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The first round of an Oral Cholera Vaccination (OCV) campaign in four priority counties of South Sudan with active transmission of cholera, has successfully concluded despite security and access challenges in some areas. The vaccination campaign started on the 29 July, 2017 to 4 August, 2017 in the Kapoeta state including Kapoeta South, Kapoeta North, and Kapoeta East while in Tonj East the campaign started on 5 August, 2017 and ended on 12 August, 2017.

The United Republic of Tanzania is battling an outbreak of Cholera that has since August 2015 affected 26,046 people and claimed 410 lives. Ending the outbreak and preventing its spread beyond Tanzania's borders is a high priority for WHO. To that end, WHO and partners support a well-coordinated multisectoral response through the National Cholera Task Force which plans, coordinates and support subnational authorities.

“Building resilience, strengthening global health security!” was the theme during the historical launch of the Tanzania National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS). The journey towards the NAPHS started after completion of the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) in February 2016. This year, Tanzania made giant strides in strengthening the implementation of IHR core capacities.

The first Cross River Summit anchored on Human Resource for Health (HRH) on Primary Health Care (PHC) revitalization with the theme ‘Translating Health Policies and Plans into Action” was conducted in Calabar, the state capital on 7-8 August, 2017.

In Ethiopia, thousands of pilgrims flock to holy water sites for spiritual cleansing and physical healing. People often drink the holy water and perform ceremonial cleansing for their bodies or those of their loved ones. But there is a risk that these sites can be contaminated with bacteria that cause acute watery diarrhea (AWD) or other waterborne diseases as open defecation is a common practice in open fields close to holy water sites. To protect the pilgrims, WHO is working with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Ministry of Health, UNICEF, OCHA and other partners to ensure that water safety and latrine access is improved around holy water sites.