facebook to keep people safe from coronavirus. This easy-to-use messaging service has the potential to reach 2 billion people and enables WHO to get information directly into the hands of the people that need it.
The service can be accessed by a link that opens a conversation on WhatsApp. Users can simply type “hi”, "salut", "hola" or "مرحبا" to activate the conversation, prompting a menu of options that can help answer their questions about COVID-19.
Public health and social measures in these settings must be balanced against other risks, such as lack of income, limited access to basic services, food insecurity, and lack of a social safety net. Measures also need to be pragmatic and leverage the strengths of local structures and systems, notably through social mobilization and strong community engagement.
“Fortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has not turned into a food crisis. Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the specific challenges that countries, communities and individuals continue to face. Sustainable food security can only be achieved by transparency, co-operation and support for innovation and sustainability.”
The recovery will be digital Download a collection of our best insights on the vital role of digital in today’s businesses—produced to accompany “Our New Future,” a multimedia series we created with CNBC. Download PDF We know what you’re reading this summer McKinsey’s annual reading list is back—reimagined for this pandemic year. From there to here: 50 years of thinking on the social responsibility of business September 11, 2020 – Milton Friedman’s pathbreaking essay on corporate purpose was published on September 13, 1970. How much has management thinking evolved?
CDC notes that older adults and travelers with underlying health issues should avoid situations that put them at increased risk for more severe disease. This entails avoiding crowded places, non-essential travel, and especially avoiding cruise ships. Passengers with plans to travel by cruise ship should contact their cruise line companies directly for further information, continue to monitor the travel.state.gov website, and read the latest information from the CDC.
WHO signed a new agreement with the UN Refugee Agency, with a key aim for 2020 of supporting ongoing efforts to protect some 70 million forcibly displaced people from COVID-19. Around 26 million of these people are refugees, 80 per cent of whom are sheltered in low and middle-income countries with weak health systems. Another 40 million internally displaced people also require assistance.
Under the worst-case scenario, in which all insecticide-treated net (ITN) campaigns are suspended and there is a 75% reduction in access to effective antimalarial medicines, the estimated tally of malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 would reach 769 000, twice the number of deaths reported in the region in 2018. This would represent a return to malaria mortality levels last seen 20 years ago.
Generally speaking, digital technologies for rapid reporting, data management, and analysis will be helpful. Robust comprehensive surveillance should be maintained even in areas where there are few or no cases; it is critical that new cases and clusters are detected rapidly and before widespread disease transmission occurs. Ongoing surveillance is also important to understand longer-term trends in the disease and the evolution of the virus.
If the threat from COVID-19 fades more quickly than expected, improved business and consumer confidence could boost global activity sharply in 2021. But a stronger resurgence of the virus, or more stringent lockdowns could cut 2-3 percentage points from global growth in 2021, with even higher unemployment and a prolonged period of weak investment.
U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship at this time. The CDC notes there is increased risk of infection of COVID-19 on cruise ships. In order to curb the spread of COVID-19, many countries have implemented strict screening procedures that deny port entry rights to ships and prevent passengers from disembarking.
Continued state support needs to be increasingly conditioned on broader environmental, economic and social objectives. Better targeting of support to where it is needed most will improve prospects, particularly for the unemployed and the low skilled – groups who too often miss out on training – and for youths. The report acknowledges that a balance needs to be struck between providing immediate support to strengthen the recovery while encouraging workers and businesses in hard-hit sectors to move into more promising activities.
Hydroxychloroquine arm of Solidarity Trial stops17 June 2020WHO announced that the hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) arm of the Solidarity Trial to find an effective COVID-19 treatment was being stopped. The trial's Executive Group and principal investigators made the decision based on evidence from the Solidarity trial, UK's Recovery trial and a Cochrane review of other evidence on hydroxychloroquine. Data from Solidarity (including the French Discovery trial data) and the recently announced results from the UK's Recovery trial both showed that hydroxychloroquine does not result in the reduction of mortality of hospitalised COVID-19 patients, when compared with standard of care. Investigators will not randomize further patients to hydroxychloroquine in the Solidarity trial. Patients who have already started hydroxychloroquine but who have not yet finished their course in the trial may complete their course or stop at the discretion of the supervising physician. This decision applies only to the conduct of the Solidarity trial and does not apply to the use or evaluation of hydroxychloroquine in pre or post-exposure prophylaxis in patients exposed to COVID-19.Key materials: WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 17 June 2020Solidarity trial webpage
WHO welcomes the initial clinical trial results from the UK that show dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, can be lifesaving for patients who are critically ill with COVID-19. For patients on ventilators, the treatment was shown to reduce mortality by about one third, and for patients requiring only oxygen, mortality was cut by about one fifth, according to preliminary findings shared with WHO.
“This crisis is an opportunity to rethink tourism development. The recovery must involve transforming the sector, re-inventing tourism destinations and businesses, re-building the tourism ecosystem, and innovating and investing in sustainable tourism.”
WHO makes field visit to Wuhan, China21 January 2020The delegation observed and discussed active surveillance processes, temperature screening at Wuhan Tianhe airport, laboratory facilities, infection prevention and control measures at Zhongnan hospital and its associated fever clinics, and the deployment of a test kit to detect the virus.The delegation also discussed public communication efforts and China's plan to expand the case definition for the novel coronavirus, which will build a clearer picture of the spectrum of severity of the virus.At the end of the visit, the Chinese Government released the primers and probes used in the test kit for the novel coronavirus to help other countries detect it. Chinese experts also shared a range of protocols that will be used in developing international guidelines, including case definitions, clinical management protocols and infection control.Key materials: Statement
Dr Ryan emphasized that helping the most vulnerable to confront COVID-19 is not just a moral imperative, it is in enlightened self interest: "It is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. We won't be safe – anywhere on this planet – until all people are safe."
The reasons for disrupted services vary. Some parents are reluctant to leave home because of restrictions on movement, lack of information or because they fear infection with the COVID-19 virus. And many health workers are unavailable because of restrictions on travel, or redeployment to COVID response duties, as well as a lack of protective equipment. Transport delays of vaccines are also exacerbating the situation.
August 7, 2020 – As the world becomes more urban, more people will live and work in high-rises. What will that mean for builders, real-estate companies, and tenants? In this edition, The Next Normal explores the high-rise of 2030.