Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC
Protection of public health policies with respect to tobacco control from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry
Publications
The TDR annual report 2025 presents an overview of the activities, achievements and strategic directions of the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), focusing on its role in supporting research and capacity strengthening to address infectious diseases of poverty. The report outlines how TDR contributes to improving health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries by promoting implementation research, fostering innovation and facilitating the translation of evidence into practical interventions. It situates this work within the broader global health context, emphasizing persistent challenges such as disease burden, inequities in access to care and evolving environmental and epidemiological threats.
Structured around key thematic areas aligned with the TDR Strategy 2024–2029, the report highlights research efforts addressing disease control and elimination, climate change impacts on health, epidemics and outbreaks, and resistance to treatment and control agents. It also describes initiatives to strengthen research capacity, leadership and global collaboration through training programmes, networks and partnerships. The report underscores TDR’s emphasis on locally led, context-specific research and a One Health approach, while illustrating how evidence generation supports policy development, health system resilience and equitable access to effective interventions.
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This annual report presents the activities, outputs and impact of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research in 2025, within a rapidly evolving global health context marked by reduced development assistance, conflict and climate-related pressures. It outlines the Alliance’s portfolio of 109 projects across 41 countries and territories, focusing on generating and applying health policy and systems research to address priority challenges and strengthen health systems. The report describes progress across seven areas of work, including advancing universal health coverage through primary health care, harnessing digital transformation, addressing noncommunicable diseases, strengthening climate resilience, preparing for health emergencies, and promoting evidence-informed policy-making.
Through quantitative indicators and qualitative case studies, the report highlights how research contributes to policy decisions, service delivery improvements and institutional change. It documents initiatives such as embedded implementation research in immunization programmes, health financing analysis, and governance of public health agencies, as well as efforts to build capacity and foster collaboration across countries. The report emphasizes the importance of linking evidence generation to practical impact, demonstrating how the Alliance supports countries in translating research into policy and practice to improve health system performance and resilience.
Strengthening health systems to achieve universal health coverage and improved population outcomes requires structured approaches that can navigate technical complexity, political dynamics and implementation challenges. This manual provides practical guidance for designing, implementing and evaluating health system reforms through a systematic, stepwise process grounded in health policy and systems research.
The publication presents an eight-step framework covering key stages of the reform process, including initiating reform, building a reform team, assessing system performance, diagnosing underlying problems, selecting policy options, conducting political analysis, managing implementation and evaluating results. It builds on the control knobs framework to analyse how policy levers influence intermediate outcomes such as access, quality and efficiency, and ultimately health status, financial protection and public satisfaction. The manual integrates analytical tools, conceptual frameworks and practical worksheets to support evidence-informed decision-making and adaptation to diverse country contexts. Emphasizing the interaction between technical, ethical and political dimensions, it is intended for policy-makers, advisors and stakeholders engaged in health system strengthening and reform processes aimed at improving equity and performance.
Youth co-creation for health: a practical guide provides strategies for understanding, designing, nurturing and sustaining youth co-creation in health research, programmes and policies.
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