Featured news

When an Ebola outbreak was declared in their town on 8 October this year, the residents of Beni, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, needed reinforcements – not only against the risk of contracting the disease itself, but also against the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse at a particularly vulnerable moment.

Kampala – Drones, street preachers and district and community leaders are helping reach some of Uganda’s most vulnerable groups with crucial messaging on COVID-19

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) today declared measles outbreak in Kambia District. There have been a total of three confirmed cases from a cluster of suspected cases in Bamoi Luma in the district. The MoHS is working with the World Health Organization and other partners and has dispatched Rapid Response Teams to conduct detailed investigation of the outbreak and plan for a robust and timely response.

In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa pioneered mobile money transfer system under the Polio Eradication Initiative programme essentially to pay vaccination campaign workers. So far eight African countries have adopted the payment system, with others working to deploy mobile-based cash transfers in health programmes beyond polio. Dorcas Karimi, Digital Finance Officer with the WHO Regional Office for Africa, explains the progress achieved so far.

In November 2020, the novel Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) became the first vaccine to be authorized under the WHO Emergency Use Listing. The vaccine has since been rolled out for limited initial use in countries to tackle vaccine-derived poliovirus. Dr Richelot Ayangma, Medical Officer and nOPV2 Focal Point at the WHO Regional Office for Africa explains the vital role of the vaccine in ending all forms of polio and what countries must do to ensure effective vaccination campaigns.