Communicable Disease Control In Emergencies

This field manual is intended to help health professionals and public health coordinators working in emergency situations prevent, detect and control the major communicable diseases encountered by affected populations. The manual is the result of collaboration among a number of WHO departments and several external partner agencies in reviewing existing guidelines on communicable disease control and adapting them to emergency situations. The manual deals with the fundamental principles of communicable disease control in emergencies, which are: Rapid assessment to identify the communicable disease threats faced by the emergency-affected population, including those with epidemic potential, and define the health status of the population by conducting a rapid assessment; Prevention to prevent communicable disease by maintaining a healthy physical environment and good general living conditions; Surveillance to set up or strengthen disease surveillance system with an early warning mechanism to ensure the early reporting of cases to monitor disease trends, and to facilitate prompt detection and response to outbreaks; outbreak control to ensure outbreaks are rapidly detected and controlled through adequate preparedness (i.e. stockpiles, standard treatment protocols and staff training) and rapid response (i.e.confirmation, investigation and implementation of control measures); and disease management to diagnose and treat cases promptly with trained staff using effective treatment and standard protocols at all health facilities.

A comprehensive, best practices resource for public health and healthcare practitioners and students interested in humanitarian emergencies.

As the culminating volume in the DCP3 series, volume 9 will provide an overview of DCP3 findings and methods, a summary of messages and substantive lessons to be taken from DCP3, and a further discussion of cross-cutting and synthesizing topics across the first eight volumes. The introductory chapters (1-3) in this volume take as their starting point the elements of the Essential Packages presented in the overview chapters of each volume. First, the chapter on intersectoral policy priorities for health includes fiscal and intersectoral policies and assembles a subset of the population policies and applies strict criteria for a low-income setting in order to propose a "highest-priority" essential package. Second, the chapter on packages of care and delivery platforms for universal health coverage (UHC) includes health sector interventions, primarily clinical and public health services, and uses the same approach to propose a highest priority package of interventions and policies that meet similar criteria, provides cost estimates, and describes a pathway to UHC.

Global Public Health Vigilance is the first sociological book to investigate recent changes in how global public health authorities imagine and respond to international threats to human health. This book explores a remarkable period of conceptual innovation during which infectious disease, historically the focus of international disease control, was displaced by "international public health emergencies," a concept that brought new responsibilities to public health authorities, helping to shape a new project of global public health security. Drawing on research conducted at the World Health Organization, this book analyzes the formation of a new social apparatus, global public health vigilance, for detecting, responding to and containing international public health emergencies. Between 1995 and 2005 a new form of global health surveillance was invented, international communicable disease control was securitized, and international health law was fundamentally revised. This timely volume raises critical questions about the institutional effects of the concept of emerging infectious diseases, the role of the news media in global health surveillance, the impact of changes in international health law on public health reasoning and practice, and the reconstitution of the World Health Organization as a power beyond national sovereignty and global governance. It initiates a new research agenda for social science research on public health.

In a world where there is increasing demand for the performance of health providers to be measured, there is a need for a more strategic vision of the role that performance measurement can play in securing health system improvement. This volume meets this need by presenting the opportunities and challenges associated with performance measurement in a framework that is clear and easy to understand. It examines the various levels at which health system performance is undertaken, the technical instruments and tools available, and the implications using these may have for those charged with the governance of the health system. Technical material is presented in an accessible way and is illustrated with examples from all over the world. Performance Measurement for Health System Improvement is an authoritative and practical guide for policy makers, regulators, patient groups and researchers.

Infectious Diseases Emergencies is a compact reference that summarizes the key topics of those infectious disease processes that are most commonly seen in practice. The opening section reviews principles of management and general management of severe infection in acute and emergency environments. The following sections provide a "head-to-toe" synopsis of common infections presenting in both outpatient and acute care settings. The concluding sections discuss vector borne infections, infections in special populations, and bioterrorism. Concisely written and consistently organized chapters outline the most useful elements of diagnosis and treatment for easy memorization and clarity.

This guidance is an update of WHO global influenza preparedness plan: the role of WHO and recommendations for national measures before and during pandemics, published March 2005 (WHO/CDS/CSR/GIP/2005.5).