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Significant progress has been made worldwide to reduce maternal and child mortality over the last 20 years, but global trends often mask significant disparities in maternal, child, and newborn health (MNCH) outcomes. Seventy percent of maternal deaths and 57 percent of under-five deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Though sub-Saharan Africa has a strong foundation of regional frameworks and campaigns to build upon, implementation remains uneven and commitments alone are not enough to drive impact. Without urgent and coordinated action to hold leaders accountable for their commitments, millions of these preventable deaths will persist.Responding to the urgency of this moment, PATH facilitated a collaborative process to develop a regional advocacy strategy to unite institutions and communities under a shared plan for MNCH advocacy in Africa. Co-created with the African Union Commission, Africa CDC, WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, PMNCH, EWENE Advocacy & Accountability Working Group, various ministries of health, Child Survival Action, and many other civil society stakeholders, this strategy aims to inspire political commitment, mobilize resources and investments in MNCH, align regional voices, and accelerate progress for the women and children living in the communities most impacted by these disparities.

Incident response in cybersecurity extends far beyond basic damage control; it is foundational to the resilience of health systems. Especially within global health, the purpose of incident response is to detect, contain, mitigate, recover from, and learn from cybersecurity incidents. This proactive approach protects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive health information. By aiming to minimize operational impact and financial loss, maintain compliance with data protection laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and ensure the continuity of essential health services, incident response helps organizations swiftly detect root causes, restore systems, and safeguard their reputation. Ultimately, effective incident response is essential to sustaining the trust and reliability that are central to digital health initiatives.Objectives of this guideEnhance cybersecurity readiness: Provide a structured, cost-effective framework tailored to African health settings to help health teams detect, contain, and recover from cyber threats using local tools and skills.Facilitate ownership and sustainability: Enable Ministries of Health and local stakeholders with the resources to manage and safeguard TAP-developed systems (EMRs, NDRs, Patient Identity Management Systems) as they transition to full ownership.Protect health data and services: Implement practical, context-specific measures to minimize service disruptions and ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive health information, including scenario-based planning for contextual infrastructure limitations.Standardize and localize incident response: Establish a consistent, adaptable approach to managing cyber incidents aligned with global best practices and local realities.Promote long-term resilience: Foster a security-first culture that strengthens institutional capacity and ensures the sustainability of national digital health assets through community-driven security awareness programs.

IntroductionThe National Data Repository (NDR) Self-Assessment Tool was developed to evaluate the current status and effectiveness of the NDR in supporting health care data management within our country. The assessment aims to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement to inform strategic decision-making and enhance the overall functionality of the NDR.Purpose of the assessmentThe primary objective of this assessment is to comprehensively evaluate the NDR's performance in collecting, storing, managing, and sharing health care data. By conducting this assessment, we aim to identify strengths and areas for improvement in the NDR's infrastructure, governance, data quality, security, interoperability, usability, and sustainability.Scope of the assessmentThe assessment covers various domains related to the NDR, including:Government and accessData quality and standardsSustainability and scalabilityInfrastructure and technologyOther considerationsThe assessment will involve a series of questions and criteria to evaluate each domain’s performance and identify areas for improvement.The National Data Repository Self-Assessment Tool is available in English and French.

Spare parts for medical devices are crucial to maintaining uninterrupted service delivery in health care facilities. However, the public procurement of spare parts for medical devices is constrained by reactive and ad hoc purchasing decisions, often due to a lack of system-wide historical data on what spare parts are needed, in what quantities, and when. Without a data-driven, coordinated procurement strategy, purchasing decisions remain fragmented and inconsistent, limiting the ability to achieve economies of scale, ensure quality, or maintain timely availability of spare parts across the health system.To address this challenge, PATH developed a spare parts quantification and costing tool by engaging biomedical engineers in Kenya to build consensus around a standardized list of essential spare parts and the estimated annual frequency of use. The tool equips budget managers at health facilities and within county governments and the national Ministry of Health with more accurate system-wide estimates of annual spare parts demand and costs.

The Gates Foundation-funded project, MACEPA has long-standing relationships with National Malaria Programs, providing data analytics and modeling support to aid in data-driven decision-making. In 2024, MACEPA began a two-year fellowship program supporting individuals living in malaria-endemic countries to strengthen their data skills to support National Malaria Programs beyond their fellowship.