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Twelve national research participants completed the third module of the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) to help in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Sierra Leone. The participants consisting of medical doctors, nurses and other public health professionals representing all sectors across the One Health platform were selected from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS), Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF). SORT IT is a global partnership coordinated by TDR, a Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases or TDR, Co-sponsored by UNICEF, UNDP, the World Bank and WHO.

Asma* recalls the long journeys between her parents’ home in Mbour, a coastal city in western Senegal, and the Aristide Le Dantec Hospital in the capital Dakar, where she was being treated for leukaemia. It was a journey she came to know by heart. Diagnosed at age 16, she spent three long years in intensive treatment, followed by another five years of monitoring for any potentially life-threatening relapse.

WHO, in collaboration with UNFPA, Ministry of Health, and Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), has launched training on the clinical management of rape for health care professionals. The training series includes two 5-day training that took place the weeks of 31 January and 7 February 2022 in Addis Ababa aiming to improve the technical capacity of healthcare professionals to provide comprehensive clinical management to survivors of sexual violence and intimate partner violence. A total of 50 healthcare professionals from Addis Ababa, Afar, Amhara, and Oromia regional health bureaus, hospitals, universities, NGOs, and UN agencies were trained at the end of the series. These are health coordinators, medical doctors, clinical officers, midwives, and nurses working in emergencies.

P. Louis. Honorable Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth launched the national population-based survey report among people who use drugs on 10 February 2022 at the Sir H. Vaghjee Hall in Port Louis. Her Excellency Mrs Christine Umutoni, UN Resident Coordinator for Mauritius and Seychelles; WHO Representative, Dr Laurent Musango; Dr S. Appadoo, Coordinator, National Drug Secretariat and other personalities attended the official ceremony. The World Health Organization and the UNRC office collaborated with the national authorities in addressing the lack of evidence-based information on drug use at the national level through the recruitment of an international expert to conduct the survey as well as several Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance Surveys among drug users, from December 2020 to May 2021. The Prime Minister said that the Government alone cannot fight the drug war and the magnitude of the drug problem requires all stakeholders to engage in collaborative platforms to ensure that policies and strategies are implemented based on evidence-based information.