In Namibia, blood donations rise thanks to free transport to donor clinics
A blood donor since 2018, Alfred Ndapanda had always considered his donations part of being a good citizen. But last year, the act hit closer to home than ever.
Read moreProgrammes and Clusters News
WHO supports the leadership role of a strong Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
Brazzaville – The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the continental drive to strengthen the architecture of pandemic preparedness and response in Africa. This is critical for protecting and saving African liv…
Read moreSenegal takes to social media to boost blood donations
Like many countries, Senegal has seen a spike in social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighty-two per cent of all Senegalese have a smartphone, and 58% are regular internet users.
Read moreAfrica steps up targeted COVID-19 vaccination of most at risk people
Africa is intensifying COVID-19 vaccination of high-risk population groups with some promising signs. Nearly 50% of health workers and people over the age of 60 are fully vaccinated against the virus in countries reporting data to World Health Organization (WHO).
Read moreZambia’s polio mop-up reaches almost half a million children in 48 hours
Following a Polio outbreak in Malawi earlier this year, frontline health workers in Zambia distributed 4,5 million Oral Polio Vaccines (OPV) to children under five. During the campaign’s last stretch, or ´mop-up´ phase, teams revisited those who were missed, immunising close to 500,000 in the space of two days.
Read moreRamping up polio outbreak response in southern Africa
Following a case of wild poliovirus in February 2022 in Malawi, the country and four other geographically close nations kicked off a large-scale vaccination campaigns and ramped up disease surveillance to halt the debilitating virus.
Read moreSmoking is not funny: South African comedian on tobacco harm
“There is something about smoke (wafting around) your head that’s cool. Why is that?” South African comedian Riaad Moosa has been pondering the image and allure of smoking to conjure up punchlines on the ills of tobacco use during his comedy tours.
Read moreWHO, partners seek to reboot Africa’s health emergency response
With at least 100 health emergencies per year in Africa, ranging from disease outbreaks to natural or human-made disasters, health emergency partners are rallying to reform the continent’s current crisis response architecture.
Read more