COVID-Ready Communication Playbook for Health Professionals

The team at VitalTalk crowdsourced this playbook to provide some practical advice to health care professionals on how to talk to their patients about some difficult topics related to COVID-19.

Building on their experience studying and teaching communication they’ve drawn on their networks to crowdsource the challenges and match them with advice from some of the best clinicians they know.

Last modified: June 18, 2020

Language: Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Urdu, Vietnamese

Consolidated Guidelines on the Use of Antiretroviral Drugs for Treating and Preventing HIV Infection

These guidelines were devloped in response to recent evidence that ARV drugs offer significant benefits in preventing HIV transmission.

The objectives of these guidelines are to provide:

  • Updated, evidence-based clinical recommendations outlining a public health approach to providing ARV drugs for HIV treatment and prevention in the context of the continuum of HIV care, with a focus on settings with limited capacity and resources in the health system
  • Guidance on key operational and service delivery issues that need to be addressed to increase access to HIV services, strengthen the continuum of HIV care and further integrate the provision of ARV drugs into health systems
  • Programmatic guidance for decision-makers and planners at the national level on adapting, setting priorities for and implementing the clinical and operational recommendations and monitoring their implementation and impact

Last modified: April 13, 2020

Language: Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish

Avian Influenza Fact Sheet

Includes key facts, background, clinical features, antiviral treatment, risk factors, pandemic potential, and WHO’s response.

Source: World Health Organization

Date of Publication: April 13, 2020

WHO Advice for the Public

This page allows users to stay aware of the latest information on the COVID-19 outbreak, available on the WHO website and through your national and local public health authority.

Source: World Health Organization

Date of Publication: April 13, 2020

COVID-19 Online Training

In order to assist UN country teams in scaling up country preparedness and response to COVID-19, WHO has developed these learning modules as a companion to the Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response.

The training is intended:

  • For UN country teams (UNCTs)
  • For other relevant stakeholders, including partners, donors and civil society
  • To support national readiness and preparedness for COVID-19
  • To help countries increase their capacity to respond to COVID-19
  • To increase international coordination for response and preparedness
  • To streamline the process of coordinating resources and assessing country preparedness level

Last modified: April 13, 2020

Language: Chinese, English, French, Spanish

Materials in Many Languages

Doctors of the World and British Red Cross have shared COVID-19 fact sheets available in many different languages. Files are in Word or PDF.

Source: Doctors of the World

Date of Publication: April 6, 2020

Coronavirus Online Course

This online course is designed for individuals with low health/science literacy to explain COVID-19.

Each section describes a different aspect of COVID-19, including how it is transmitted, symptoms, and treatment, with a brief recap of important points after each section.

Source: Lifelong

Date of Publication: March 18, 2020

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Advice for the Public

On this page the World Health Organizations provides basic protective measures against COVID-19. This includes frequent handwashing, respiratory hygiene, social distancing, and other measures.

Last modified: February 15, 2020

Language: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish

Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Advice for the Public

This page provides downloadable images (for use on social media or to adapt for other uses) on the various ways one can protect oneself and one’s family, in response to the WHO’s announcement on January 30 that the virus constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

The images are of a general nature for prevention of disease spread. WHO’s standard recommendations for the general public to reduce exposure to and transmission of a range of illnesses are as follows, which include hand and respiratory hygiene, and safe food practices:

  • Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water;
  • When coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw tissue away immediately and wash hands;
  • Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough;
  • If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider;
  • When visiting live markets in areas currently experiencing cases of novel coronavirus, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals;
  • The consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, milk or animal organs should be handled with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices.

Source: WHO

Date of Publication: February 2, 2020

SSFFC – Frequently Asked Questions – Advice to Patients and Consumers

This website helps consumers with information about substandard, spurious, falsely labelled, falsified and counterfeit (SSFFC) medications:

  • How can I spot an SSFFC medical product?
  • How can I avoid SSFFC medical products?
  • What should I do if I think I have an SSFFC medical product?
  • Are SSFFC medical products available on the internet?

Source: World Health Organization

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019