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The Regional Director Dr Moeti will lead a WHO AFR delegation to the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly which takes place in New York from 23–28 September 2018.

Addis Ababa, 19, September 2018: Four countries from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) signed a communique on polio eradication in Garissa, Kenya on 14th September 2018. The communique underscored the need to combine and strengthen the effort of Horn of Africa countries currently responding to an outbreak of poliovirus detected in environmental surveillance and human case samples from Somalia and Kenya. The polio outbreak has been classified as a Grade 2 Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The detection of poliovirus in these two IGAD countries leaves the remaining five IGAD member states (Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Djibouti) at high risk for similar outbreaks due to population movement.

A validation workshop is being conducted in Mauritius from 18 to 20 September 2018 in view of critically assess the levels of the country’s core capacities in detecting hazards from all sources and effectively respond to them without disruption of travel and trade.  The workshop, a preparatory step for the final visit by the external team of expert of the workshop, aims at validating the self-assessment report and identifying and compiling all reference documents that will be eventually required by the external team of expert during the final visit.

Non-communicable diseases (NCD), which include cancer and diabetes, are a leading cause of death in the region. WHO estimates its “best buy” NCD policies will save 8 million lives globally.