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In Control: A Practical Handbook for Professionals Working in Health Emergencies Internationally RKI

Robert Koch Institut RKI (2023) CC

The greatest risk to persons engaging in international medical emergency response is poor preparation. The In Control handbook hopes to provide a remedy. At the time of writing, we are living through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a health emergency that disregards physical borders, brin...gs into focus social inequalities and affects people on every continent. This shared challenge requires unprecedented measures and the collaboration of the brightest minds to support global health protection through this crisis and beyond. Healthcare infrastructures have to be strengthened, public health capacities and processes upgraded, medical countermeasures and vaccinations found and psychosocial side-effects treated. Solidarity is the normative order of the day and the human species has to collaborate to face this invisible threat. Hiding and living in fear is not an option in this interconnected world. We have both a responsibility and an opportunity to make substantial contributions to a safer, healthier and more sustainable future for us all. The existence of this handbook is an impressive example of solidarity. Over 50 authors from more than 15 institutes and organisations have come together voluntarily within a very short time to make their expertise available and enable cross-sectoral thinking. Knowledge is bundled, resources are combined, information gaps are filled. The In Control handbook is not a theoretical treatise of possible dangers, but a collection of subject-matter expertise, written by experts and practitioners who have shaped health topics over the past 20 years in the most diverse corners of the world. The Centre for International Health Protection at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is collaborating with its partners and investing heavily in the build-up of operational know-how and capacity to support health crisis response abroad. This is done by preparing and enabling professionals to deploy safely across the world to assist those in need. In Control addresses the multi-faceted challenges of an international deployment. Readers will find not only technical medical information, but also insights into, for example, the fragility of our environment, the cultural differences that influence risk communication or the dilemmas arising from social distancing. Legal principles are highlighted, along with ethical guidance to ensure that our actions and decisions correspond to the highest moral standards. more

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NAPHS for all: a country implementation guide for national action plan for health security (‎NAPHS)‎ - Second edition
recommended

World Health Organization WHO (2025) C_WHO

Lessons learned from recent public health events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola virus disease, Zika virus disease outbreaks, and other public health threats, including earthquakes and floods, have highlighted the need for countries to continuously develop, strengthen, and maintain capacities r... more

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Investing in and building longer-term health emergency preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic
recommended

World Health Organization WHO (2020) C_WHO

Interim Guidance This document is to help Member States build on actions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic to improve national medium- to long-term preparedness for future threats. It maps COVID-19 preparedness and response actions to the building of sustainable International Health Regulations (2... more

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Broader health impacts of vertical responses to COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries

Tabitha Hrynick, T.; S. Ripoll and S. Carter Social Science in Humanitarian Action (2021) C1

This paper reviews the effects of vertical responses to COVID-19 on health systems, services, and people’s access to and use of them in LMICs, where historic and ongoing under-investments heighten vulnerability to a multiplicity of health threats. We use the term ‘vertical response’ to describ... 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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The Health Emergency of Climate Change

UCTV University of California Television (2022) CC

As the global impact of climate change accelerates, there is increasing awareness that human health is severely threatened. Just what are these threats to health and what can we do about them? UCSF faculty and associates examined the effects of global warming on individual patient health and expl... more

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What is Planetary Health about?

Wellcome Trust (2019) CC

The climate crisis and accelerating environmental changes caused by human activity are posing bigger and bigger threats to health worldwide, so it’s more vital than ever before that we turn our ingenuity to making our planet a healthier place to live

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From public to planetary health: a manifesto

The Lancet (2014) C2

Read the full manifesto: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... Sign the manifesto: http://bit.ly/1cQReJ0 #PlanetaryHealth This manifesto for transforming public health calls for a social movement to support collective public health action at all levels of society. Our aim is to respond to ... more

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Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 6. Recruitment, training, and continuing education

Meike J. Schleif, Iain Aitken , et al. Health Research Policy and Systems (2021) CC

This is the sixth of our 11-paper supplement entitled “Community Health Workers at the Dawn of New Era”. Expectations of community health workers (CHWs) have expanded in recent years to encompass a wider array of services to numerous subpopulations, engage communities to collaborate with and to... more

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Antibiotic resistance: using a cultural contexts of health approach to address a global health challenge

Ledingham, K. World Health Organization Europe (2020) C_WHO

This policy brief has been developed in response to the contemporary challenge of antibiotic resistance (‎ABR)‎. ABR poses a formidable threat to global health and sustainable development. It is now increasingly recognized that the systematic neglect of cultural factors is one of the biggest obs... more

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28 days of war, 64 verified attacks on health care, and 18 million people affected

World Health Organization WHO (2022) C_WHO

28 days of war, 64 verified attacks on health care, and 18 million people affected. 24 March 2022; One month of war has had a devastating impact on Ukraine’s health system, severely restricted access to services, and triggered an urgent need to treat trauma injuries and chronic conditions. Destro... more

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Cholera: Instructions for health workers

World Health Organisation (WHO) World Health Organization (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office's webpage on cholera information resources provides a comprehensive collection of materials to support understanding and management of cholera outbreaks. It includes posters for public education, recent publications such as Global Defence Against the Inf... more

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WHO Guideline on self-care interventions for health and well-being, 2022 revision: executive summary
recommended

World Health Organization WHO (2022) C_WHO

A global shortage of an estimated 18 million health workers is anticipated by 2030, a record 130 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, and there is the global threat of pandemics such as COVID-19. At least 400 million people worldwide lack access to the most essential health service... more

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WHO benchmarks for strengthening health emergency capacities
recommended

World Health Organization WHO (2024) C_WHO

Benchmarking is a strategic process often used by businesses and institutes to standardize performance in relation to the best practices of their sector. The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners have developed a tool with a list of benchmarks and corresponding suggested actions that can be a... more

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Infection prevention and control of epidemic- and pandemic-prone acute respiratory diseases in health care - WHO interim guidelines

World Health Organization WHO (2007) C_WHO

These guidelines provide recommendations for the non-pharmacological aspects of infection prevention and control for acute respiratory diseases (ARD) in health care. Administrative and infection controls, including early detection, isolation and reporting, and establishment of infection control infr... more

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Climate and Health Country Profiles
recommended

World Health Organization WHO (2022) C_WHO

The Health and Climate Change Country Profiles, developed in collaboration with national governments, are part of WHO’s monitoring of health sector response to climate change. The profiles summarize evidence of the climate hazards and health risks facing countries. They track national progress in ... more

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Venezuela's Health Emergency Appeal 2023

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been facing a prolonged socio-political and economic situation that has profoundly and negatively impacted social and health indicators. The COVID-19 pandemic further aggravated the humanitarian context in the country, which stretched the limits of an alread... more

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Healthier, fairer, safer: the global health journey 2007–2017

Donaldson, Liam World Health Organization (WHO) (2017) C_WHO

The report reflects on the trends, achievements and challenges in global health over the past decade during which Dr Margaret Chan has been Director-General of WHO. It discusses the role of WHO in dealing with such issues as the rise of noncommunicable diseases, leaps in life expectancy, and emergin... more

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National Health in All Policies Strategic Framework 2017-2021

Ministry of Health, Zambia (2018) CC

The attainment of Zambia’s goal of being a prosperous and middle-income country by 2030 as stipulated in its Vision 2030 is dependent on among others, a healthy and productive population. Therefore, the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) has prioritized health as a key socio-economic inves... more

NAPHS for all: a country implementation guide for national action plan for health security (‎NAPHS)‎ - Second edition recommended

Investing in and building longer-term health emergency preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic recommended

WHO Guideline on self-care interventions for health and well-being, 2022 revision: executive summary recommended

WHO benchmarks for strengthening health emergency capacities recommended

Climate and Health Country Profiles recommended

NAPHS for all: a country implementation guide for national action plan for health security (‎NAPHS)‎ - Second edition
recommended

Investing in and building longer-term health emergency preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic
recommended

WHO Guideline on self-care interventions for health and well-being, 2022 revision: executive summary
recommended

WHO benchmarks for strengthening health emergency capacities
recommended

Climate and Health Country Profiles
recommended