Publications

UNICEF’S Gender Policy 2021-2030 and accompanying Action Plan 2022-2025 articulate UNICEF’s commitments to promoting gender equality across programmes, workplaces and practices around the world.

Over the last 20 years the Global Fund partnership has saved 44 million lives and reduced the annual death toll from HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria (HTM) by 46% since its peak in countries where the Global Fund invests. We, the Global Fund partnership of implementer governments, civil society, technical partners, development partners, the private sector and people and communities affected by the three diseases, have proven that by acting together we can overcome barriers, save lives and dramatically change the course of these three terrible pandemics.

Modern, effective contraception is widely — though not universally — available. Why, then, are half of all pregnancies unplanned, and many of them unwanted? This is a reminder of how many people ,especially women and girls, are limited in exercising their basic rights. It is a sign that gender discrimination continues to wind through the lives of women and girls, as well as transgender, non-binary and gender expansive people. It points to deep gaps in rights and justice, gender equality, human dignity and broader social well-being. So many unplanned and unwanted pregnancies raise questions about how much the rights and potential of more than half of humanity are prioritized and valued. They signal that the world could fail to reach its development goals for health, education and gender equality, derailing the shared ambitions of the international community.

The goal of this Global Competency and Outcomes Framework for UHC is to advance improvements in health and progress towards UHC through aligning health worker education approaches with population health needs and health system demands. More specifically, the primary objective of this document is to provide guidance for the specification of pre-service and in-service competency-based education outcomes for health workers, which in turn inform the development of relevant curricula, learning activities and assessment approaches.

The Global Competency Framework for Universal Health Coverage identifies the health worker competencies towards the achievement of UHC organized within six domains: people-centredness, decision-making, communication, collaboration, evidence-informed practice and personal conduct. This framework has been developed through the lens of 12-48 month pre-service education pathways. With this framework, WHO sets out its recommended approach to competency-based health worker education outcomes; in so doing, it also provides conceptual and terminological clarity.

This module introduces the principles of competency-based education (CBE) and the competency model used within the WHO Global Competency and Outcomes Framework for UHC which is oriented towards the performance of the practice activities relevant for the scope of practice and service package. It maps the HIV services from the UHC Compendium with the practice activities in the Global Competency and Outcomes Framework for UHC; in so doing, it provides a reference for the content and outcomes to be integrated into competency-based curricula.

Universal health coverage is guided by the principle that individuals and communities receive the services they need, including essential good-quality health services, without suffering financing hardship. The establishment or expansion of government-sponsored health insurance is often promoted as the main vehicle to finance universal health coverage. 

Almost half of the deaths worldwide caused by TB in 2019 occurred in the WHO South-East Asia Region, home to around a quarter of the global population. Maintaining robust progress in this Region is therefore essential if the global goal of ending the TB epidemic is to be realized. Despite substantial gains made in the Region, the threat to health worldwide posed by the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to reverse these gains and eclipse the focus on the global TB emergency.   While continuing to tackle COVID-19-related challenges, countries will need to rapidly and urgently deploy supplementary measures to address the large numbers of missed cases, poor treatment outcomes and, potentially, a higher TB burden. The Regional Strategic Plan towards Ending TB in the Region 2021–2025 clearly articulates priority interventions, analyses the challenges, bottlenecks and opportunities, and focuses on implementation considerations in the Region.

The aim of the 2030 Framework is to provide the basis (reasoning) and concepts for multisectoral actions that countries can adapt to their context and implement with all stakeholders to achieve the targets of the End TB Strategy by 2030. The target audience for the Regional Framework is all those with an interest in the promotion of TB prevention, control and care, including: ministries or departments of health (TB and non-TB); industry; the commerce, education and environment sectors; social sciences; health-care workers in the public and private sectors; civil society; and TB-affected communities. This Framework is applicable for all countries of the Western Pacific Region; however, priorities may differ in different countries based on their specific TB situation.

This guide is a joint effort of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It includes new strategic approaches, guidance and innovations for TB prevention and care interventions in humanitarian settings. The guide focuses primarily on managerial/organizational aspects of TB interventions, and provides links to the most updated references for the clinical aspects