Feature Stories

Harare—At a busy maternity ward at Zvishavane district hospital, in Midlands Province in central Zimbabwe, a midwife records the details of a birth into a digital system, just minutes after the event.

Until recently, this information would have been written on paper, taking weeks or even months to reach decision-makers. Today, it is instantly available to health teams across Zimbabwe.

Koimbani—In the district of Oichili-Dimani, Comoros, Fatima Ahamada Hamadi knows every village, every family and often every child she follows up. A certified nurse since 2011 and focal person of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), she has dedicated more than 10 years of her daily life to protecting children against vaccine-preventable diseases.

Ouaké—In a house in the commune of Ouaké, in northern Benin, Djahara, in her twenties and mother of a 14 month old child, hesitated to have her child vaccinated again. After a previous vaccination, her child’s foot had swollen. Worried, she preferred to stop. “Before, I used to take my child to be vaccinated. But after that incident, I stopped. Today, I’ve resumed and I’m happy to do it,” she confides.

Victoria—On a typical morning Norma Michaud-Payet, a nurse at English River health centre in Victoria, Seychelles’ capital, prepares for the day's immunization session. She checks the cold chain temperature log, reviews the appointment schedule and arranges immunization leaflets on her desk. When the first parent arrives with an infant, she greets him warmly by name.

Conakry—In the Ansoumania health zone, in the commune of Kagbelen, Conakry, Rose Oulemou is much more than a community health worker. For more than five years, she has been informing, reassuring and supporting families to protect children against vaccine-preventable diseases.

Her regular presence in the field and her closeness to residents make her a trusted voice, capable of dispelling doubts and bringing families closer to health services.

“My role in my community is to raise awareness to prevent avoidable diseases and ensure surveillance,” she explains.

Following successive Ebola and Marburg outbreaks across East Africa, countries are shifting how preparedness is defined, placing greater emphasis on the quality of clinical care delivered to patients.

Asmara—Eritrea’s mountainous central region is home to seasonally migratory populations. Nomadic lifestyle complicates access to basic services, especially among women and children who face higher health risks such as maternal mortality and immunization gaps due to geographic isolation, mobility and at times cultural norms.

Lomé—When his daughter developed a high fever, Jean did not hesitate: he went straight to the health centre. A farmer from Agokpo, in the Plateaux region about 100 kilometers north of Lomé, he recalls the day his 8 year old daughter Adèle was admitted. Beyond the speed of care, what struck him most was the warm welcome and the clarity of the explanations. “As soon as we arrived, she was tested. The health workers explained that it was malaria. They gave us the treatment, and apart from paracetamol, everything was covered,” he recounts.

Kinshasa / Luanda / Windhoek -  “Just two drops. Two miraculous drops that prevent paralysis. Let’s all vaccinate our children,” said Dr. Silvia Lutucuta, Minister of Health of Angola, as more than 10 million children were vaccinated against polio last month across Angola, Namibia and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in a coordinated regional effort to stop the spread of the virus across borders.