Genesis health practice: Supporting resilience in a year of disruption

The year 2025 brought unprecedented disruptions to global health, characterised by major funding withdrawals and the urgent need for self-sufficiency in many countries. At Genesis, our health practice pivoted decisively to support countries, organisations and programmes to build resilience and foster more sustainable health systems.

This year the global health sector faced intense headwinds, including the impact of a drastic reduction in development funding. Many organisations struggled to maintain their momentum, and some closed altogether. However, our strategic planning and robust partnerships enabled us not just to navigate this difficult environment, but to emerge with renewed strategic focus and a commitment to stronger health systems.

Crisis response and systems transformation

In the wake of sudden US government funding cuts to many health programmes, we provided critical support to multiple countries, demonstrating our ability to deliver results under pressure.

• Supporting national emergency budget development: In South Africa we supported the National Department of Health (NDOH) to develop emergency budget proposals, securing R753 million in emergency funding to protect essential provincial HIV programmes.
• Providing strategic insights for supply chain mitigation: We conducted a rapid situational review across 11 African countries for Merck's Praziquantel supply programme for bilharzia prevention, providing strategic insights to mitigate the impact of aid withdrawal on PZQ stock and long-term Mass Drug Administration campaign funding.

Driving measurable health outcomes

Our technical support led to tangible improvements in public health programmes and service delivery.

• Implementing quality improvement for diagnostics: We supported the Department of Health in South Africa with their End TB Campaign and helped partner with the National Health Laboratory Service to launch a sputum rejection dashboard. This support led to the implementation of quality improvement in facilities, resulting in a significant reduction of the national sputum rejection rate from 7% in January to 3% in October.

Sustainability and user-centred design

A core focus was ensuring local ownership and long-term viability of key health initiatives.

• Developing a sustainable financing and resource mobilisation plan: We supported Uganda's Ministry of Health in developing a 10-year sustainable financing and resource mobilisation plan for their crucial community health workers programme, prioritising domestic revenue mobilisation.
• Designing service delivery using human-centred design: Applying a Human-Centred Design approach, we partnered with IPM in Botswana and Rwanda to collaboratively design service delivery and communication strategies for the new PrEP Ring. This work directly addressed "unseen barriers" and expanded prevention choices for adolescent girls and young women and female sex workers.

We are proud of the resilience and adaptability shown by our team and our partners worldwide. We look forward to ensuring that 2026 is a year in which we maintain progress toward better health for all populations.