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The Chagas disease study landscape: A systematic review of clinical and observational antiparasitic treatment studies

Maguire, B.; Dahal, P.; Rashan, S.; et al. (2021) CC

PLoS Neglected Tropical diseases August 16, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009697 Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a neglected tropical disease transmitted by triatomine insects, first identified in 1909. Chagas disease affects approximately 6–7 million peop ... 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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Early Warning Alert And Response Network in emergencies: evaluation protocol

World Health Organisation (WHO) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2018) C_WHO

The document provides a standardized protocol for evaluating the Early Warning Alert and Response Network (EWARN), a surveillance system used during humanitarian emergencies when regular national health surveillance may be disrupted. The purpose of EWARN is to detect outbreaks of communicable diseas ... more

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Measures to strengthen primary health-care systems in low- and middle-income countries

Etienne V Langlois, Andrew Mc Kenzie, Helen Schneider & Jeffrey W Mecaskey World Health Organization (2020) C_WHO

Primary health care offers a cost–effective route to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). However, primary health-care systems are weak in many low- and middle-income countries and often fail to provide comprehensive, people-centred, integrated care. We analysed the primar ... more

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World Heart Federation Roadmap for Hypertension – A 2021 Update

Jemoon, P.; Séverin, T.; Amodeo, C. et al. Global Heart (2021) CC

The World Heart Federation (WHF) Roadmap series covers a large range of cardiovascular conditions. These Roadmaps identify potential roadblocks and their solutions to improve the prevention, detection and management of cardiovascular diseases and provide a generic global framework available for loca ... more

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Tackling malaria in countries hardest hit by the disease: ministerial conference report, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 6 March 2024

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2024) C_WHO

The Malaria Ministerial Conference, co-hosted by WHO and the Government of Cameroon on 6 March 2024, brought together more than 400 stakeholders, including Ministers of Health and senior representatives from the African countries hardest hit by malaria, global health leaders, scientists, civil socie ... more

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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 disproportionately 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 epide ... miological 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

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Surgical approaches to the urogenital manifestations of lymphatic filariasis

World Health Organization World Health Organization WHO (2019) C_WHO

During the 17 years since Surgical approaches to the urogenital manifestations of lymphatic filariasis was first published, there has been heightened awareness of the physical, economic and emotional burden of the genitourinary manifestations of filariasis. With the impetus to provide better guidanc ... more

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Polio Vaccine Security Framework

Global Polio Eradication Initiative GPEI (2025) CC

Long-term polio vaccine security – the timely, sustained, and uninterrupted supply of suitable types of affordable, quality-assured polio vaccines – is essential in the global effort to achieve and maintain a polio free world. However, fragmented approaches and short-term planning pose considera ... more

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Therapeutics and COVID-19 (Living Guideline, 10 November 2023)

World Health Organization WHO (2023) C_WHO

WHO has updated its guidelines for COVID-19 therapeutics, with revised recommendations for patients with non-severe COVID-19. This is the 13th update to these guidelines. Updated risk rates for hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19 The guidance includes updated risk rates for ... hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19. The current COVID-19 virus variants tend to cause less severe disease while immunity levels are higher due to vaccination, leading to lower risks of severe illness and death for most patients. This update includes new baseline risk estimates for hospital admission in patients with non-severe COVID-19. The new ‘moderate risk’ category now includes people previously considered to be high risk including older people and/or those with chronic conditions, disabilities, and comorbidities of chronic disease. The updated risk estimates will assist healthcare professionals to identify individuals at high, moderate or low risk of hospital admission, and to tailor treatment according to WHO guidelines: **High: **People who are immunosuppressed remain at higher risk if they contract COVID-19, with an estimated hospitalization rate of 6%. **Moderate: **People over 65 years old, those with conditions like obesity, diabetes and/or chronic conditions including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney or liver disease, cancer, people with disabilities and those with comorbidities of chronic disease are at moderate risk, with an estimated hospitalization rate of 3%. Low: Those who are not in the high or moderate risk categories are at low risk of hospitalization (0.5%). Most people are low risk. Review of COVID-19 treatments for people with non-severe COVID-19 WHO continues to strongly recommend nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (also known by its brand name ‘Paxlovid’) for people at high-risk and moderate risk of hospitalization. The recommendations state that nirmatrelvir-ritonavir is considered the best choice for most eligible patients, given its therapeutic benefits, ease of administration and fewer concerns about potential harms. Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir was first recommended by WHO in April 2022. If nirmatrelvir-ritonavir is not available to patients at high-risk of hospitalization, WHO suggests the use of molnupiravir or remdesivir instead. WHO suggests against the use of molnupiravir and remdesivir for patients at moderate risk, judging the potential harms to outweigh the limited benefits in patients at moderate risk of hospital admission. For people at low risk of hospitalization, WHO does not recommend any antiviral therapy. Symptoms like fever and pain can continue to be managed with analgesics like paracetamol. WHO also recommends against use of a new antiviral (VV116) for patients, except in clinical trials. The update also includes a strong recommendation against the use of ivermectin for patients with non-severe COVID-19. WHO continues to advise that in patients with severe or critical COVID-19, ivermectin should only be used in clinical trials. more

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Influencing food environments for healthy diets

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO (2016) C2

Food environments are usually defined as the settings with all the different types of food made available and accessible to people as they go about their daily lives. That is, the range of food in supermarkets, small retail outlets, wet markets, street food stalls, coffee shops, tea houses, s ... chool canteens, restaurants, and all the other venues where people buy and eat food. These environments differ enormously depending on the context. They can be extensive and diverse, with a seemingly endless array of options and price ranges, or they can be sparse, with very few options on offer. Because they determine what food consumers can access at a given moment in time, at what price, and with what degree of convenience, food environments both constrain and prompt the consumer’s choice.Food environments are influenced by the food systems which supply them, and vice versa. Food systems encompass the entire range of activities, people and institutions involved in the production, processing, marketing, consumption and disposal of food (FAO, 2013). They include but are not limited to food supply chains. Making food systems nutrition-sensitive can contribute to addressing all forms of malnutrition, as food systems determine whether the food needed for good nutrition are available, affordable, acceptable and of adequate quantity and quality. How closely food systems and food environments are interrelated and interdependent, and the degree to which external factors affect nutrition outcomes, varies from setting to setting.Many of today’s food systems and food environments are challenged in supporting consumer choices that are consistent with healthy diets and good nutrition. Consumers are not making choices based on nutrition and health, and poor diet is now the number one risk factor for death and disability worldwide (GBD, 2015). Food systems that do not enable healthy diets are increasingly recognized as an underlying cause of malnutrition (GLOPAN, 2016), and malnutrition, irrespective of form, has a huge cost. Economic costs associated with undernutrition are estimated at $1-2 trillion per year, about 2-3% of global GDP (FAO, 2013); the global economic cost of obesity and associated diet-related non-communicable diseases is estimated at $2 trillion per year, about 2.8% of global GDP (McKinsey, 2014). Influencing food environments for promoting healthy diets is an emerging strategy to address today’s nutrition challenges. more

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Global progress report on WASH in health care facilities: Fundamentals first

World Health Organization WHO; UNICEF (2021) C_WHO

The report identifies major global gaps in WASH services: one third of health care facilities do not have what is needed to clean hands where care is provided; one in four facilities have no water services, and 10% have no sanitation services. This means that 1.8 billion people use facilities that l ... more

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High-level meeting of the General Assembly on the realization of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities

United Nations (2013) CC

Outcome Document

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Accessibility of HIV Prevention, treatment and care services for People who Use drugs and incarcerated People in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Regional Office for Central Asia) (2010) C2

Legislative and Policy analysis and recommendations for reform

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Addressing violence against children, women and older people during the covid-19 pandemic: Key actions

World Health Organization WHO (2020) C_WHO

Several countries affected by COVID-19, have seen increases in levels of violence occurring in the home, including violence against children, intimate partner violence and violence against older people. Countries also face increasing challenges in maintaining support and care for survivors of violen ... more

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The conflict in Ukraine and its impact on organized crime and security - November 2022

UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute UNICRI Reliefweb OCHA Services (2022) C2

This report assesses the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and its implications for organized crime and security-related issues for neighbouring countries, with a focus on Moldova. These include: Organized crime and illicit trafficking (including trafficking in persons, drugs, arms, illicit toba ... more

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STUDY ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN CAMEROON

EVA JACQUELINE ETONGUE MAYER African Union of the Blind (AFUB), Cameroon National Association for the Blind (CNAB) (2007) CC

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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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The Logistics Handbook - A Practical Guide for the Supply Chain Management of Health Commodities

USAID Deliver (2011) C1

This resource offers practical guidance in managing the supply chain, with emphasis on health comodities. The handbook is particularly useful for program managers who design, manage, and assess logistics system for health program. The document includes detailed information about the design and imple ... more