USAID Senegal and Health in Africa (HIA) initiative of the World Bank Group engaged the Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (S...HOPS) project to conduct an assessment of the private health sector in Senegal. The assessment’s primary focus is family planning, and its secondary focus is maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH), HIV and AIDS, malaria, and nutrition.
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In 2017, the World Bank and partners created the Global Investment Framework for Nutrition as a roadmap towards achieving the World Health Assembly... (WHA) nutrition targets by 2025. The framework estimates that the world needs to mobilize an annual additional investment of $7 billion per year to scale-up nutrition-specific interventions at the level needed to achieve the global targets. However, the world is off-track to meet the global targets. And it is unclear whether additional resources will be mobilized for life-saving and cost-effective nutrition-specific interventions, or whether donor support will be enough to meet the annual resource need established by the framework.
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(African Development Bank policy research document 1)
The report examines financing in the battle against malaria, focusing on the role of for...eign aid. It analyzes whether or not a disease such as malaria can be controlled or eliminated in Africa without health aid. It also presents a theoretical model of the economics of malaria and shows how health aid can help avoid the “disease trap.” While calling for increased funding from international sources to fight malaria, it also recommends that African countries step up their own efforts, including on domestic resource mobilization. In 2016, governments of endemic countries contributed 31% of the estimated total of US $ 2.7 billion.
Between 2000 and 2014, malaria control efforts were scaled up and worldwide deaths were cut in half. But declining health aid and deprioritized vertical aid (as for malaria), despite its potentially great efficiency, have led to rising numbers of cases. In 2016, 216 million cases of malaria were reported, up from 211 million in 2015. Africa was home to 90% of all malaria cases and 91% of malaria deaths in 2016. Progress appears to have stalled in the global fight against the disease.
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A Rapid Appraisal of Priorities, Policies and Practices
“Guide to facilitate the implementation of the WHO/UNICEF “Guidance on developing a national deployment and vaccination plan for COVID-19 vaccines” for Africa
t contains action-oriented lists... of critical topics to address and checklists tailored to the context of African Union Member States.
The contents of this guide aim to guide the development of one comprehensive national deployment and vaccination plan, as proposed and outlined by the guidance – and underlines the need for countries to develop their vaccination plans.
This guide is not meant as a tool to assess deployment readiness. The recommendation to Member States is to use the VIRAT/VRAF 2.0 tool for that, which builds on the COVAX Vaccine Introduction Readiness Assessment Tool (VIRAT) and the World Bank’s Vaccine Readiness Assessment Framework (VRAF).
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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 ...hlight medbox">population dynamics continue to evolve. Accurate and timely mortality data is essential for identifying trends and detecting emerging health threats, evaluating the impact of interventions, and guiding evidence-based policy decisions.
This framework outlines a holistic approach to strengthening routine mortality surveillance systems, considering the unique contextual factors and challenges faced by African countries. It emphasizes the importance of establishing efficient data collection mechanisms, enhancing data quality and completeness, and promoting data sharing and collaboration among stakeholders.
Moreover, the framework recognizes the pivotal role of technology in the integration of data from fragmented mortality data sources. It highlights the potential of innovative data capture methods, advanced analytics, and real-time reporting systems to enhance mortality data’s accuracy, efficiency, and timeliness.
The continental framework for mortality surveillance aligns with Africa CDC’s mission and strategic goal by serving as a fundamental component in strengthening public health systems, enhancing disease surveillance capacities and capabilities, informing evidence-based policies and interventions, and promoting collaboration and coordination among African countries to address health challenges and improve health outcomes on the continent.
The successful implementation of this framework requires collective commitment and concerted efforts from governments, health institutions, and the international community. We hope this document will serve as a catalyst for transformative change, enabling countries to build resilient mortality surveillance systems that protect public health, save lives, and contribute to evidence-based decision-making.
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The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), in accordance with recommendations from various WHO committees, has developed three flagship programmes to support Member States ...in the African region to prepare for, detect and respond to public health emergencies. They are the result of extensive consultations with more than 30 African government ministers, technical actors, partners across the continent as well as regional institutions such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), whose contributions have shaped the priority activities. This report provides the second quarterly summary of progress in implementing the flagship programmes.
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This brief summarises key considerations about the social, political and economic context of Goma in relation to the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC a...s of March 2019. Goma is the administrative capital of North Kivu province and a major urban centre in the Great Lakes Region. The city is home to an estimated 1.5 million people and serves as an important economic and transportation hub that links eastern Congo to the broader East African sub-region. The arrival of Ebola in Goma would substantially increase the at-risk population and heighten the potential for cross-border transmission to neighbouring countries, particularly Rwanda. This brief therefore focuses on local social and political structures that can be leveraged to promote preparedness and readiness actions.
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The report explores strategies for sustaining the country’s responses to the three diseases and eventually transitioning away from external funding and programmatic support. It takes stock of Keny...a’s health financing landscape and identifies opportunities and challenges for sustaining effective coverage of HIV, TB, and malaria services in the long run, mindful of macro-fiscal and institutional constraints. The report informs ongoing dialogue within government, including among the Ministry of Health, National Treasury, Council of Governors, and National AIDS Control Council, as well as between government and development partners.
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Early data estimates suggest that 90% of the Ukrainian population could be facing poverty and extreme economic vulnerability should the war deepen, setting the country – ...highlight medbox">and the region – back decades and leaving deep social and economic scars for generations to come
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In 1964 medical mission was challenged and called to define its distinctiveness and its special role ...medbox">in the context of that particular time. The consultation "Tuebingen I" clearly stated: "The Christian church has a specific task in the field of health and healing"1, and developed a concept of wholeness and of the role of the congregation in health provision. 50 years later, the question of the proprium of Christian health services is again a very important one. At a time when governments, international non-governmental organizations and other philanthropic organizations participate in health care, the question has to be asked: What is the specific contribution of a Christian health service or ministry of healing? At a time when chronic disease challenges not only rich but now also poor countries, when infections like Ebola that for years were hidden in Africa pose a threat to the global situation, Christians have to reflect on the question of the proprium of Christian health care.
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Vaccines are powerful weapons in the fight against pandemic viruses as shown by responses to both the 2009 H1N1 influenza and the COVID-19 pandemics. However, planning for accessing, allocating ...n class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">and deploying vaccines in a pandemic situation is a complex endeavour, beset with multiple challenges at all levels – local, regional and global. The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners have prepared this revised guidance document to assist countries update their national deployment and vaccination plans (NDVPs) by leveraging global learnings from past pandemic responses, including the recent COVID-19 vaccination effort. The development and testing of a NDVP would not only advance pandemic preparedness efforts but would also have benefits in terms of increasing national capabilities to manage other health emergencies which require emergency vaccination campaigns.
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The Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP) undertook regional and large scale frght against onchocerciasis ...-highlight medbox">in West Africa in 1974 using a vector control strategy. By 2002 OCP had succeeded in eliminating the disease as a public health, socio-economic and development problem in 10 out of I I countries. This campaign was highly technical and expensive. ln 1987, Merck & Co.,lnc. committed themselves to provide ivermectin free of charge for as long as needed to onchocerciasis endemic countries. This made it possible to envrsage the extension of onchocerciasis control activities to the remaining endemic countries in Africa.
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Health in All Policies (HiAP) is not a new concept. While the term “HiAP” has received much attention since the 1990s, the concept
of working across sectors of government for improved population...> health and wellbeing is much older than that. Over the last few decades the term has been applied to multiple health topics and challenges – whetherimplicitly or explicitly.
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The scope includes the assessment of activities to improve the response to affected populations, stakeholders, partners and donors, building on les...sons learnt so far in this outbreak.
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This report presents three scenarios on the impact of COVID-19 in Africa using economic growth forecasts, mortality and efforts to ameliorate impac...t through social grants. Likely effects are examined on per capita income, poverty and the attainment of selected Sustainable Development Goals targets. Africa’s development trajectory has suffered a severe setback, with extreme poverty rising in all the scenarios. The pandemic threatens Africa in several ways, and the report provides policy recommendations to reduce vulnerability and strengthen resilience.
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The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), in accordance with recommendations from various WHO committees, has developed three flagship initiatives to support Member States... in the African region to prepare for, detect and respond to public health emergencies. They are the result of extensive consultations with more than 30 African government ministers, technical actors, and partners across the continent as well as regional institutions such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), whose contributions have shaped the priority activities. This report provides the fourth quarterly summary of progress in implementing the flagship initiatives.
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This brief gives an overview of disability rights in the Sub-Saharan region, with focus on Sida partner countries; DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan ...="attribute-to-highlight medbox">and South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe
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Five months after the beginning of the desert locust upsurge in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen, a...nd four months since the launch of the response plan (24 January 2020) a total of USD 130 million have been mobilized in the region.
As described in the recently published Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) quarterly report (January to April 2020), a lot has been achieved already, thanks to generous contributions from resource partners and affected governments.
But bringing a desert locust upsurge under control and mitigating its impact on livelihoods and food security requires a prolonged effort and numerous factors could influence the duration and magnitude of the problem, including the widespread presence of COVID-19.
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