Embedded Files
Together for Prevention: handbook on multisectoral national action plans to prevent violence against women and girls
UN Women’s new handbook “Together for Prevention” gives governments step‑by‑step guidance to develop multisectoral national action plans that stop violence against women and girls before it starts, pairing the latest evidence with the RESPECT framework. It packs in practical tools, budgeting and monitoring checklists, and case studies from countries such as Australia, Cambodia, Fiji, Peru and South Africa to turn commitments into measurable impact.
Image: UN Women
Achieving gender justice for global health equity: the Lancet Commission on gender and global health
The Lancet Commission on Gender and Health brings together global experts to examine how gender power relations shape research, policy, and practice across all areas of health. Its ongoing work will culminate in a landmark report with recommendations to embed gender‑transformative approaches throughout the global health agenda.
Rollback & resistance: the fight for gender equality in global health
GEAR Up’s International Women’s Day blog spotlights the overlooked gender dimensions of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), showing how drug‑resistant infections hit women hardest at every life stage and amplify existing inequalities. It calls on governments to apply a gender lens to AMR data, policy, and care so that efforts to curb resistance also empower women and girls.
Image: Gear Up
COVID was the rehearsal
When a sudden US aid freeze halted health and food programmes worldwide, philanthropy’s lightning‑fast COVID‑19 playbook did not re‑appear. Community‑health leaders writing in Stanford Social Innovation Review warn that restraint now feels like abandonment and call on funders to “share the risk” through larger, trust‑based, multi‑year grants, higher payout rates, and collaborations that channel money swiftly to frontline, Global‑South‑led groups.
Costs and cost-effectiveness of community health worker programs focussed on HIV, TB and malaria infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries (2015–2024): A scoping literature review
A new scoping review in PLOS Global Public Health analysed 33 economic evaluations (2015‑2024) of community‑health‑worker (CHW) programmes tackling HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in low‑ and middle‑income countries. Across 106 scenarios CHW models were usually more cost‑effective than facility‑based care, especially for improving treatment adherence and reaching high‑priority groups. Reported costs ranged widely (US $1.20 – 26 556 per beneficiary) and methods were highly variable, so the authors call for standardised economic reporting and research on affordability to guide future investment.
Image: Community Health Impact Coalition
The state of healthcare systems for women with disabilities in 2025
The Missing Billion Initiative’s latest review draws on more than 150 studies to give the first global snapshot of health for women with disabilities. It documents stark gaps in outcomes and access, shows how major international guidelines still overlook this group, and showcases practical examples of inclusive care. The report ends with concrete recommendations to steer health systems toward equity.
Trust, science, and public health: pathways to restoring confidence in health systems
A recent Health Systems Global blog argues that post‑pandemic recovery depends on repairing the public’s confidence in science and public‑health institutions. It highlights three priorities: clear, transparent communication to counter misinformation; inclusive decision‑making that gives communities a voice; and investment in strong primary‑care systems that deliver reliable, equitable services. Together, these steps can close the widening trust gap and make future health responses more resilient.
Image: Women Lift Health
LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the global health policy agenda: A critical discourse analysis of the Lancet Commission report archive
A PLOS ONE critical‑discourse analysis found that only 35 % even mention LGBTQIA+ communities, and few references appear in executive summaries or recommendations. Most discussion is limited to HIV/AIDS and sexual‑reproductive health, leaving broader health needs invisible; the authors urge future commissions to adopt a strengths‑based, inclusive approach that centres LGBTQIA+ perspectives throughout policy documents.
Global immunisation monitoring in times of drastic cutbacks
In The Lancet, Rau et al. warn that funding cuts are hitting two fronts at once: routine vaccination programmes and the surveillance networks that detect drops in coverage and early outbreaks. As measles, polio, and other vaccine‑preventable diseases resurface, dismantling monitoring systems risks masking the true cost of these budget reductions and delaying rapid response. The authors urge governments and donors to ring‑fence resources for coverage surveys, laboratory confirmation, and rapid‑response teams so decades of immunisation gains are not lost.
State of the world's nursing report 2025
The new report shows the global nursing workforce grew from 27.9 million in 2018 to 29.8 million in 2023 and the projected shortage has fallen from 6.2 million to 5.8 million nurses. But 78 % of nurses still serve just 49 % of the world’s population, leaving low‑ and middle‑income countries with the deepest gaps. WHO and partners call for bigger domestic investment in training and retaining nurses, while urging high‑income countries to manage retirements and rely less on recruiting from nations already facing shortages.
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