This book has been prepared in an effort to address the pressing need for a common language, i.e. international standard terminology and technical terms to be used in traditional medicine. The number of commonly used terms in traditional medicine is estimated to be more than 4000, most of which are included in this book, which is designed for use by students and clinical practitioners and researchers in the Western Pacific Region. This terminology will also be useful to assist Member States in the region in developing evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on traditional medicine.
Acupuncture has been practiced for more than 2500 years in the Western Pacific region and has become a global therapeutic method in recent decades. However, it was reported that acupuncturists differed by up to 25% in the acupuncture points they used, raising doubts and uncertainty regarding the efficacy and safety of acupuncture treatment, as well as causing difficulties in the fields of acupuncture research and education. Member States therefore increasingly began to demand standardization in acupuncture point locations. Responding to this request, the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office initiated a project to reach consensus on acupuncture point locations and thus convened 11 serial meetings resulting in these guidelines. This Standard acupuncture point locations in the Western Pacific Region stipulates the methodology for locating acupuncture points on the surface of the human body, as well as the locations of 361 acupuncture points. The Standard is applicable for teaching, research, clinical service, publication, and academic exchanges involving acupuncture.
The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in late 2002 and 2003 challenged the global public health community to confront a novel epidemic that spread rapidly from its origins in southern China until it had reached more than 25 other countries within a matter of months. In addition to the number of patients infected with the SARS virus, the disease had profound economic and political repercussions in many of the affected regions. Recent reports of isolated new SARS cases and a fear that the disease could reemerge and spread have put public health officials on high alert for any indications of possible new outbreaks. This report examines the response to SARS by public health systems in individual countries, the biology of the SARS coronavirus and related coronaviruses in animals, the economic and political fallout of the SARS epidemic, quarantine law and other public health measures that apply to combating infectious diseases, and the role of international organizations and scientific cooperation in halting the spread of SARS. The report provides an illuminating survey of findings from the epidemic, along with an assessment of what might be needed in order to contain any future outbreaks of SARS or other emerging infections.
Collects together data compiled from 177 World Health Organization Member States/Countries on mental health care. Coverage includes policies, plans and laws for mental health, human and financial resources available, what types of facilities providing care, and mental health programmes for prevention and promotion.
This is the second edition of the WHO handbook on the safe, sustainable and affordable management of health-care waste--commonly known as "the Blue Book". The original Blue Book was a comprehensive publication used widely in health-care centers and government agencies to assist in the adoption of national guidance. It also provided support to committed medical directors and managers to make improvements and presented practical information on waste-management techniques for medical staff and waste workers. It has been more than ten years since the first edition of the Blue Book. During the intervening period, the requirements on generators of health-care wastes have evolved and new methods have become available. Consequently, WHO recognized that it was an appropriate time to update the original text. The purpose of the second edition is to expand and update the practical information in the original Blue Book. The new Blue Book is designed to continue to be a source of impartial health-care information and guidance on safe waste-management practices. The editors' intention has been to keep the best of the original publication and supplement it with the latest relevant information. The audience for the Blue Book has expanded. Initially, the publication was intended for those directly involved in the creation and handling of health-care wastes: medical staff, health-care facility directors, ancillary health workers, infection-control officers and waste workers. This is no longer the situation. A wider range of people and organizations now have an active interest in the safe management of health-care wastes: regulators, policy-makers, development organizations, voluntary groups, environmental bodies, environmental health practitioners, advisers, researchers and students. They should also find the new Blue Book of benefit to their activities. Chapters 2 and 3 explain the various types of waste produced from health-care facilities, their typical characteristics and the hazards these wastes pose to patients, staff and the general environment. Chapters 4 and 5 introduce the guiding regulatory principles for developing local or national approaches to tackling health-care waste management and transposing these into practical plans for regions and individual health-care facilities. Specific methods and technologies are described for waste minimization, segregation and treatment of health-care wastes in Chapters 6, 7 and 8. These chapters introduce the basic features of each technology and the operational and environmental characteristics required to be achieved, followed by information on the potential advantages and disadvantages of each system. To reflect concerns about the difficulties of handling health-care wastewaters, Chapter 9 is an expanded chapter with new guidance on the various sources of wastewater and wastewater treatment options for places not connected to central sewerage systems. Further chapters address issues on economics (Chapter 10), occupational safety (Chapter 11), hygiene and infection control (Chapter 12), and staff training and public awareness (Chapter 13). A wider range of information has been incorporated into this edition of the Blue Book, with the addition of two new chapters on health-care waste management in emergencies (Chapter 14) and an overview of the emerging issues of pandemics, drug-resistant pathogens, climate change and technology advances in medical techniques that will have to be accommodated by health-care waste systems in the future (Chapter 15).
This compact, insightful book offers an up-to-the-minute guide to understanding the evolution of maritime territorial disputes in East Asia, exploring their legal, political-security and economic dimensions against the backdrop of a brewing Sino-American rivalry for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region. It traces the decades-long evolution of Sino-American relations in Asia, and how this pivotal relationship has been central to prosperity and stability in one of the most dynamics regions of the world. It also looks at how middle powers – from Japan and Australia to India and South Korea – have joined the fray, trying to shape the trajectory of the territorial disputes in the Western Pacific, which can, in turn, alter the future of Asia – and ignite an international war that could re-configure the global order. The book examines how the maritime disputes have become a litmus test of China’s rise, whether it has and will be peaceful or not, and how smaller powers such as Vietnam and the Philippines have been resisting Beijing’s territorial ambitions. Drawing on extensive discussions and interviews with experts and policy-makers across the Asia-Pacific region, the book highlights the growing geopolitical significance of the East and South China Sea disputes to the future of Asia – providing insights into how the so-called Pacific century will shape up.
This book examines the security dynamics of the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific, concentrating upon an analysis and evaluation of the air power capabilities of the various powers active in the two regions. The volume is designed to help improve understanding of the heritage and contemporary challenges confronting the global community in the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific, as well as to illuminate the policies of the various powers involved in the affairs of these regions, and the military capabilities that are available in support of those policies. The 16 individual chapters examine both the traditional and the non-traditional threats that confront the various Indian Ocean and Western Pacific powers, and assess the roles played by land-based and naval, fixed-wing and rotary-wing, manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as by offensively and defensively capable ballistic and cruise missiles in addressing these challenges. In doing so, the various chapters analyze and evaluate the air power doctrine, capabilities, deployment patterns, and missions of the respective states. In addition, they assess the future issues, challenges, and responses involving air power as it, acting in concert with other military instruments, seeks to contribute to securing and promoting the interests of the state. This book will be of much interest to students of air power, strategic studies, Asian and Middle Eastern politics, and International Relations.
