he National Department of Health (NDOH) presents this Malaria Elimination Strategic
Plan 2019-2023 for the Republic of South Africa. The strategy comes at an important time
as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state have recently
renewed the commitment to eliminate malari...a in Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and South
Africa by 2020 and in the whole SADC region by 2030, with the target of zero local malaria
cases and deaths. South Africa has made steady progress towards this elimination goal
through the implementation of evidence-based malaria policies aligned to the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) Global Technical Strategy.
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The CDC's "Malaria's Impact Worldwide" webpage provides an overview of malaria's global burden, highlighting that in 2022, there were approximately 249 million malaria cases and 608,000 deaths, predominantly among young children in sub-Saharan Africa. It emphasizes that nearly half the world's po...pulation is at risk, with malaria being a leading cause of illness and death in many affected countries. The page also discusses the significant economic and social costs of malaria on individuals, families, communities, and nations. Despite progress in reducing mortality rates by 36% from 2010 to 2020, recent years have seen a plateau in advancements, underscoring the need for ongoing vigilance and research.
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The document titled "Manual for Stratifying Malaria Risk and the Elimination of Foci" by PAHO provides guidance for countries in the Americas on how to systematically assess and classify malaria transmission risk at subnational levels. It outlines a standardized approach to stratification and the id...entification of active transmission foci, helping public health authorities prioritize interventions, allocate resources efficiently, and implement targeted strategies to accelerate progress toward malaria elimination.
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The document WHA70.16, adopted during the 70th World Health Assembly, outlines a global strategy for an integrated response to vector-borne diseases. It emphasizes the urgent need to strengthen national and global capacities for vector control amid rising threats such as insecticide resistance, clim...ate change, and the spread of vectors like mosquitoes. Member States are urged to align their national strategies with WHO’s integrated approach, improve surveillance, promote research, and ensure cross-sector and cross-border collaboration. The WHO Director-General is requested to provide technical support, promote innovation, and monitor progress, with regular updates to future World Health Assemblies.
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This paper examines the implications of the IMF’s April 2024 macro-fiscal forecast updates on government health expenditure (GHE) across 170 economies through 2029, covering nearly all years remaining to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The findings reveal wide disparities in gove...rnments' capacities to increase health spending, with differences not only observed across income groups but also within them. Primary concerns focus to two groups of low- and lower middleincome
countries: the first group is projected to experience a contraction in real per capita GHE from 2019 and 2029, threatening to reverse progress toward the health SDG targets, while the other group faces stagnation in real per capita GHE, greatly limiting advancement. The insights presented are crucial for health policymakers and their external partners to respond to evolving macro-fiscal circumstances and stabilize investment growth in health. While increasing the priority of health in spending is a key policy option, it will not be sufficient on its own. Effective responses also
require improving spending efficiency and addressing broader fiscal challenges. Without decisive action, many countries have little chance of achieving the health SDGs.
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This Guide is part of WHO’s overall programme of work on Political Economy of Health Financing Reform: Analysis and Strategy to Support UHC. The impetus for this work came from demands for more concrete evidence, recognition and integration of political economy issues within
health financing, and... overall system, reform design and implementation processes. This Guide is complementary to WHO’s Health Financing Progress Matrix assessment, as well as Health Financing Strategy development guidance. In this way, it promotes an embedded political
economy analysis approach that can be used in conjunction with other health financing assessments and guidance. The political economy framework can also be extended and easily adapted to broader health policy reforms.
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The world is facing a sustainable development crisis. The 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing for Development at a Crossroads finds that financing challenges are at the heart of the crisis and imperil the SDGs and climate action. The window to rescue the SDGs and prevent a c...limate catastrophe is still open but closing rapidly. Financing gaps for sustainable development are large and growing – the estimates by international organizations and others are coalescing around $4 trillion additional investment needed annually for developing countries. This represents a more than 50% increase over the pre-pandemic estimates. Meanwhile, the finance divide has not been bridged, with developing countries paying around twice as much on average in interest on their total sovereign debt stock as developed countries. Many countries lack access to affordable finance or are in debt distress. Weak enabling environments are preventing progress. Average global growth has declined, while policy and regulatory frameworks still do not set appropriate incentives. Public budgets and spending is not fully aligned with SDGs. Private investors are not incentivised to invest enough in SDGs and climate action. The world is at a crossroads. This is the last chance to correct course if we want to achieve the SDGs by the 2030 deadline. Only an urgent, large-scale and sustainable investment push can help us achieve our global goals. Next year’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025 will be a once in 80-year opportunity to support coherent transformation of financing.
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Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) is essential for the effective control, prevention and elimination of malaria. The 2018–2030 Strategic Framework for Malaria SBCC guides countries and partners in strengthening capacities, refining strategies and sharing best practices, all of which... are aligned with the WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria. Despite progress, malaria continues to threaten billions of people, and success hinges on access to interventions and behavioural change. This framework emphasises advocacy, technical guidance and tools to ensure that SBCC is prioritised and resourced as an essential element in the global fight against malaria.
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Cette note d'information souligne l'importance d'intégrer une approche sensible au genre dans les efforts de lutte contre le paludisme dans le monde entier. Il montre que la prise en compte des vulnérabilités et des besoins spécifiques à chaque sexe - en particulier ceux des femmes et des enfan...ts - peut produire un « double dividende » en améliorant les résultats sanitaires et en faisant progresser l'égalité entre les sexes
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This Implementation Kit (I-Kit) is designed to support SBCC and Malaria in Pregnancy (MiP) programme managers in improving their communication strategies, particularly those targeting healthcare workers. It provides practical guidance on four key planning areas and emphasises the significant health ...risks that malaria poses to mothers and newborns. The I-Kit highlights evidence-based WHO interventions and addresses barriers to access, demand and the delivery of MiP services by providers. Despite progress in reducing malaria, uptake of preventive measures remains low, highlighting the need for targeted advocacy and improved SBCC strategies.
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Implementation reference guide. This Malaria Surveillance Assessment Toolkit implementation reference guide is a comprehensive reference document, as well as a step by-step guide. It aligns and adapts available tools into a single set of standardized tools, which can be used to conduct malaria surve...illance assessments across all transmission settings. Use of these standardized tools allows comparison of results between countries and within the same country over time, enabling countries to track their progress towards surveillance system strengthening.
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The WHO Mekong Malaria Elimination (MME) programme hosted a 3-day meeting on 15–17 November 2023 in Siem Riep, Cambodia for representatives from national malaria programmes, research institutions, partners, donors, WHO and UN agencies. The meeting provided a forum to discuss surveillance systems, ...the future priorities for the WHO Malaria Elimination Database and areas of improvement for data sharing, the efficacy of antimalarial drugs, progress made in malaria elimination, and challenges raised by P. vivax elimination.
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Malaria No More is a non-profit organisation dedicated to eradicating malaria, a preventable and treatable disease, in our lifetime. Through innovative partnerships, advocacy and data-driven solutions, Malaria No More works globally to ensure access to prevention tools, diagnostics and treatment, pa...rticularly in vulnerable regions. Malaria No More focuses on high-impact campaigns, technological innovation and policy engagement, collaborating with governments, health organisations and private sector partners to accelerate progress towards malaria eradication and save lives.
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The RBM Partnership to End Malaria is a global coalition comprising over 500 partners, including governments, international organisations, the private sector and civil society, who are all dedicated to ending malaria worldwide. Through coordinated advocacy, resource mobilisation and technical suppor...t, the Partnership strengthens national malaria control programmes and accelerates progress towards malaria elimination.
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The WHO Mekong Malaria Elimination programme hosted a two-day workshop in Nha Trang City, Viet Nam, from 31 October to 1 November 2024, gathering representatives from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries of Cambodia, China, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Thailand and Viet Nam, as we...ll as technical experts. The workshop focused on reviewing malaria surveillance, progress towards elimination and prevention of re-establishment of malaria transmission.
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Malaria remains a significant public health concern, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the majority of cases and fatalities occur, especially among children under five. Although there was a significant decline in global mortality and incidence between 2000 and 2015, progress has stalled sinc...e the late 2010s due to climate change, conflict, drug and insecticide resistance, and the ongoing effects of the pandemic. Economic modelling shows that achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing malaria incidence by 90% by 2030 could generate substantial economic benefits, including an increase in GDP of $142.7 billion in endemic countries and $80.7 billion in global trade gains. To save lives, strengthen health systems, and drive sustainable economic growth, renewed investments in malaria control and elimination programmes, vaccine deployment, and coordinated international support are essential.
Accessed on 25/08/2025.
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On Global Handwashing Day, WHO and UNICEF have released the first-ever global Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Community Settings to support governments and practitioners in promoting effective hand hygiene outside health care – across households, public spaces and institutions. Framing hand hygiene ...as a public good and a government responsibility, the Guidelines translate evidence into ready-to-adopt actions that enable sustainable access to effective hygiene services. This will reduce diarrhoeal disease, acute respiratory infections and other preventable illnesses, strengthening routine public health where people live, work, visit and study, and emergency preparedness, including outbreaks like cholera.
Despite clear benefits, 1.7 billion people still lacked basic hand hygiene services at home in 2024, including 611 million with no facility at all. Meeting the 2030 target will require accelerated progress – about a doubling in the global rate, and much faster in specific settings (up to 11-fold in least-developed countries and 8-fold in fragile contexts). Hand hygiene remains one of the most cost-effective health investments, reducing diarrhoea by 30% and acute respiratory infections by 17%, with large, measurable gains for population health.
“Clean hands save lives, but results at scale require policy, financing and accountability,” said Dr Ruediger Krech, Director a.i, Department of Environment, Climate Change, One Health & Migration at the World Health Organization. “These Guidelines help countries move beyond fragmented projects to government-led systems that make soap, water, and conditions conducive to everyday hand hygiene the norm.”
“Children and young people pay the highest price when basic hygiene is out of reach,” said Cecilia Scharp, Director, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Team, Programme Group, UNICEF. “These Guidelines provide practical steps to ensure facilities are accessible when they need to be – in homes, schools, markets, and transport hubs – so every child can learn, play and thrive with dignity.”
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In an era of constrained resources and tightening budgets, strategic prioritization in tuberculosis (TB) programming is more critical than ever. Countries must make informed decisions to allocate limited resources effectively - maximizing impact, preventing avoidable deaths, and sustaining progress ...towards ending TB.
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Le cadre de surveillance basé sur les événements est destiné à être utilisé par les autorités et les
agences responsables de la surveillance et de l'intervention. Ce cadre sert de cadre pour guider les
parties prenantes intéressées par la mise en œuvre de la surveillance basée sur le...s événements (SBÈ)
en utilisant une approche multisectorielle axée sur l'approche « Une seule santé ». À cette fin, le
document est organisé en chapitres et annexes interconnectés qui peuvent être modifiés et adaptés,
selon les besoins, par les utilisateurs.
Il s'agit d'une version révisée du « Cadre pour la surveillance basée sur les événements » original qui
a été publié en 2018. Ce cadre ne remplace aucun autre matériel SBÈ disponible, mais s'appuie plutôt
sur des documents pertinents ou connexes existants et sert de guide pratique pour la mise en œuvre
de l'SBÈ en Afrique. Ce cadre est conforme à la troisième édition de l'évaluation externe conjointe de
l'OMS pour les indicateurs suivants : systèmes d'alerte précoce renforcés capables de détecter les
événements importants pour la santé publique et la sécurité sanitaire (indicateur D2.1) ; amélioration
de la communication et de la collaboration entre les secteurs et entre les niveaux d'autorité nationaux,
intermédiaires et locaux d'intervention en matière de santé publique en matière de surveillance des
événements importants pour la santé publique (indicateur D2.2) ; et amélioration de la capacité
d'analyse des données aux niveaux national et intermédiaire ( Indicateur D2.3). Au fur et à mesure
que les pays commenceront à mettre en œuvre et à démontrer la fonctionnalité SBÈ, ils garantiront
une augmentation des scores EEC et des progrès vers le respect des exigences décrites dans l'RSI
(Règlement sanitaire international).
En outre, dans les États membres de l'Union africaine qui ont adopté la Surveillance et réponse
intégrées aux maladies (SRIM), ce document complète et peut améliorer la mise en œuvre de l'SRIM,
en particulier pour la 3e édition (2019) qui inclut des composants liés à l'SBÈ.
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Background
Asthma education, a key component of long-term asthma management, is challenging in resource-limited settings with shortages of clinical staff. Task-shifting educational roles to lay (non-clinical) staff is a potential solution. We conducted a randomised controlled trial of an enhanced a...sthma care intervention for children in Malawi, which included reallocation of asthma education tasks to lay-educators. In this qualitative sub-study, we explored the experiences of asthmatic children, their families and lay-educators, to assess the acceptability, facilitators and barriers, and perceived value of the task-shifting asthma education intervention.
Methods
We conducted six focus group discussions, including 15 children and 28 carers, and individual interviews with four lay-educators and a senior nurse. Translated transcripts were coded independently by three researchers and key themes identified.
Results
Prior to the intervention, participants reported challenges in asthma care including the busy and sometimes hostile clinical environment, lack of access to information and the erratic supply of medication. The education sessions were well received: participants reported greater understanding of asthma and their treatment and confidence to manage symptoms. The lay-educators appreciated pre-intervention training, written guidelines, and access to clinical support. Low education levels among carers presented challenges, requiring an open, non-critical and individualised approach.
Discussion
Asthma education can be successfully delivered by lay-educators with adequate training, supervision and support, with benefits to the patients, their families and the community. Wider implementation could help address human resource shortages and support progress towards Universal Health Coverage.
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