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The Impact of Climate Change on Health: Reducing Risks and Increasing Resilience in the Era of COVID-19

Machalaba; C.; Bouley, T. A.; Nunziata, K. R.; et al. (2021) C1

The climate crisis has many consequences – among them widespread health impacts that will lead to immense societal, ecological, and economic harm. Over the past two decades multiple large-scale reviews on climate change and health have made clear the need for a multi-sectoral approach to target t... more

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South African MATERNAL, PERINATAL, and NEONATAL Health Policy

National Department of Health (NDoH) South Africa NDoH South Africa (2021) CC

As a lower-middle-income country (LMIC), South Africa (SA) bears the burden of maternal and neonatal mortality similar to other sub- Saharan African countries. According to the Saving Mothers Report 2017/19, there has been a progressive and sustained reduction in institutional maternal mortality... more

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Health financing for the COVID-19 response: Process guide for national budgetary dialogue. ACT-A Health Systems Connector

World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank, Global Financing Facility (GFF) et al. World Health Organization (WHO) (2021) CC

Annual and medium-term budget preparation processes are the platforms through which specific plans are transformed into actual resource allocation decisions. The aim of this Process Guide is to support key stakeholders involved in these processes (such as the Cabinet, Ministries of Finance and Healt... more

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Africa’s Health Financing in a New Era

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) (2025) CC

Africa’s health sector is facing an unprecedented financing crisis, driven by a sharp decline of 70% in Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 2021 to 2025 and deep-rooted structural vulnerabilities. This collapse is placing immense pressure on Africa’s already fragile health systems as ODA ...is seen as the backbone of critical health programs: pandemic preparedness, maternal and child health services, disease control programs are all at risk, threatening Sustainable Development Goal 3 and Universal Health Coverage. Compounding this is Africa’s spiraling debt, with countries expected to service USD 81 billion by 2025—surpassing anticipated external financing inflows—further eroding fiscal space for health investments. Level of domestic resources is low. TThe Abuja Declaration of 2001, a pivotal commitment made by African Union (AU) member states, aimed to reverse this trend by pledging to allocate at least 15% of national budgets to the health sector. However, more than two decades later, only three countries—Rwanda, Botswana, and Cabo Verde—have consistently met or exceeded this target (WHO, 2023). In contrast, over 30 AU member states remain well below the 10% benchmark, with some allocating as little as 5–7% of their national budgets to health. In addition, only 16 (29%) of African countries currently have updated versions of National Health Development Plan (NHDP) supported by a National Health Financing Plan (NHFP). These two documents play a critical role in driving internal resource mobilisation. At the same time, public health emergencies are surging, rising 41%—from 152 in 2022 to 213 in 2024—exposing severe under-resourcing of health infrastructure and workforce. Recurring outbreaks (Mpox, Ebola, cholera, measles, Marburg…) alongside effects of climate change and humanitarian crises in Eastern DRC, the Sahel, and Sudan, are overwhelming systems stretched by chronic underfunding. The situation is worsened by Africa’s heavy dependency with over 90% of vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics being externally sourced—leaving countries vulnerable to global supply chain shocks. Health worker shortages persist, with only 2.3 professionals per 1,000 people (below the WHO’s recommended 4.45), and fewer than 30% of systems are digitized, undermining disease surveillance and early warning. Without decisive action, Africa CDC projects the continent could reverse two decades of health progress, face 2 to 4 million additional preventable deaths annually, and a heightened risk of a pandemic emerging from within. Furthermore, 39 million more Africans could be pushed into poverty by 2030 due to intertwined health and economic shocks. This is not just a sectoral crisis—it is an existential threat to Africa’s political, social, and economic resilience, and global stability. In response, African leaders, under Africa CDC’s stewardship, are advancing a comprehensive three-pillar strategy centered on domestic resource mobilization, innovative financing, and blended finance. more

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Strategic Plan of the Pan American Health Organization 2026–2031

Pan American Health Organization PAHO (2025) CC

This plan, approved by the Organization’s 62nd Directing Council, was shaped by extensive consultations with countries and stakeholders, and commits to transformative health outcomes over the next six years, tackling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), mental health, health security, fragmented healt... more

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STAR-H: Strategic Toolkit for Assessing Risks in Health Facilities

Pan American Health Organization (2023) CC

Health facilities in the Region of the Americas frequently suffer the effects of health emergencies and disasters, which jeopardize their ability to provide services to the population. The STAR-H methodology helps staff responsible for health emergency and disaster risk management to identify and as... more

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Fiscal Space for Health in Latin America and the Caribbean

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) (2020) CC

In sum, the goal is to understand the need to increase fiscal space for health as a prerequisite, but within the framework of efforts to transform the health system. These changes should foster equitable and efficient expenditures and create or strengthen comprehensive integrated health systems with... more

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WHO Competency Framework for Health Workers’ Education and Training on Antimicrobial Resistance

World Health Organization WHO (2018) C_WHO

The framework is to be used as a reference guide, applied according to local priorities and needs, and targeted at academic institutions, educators, accreditation bodies, regulatory agencies and other users. The ultimate aim is to ensure that all health workers are equipped with the requisite compet... more

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UNHCR’s mental health and psychosocial support

Meyer, S. UNHCR (2013) C2

A broad range of UNHCR’s key priorities overlap with MHPSS issues – for example, child protection and sexual and gender-based violence [SGBV] prevention and response. Despite all these existent synergies, UNHCR’s current policies and guidelines do not sufficiently link with MHPSS principles.... more

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Expanding the Roles of Nurses in Primary Health Care

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), World Health Organization - Regional Office for the Americas (WHO) (2018) C_WHO

[Preface]. For more than forty years Primary Health Care (PHC) has been recognized as the cornerstone of an effective and responsive health system. The Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978 reaffirmed the right to the highest attainable level of health, with equity, solidarity and the right to health as its ... more

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Comprehensive mental health action plan 2013–2020
recommended

World Health Organization WHO (2021) C_WHO

This updated Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030 builds upon its predecessor and sets out clear actions for Member States, the WHO Secretariat and international, regional and national partners to promote mental health and well-being for all, to prevent mental health conditions for thos... more

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Mental health, human rights and legislation: Guidance and practice

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR, World Health Organization WHO (2023) C_WHO

WHO-OHCHR launch new guidance to improve laws addressing human rights abuses in mental health care Ahead of World Mental Health Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) are jointly launching a new guidance, entitled "Mental health, h... more

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Myanmar National Health Plan 2017-2021

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Ministry of Health and Sports (2016) C1

The National Health Plan (NHP) aims to strengthen the country’s health system and pave the way towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC),choosing a path that is explicitly pro-poor. The main goal of NHP 2017-2021 is to extend access to a Basic Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) to the entir... more

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Community-based health care, including outreach and campaigns,in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
recommended

World Health Organization WHO, IFRC; UNICEF (2020) C_WHO

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging health systems across the world. Rapidly increasing demand for care of people with COVID-19 is compounded by fear, misinformation and limitations on the movement of people and supplies that disrupt the delivery of frontline health care for all people... This g... more

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Guidelines on mental health promotive and preventive interventions for adolescents

World Health Organization WHO (2020) C_WHO

The Guidelines on promotive and preventive mental health interventions for adolescents - Helping Adolescents thrive (HAT), provide evidence-informed recommendations on psychosocial interventions to promote mental health, prevent mental disorders, and reduce self-harm and other risk behaviours among ... more

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Assessing health systems in Guinea for prevention and control of priority zoonotic diseases: A One Health approach

Standleya C. J., Carlinb E. P., Sorrella E. M. et al. Elsevier (2019) CC

To guide One Health capacity building efforts in the Republic of Guinea in the wake of the 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, we sought to identify and assess the existing systems and structures for zoonotic disease detection and control. We partnered with the government ministries resp... more

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Health of older refugees and migrants

World Health Organization WHO, Regional Office for Europe (2018) C_WHO

Technical guidance. This technical guidance aims to inform policy and practice development specifically related to improving the health of older refugees and migrants within the European Union and the larger WHO European Region. Both ageing and migration are in themselves complex multidimensional p... more

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Toolkit for implementation of the WHO intrapartum care and immediate postnatal care recommendations in health-care facilities

World Health Organization WHO (2023) C_WHO

This toolkit was developed to provide detailed information and resources to support implementation of the WHO intrapartum and immediate postnatal care recommendations at the health-care facility level. The careful design of this toolkit is based on a rigorous evidence-based approach that includes im... more

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Atlas of African Health Statistics 2022: Health situation analysis of the WHO African Region

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2022) C_WHO

Atlas of African Health Statistics 2022: Health situation analysis of the WHO African Region Since 2019, we have been implementing Phase 2 of the regional Transformation Agenda, which informs and aligns with the global WHO Transformation, to ensure WHO is accountable, driven by re- sults and provid... more

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Health Sector Integrated Refugee Response Plan 2019 - 2024

Uganda Government (OPM) (2022) CC

Uganda hosts approximately 1.1 million refugees making it Africa’s largest refugee hosting country and one of the five largest refugee hosting countries in the world. Most recently, throughout 2016- 2018, Uganda was impacted by three parallel emergencies from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic o... more

Comprehensive mental health action plan 2013–2020 recommended

Community-based health care, including outreach and campaigns,in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic recommended

Comprehensive mental health action plan 2013–2020
recommended

Community-based health care, including outreach and campaigns,in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
recommended