the aid library

WASH and Health working together: a ‘how-to’ guide for neglected tropical disease programmes
recommended

World Health Organization World Health Organization WHO (2023) C_WHO

2nd edition. This toolkit provides step-by-step guidance to NTD programme managers and partners on how to engage and work collaboratively with the WASH community to improve delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene services to underserved population ... more

Environmental Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease

Bhatnagar, A. Circulation Research (2018) CC

Many features of the environment have been found to exert an important influence on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, progression, and severity. Changes in the environment due to migration to different geographic locations, modifications in lifesty ... more

Global Monitoring of Disease Outbreak Preparedness: Preventing the Next Pandemic

Harvard Global Health Institute (2018) C1

This report is primarily intended for the community of policymakers and researchers concerned about the rising risks of domestic, regional, and global infectious disease epidemics, and the collective failure to take the coordinated actions required ... more

Global report on diabetes 1. Diabetes Mellitus – epidemiology. 2. Diabetes Mellitus – prevention and control. 3. Diabetes, Gestational. 4. Chronic Disease

World Health Organization WHO (2016) C_WHO

Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar, or glucose), or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Diabetes is an important ... more

Start Fund: Learning from disease outbreaks

Start Fund (2018) C1

This learning report attempts to understand the drivers for, and barriers to, effective implementation as well as review the experiences of Start Fund members in responding to these outbreaks to support evidence-based decision-making within the Start Network at project, crisis, and system level. Spe ... more

Mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on countries affected by HIV, tuberculosis and malaria

Global fund (2020) CC

While many of the countries hit by the COVID-19 in the first few months of the year are now beginning to relax lockdown measures as infection and death rates fall, in the regions most affected by HI ... more

Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) CC

The Public Health Burden of Commercial Tobacco Use The burden of disease and death from commercial tobacco* use in the United States is overwhelmingly caused by cigarettes and other combustible to ... more

Secondhand Smoke Exposure and the Impact of Smokefree Policies

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) CC

The Public Health Burden of Secondhand Exposure to Commercial Tobacco Smoke Secondhand smoke, the combination of smoke from burning commercial tobacco* products and the smoke breathed out by a person who is smoking, is deadly.

Preparing for the Regional Impacts of Climate Change in the United States

Center for Disease Control (CDC), Climate and Health Program (2020) C1

A summary of health effects, resources, and adaptation examples from health departments funded by CDC’s Climate and Health Program

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 o ... n 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

HIV/AIDS surveillance in Europe 2017

A. Pharris; A. Stengaard World Health Organization (Europe); European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (2017) C_WHO

2016 data The report was coordinated by Anastasia Pharris and Annemarie Stengaard. Report review and production support were provided by Andrew J. Amato-Gauci, Mike Catchpole, Denis Coulombier ... more

Financing Health for All: Increase, transform and redirect - The WHO Council on the Economics of Health for all - Council Brief No. 2

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2021) C_WHO

The world has been turned on its head by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This has provided a stark wakeup call on the severe under-financing of health systems around the world. It ... more

Cardiovascular diseases in Africa in the twenty-first century: Gaps and priorities going forward

Minja, N.W.; Nakagaayi, D.; Aliku, T. et al. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (2022) CC

In 2015, the United Nations set important targets to reduce premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths by 33% by 2030. Africa disproportionatel ... y bears the brunt of CVD burden and has one of the highest risks of dying from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide. There is currently an epidemiological transition on the continent, where NCDs is projected to outpace communicable diseases within the current decade. Unchecked increases in CVD risk factors have contributed to the growing burden of three major CVDs—hypertension, cardiomyopathies, and atherosclerotic diseasesleading to devastating rates of stroke and heart failure. The highest age standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to hypertensive heart disease (HHD) were recorded in Africa. The contributory causes of heart failure are changing—whilst HHD and cardiomyopathies still dominate, ischemic heart disease is rapidly becoming a significant contributor, whilst rheumatic heart disease (RHD) has shown a gradual decline. In a continent where health systems are traditionally geared toward addressing communicable diseases, several gaps exist to adequately meet the growing demand imposed by CVDs. Among these, high-quality research to inform interventions, underfunded health systems with high out-of-pocket costs, limited accessibility and affordability of essential medicines, CVD preventive services, and skill shortages. Overall, the African continent progress toward a third reduction in premature mortality come 2030 is lagging behind. More can be done in the arena of effective policy implementation for risk factor reduction and CVD prevention, increasing health financing and focusing on strengthening primary health care services for prevention and treatment of CVDs, whilst ensuring availability and affordability of quality medicines. Further, investing in systematic country data collection and research outputs will improve the accuracy of the burden of disease data and inform policy adoption on interventions. This review summarizes the current CVD burden, important gaps in cardiovascular medicine in Africa, and further highlights priority areas where efforts could be intensified in the next decade with potential to improve the current rate of progress toward achieving a 33% reduction in CVD mortality. more

National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases | 2021 - 2026

Word Health Organization WHO (2021) C_WHO

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have emerged as conditions of great public health concern in Kenya accounting for 39% of deaths annually. The Ministry of Health through the Department of Non-Communicable Diseases has adopted the vision of achieving a nation free from preventable burden of NCDs. Fur ... more

Financing Global Health 2023: The Future of Health Financing in the Post-Pandemic Era - Malaria report

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) - University of Washington (2024) C2

The document is part of the Financing Global Health 2023 series by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and focuses specifically on malaria. It provides a concise overview of global and regional trends in malaria-related health ... more

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

Global report on diabetes World Health Organization 2016

World Health Organization WHO (2016) C_WHO

National integrated comprehensive cholera prevention and control plan. Fiscal years (2017/18-2021/22)

Ministry of Health, Republic of Uganda World Health Organisation (WHO); UNICEF (2017) C1

The National Integrated Comprehensive Cholera Prevention and Control Plan (2017-2022) outlines Uganda's strategy to reduce cholera cases and mortality by 50% by 2022. The plan focuses on improving a ... more

The social context of schistosomiasis and its control: an introduction and annotated bibliography

Bruun, B.; Aagaard-Hansen, J.; Watts, S. World Health Organization WHO; Institutional Repository for Information Sharing iris (2008) C_WHO

Schistosomiasis is widely recognized as a disease that is socially determined. An understanding of the social and behavioural factors linked to disease transmission and control should play a vital ... more