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FAST Job Aid MDR-TB Settings

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (2013)

This core package of materials provides a comprehensive introduction to the FAST strategy: a focused approach to stopping TB spread in congregate settings. In English, FAST stands for: Finding TB cases Actively, Separating safely, and Treating effectively. FAST focuses health care w... more

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Evaluating official development assistance-funded granting mechanisms for global health and development research that is initiated in high-income countries

Cassola, A.; Baral, P.; Røttingen, J.A.; Hoffman, S. BMC (2022) CC

Background: Several countries allocate official development assistance (ODA) for research on global health and development issues that is initiated in the donor country. The integration of such research within domestic research systems aligns with efforts to coordinate ODA investments with science, ... more

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Cardiovascular Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa Compared to High-Income Countries: An Epidemiological Perspective

Yuyun, M.F.; Sliwa, K.; Kengne, A.P. et al. Global Heart (2020) CC

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the second common cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounting for about 35% of all deaths, after a composite of communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases. Despite prior perception of low NCDs mortality rates, current evidence suggests t... 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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Health Care Facilities Resilient to Climate Change Impacts

Paterson, J.; P. Berry, K. Ebi and L. Varangu (2014) CC

nt. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(12), 13097-13116; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph111213097 Climate change will increase the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events and create risks that will impact health care facilities. Health care facilities will need to assess climate chang... more

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Impact of climate change on human infectious diseases: Empirical evidence and human adaptation

Xiaoxu Wu, Yongmei Lu, Sen Zhou et al. (2016) CC

Environment International Volume 86, January 2016, Pages 14-23 Climate change refers to long-term shifts in weather conditions and patterns of extreme weather events. It may lead to changes in health threat to human beings, multiplying existing health problems. This review examines the scientific e... more

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Assessing development assistance for child survival between 2000 and 2014: A multisectoral perspective

Lu, C.; A. Chu, Z. Li et al. PLOS One (2017) CC

The majority of Countdown countries did not reach the fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG 4) on reducing child mortality, despite the fact that donor funding to the health sector has drastically increased. When tracking aid invested in child survival, previous studies have exclusively focused on... more

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OCHA Policy Brief on Gendered Drivers, Risks and Impacts of Food Insecurity in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2023) CC

It is widely understood that the food insecurity crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing and most neglected crises. It lacks sufficient global focus, resources and urgency. As in so many crises, women and girls are disproportionately affected and shoulder t...he consequences of protracted neglect, with unconscionable impacts on their safety, life chances and agency. Gaining a holistic view of the gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is difficult. This is due to a lack of data and prioritization, and the large geographical and socioeconomic terrain covered by both regions. However, what we do know about this crisis is more than enough to urgently address the needs of women and girls. An OCHA discussion paper on this topic (which will be published imminently, and from which this policy brief is drawn) found that there is: A strong risk of profound regression in gender equality gains made to date in the countries of concern, including on education, sexual and reproductive health, and the economic independence of women and girls (with knock-on effects on broader humanitarian and development outcomes). An increasing challenge to reverse what must be recognized as a protracted and growing gender-based violence (GBV) emergency in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. The food insecurity crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is protracted, multidimensional and highly gendered, with spiralling impacts on gender equality and food security outcomes. It is driven by interwoven and overlapping factors, including climate change, political instability, conflict, socioeconomic conditions, migration and displacement and, more recently, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. Interlinked with these factors are gendered structural drivers of food insecurity, including deeply entrenched gender inequalities and harmful social norms. Gendered risks and impacts of food insecurity include alarming limitations on access to education, sexual and reproductive health rights, women’s agency and participation, and dramatic increases in different existing forms of GBV and the emergence of new ones. Recognition of such gendered dimensions of food insecurity and of the need for a multisectoral approach in the response is key to addressing the crisis, along-side sustained commitment and adequate allocation of resources. This policy brief draws out key findings from the OCHA discussion paper on this topic, which includes a desk review of studies, assessments and reports, and interviews with local women’s organizations on the front lines of the food insecurity crisis in communities across both regions. Below are the most pressing gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity (not in order of priority), as well as key gaps in the current humanitarian response to food insecurity, and recommendations to take forward. more

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Medical Ethics and Bedside Rationing in Low‐Income Countries: Challenges and Opportunities

Kapiriri, L. ResearchGate (2017) CC

Bioethics - Medical, Ethical and Legal Perspectives There’s evidence that implementing the four medical ethics principles may be challenging especially in low income country contexts with extreme resource scarcity and limited capacity to facilitate deliberations on the different ethical dilemmas.... more

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Global, regional, and national burden and trend of diabetes in 195 countries and territories: an analysis from 1990 to 2025

Lin, X.; Xu,Y.; Pan, X.; et al. Scientific reports (2020) CC2

Diabetes mellitus is a leading cause of mortality and reduced life expectancy. We aim to estimate the burden of diabetes by type, year, regions, and socioeconomic status in 195 countries and territories over the past 28 years, which provide information to achieve the goal of World Health Organizatio... more

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Financing transformative health systems towards achievement of the health Sustainable Development Goals: a model for projected resource needs in 67 low-income and middle-income countries

Stenberg, K.; O. Hanssen; T. Tan-Torres Edejer et al. Lancet Glob Health (2017) C1

Background The ambitious development agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires substantial investments across several sectors, including for SDG 3 (healthy lives and wellbeing). No estimates of the additional resources needed to strengthen comprehensive health service delivery to... more

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Principles for sharing COVID-19 doses with COVAX

Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO (2021) C_WHO

the Principles for Dose-Sharing provide a framework for higher-income economies to make additional volumes secured via bilateral deals available through the Facility primarily to AMC participants, on an equitable basis. These principles outline that such doses must be safe and effective, available a... more

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Expanding sustainable vaccine manufacturing in Africa: Priorities for Support

GAVI Alliance (2022) C1

Despite high regional demand for vaccines valued at over US$ 1 billion annually, Africa’s vaccine industry provides only 0.1% of global supply. Vaccine inequity and hoarding at the start of the pandemic, which resulted in delays in obtaining COVID-19 doses, stimulated new resolve to address future... more

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Fair global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines
recommended

Reijer, P.; and S. Mauder (2021) CC

MEDBOX Issue Brief no.9 ,1 Febr. 2021

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Access to COVID-19 Vaccines

RüppelT.; and J. Rüppel Medical Mission Institute; Action against AIDS (2021) CC

Evolving Patterns of Worldwide Distribution as of 14thFebruary 2021

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What are the challenges to distribute COVID-19 vaccines globally in an equitable manner? Which solutions should we debate?
recommended

Rüppel, T. (2021) CC

Updated 25 January 2021

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Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization, et al. (2021) CC

These organisations have joined forces to accelerate access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics by leveraging multilateral finance and trade solutions, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. The aim is to vaccinate at least 40 percent of people in every country by the end... more

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Money calls the shots

Amnesty International (2022) C2

PHARMA’S RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 VACCINES CRISIS. Update Feb., 14, 2022. In September 2021, Amnesty International published A Double Dose of Inequality, which assessed the extent to which the pharmaceutical industry was restricting access to Covid-19 vaccines. This report updates that assessment ... more

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WHO SAGE roadmap for prioritizing uses of COVID-19 vaccines

World Health Organization WHO (2022) C_WHO

an approach to optimize the global impact of COVID-19 vaccines, based on public health goals, global and national equity, and vaccine access and coverage scenarios, first issued 20 October 2020, updated: 13 November 2020, updated: 16 July 2021, latest update: 21 January 2022 Available in English, F... more

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Zugang zu COVID-19-Impfstoffen

RüppelT.; and J. Rüppel Medical Mission Institute; Action against AIDS (2021) CC

Entwicklungsmuster der weltweiten Verteilung mit Stand vom 22 März 2021

Fair global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines recommended

What are the challenges to distribute COVID-19 vaccines globally in an equitable manner? Which solutions should we debate? recommended

Fair global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines
recommended

What are the challenges to distribute COVID-19 vaccines globally in an equitable manner? Which solutions should we debate?
recommended