the aid library

Filter

2391

Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) Legal Framework Guide

African Union; Africa CDC Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) CC

A public health emergency operation center (PHEOC) serves as a hub for better coordinating the preparation, response, and recovery for public health emergencies. A functional PHEOC is critical for t ... more

Download

View PDF

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

External Link

Evolution and effectiveness of bilateral and multilateral development assistance for health: a mixed-methods review of trends and strategic shifts (1990–2022)

Xie S., Du S., Huang Y., et al. BMJ Global Health (2025) CC

Development assistance for health (DAH) plays a vital role in supporting health programmes in lowand middle-income countries. While DAH has historically focused on infectious diseases and maternal ... more

Download

View PDF

Health for All – transforming economies to deliver what matters: Final report of the WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All

World Health Organization (WHO) (2023) CC

The Council was established in late 2020 by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Director-General, WHO) to provide new economic thinking – reassessing how health and wellbeing are valued, produced and distributed across the economy. An all-female group ... more

Download

View PDF

Health Taxes in the Polycrisis Era

Klemperer K., Baker P. Center for Global Development (2024) CC

In 2019, the Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health concluded that taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages were a highly effective but greatly underused policy tool to reduce consumption, save lives, and raise domestic resources. Th ... more

Download

View PDF

Strategic Plan of the Pan American Health Organization 2026–2031

Pan American Health Organization PAHO (2025) CC

This plan, approved by the Organization’s 62nd Directing Council, was shaped by extensive consultations with countries and stakeholders, and commits to transformative health outcomes over the next six years, tackling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs ... more

Download

View PDF

Namibia: National guidelines on oral health services delivery

Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS) (2010) C1

Download

View PDF

High-Performance Health Financing for Universal Health Coverage

The World Bank The World Bank (2019) CC

The majority of developing countries will fail to achieve their targets for Universal Health Coverage (UHC)1 and the health- and poverty-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) unless they take ... more

External Link

African Union Health Information Exchange Guidelines and Standards

Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2023) CC

The application of digital health technology is growing at a rapid rate in Africa, with the goals of improving the delivery of healthcare services and more effectively reaching out to remote and underserved communities. The lack of enabling guidelin ... more

Download

View PDF

Global Health Security (GHS) Index

Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (JHU) The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) (2019) CC

The GHS Index is intended to be a key resource in the face of increasing risks of high-consequence and globally catastrophic biological events and in light of major gaps in international financing for preparedness. These risks are magnified by a rapidly changing and interconnected world; increasing ... more

External Link

UNHCR’s mental health and psychosocial support

Meyer, S. UNHCR (2013) C2

A broad range of UNHCR’s key priorities overlap with MHPSS issues – for example, child protection and sexual and gender-based violence [SGBV] prevention and response. Despite all these existent synergies, UNHCR’s current policies and guidelines do not sufficiently link with MHPSS principles. ... more

Download

View PDF

The Critical Role of Community Health Workers in COVID-19 Vaccine Roll Out
recommended

African Union; Africa CDC Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) CC

Since the emergence of COVID 19 in December 2019, various public health responses measures have been implemented to control the pandemic. Among measures taken by the Africa CDC was the launch of PACT initiative to accelerate COVID 19 testing. Key to ... more

External Link

Benefits of a one health approach: An example using Rift Valley fever

Rostal, M.K.; et al. (2018) CC

One Health 5 (2018) 34–36

Download

View PDF

Survive, Thrive, Transform — Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016–2030)

Joint United Nations Programme on HIVAIDS (UNAIDS) (2018) C1

2018 monitoring report: current status and strategic priorities
The report sets out the status of women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, and on health systems and social and environ ... more

Download

View PDF

Analysis of the nature and contribution of innovative health financing mechanisms in the WHO African Region

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

Africa is off track to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and lags behind in building resilient health systems and health security, against a backdrop of limited resources. The world e ... more

Download

View PDF

Health of People, Health of Planet and Our Responsibility

Al Delaimy W., Ramanathan V., Sanchez Sorondo M. et al. (2020) CC

This open access book not only describes the challenges of climate disruption, but also presents solutions. The challenges described include air pollution, climate change, extreme weather, and related health impacts that range from heat stress, vect ... more

External Link

Helping Health Workers Learn

Werner, D. and B. Bower Hesperian Health Guides (2012) C2

A book of methods, aids, and ideas for instructors at the village level An indispensable resource for health educators, this book provides hundreds of methods, aids, and learning strategies to make healt ... more

Download

View PDF

Health as a Bridge to Peace: Active Learning Package

World Health Organization (1999) C_WHO

The Active Learning Package is designed to provide methodology, substantive support and practical instruction for the training of health personnel in Health as Bridge for Peace issues. htt ... more

Download

View PDF

Healthy planet, healthy people. Understanding the relationship between human health and natural systems

World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) (2022) C2

Human activities are driving fundamental changes to the biosphere and disrupting many of our planet’s natural systems. There is increasing scientific evidence that the unfolding climate crisis, global pollution, unprecedented levels of biodiversity loss, and pervasive changes in land use and cover ... more

The Critical Role of Community Health Workers in COVID-19 Vaccine Roll Out recommended

The Critical Role of Community Health Workers in COVID-19 Vaccine Roll Out
recommended