As the Group of Eight (G8) world leaders meet in Saint Petersburg, Russia for this year’s G8 Summit, it is important to take stock of international efforts to finance the response to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Financing a sufficient and sustain
...
ed response to the epidemic has emerged as one of the world’s greatest challenges, and one that will be with us for the foreseeable future. Often, those countries most affected are also least able to respond, increasing their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and in turn further complicating their ability to address the epidemic, as is the case for many nations in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, concerns have been raised about “second wave” nations, particularly China, India, and Russia, which stand on the brink of generalized epidemics if more is not done now
more
The article is a scoping review that explores the challenges in diagnosing asthma in children in three sub-Saharan African countries: Nigeria, Sout
...
h Africa, and Uganda. It identifies key barriers, such as a lack of community awareness, inadequate healthcare access, limited diagnostic tools like spirometry, and insufficient knowledge among healthcare workers. The review also highlights the stigma associated with asthma and the absence of relevant diagnostic guidelines. Solutions proposed include community education, development and adherence to diagnostic guidelines, and strengthening healthcare systems. The study aims to inform policymakers and healthcare providers to improve asthma diagnosis and care for children in these regions.
more
This compendium represents a curated, pragmatic and non-prescriptive collection of tools and resources to support the implementation of interventions to improve quality of care in such contexts. Relevant tools and resources are listed under five are
...
as: Ensuring access and basic infrastructure for quality; shaping the system environment; reducing harm; improving clinical care; and engaging and empowering patients, families and communities.
more
In the last 5 years, the conflict in South Sudan has displaced 4 million people and placed 7 million in need of humanitarian assistance.
This
...
report commissioned by Plan International draws on research conducted with girls and members of their families and communities in multiple sites in South Sudan and Uganda.
It explores how adolescent girls within two age brackets (aged 10-14 and 15-19) understand and respond to the unique impact their country’s crisis has upon them.
It seeks to amplify their voices and their perceptions of the crisis and presents their views on how the humanitarian sector might respond.
more
Rehabilitation in health systems provides recommendations for Member States and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen and expand the availability of quality rehabilitation services. Currently, there is a significant unmet need for rehabilitation
...
services and it is frequently undervalued in the health system. As populations age and the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases and injuries increases, and the demand for rehabilitation grows, strengthening rehabilitation in health systems becomes ever more paramount.
more
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 and South Sudan, Tanzania,
...
Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe
more
Women and Health Initiative Working Paper No. 1. Women and Health Initiative
Improving maternal health in the context of the sub-Saharan African HIV epidemic requires greater understanding of the relationships between HIV disease and maternal mor
...
bidity and mortality, integrated and effective responses by the health system, and a social context which promotes quality care and encourages use of MCH and HIV services. Advancing the proposed research agenda will make an invaluable contribution by generating needed evidence for policy and practice that improves the maternal health of women who are living with HIV, as well as those who are not. Bringing together maternal health and HIV researchers, policy-makers and program implementers to reduce HIV-related maternal morbidity and mortality and improve the HIV response for women represents an opportunity and a challenge.
more
9 June 2021
Since its launch, GLASS has expanded in scope and coverage and as of May 2021, 109 countries and territories worldwide have enrolled in GLASS. A key new component
...
in GLASS is the inclusion of antimicrobial consumption (AMC) surveillance at the national level highlighted in this fourth GLASS report.
The fourth GLASS report summarizes the 2019 data reported to WHO in 2020. It includes data on AMC surveillance from 15 countries and AMR data on 3 106 602 laboratory-confirmed infections reported by 24 803 surveillance sites in 70 countries, compared to the 507 923 infections and 729 surveillance sites reporting to the first data call in 2017.
The report also describes developments over the past years of GLASS and other AMR surveillance programmes led by WHO, including resistance to anti-human immunodeficiency virus and anti-tuberculosis medicines, antimalarial drug efficacy.
more
The guideline uses state-of-the-art evidence to identify effective policy options to strengthen community health worker (CHW) programme performance through their proper integration in health systems and communities.
Successful delivery of services
...
through CHWs requires evidence-based models for education, deployment and management of these health workers. The guideline is intended as a tool for national policy makers and planners and their international partners to use in the design, implementation, performance and evaluation of effective community health worker programmes. It contains pragmatic recommendations on selection, training and certification; management and supervision: and integration into health systems and community engagement.
more
The GFF needs an additional US$2.5 billion from 2021 to 2025 to enable countries to protect health gains and accelerate progress toward the 2030 Goals. Of this amount, the GFF urgently needs to secure new pledges of US$1.2 billion by the end of 2021 to help its current 36 partner countries protect
...
and maintain essential health services and implement time-sensitive service delivery and health system improvements to enable a sharp bend of the curve back to a positive trajectory to close the gap to the SDGs.
more
The survey aimed at evaluating the quality of selected antimalarials in six countries of sub-Saharan Africa (Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and the United Republic
...
of Tanzania). These countries have been supported by WHO to strengthen their regulatory controls over antimalarial products. The survey was organized independently of manufacturers of antimalarial medicines.
more
From 2000 to 2010, Rwanda implemented comprehensive health sector reforms to strengthen the public health system, with the aim of reducing maternal and newborn deaths in line with Millennium Develop
...
ment Goal 5, among many other improvements in national health. Based on a systematic review of the literature, national policy documents and three Demographic & Health Surveys (2000, 2005 and 2010), this paper describes the reforms and the policies they were based on, and provides data on the extent of Rwanda’s progress in expanding the coverage of four key women’s health services. Progress took place in 2000–2005 and became more rapid after 2006, mostly in rural areas, when the national facility-based childbirth policy, performance-based financing, and community-based health insurance were scaled up. Between 2006 and 2010, the following increases in coverage took place as compared to 2000–2005, particularly in rural areas, where most poor women live: births with skilled attendance (77% increase vs. 26%), institutional delivery (146% increase vs. 8%), and contraceptive prevalence (351% increase vs. 150%). The primary factors in these improvements were increases in the health workforce and their skills, performance-based financing, community-based health insurance, and better leadership and governance. Further research is needed to determine the impact of these changes on health outcomes in women and children.
more
The WHO document "Integrating the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and sexual and reproductive health programmes: implementation guidance" provides a framework for integrating noncommunicable diseases (NC
...
Ds) into existing health programs for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). It emphasizes the importance of a people-centered approach to enhance healthcare accessibility and efficiency, especially in low-resource settings. The document outlines strategies for strengthening policy, financing, capacity building, and health system infrastructure. It offers actionable steps, tools, and case studies to support countries in reducing the burden of NCDs through integrated, holistic care within primary health services.
more
Rabies is entirely preventable, and vaccines, medicines, tools and technologies have long
been available to prevent people from dying of dog-mediated rabies. Nevertheless, rabies still
kills about 60 000 people a year, of whom over 40% are children under 15, mainly
...
in rural areas
of economically disadvantaged countries in Africa and Asia. Of all human cases, up to 99% are
acquired from the bite of an infected dog.
more