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Improving maternal and child health in Asia through innovative partnerships and approaches. The case of Nepal

Fiona Samuels and Svetlana Ancker Overseas Development Institute (ODI), (2015) C1

Following an overview of maternal and neonatal child health in Nepal and in the districts covered by the project, the briefing outlines the background to the Strengthening Approaches for Maximizing Maternal, Neonatal and Reproductive Health (SAMMAN) project. It then describes the key aspects of the ... 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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Guidelines on mental health promotive and preventive interventions for adolescents

World Health Organization WHO (2020) C_WHO

The Guidelines on promotive and preventive mental health interventions for adolescents - Helping Adolescents thrive (HAT), provide evidence-informed recommendations on psychosocial interventions to promote mental health, prevent mental disorders, and reduce self-harm and other risk behaviours among ... more

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Health of older refugees and migrants

World Health Organization WHO, Regional Office for Europe (2018) C_WHO

Technical guidance. This technical guidance aims to inform policy and practice development specifically related to improving the health of older refugees and migrants within the European Union and the larger WHO European Region. Both ageing and migration are in themselves complex multidimensional p... more

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Operational Guidance Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Programming for Refugee Operations

UN High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR (2013) C1

This operational guidance on MHPSS provides a practical orientation and tools for UNHCR country operations. It covers specific points of good practice to consider when developing MHPSS programming and offers advice on priority issues and practical difficulties, while also providing some background i... more

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Mobilizing the Resources Required for Universal Health Coverage: Outline of a Global Compact towards Closing the Financing Gap by 2020

Joachim Rüppel medmissio and Action against AIDS Germany (2016) CC

Securing a minimum of financial resources permitting to bring the full range of critical health services to all people constitutes a fundamental human right and an indispensable condition for human dignity. The model outlined here demonstrates that it is within our reach to close the financing gap e... more

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Priority activities in public health, WASH, shelter and settlements for preparedness and response to COVID-19 in UNHCR operations

UNHCR; reliefweb (2020) C2

The following is a breakdown of key considerations to guide planning and resource allocation for COVID-19 preparedness and response to support UNHCR regional and country operations in Public Health, WASH, Shelter and Settlements programmes. While some of the activities are more relevant in camps or ... more

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Haiti's Health Emergency Appeal 2023
recommended

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

For the past years, Haiti has been engulfed in a socioeconomic, political, and humanitarian crisis that has reached critical levels since mid-September 2022 with the intensification of gang violence and social unrest. The widespread insecurity and political instability have drastically affected the... more

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A Policy Guide for Implementing Essential Interventions for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH)

World Health Organization (2014)

The Compendium brings together for the first time key consensus-based policy recommendations and guidance to improve the delivery of proven interventions to women and children. The user-friendly format incorporates icons and tabs to present key health-related policies that support the delivery of es... more

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Financing Global Health 2018: Countries and Programs in Transition

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (2019) C2

This 10th edition of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s annual Financing Global Health report provides the most up-to-date estimates of development assistance for health, domestic spending on health, health spending on two key infectious diseases – malaria and HIV/AIDS – and fut... more

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Water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities: status in low and middle income countries and way forward.

Maria Neira, Edward Kelley, Mickey Chopra et al. World Health Organization, UNICEF (2015)

This report presents, for the first time, a global assessment of the extent to which health care facilities provide essential water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. Drawing on data from 54 low- and middle-income countries, the report concludes that 38% lack access to even rudimentary levels ... more

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Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Health Care Settings

Ministry of Health, Kenya (2020) C2

Accessed: 02.05.2020 These interim IPC recommendations for health settings have been developed through the contributions of many individuals and institutions, such as the Centers for Disease Control-Kenya; ITECH; US Agency for International Development (USAID) Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceu... more

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WHO Guidance for Climate Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Care Facilities
recommended

World Health Organization WHO (2020) C_WHO

The aim of this guidance is to enhance the capacity of health care facilities to protect and improve the health of their target communities in an unstable and changing climate; and to empower health care facilities to be environmentally sustainable, by optimizing the use of resources and minimizing ... more

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WHO framework for meaningful engagement of people living with noncommunicable diseases, and mental health and neurological conditions

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2023) C_WHO

The overall objective of the framework is to support WHO and Members States in meaningful engagement of people living with NCDs, and mental health and neurological conditions to co-create and enhance related policies, programmes and services. This framework will contribute to advancing understanding... more

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Training Manual on Interpersonal Violence Prevention and Stress Management in Health Care Facilities

Norwegian Red Cross (2016) C1

In many contexts, the safe delivery of health care services is challenged by the lack of respect for health care personnel who face insults, threats and violence. Consequences include the disruption of health services, high staff turnover in health facilities, high levels of stress impacting the qua... more

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Mental health systems in selected low- and middle-income countries: a WHO-AIMS cross-national analysis

World Health Organization WHO WHO (2009) C_WHO

Data on the essential building blocks of mental health systems, including mental health governance, financing, service delivery, human resources and information, are reported. For mental health planning, it is important to know not only the level of resources in these six areas, but also how thos... more

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Infection Control for Viral Haemorraghic Fever in the African Health Care Setting

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , World Health Organization WHO (1998)

Important Guideline for Ebola prevention and control It is designed for the following uses: - for prevention through preparedness--to help African health facilities make advance preparations for responding with appropriate precautions when a VHF (including Ebola) case is suspected. - for pl... 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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The social and cultural aspects of mental health in African societies

Mary Amuyunzu-Nyamongo Commonwealth Health Partnerships (2013) C2

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as ‘a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community’. Mental illn... more

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Principles to guide health system recovery and transformation in Ukraine

World Health Organization WHO (2022) C_WHO

Despite the continuing war in Ukraine, the Government is preparing for the country’s recovery and reconstruction. Given the magnitude of the attacks on the health infrastructure and consequent disruption to health system functioning, reconstruction of the health system is integral to the country�... more

Haiti's Health Emergency Appeal 2023 recommended

WHO Guidance for Climate Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Care Facilities recommended

Haiti's Health Emergency Appeal 2023
recommended

WHO Guidance for Climate Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Care Facilities
recommended