Togo makes progress in the fight against tuberculosis

Lomé – In January 2024, Yao*, a 67-year-old farmer living in Agou, about 100 kilometres north-west of Lomé, experienced unusual discomfort that led him to seek medical attention. These included chest pains and unexplained intense fatigue that lasted for a fortnight. Following tests, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB). “I was surprised and very sad to find out that I had the disease. I had suffered too much and I wanted to be cured by any means necessary,” he recalls. 

Antenatal visits improve maternal health outcomes in Togo

Sokodé –​​​​ In Togo, the health landscape is characterized by high morbidity and maternal mortality rates. According to the National Health Development Plan (NHDP 2023–2027), the maternal mortality rate in 2021 was 399 deaths per 100 000 live births, a slight improvement from the 401 deaths per 100 000 live births reported in the 2013–2014 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS).

A boost to COVID-19 vaccination drive in Togo

Kara – At the edge of a small field in the outskirts of Kara city in northern Togo where a crowd gathered for the annual Evala festival¬—a traditional celebration featuring wrestling contests—in mid-2022, a bright coloured bus drew small groups of people for a crucial issue: COVID-19 vaccination.

Togo eliminates trachoma as a public health problem

Togo has eliminated trachoma, an eye disease that can cause permanent blindness, as a public health problem. The West African nation becomes the fourth country on the continent to be validated by World health Organization (WHO) as having reached the elimination milestone after Morocco in 2016, Ghana in 2018 and The Gambia in 2021. 

Supporting Togo’s health care improvement drive

In collaboration with World Health Organization in Togo, World Bank is supporting the country to improve its health care quality. This includes equipping 14 training schools for paramedical personnel with teaching, computer and videoconferencing materials, with more than 600 nurses and midwives recently trained in infection prevention and care for COVID-19 patients. World Bank Resident Representative in Togo, Hawa Wagué, explains why training is crucial for quality health care.

Midwifery, a life passion

Lomé – Three years ago, Massalou Tchonda, a midwife at the Tsévié Polyclinic near the Togolese capital of Lomé, was attending to a patient expecting twins.

“After the first one came out, the second seemed to be blocked by the placenta. I was convinced the patient wouldn’t be able to give birth on her own,” she recalls. Just as she was hurriedly preparing to perform an emergency evacuation procedure, the other baby’s head appeared. Seconds later, he was out in the world.