Insufficient funding is hindering the achievement of malaria elimination targets in Africa, despite the pressing need for increased investment in malaria control. While Western donors attribute their inaction to financial constraints, the global health community has limited knowledge of China’s ex...panding role in malaria prevention. This knowledge gap arises from the fact that China does not consistently report its foreign development assistance activities to established aid transparency initiatives. Our work focuses on identifying Chinese-funded malaria control projects throughout Africa and linking them to official data on malaria prevalence. By doing so, we aim to shed light on China’s contributions to malaria control efforts, analysing their investments and assessing their impact. This would provide valuable insights into the development of effective financing mechanisms for future malaria control in Africa.
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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.
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The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical gaps in the global response to health crises, particularly in the financing of pandemic prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and reconstruction. This chapter presents a comprehensive framework for pandemic financing that spans the entire pandemic cycle..., emphasizing the need for timely, adequate, and effective financial resources. The framework is designed to support
policymakers in both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income nations, providing a guide to appropriate financing tools for each stage of a pandemic, from prevention and preparedness to response and recovery. Key economic concepts such as global public goods, time preference, and incentives are explored to underscore the complexities of pandemic financing.
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There has never been a more critical moment to invest in WHO, and strengthen the unique role it plays in global health. Now is the time to sustainably finance WHO and invest in a healthy return for all.
The guidelines are primarily intended for health-care professionals working in first- or second-level health-care facilities, including emergency, inpatient and outpatient services. They are also directed at policy-makers, health-care planners and programme managers, academic institutions, non-gover...nmental and civil society organizations to inform capacity-building, teaching and research agendas.
Web annex A provides the quantitative evidence reports, Web annex B summarizes the qualitative and economic evidence and Web annex C presents the Evidence-to-Decision frameworks.
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The guidelines are primarily intended for health-care professionals working in first- or second-level health-care facilities, including emergency, inpatient and outpatient services. They are also directed at policy-makers, health-care planners and programme managers, academic institutions, non-gover...nmental and civil society organizations to inform capacity-building, teaching and research agendas.
Web annex A provides the quantitative evidence reports, Web annex B summarizes the qualitative and economic evidence and Web annex C presents the Evidence-to-Decision frameworks.
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The objectives of this guideline are the same as those of the 2011 edition, namely to provide evidence-based normative guidance on interventions to improve adolescent morbidity and mortality by reducing the chances of early pregnancy and its resulting poor health outcomes. The specific objectives of... the guideline were to: 1. identify effective interventions to prevent early pregnancy by influencing factors such as early marriage, coerced sex, unsafe abortion, access to contraceptives and access to maternal health services by adolescents; and 2. provide an analytical framework for policy-makers and programme managers to use when selecting evidence-based interventions to prevent early pregnancy and negative health outcomes when they occur that are most appropriate for the needs of their countries and context. The recommendations and best practice statements described in this document aim to enable evidence-based decision-making with respect to preventing early pregnancy and poor reproductive outcomes among adolescents in low- and middle-income country contexts.
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Dieses Dokument stellt aktuelle Ergebnisse zum Thema Official Development Assistance (ODA) mit Fokus auf Gesundheit und Deutschland zur Verfügung.
2nd edition. This second edition builds on the experience of more than 10 years of SMC deployment, and reflects changes introduced in the WHO guidelines for malaria, 3 June 2022. The goal of this publication is to share these best practices to improve SMC implementation, coverage, and monitoring and... evaluation. Examples of materials and tools as well as links to resources are included to support managers and health workers in their efforts to conduct successful SMC activities and prevent malaria among vulnerable children.
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The document outlines essential steps and provides guidance to countries on the adoption and deployment of c-IPTp so that it is integrated into the existing health system. It draws upon best practices and lessons learned from pilot implementation experiences in eight African countries and targets st...akeholders at the national level that are involved in the provision of maternal and child services, including national and local policymakers and implementers of malaria, maternal health, child health, reproductive health and community health programmes, and nongovernmental and other organizations.
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Tropical Medicine and Health (2023) 51:29
According to the WHO, there were an estimated 251 million malaria cases (95% of global cases) and 579,414 malaria deaths (97% of global deaths) in African Union Member States in 2023. 76% of these deaths were children under the age of five.
SuperBetter Children is a health and wellbeing curriculum designed to be integrated into school programmes or offered as an extracurricular activity.
This policy brief presents a summary of current evidence on vulnerability to TB and proposes interventions for equitable, person-centred, and human rights-based TB prevention and care. It aligns with WHO policies and guidance on TB prevention and screening, management of TB and comorbidities, access... to health care, universal health coverage, determinants of TB, TB-associated impairment and disability, social protection, as well as ethics, equity and human rights.
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Growing emergencies and displacements across the world demand increasingly complex interventions and responses. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed Malaria control in emergencies: a field manual to provide technical guidance to help partners respond effectively to malaria in emergency ...situations. This field manual supersedes the 2013 WHO handbook.
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In line with the Defeating meningitis by 2030: a global road map, the WHO guidelines on meningitis diagnosis, treatment and care Executive Summary provides a summary of the evidence-based recommendations for the clinical management of children and adults with community-acquired meningitis, including... acute and long-term care. Meningitis poses a significant public health threat, despite successful efforts to control the disease globally. The burden of morbidity and mortality from meningitis remains high, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and in settings experiencing large-scale, disruptive epidemics.
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Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have emerged as conditions of great public health concern in Kenya accounting for 39% of deaths annually. The Ministry of Health through the Department of Non-Communicable Diseases has adopted the vision of achieving a nation free from preventable burden of NCDs. Fur...ther, the mission of this strategy is to halt and reverse the rising burden of NCDs through effective multisectoral collaboration and partnerships by ensuring Kenyans receive the highest attainable standard of NCD continuum of care that is accessible, affordable, quality, equitable and sustainable thus alleviating suffering, disease and death for their well-being and socio-economic development.
The scope of NCDs covered by this strategy include; cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, mental health conditions, violence and injuries, hemoglobinopathies, haemophilia and other bleeding disorders, auto immune diseases, chronic renal diseases, epilepsy and other neurological disorders, chronic skin conditions and oral diseases and conditions. It equally addresses seven risk factors; tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets and toxins, physical inactivity, indoor air pollution, environmental pollutants and toxins and stress.
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Community health nurses have the potential to make significant contributions to meet the health care needs of various population groups in a variety of community settings. In order to assess the extent to which CHNs are achieving this potential, WHO conducted a study between 2010 and 2014 that exami...ned the status of community health nursing in 22 countries, 13 of which were experiencing a critical shortage of health care workers. The study revealed that the countries surveyed had the basic and operational framework for optimizing CHN in their health systems as evidenced by the availability of PHC structures to guide interventions. However, challenges were identified related to the education, practice and management of CHNs in these countries. The major challenges identified were: Limited availability of career opportunities; poor worker retention; low recognition for CHNs; inadequate and unsupportive working conditions and environments; absence of educational standards; varying educational entry-level requirements for CHN programmes; and a lack of consensus on the scope of practice for CHNs.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) and the global community of countries, partners, donors, technical experts, scientists and field implementation teams continue to work towards the ultimate goal of a world free of the burden of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).