Context Genomic surveillance (GS) is crucial for monitoring known and newly emerging pathogens and for efficiently responding to infectious disease threats with epidemic or pandemic potential. It can transform public health action by providing a deeper understanding of pathogens and their evolution and circulation in the human population. Good GS…
Context Emergency medical teams (EMTs) are a key element of surge response capacity during national and international health crises, such as natural disasters and disease outbreaks. Strengthening EMT capacities is embedded in the approach of the WHO’s EMT Initiative. This can be facilitated by supporting countries in building national EMT…
Context Despite significant progress in immunisation coverage in recent decades, the objectives of many Global Vaccine Action Plans have not been met. For many countries, the COVID-19 pandemic was a further impediment to achieving their target vaccination coverage, as they had to shift their focus to the introduction of COVID-19…
Context Under the International Health Regulations (2005), all WHO Member States are committed to strengthening their capacities to respond effectively to public health crises. SEAR Member States are frequently subject to climate- and infectious disease-related health crises. Health emergency operations centres (HEOCs) play a crucial role in responding…
Short Description Establishing a freely-accessible, comprehensive, and user-friendly registry of systematic reviews on vaccinations and vaccine-preventable diseases is at the core of this project. An accompanying E-learning course offers step-by-step guidance on how to use existing reviews to develop vaccination recommendations for respective countries. The content of the course…
Short Description As the world comes together to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that essential services and operations continue to protect the lives of people with Tuberculosis (TB). The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to reverse much of the progress that has been made in reducing TB-related morbidity and…
Short Description Vaccines are crucial public health measures to fight vaccine-preventable diseases, e.g. measles. Further, COVID-19 vaccines, once available, will be essential to fight the pandemic. In Cox’s Bazar, 860,697 Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN)/Rohingya refugees live in camps. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), immunization rates among FDMN/Rohingya…
Short Description Compared to other regions in the world, the African continent is faced with a particularly high number of infectious diseases. These include acute fevers of unknown origin as well as anti-infective-resistant pathogens that have barely been examined to date. This demonstrates a significant shortcoming, as illustrated by the…
Short Description Since 2017, the TuNDRA project has been supported by the Global Health Protection Programme of the German Federal Ministry of Health. The project is carried out by a consortium consisting of the Robert Koch Institute, the International Vaccine Institute and partner institutions in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Hospital-based…