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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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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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Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Policy 2017-2022

United Nations Population Fund UNFPA, Ministry of Health Malawi Ministry of Health Malawi (2017) CC

The revision of the SRHR Policy is based on the results of the analysis of the implementation process of the past policy, which has provided evidence to ensure that the revised policy is relevant and effective. The revision has also been done with the participation of all national stakeholders who ... more

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Standards for improving the quality of care for children and young adolescents in health facilities

World Health Organization WHO (2018) C_WHO

These standards for the quality of paediatric care in health facilities form part of normative guidance for improving the quality of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health care. In view of the importance of the continuum of both the life-course and service delivery (1), these standards bu... more

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The social and cultural aspects of mental health in African societies

Mary Amuyunzu-Nyamongo Commonwealth Health Partnerships (2013) C2

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as ‘a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community’. Mental illn... more

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Principles to guide health system recovery and transformation in Ukraine

World Health Organization WHO (2022) C_WHO

Despite the continuing war in Ukraine, the Government is preparing for the country’s recovery and reconstruction. Given the magnitude of the attacks on the health infrastructure and consequent disruption to health system functioning, reconstruction of the health system is integral to the country�... more

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Building health system resilience to public health challenges: guidance for implementation in countries

World Health Organization WHO (2024) C_WHO

Health system resilience is not an inevitable byproduct of any investment in health but must be intentionally programmed and developed with necessary input, investment and contextualization. This technical product aims to guide national, subnational, and global health actors to operationalize the co... more

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Water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities: status in low and middle income countries and way forward.

Maria Neira, Edward Kelley, Mickey Chopra et al. World Health Organization, UNICEF (2015)

This report presents, for the first time, a global assessment of the extent to which health care facilities provide essential water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. Drawing on data from 54 low- and middle-income countries, the report concludes that 38% lack access to even rudimentary levels ... more

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Public Health Aspects of Mental Health Among Migrants and Refugees: A Review of the Evidence on Mental Health Care for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Irregular Migrants in the WHO European Region

Priebe, S.; D. Giacco, and Rawda El-Nagib. World Health Organization WHO; Regional Office Europe (2016) C_WHO

Health Evidence Network Synthesis Report, No. 47 The increasing number of refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants poses a challenge for mental health services in Europe. This review found that these groups are exposed to risk factors for mental disorders before, during and after migration. ... more

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Public Health Emergency Response Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Public Health Directors - Version 2.0

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2011) C_CDC

This guide is intended to assist state, local, and tribal public health professionals in the initiation of response activities during the first 24 hours of an emergency or disaster. It should be used in conjunction with existin... more

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The Manifesto to Secure a Healthy Planet for All – A Call for Emergency Action | InterAction Council

International Action Council (2019) C2

The Manifesto was launched at a High Level Event in London on the 31st July 2019, where Emergency response mechanisms to address the Climate and Environmental Crisis are being explored. The Manifesto has been developed in response to the increasing international and United Nations evidence and under... more

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WHO framework for meaningful engagement of people living with noncommunicable diseases, and mental health and neurological conditions

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

The overall objective of the framework is to support WHO and Members States in meaningful engagement of people living with NCDs, and mental health and neurological conditions to co-create and enhance related policies, programmes and services. This framework will contribute to advancing understanding... more

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Health care’s response to climate change: a carbon footprint assessment of the NHS in England

Tennisson I.; Roschnik S.; Ashby B.; et al. (2021) CC

Climate change threatens to undermine the past 50 years of gains in public health. In response, theNational Health Service (NHS) in England has been working since 2008 to quantify and reduce its carbon footprint. This Article presents the latest update to its greenhouse gas accounting, identifying ... more

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Person-centred recovery planning for mental health and well-being: self-help tool: WHO QualityRights

World Health Organization WHO (2019) C_WHO

Ensuring mental health and well-being has become a worldwide imperative and an important target of the Sustainable Development Goals. But in all countries around the world, our response has been woefully insufficient, and we have made little progress to advance mental health as a fundamental human ... more

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Situation of Maternal and Newborn Health in Urban Slums of Pune: Summary Report

Save the Children (2016) C2

Save the Children in collaboration with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the state National Health Mission (NHM) undertook this study in the urban slums of Pune City to generate learnings for designing a city-specific public health approach to improve MNH services for the urban poor.

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Training Manual on Interpersonal Violence Prevention and Stress Management in Health Care Facilities

Norwegian Red Cross (2016) C1

In many contexts, the safe delivery of health care services is challenged by the lack of respect for health care personnel who face insults, threats and violence. Consequences include the disruption of health services, high staff turnover in health facilities, high levels of stress impacting the qua... more

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Linking Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) - Practical tools, approaches and case studies

World Health Organization (WHO) and InterAgency Standing Committee (IASC), Save the Children, et al. (2021) C_WHO

Technical Note Recently, the approach to hazardous events has undergone a considerable shift, away from reactive activities focused on managing and responding to events and towards a more proactive process of emergency and disaster risk management (DRM). The ultimate goal of this shift in focus is ... more

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Mental health systems in selected low- and middle-income countries: a WHO-AIMS cross-national analysis

World Health Organization WHO WHO (2009) C_WHO

Data on the essential building blocks of mental health systems, including mental health governance, financing, service delivery, human resources and information, are reported. For mental health planning, it is important to know not only the level of resources in these six areas, but also how thos... more

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Combating false information on vaccines: A guide for health workers

Pan American Health Organization PAHO; World Health Organization WHO (2025) C_WHO

The document "Combating False Information on Vaccines: A Guide for Health Workers" is designed to help health workers address vaccine misinformation. It begins by defining misinformation and explaining why it spreads rapidly, often due to its emotional appeal and simplistic explanations. The guide i... 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