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Introduction of DNA-based identification and typing methods to public health practitioners for epidemiological investigation of cholera outbreaks

Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) World Health Organisation (WHO) (2017) C_WHO

The GTFCC Laboratory Support for Public Health Surveillance document provides guidelines on using DNA-based molecular techniques for identifying and monitoring Vibrio cholerae strains in cholera outbreaks. It highlights the importance of genetic sequencing for tracking transmission, detecting new va... more

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STAR-H: Strategic Toolkit for Assessing Risks in Health Facilities

Pan American Health Organization (2023) CC

Health facilities in the Region of the Americas frequently suffer the effects of health emergencies and disasters, which jeopardize their ability to provide services to the population. The STAR-H methodology helps staff responsible for health emergency and disaster risk management to identify and as... more

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Financing global health security: estimating the costs of pandemic preparedness in Global Fund eligible countries

Eaneff S., Boyce M.R., Graeden E., et al. BMJ Global Health (2022) CC

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that the world was not well prepared to respond to an infectious disease threat of this magnitude. Countries across all socioeconomic and development categories have struggled to implement effective national responses. Substantial amounts of additional investmen... more

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Start with Her: UNFPA Strategy for Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health and Well-Being 2025–2030

United Nations Population Fund UNFPA (2025) CC

Nearly 800 women die every day from preventable maternal causes, and in 2022 alone, an estimated 2.3 million newborns died. For every maternal death, countless more women endure life-altering injuries, infections, and disabilities related to childbirth. Maternal deaths are concentrated in the poo... more

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Report on refugee health: assessment of the Bulgarian health system’s needs within the context of the crisis in Ukraine

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis on 24 February 2022, WHO has supported Government-led efforts and initiatives alongside key partners on the ground. Building on efforts to date, and working alongside Bulgaria’s health authorities to bring added value to existing mechanisms, the WHO Countr... more

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A guide to tailoring health programmes: Using behavioural and cultural insights to tailor health policies, services and communications to the needs and circumstances of people and communities

World Health Organization WHO (2023) CC

WHO/Europe has launched a new guide, providing support to countries on how to apply behavioural and cultural insights (BCI) for health. It presents a simple step-wise approach, complemented by a rich collection of detailed considerations, tools and exercises. The guide is the first of its kind, spec... more

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Ukrainian Prioritized Multisectoral Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Actions During and After the War: Operational Roadmap

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2022) C_WHO

The development of this Operational Roadmap has been driven by a growing consensus in Ukraine on the need to prioritize activities that are urgently required to address the mental health and psychosocial needs of the country’s population and also the importance of basing the response on existing s...tructures, resources and innovations introduced in reforms in past years. According to this consensus, new resources mobilized by and for Ukraine should complement existing ones, in line with the national vision and with best international standards, and should be planned in a way that further strengthens the country’s mental health system. The Government of Ukraine is committed to urgently addressing the mental health and psychosocial needs of the population, under the auspices of the First Lady of Ukraine and the leadership of the recently established Intersectoral Coordination Council for Mental Health and Psychological Assistance to Victims of the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine (referred to in this document as the Intersectoral Coordination Council). This Roadmap has been developed following a series of consultations with Ukrainian authorities and national and international agencies working in the area of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and engaged in emergency response in Ukraine. The consultation process was organized by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (MOH) and supported by WHO Ukraine, under the auspices of the First Lady of Ukraine and in collaboration with the MHPSS Technical Working Group of Ukraine (MHPSS TWG Ukraine) and the IASC MHPSS Reference Group (IASC MHPSS RG), and building on substantial advances in the mental health sector under existing programmes in the country. The Roadmap is informed by international technical guidance and national policies and plans, including the IASC Guidelines on MHPSS in Emergency Settings, the Minimum Services Package for MHPSS in Emergencies (MHPSS MSP), the IASC Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013– 2030, the WHO European Framework for Action on Mental Health, the Concept for Development of Mental Health Care in Ukraine until 2030, the National Mental Health Action Plan for 2021–2023 and the National Recovery and Development Plan. Informed by the overall goal of MHPSS assistance in Ukraine – to reduce suffering and improve the mental health and psychosocial well-being of the affected population – the Roadmap aims to provide a consolidated overview of envisioned MHPSS priorities, informed by the local context and the vision of the Government of Ukraine together with national and international partners, and with the best available evidence and resources, to all MHPSS stakeholders already engaged in or joining emergency response and recovery efforts in Ukraine. As well as information on the context in Ukraine, the Roadmap includes: • a list of evidence-based MHPSS interventions and services contextualized and introduced in Ukraine in recent years (described in Table 1) and • a set of multisectoral actions to scale up MHPSS services in both the short and longer terms, informed by available evidence, international technical guidance and expert consensus (described in Table 2). more

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Achieving Health Equity in Contested Areas of Southeast Myanmar

Davis, Bill; Jolliffe, Kim The Asia Foundation (2016) C1

In many of Myanmar’s contested regions, healthcare services are provided through two parallel governance systems – by the government’s Ministry of Health, and by providers linked to ethnic armed organizations. Building upon efforts to build trust between these two actors following ceasefires s... 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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Achieving Health Equity in Contested Areas of Southeast Myanmar (Burmese Version)

Davis, Bill; Jolliffe, Kim The Asia Foundation (2016) C1

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WHO-AIMS: Report on mental health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean

WHO-AIMS WHO (2013) C_WHO

The Member States of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) that appear in the tables below have used the assessment instrument for mental health systems (WHOAIMS) (1), as have Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos, all British O... more

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Ethiopia Health Cluster Strategy 2024-2025

World Health Organization WHO; Health Cluster (2024) CC

Ethiopia has been repeatedly affected by conflict, flooding, drought, and disease outbreaks in the past years. As of January 2024, the country is actively responding to the longest recorded cholera outbreak which started in August 2022, recurrent measles outbreaks which started in August 2021, and t... more

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Protecting health in Europe from climate change: 2017 update

World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe (2017) C_WHO

Current evidence that the climate is changing is overwhelming. Impacts of climate change and variability are being observed: more intense heat-waves, fires and floods; and increased prevalence of food- water- and vector-borne diseases. Climate change will put pressure on environmental and health det... more

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Integrating disease outbreaks and strengthening of health in whole-of-society disaster risk management

UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (2024) CC

The guide aims to provide health and DRM practitioners, planners and policymakers across sectors with targeted information to help them strengthen national health systems and integrate the risks of disease outbreaks in national DRR strategies The following are some of the principles and approache... more

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Health and the Economy: A Convergence Needed to Address COVID-19 and Retake the Path of Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Pan American Health Organisation PAHO (2020) C_WHO

he pandemic has produced an unprecedented economic and social crisis, and it could generate a food, humanitarian, and political crisis if urgent measures are not taken. The policy options for addressing the pandemic entail consolidating national plans and achieving intersectoral consensus. The respo... more

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Climate Change and Health: Local Solutions to Local Challenges

Paul J. Schramm, Munerah Ahmed, Hannah Siegel, Jamie Donatuto et al. (2020) CC

Current Environmental Health Reports volume 7, pages 363–370 (2020) Climate change has direct impacts on human health, but those impacts vary widely by location. Local health impacts depend on a large number of factors including specific regional climate impacts, demographics and human vulnerabil... more

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UNHCR Global Strategy for Public Health 2021-2025

UN High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR (2021) C1

UNHCR’s Public Health Strategy 2021-2025 is based on the lessons learnt, and builds on the achievements, of the Global Strategy for Public Health 2014-2018. Progress was made on policies favouring inclusion and integration into national systems3 with 92% of 48 operations surveyed reporting refuge... more

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Health Namibia Budget Brief

UNICEF (2022) C_UNICEF

Strengthening health financing to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage. Total Government Health Expenditure exceeds the commitment by African Union member states to commit at least 15% of their budgets to the health sector. With a sector allocation of 16.6% of total budget in 2022/... more

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Health Care Waste Management Policy for Ghana

Ministry of Health Ghana (2020) CC

Ghana's attempt to regulate health care waste management started in 2002 with the development of guidelines on health care waste manage-ment by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2006, the Ministry of Health developed the health care waste policy and guidelines. This guidance document im... more

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One Health Joint Plan of Action (2022-2026)

World Organisation for Animal Health Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; United Nations Enviroment Programme; Wolrd Health Organization; World Organisation for Animal Health (2022) C_WHO

The desired impact of the OH JPA is a world better able to prevent, predict, detect and respond to health threats and improve the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment while contributing to sustainable development. The OH JPA aims to work towards this vision in the following way: ... more