Joining efforts to control two trelated global epidemics.
Malaria remains a significant public health concern in the SADC region, accounting for 20% of childhood deaths, as well as prompting numerous outpatient visits and hospitalisations. Around three-quarters of the population, including 35 million children under the age of five and 8.5 million pregnant ...women, are at risk. Transmission patterns vary from high and stable in the north to malaria-free in the south, with low, unstable and seasonal zones in between. Although interventions such as indoor residual spraying (IRS), insecticide-treated nets (ITNs/LLINs), intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp), rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have reduced the malaria burden, challenges persist in terms of funding, human resources, surveillance, and cross-border coordination. Achieving malaria elimination in the SADC region requires harmonised regional standards, strengthened surveillance, and improved access to quality treatment and policy prioritisation.
Accessed on 27/08/2025.
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Early detection, assessment and response to acute public health events:
Ramped-up cancer services could save 7 million lives over the next decade—and addressing huge service gaps between rich and poor countries is key to success, according to this report.
In 2019, over 90% of high-income countries reported that comprehensive cancer treatment services were available... through the public health system, compared to fewer than 15% of low-income countries, according to WHO.
But poorer countries can make substantial strides with a universal health coverage approach and use of the latest science to meet their particular needs.
The report lays out proven ways to prevent new cancer cases without breaking the bank, including tobacco-control measures and vaccines that protect against common cancers.
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Evaluation Report
Evaluation Office
A year ago, the second Special Session of the World Health Assembly (WHASS) unanimously agreed to start a diplomatic process for a new binding instrument aimed at ensuring the international community is better prepared for the next health emergencies. The establishment of an Intergovernmental Negoti...ating Body (INB) at the WHO paved the terrain for a proper negotiation, which has started to unfold. The INB will be releasing the “conceptual zero draft” of the treaty text in early December 2022.
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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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Recommended actions and international and national level
Recommended actions at international and national levels
This document provides training and guidance on the reasons for, and the impact of, violence, coercion and abuse within mental health and related settings. It also provides guidance on how to implement strategies to end the use of coercion, violence and abuse in these settings.
WHO, as the coordinating authority on international health, supports countries in protecting public health through evidence-based policies and actions. Considering the significant health burden and the multiple potential benefits of interventions, the WHO Air Quality, Energy and Health Unit aims to ...support countries by providing evidence, building institutional capacity and leveraging the “health argument” to convene sectors to tackle air pollution and accelerate energy access.
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This is the first NAP on the Prevention and Containment of AMR in Kenya. It has been developed based on the National Policy on Prevention and Containment of AMR and the recommendations of the situation analysis on AMR conducted in 2011 and updated in 2016. This strategy provides a regulatory and imp...lementation framework to establish and strengthen systems to contain the emergence and spread of AMR. Implementation of this strategy will require substantial funding and high-level political commitment. Because AMR is a multidisciplinary and intersectoral issue, successful implementation of this strategy will require effective coordination and collaboration among different sectors.
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