the aid library

LIST OPTIONS

Filter

6053

Continental Framework on Strengthening Mortality Surveillance Systems in Africa

Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2023) CC

The importance of robust mortality surveillance systems cannot be overstated in an era marked by increasing global health challenges where health threats loom large and population dynamics continue to evolve. Accurate and timely mortality data is essential for identifying trends and detecting emergi... more

Download (278)

View PDF (227)

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

Download (489)

View PDF (477)

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 the initiative is the engagement of Community Heal... more

Download (438)

View PDF (338)

Antimicrobial resistance and primary health care

World Health Organization WHO (2018) C_WHO

Despite the considerable improvement in global health, millions of people still lack access to quality health services, including access to effective antimicrobial medicines, or are impoverished as a result of health spending. At the same time, antimicrobial resistance – a consequence of overuse a... more

Download (158)

View PDF (108)

Surveillance Mpox. Protocole de notification pour les états membres de l'union Africaine
recommended

Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC (2024) CC

On 13 August 2024, the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC) declared the multi-country mpox outbreak a public health emergency of continental security, with strong recommendations to improve surveillance and vaccine deployment in all AU Member States. On 14 August 2024, the WHO Director-G... more

Download (424)

View PDF (459)

Assessing health systems in Guinea for prevention and control of priority zoonotic diseases: A One Health approach

Standleya C. J., Carlinb E. P., Sorrella E. M. et al. Elsevier (2019) CC

To guide One Health capacity building efforts in the Republic of Guinea in the wake of the 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, we sought to identify and assess the existing systems and structures for zoonotic disease detection and control. We partnered with the government ministries resp... more

External Link

Surveillance, prevention and control of leishmaniases in the European Union and its neighbouring countries

European Centre for disease prevention and control (ECDC) European Centre for disease prevention and control (ECDC) (2022) C_CDC

This technical report presents the epidemiology of human and animal leishmaniases in the EU and its neighbouring countries and concludes that the disease remains widespread and underreported in many countries of southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East and that there is a need to improv... more

External Link

Rabies Clinical and Laboratory Diagnosis Advisory

Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) (2022) CC

Rabies is a fatal viral disease, but is preventable in humans. The rabies virus is transmitted to humans through virus-laden saliva from a rabid animal, mostly dogs. The virus is shed in the saliva of an infected animal and can be introduced into another body through bites, scratches and any other ... more

External Link

Antimicrobial resistance in the WHO African region: current status and roadmap for action

Essack S.Y., A.T. Desta, R.E. Abotsi et al. Journal of Public Health (2016) C2

The escalating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pandemic is a global public health threat with extensive health, economic and societal implications. Resistance emerges because of selection pressure from rational and indiscriminate antimicrobial use in human health as well as in the veterinary, agricul... more

Download (796)

View PDF (367)

WHO public health checklist for controlling the spread of COVID-19 at ground crossings

World Health Organization WHO, Regional Office of Europe (2021) CC

This checklist helps to identify the necessary measures to be implemented to mitigate infection transmission among travellers and ground-crossing staff in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It features key questions and considerations for gauging the capacity of responding to COVID-19 transmissio... more

Download (584)

View PDF (710)

Guidelines for the Structure of Public Health Entomology Laboratories

Pan American Health Organization PAHO (2019) C_WHO

This document provides countries with recommendations for structuring a public health entomology laboratory network. The document will help countries to identify their areas of need and determine how the entomology network can be strengthened, especially in the context of a decentralized health syst... more

Download (465)

View PDF (544)

Capturing the evidence on access to essential antibiotics in refugee and migrant populations

WHO TEAM Health and migration programme, Surveillance, Prevention and Control World Health Organization WHO (2022) C_WHO

The GEHM series is an evidence-informed normative product of the WHO Health and Migration Programme to inform policy-makers on migrationrelated public health priorities. These reviews aim to respond to policy questions identified as priorities by summarizing the best available evidence worldwide an... more

Download (411)

View PDF (652)

Эпидемиологический надзор за COVID-19: временные рекомендации, 14 февраля 2022 г.
recommended

World Health Organization WHO (2022) C_WHO

This document summarizes current WHO guidance for public health surveillance of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). New elements include: update of contact definitions, in line with latest cont... more

Download (322)

View PDF (411)

Définitions de cas de COVID-19 de l’OMS

World Health Organisation (2021) C_WHO

Actualisées dans « La surveillance de la santé publique dans le contexte de la COVID-19 », publié le 16 décembre 2020

Download (310)

View PDF (408)

Эпидемиологический надзор за COVID-19
recommended

World Health Organization WHO (2020) C_WHO

16 December 2020. This document summarizes current WHO guidance for public health surveillance of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (hereafter referred to as COVID19 surveillance).

External Link

External Link (108)

OpenWHO.org - Early Warning Alert and Response System

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2025) C_WHO

EWARS is a surveillance system developed by the World Health Organization to detect and respond quickly to disease outbreaks in emergency settings where normal health systems are disrupted. It allows health facilities to report priority diseases on a regular basis and generates alerts when unusual p... more

External Link

External Link (2031)

Early Warning, Alert and Response Network (EWARN)

World Health Organization WHO (2014) CC

Early warning systems for disease outbreaks are surveillance systems that collect information on a selected list of epidemic-prone diseases in order to trigger prompt public health interventions. They function in humanitarian emergency situations when the routine public health surveillance systems o... more

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

Surveillance Mpox. Protocole de notification pour les états membres de l'union Africaine recommended

Эпидемиологический надзор за COVID-19: временные рекомендации, 14 февраля 2022 г. recommended

Эпидемиологический надзор за COVID-19 recommended

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

Surveillance Mpox. Protocole de notification pour les états membres de l'union Africaine
recommended

Эпидемиологический надзор за COVID-19: временные рекомендации, 14 февраля 2022 г.
recommended

Эпидемиологический надзор за COVID-19
recommended