Quality of care is a key component of the right to health and is critical to achieving Universal Health Coverage.

Our medical services team provides the following services:

• Sharing and monitoring international quality standards for medical care
• Knowledge transfer and method development
• Monitoring and improving quality of care in Red Cross Red Crescent medical services
• Supporting coordination and rapid medical response in emergencies

Public health means taking steps to protect and improve people’s health at a population level. Emergencies, such as disasters, crises, epidemics and pandemics, can all impact population health:

• Often people living in affected areas face disruptions to safe water and sanitation services, putting them at increased risk of waterborne and vector-borne (transmitted through an animal or insect bite) diseases
• Acute disasters can worsen pre-existing issues such as malnutrition, which can then be further worsened by high rates of infectious diseases 
• Though not always immediately evident, emergencies can also take a severe toll on people’s mental health 

Our Public Health team supports National Societies to adequately prepare for and respond to many of these issues.

Our National Societies are trusted local partners in their communities and play a vital role in promoting effective public health measures. Depending on the type of emergency and the assessed needs, National Societies assist populations through a wide range of actions that include:

• Providing health education to refugees in camp settings for outbreak prevention
• Social mobilization during mass vaccination campaigns
• Safe and dignified burials during viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) outbreaks, such as ebola outbreaks
• Set-up and running of oral rehydration points during cholera epidemics
• Providing psychological first aid

The comparative advantage of National Societies is their combination of long-term community-based programmes with emergency preparedness and response capacity

Policy: IFRC Health Policy 2025. Available Here. 

•  For support and resources see IFRC Immunization, the Measles and Rubella Partnership, International coordinating group on vaccine provision (ICG).

• Guidance Documents:
  • ITN (Insecticide-treated nets) Channel selection guidance - determining optimal ITN distribution channel mix based on data and local context. Available Here.
  • ITN allocation strategies website - supporting strategy design of ITN mass distribution campaigns. Available Here.
  • Procedures for assessing the quality of ITN mass distribution campaign household registration and distribution activities using clustered lot quality assurance sampling (CLQAS). Available Here.
• ITN Distribution Toolkits:
  • Mass campaign distribution toolkit: Operational guidance to support ITN distribution and use. Available Here.
  • School-based distribution toolkit: Operational guidance for school-based ITN distribution. Available Here.
  • Routine distribution key considerations: Operational guidance for routine ITN distribution. Available Here.
  • Optimizing resources toolkit: Guidance on ITN distribution campaign in environments facing limited funding, resources, higher commodity costs. Available Here.
• Other key trainings and guidance:
  • Guidelines: Role of Civil Society organization in ITN distribution. Available Here.
  • Training: ITN mass distribution campaigns capacity building (planning, budgeting, implementation). Available Here.
  • Guide for the training of community leaders in an ITN distribution campaign. Should be used alongside the Job Aid for community leaders, to train community leaders to fulfill their roles and responsibilities. Available Here.
  • Risk assessment and mitigation planning for ITN distribution campaigns. This training provides guidance on taking the steps to effectively reduce adverse effects from ITN distribution campaigns. Available Here.
  • Job aid for schoolteachers and school health educators including adaptable key messages and lesson plans for social mobilization and social and behaviour change for malaria prevention and ITN use and care. Available Here.
• For additional resources see Alliance for Malaria Prevention Resource page and IFRC Malaria page.

• Guidance: HIV Intervention for Key Populations. Guidelines describe the comprehensive package of health sector interventions on HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations. Available in English. (on sharepoint, needs to be hosted)
• Guidance: Guidelines on HIV in Emergencies. These guidelines prepare RCRC staff and volunteers about the complexity of HIV in emergencies and what they can do to address the problem of HIV. Available in English. (on sharepoint, needs to be hosted).
• eLearning: Practical Guidance of Red Cross and Red Crescent on Health and Care for Migrants Chapter 3. Chapter 3 of this eLearning is about important communicable diseases one of which is HIV, where one can learn key information on vulnerable groups, diagnosis, testing, prevention and treatment of HIV. Available in English.
• Guidance: WHO consolidated guidelines on HIV, viral hepatitis and STI prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations. Available from WHO here.
• Guidance. UNAIDS. Update on the Implementation of the HIV Response for Migrant and Mobile Populations. This 2021 report summarises research on the progress in addressing the HIV-related needs of migrants, refugee, crisis-affected and other mobile populations. Available Here.

• Guidance Document: Promoting safe and sustainable national blood systems policy. This policy applies to the IFRC network and the Global Advisory Panel on Corporate Governance and Risk Management of Blood Services in Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and sets out their position on advancing health security through safe and sustainable blood systems. Available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.
• eLearning: Blood Donor Recruitment Training. This course is designed to promote safe and sustainable blood systems based on voluntary non-remunerated blood donation (VNRBD) and in line with IFRC Blood Policy. 3 Modules, 50 Mins. Available in English
• eLearning: Blood Donation Training Programme. Three independent courses; General Training on Blood and Donation (40mins), Volunteer training on promotion and donor recruitment (1 hour), VNRBD senior promotion (2 hours). Available in English.
• eLearning: Voluntary non-remunerated blood donation: Changing donor behaviour. 10 mins, Available in English
• eLearning: Retaining family and replacement blood donors as regular voluntary donors. This module explores ways to encourage regular voluntary blood donation in countries that rely on family and replacement blood donors to supplement their blood supply. 25 minutes, Available in English.
• eLearning: Blood donor management during a disaster. Is your National Society ready? This module focuses on disaster planning and response in the context of donor management and continuity of the blood supply. 15 minutes, Available in English.
• See more Training and Knowledge resources on the Knowledge Hub of the Global Advisory Panel on Corporate governance and risk management of blood services in the RCRC movement site, as well as on the IFRC site for Blood Donations.

• eLearning: About Substance Disorders. This self-paced online course introduces main elements of prevention, treatment and harm reduction strategies as well as key programmatic considerations for RCRC staff and volunteers. Available in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Russian.
• Guidance: Rome Consensus 2.0: Toward a Humanitarian Drug Policy. This framework emphasises a more humane attitude to drug policy, reducing the harm caused by social, legal and cultural criminalization and stigmatization of people that use drugs and with drug disorders. Available Here.
• Guidance: Harm Reduction. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). This document details harm reduction as an integral part of a comprehensive health and recovery-oriented response, outlining how these measures save lives, and improve health outcomes for individuals, families and populations. Available Here.
• Training: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). This comprehensive training package covers a wide range of topics, building the capacity needed to remove barriers to low-cost, effective drug dependence treatment services and to deliver these diversified, high-quality treatment and rehabilitation services. Available Here.
• Guidance: Reducing fatal opioid overdose. This document provides comprehensive guidance on prevention and treatment for reducing fatal opioid overdoses, with a focus on harm reduction strategies and expanding access to and the use of naloxone, a non-addictive, life-saving drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose when administered in time. Available Here.
• Guidance: WHO. Mitigating Disruption of Opioid Dependence Treatments. This guidance highlights opioid agonist maintenance treatment as an essential health service and outlines strategies to prevent the disruption in care for people with opioid dependency. Available Here.
• For more resources and support see IFRC drug disorders page, Fondazione Villa Maraini.

Climate

• Guidance: Reducing the health and WASH impacts of climate change. This paper outlines the adverse impacts of climate change on human health. Available on the Climate Centre Here.
• Guidance: Navigating the climate crises: Mental Health and Well-Being. This report covers the climate-related mental health risks as well as potential pathways to addressing mental health and psychosocial challenges arising from the climate crisis. Available on MHPSS Hub Here.
• Guidance: Understanding the compound risk of heat, humidity, and air pollution on human health. Available Here.
• Training: Health, WASH and Climate – self directed learning resources from the climate centre on climate-smart health programming to prepare for and respond to the changing health and WASH risks climate change presents. Available Here.
• Guidance: Building health resilience through climate services. This report examines climate services contribution to decision making in healthcare, exploring barriers and enablers shaping implementation. Available on Climate Centre Here, Executive Summary Here.
• eLearning: WHO Climate Change and Health. Learn about building health system climate resilience and decarbonisation to promote and protect health in the face of climate change. 3 Self-Paced Modules Here. 

Migration

•  eLearning: Things you should know about health and migration. This course explores the relationship between migrants and health, including access to health care, non-communicable diseases, epidemics and pandemics, and mental health and psychosocial support. 3 Hours, Available in English.
• eLearning: Practical guidance for red cross and red crescent on health and care for migrants. Guide for National Societies seeking to implement or enhance healthcare for migrants, covering eight chapters (non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases, sexual and reproductive health, MHPSS, child health, older person health, and first aid). 4 Hours, Available in English.
• Guidance: Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Migration and Displacement. Danish RC outlines key recommendations for conducting MHPSS activities in different migration and displacement related contexts. Available Here.

Cholera is a global threat, made worse by conflict, urbanization, climate change and weak health and sanitation systems. Through community engagement, oral rehydration therapy, community-based surveillance, vaccination, and investment in water and sanitation, IFRC works to reduce transmission and save lives. These resources support National Societies to prevent, detect, and respond to cholera outbreaks.

Key training resources

• Investing in a Cholera-Free World – IFRC's global vision for scaling up cholera response and prevention across 20 priority countries, 2025–2030, aligned with the Ending Cholera: A Global Roadmap to 2030 goal of reducing cholera deaths by 90% (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/investing-in-a-cholera-free-world-ifrcs-global-vision-for-scaling-up-cholera-response-and-prevention/) 
• Training package: Branch Outbreak Response Team (BORT) for cholera (2022) – for branch staff and volunteers to break transmission routes in health facilities, households, and communities (https://wash.ifrc.org/trainings/branch-outbreak-response-team-bort-training-package-2022/) 
• Training package: Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) Training of Trainers (ToT) – community and branch-level preparedness and response (https://wash.ifrc.org/trainings/cholera-training-ifrc-tot-package/) 
• Training package: Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) for Volunteers (English) – building National Society capacity to support government vaccination campaigns (https://wash.ifrc.org/trainings/oral-cholera-vaccine-ocv-field-manual-for-volunteers/) 
• E-learning: 
  1. The 8 Steps for Hygiene Promotion in Emergencies (2 hours) – self-paced eLearning on the IFRC Learning Platform. Available in English, French, Spanish and Russian. https://ifrc.csod.com/ui/lms-learning-details/app/course/95cf4f09-b851-48bf-a73d-670450d74b26 

Public Health - Module 4: Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage e-learning module. Available in English and Spanish. https://ifrc.csod.com/ui/lms-learning-details/app/course/3fa34b66-850c-4419-b4b1-a1cd87f5d902 

• Breaking cholera transmission in urban settings: RC-CATI in action – Case study: Zimbabwe (2025) (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/cholera-in-urban-settings-rc-cati-in-action-case-study-zimbabwe/) 
• For more information visit wash.ifrc.org/our-work/cholera/, or see resources wash.ifrc.org/resources/ and practical tools wash.ifrc.org/toolbox/ 

Access to WASH is a human right and critical not only for health, but for dignity, livelihoods and nutrition. IFRC combines infrastructure, surge capacity, behaviour change, and community engagement to prevent disease and support the dignity of people affected by acute and protracted crises. 

Key training resources

• IFRC Guidelines for Hygiene Promotion in Emergency Operations (8 Steps) – applicable to climate-related emergencies including floods, droughts, and disease outbreaks. Available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian, Bahasa, Bengali, Khmer, Urdu, Thai, and Portuguese (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/ifrc-wash-guidelines-for-hygiene-promotion-in-emergency-operations/) 
• E-learning: 
  1. The 8 Steps for Hygiene Promotion in Emergencies (2 hours) – self-paced eLearning on the IFRC Learning Platform. Available in English, French, Spanish and Russian. https://ifrc.csod.com/ui/lms-learning-details/app/course/95cf4f09-b851-48bf-a73d-670450d74b26 
     1. WASH in emergencies surge explanation (20 minutes). Available in English. https://ifrc.csod.com/ui/lms-learning-details/app/course/4793f922-443e-46a8-b6c1-08366ea76048 

WASH'NUTRITION self-paced e-learning on the IFRC Learning Platform. Available in English and French. https://ifrc.csod.com/ui/lms-learning-details/app/curriculum/b1a5ef4c-53d0-4ce1-bc7c-12243a1ad009 

Public Health - Module 4: Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage e-learning module. Available in English and Spanish. https://ifrc.csod.com/ui/lms-learning-details/app/course/3fa34b66-850c-4419-b4b1-a1cd87f5d902 

• IFRCs WASH surge rapid response personnel, competencies and emergency response units (ERUs) and equipment: go.ifrc.org/surge/catalogue/wash 
• Addressing MHM Needs – Guide and Tools for National Societies. Available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/addressing-menstrual-hygiene-management-mhm-needs/) 
• Children Hygiene and Sanitation Training (CHAST) – Teacher’s Manual. Adapted for Solomon Islands (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/children-hygiene-and-sanitation-training-chast-teachers-manual-adapted-for-solomon-islands/), Vietnam (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/childrens-hygiene-and-sanitation-training/), and Rwanda (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/chast-childrens-hygiene-and-sanitation-training/). 
• For more information visit wash.ifrc.org/our-work/emergency-wash/, or see related resources wash.ifrc.org/resources/ and practical tools wash.ifrc.org/toolbox/ 

Most people will first experience climate change through water. IFRC supports National Societies to strengthen climate-resilient water and sanitation systems, build early warning capacity, and adapt WASH services to improve resilience. 

Key training resources

• Water and Climate Brochure (2025) – Overview of IFRC’s climate-resilient WASH approach and vision (https://www.canva.com/design/DAGo81PcfQ4/WqRyxtIB7IacuFJPEYcORQ/view) 
• Reducing the Health, Water and Sanitation impacts of climate change, IFRC.  (https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCRC_IFRC-Health-and-Water-Sanitation-and-Hygiene-WASH-V1-2021-2.pdf) 
• Climate, WASH and Health Training Package for staff and volunteers, including presentations, facilitation notes, games and exercises, and reference material: https://ctk.climatecentre.org/training/module-2/2d 
• Climate Change and WASH Toolbox for Humanitarian Practitioners (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/climate-change-and-wash-toolbox-for-humanitarian-practitioners/) 
• Training Curriculum for Community-based Volunteers Repair and Maintenance of Water Supply Systems – Kenya and Uganda (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/training-curriculum-for-community-based-volunteers-repair-and-maintenance-of-water-supply-systems-kenya-and-uganda/) 
• WASH, Waste and Electricity Services in Health Care Facilities – IFRC advocacy brochure on strengthening climate-resilient WASH in health facilities to prevent infection, protect patients, and improve health outcomes (https://www.canva.com/design/DAGot82UIxY/4ibGUChrm_kxjI4DdaG1mQ/view) 
• IFRC Guidelines for Hygiene Promotion in Emergency Operations (8 Steps) – applicable to climate-related emergencies including floods, droughts, and disease outbreaks. Available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian, Bahasa, Bengali, Khmer, Urdu, Thai, and Portuguese (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/ifrc-wash-guidelines-for-hygiene-promotion-in-emergency-operations/) 
• Addressing MHM Needs – Guide and Tools for National Societies. Available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/addressing-menstrual-hygiene-management-mhm-needs/) 
• Training materials on water and climate, and practical tools for climate-resilient WASH programming 

For more information see wash.ifrc.org/our-work/water-and-climate/ 

With over half the world now living in cities, IFRC promotes inclusive and sustainable approaches to reach the most at-risk urban communities – before, during, and after emergencies. These resources support National Societies to address water and sanitation challenges in rapidly growing urban settings. 

Key training resources

• Water Supply and Sanitation in Urban Settings – IFRC advocacy brochure on investing in inclusive urban water solutions to strengthen public health, restore human dignity, and build resilience. Available in English, French and Spanish (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/urban-water-and-sanitation/) 
• Technical Guidance Note on Urban WASH, IFRC (2024) (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/technical-guidance-note-on-urban-wash/) 
• Ghana Red Cross Urban WASH case study: Hungry for Water – Joining forces for sustainable urban water access in Ghana – community engagement and utility partnership to improve water access in informal settlements (https://wash.ifrc.org/ghanaurbanwater/)
• What does CASH mean for WASH outcomes? Publication by the WASH and CVA Technical Working Gorup. Available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin and Russian. (https://wash.ifrc.org/cross-cutting/cash-and-voucher-assistance-cva/) 
• IFRC Guidelines for Hygiene Promotion in Emergency Operations (8 Steps) – applicable to urban emergency response and community hygiene promotion. Available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian, Bahasa, Bengali, Khmer, Urdu, Thai, and Portuguese (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/ifrc-wash-guidelines-for-hygiene-promotion-in-emergency-operations/) 
• Breaking cholera transmission in urban settings: RC-CATI in action – Case study: Zimbabwe (2025) (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/cholera-in-urban-settings-rc-cati-in-action-case-study-zimbabwe/) 
• For more information see wash.ifrc.org/our-work/urban-wash/ 

When managed equitably, water can be a catalyst for peace. IFRC supports National Societies to use water interventions as entry points for dialogue, trust-building, and shared solutions across communities.

Key training resources

• Water and Peace – IFRC advocacy brochure on using water security and cooperation as a pathway to peace, fostering dignity, resilience and trust; includes the H₂O PEACE programme in Iran, Jordan and Yemen (https://www.canva.com/design/DAGzJol-m-o/ZVdlCfvncdCXaN-QRB0VqQ/view) 
• Water and Peace Introduction (one-pager) – Overview of IFRC’s approach and the H₂O PEACE initiative (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IR2WiVv7RP7RBxH4bgBpKkSL7HnF6CuL/view) 
• Training Curriculum for Community-based Volunteers Repair and Maintenance of Water Supply Systems – Kenya and Uganda (https://wash.ifrc.org/resources/training-curriculum-for-community-based-volunteers-repair-and-maintenance-of-water-supply-systems-kenya-and-uganda/) 
• For more information on Water and Peace see wash.ifrc.org/our-work/water-and-peace/