Yola, 30 September, 2022 - In line with the target of improving the health of billions of people by 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting three states in northeast Nigeria – Borno, Adamawa and Yobe – (BAY states), to strengthen their health workforce to respond to the humanitarian crisis affecting the region through the provision of critical healthcare services including health risk messaging, and immunization.

Manyara Region - Until recently, Tanzania was among a few African countries that have fully vaccinated less than 10% of their eligible target population. As of June 2022, Tanzania had fully vaccinated only 8% of the target population above 18 years, although COVID-19 vaccination was introduced in July 2021. Yet, several independent studies, including Anjorin et (2021) and Institute of Public Health, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (2022), show that more than two-thirds of Tanzanians are willing or have the intention of getting vaccinated.

Brazzaville/Kampala/Kinshasa – The Democratic Republic of the Congo today declared the end of an Ebola outbreak that re-emerged six weeks ago in the country’s North Kivu Province. The announcement came as neighbouring Uganda races to curb an unrelated outbreak declared last week.

With only one case confirmed, the just-ended outbreak was one of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s least catastrophic. A previous outbreak – the country’s 14th in which there were four confirmed cases and five deaths – was declared over on 4 July this year.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is a sensitive topic that requires professionals working with victims and survivors to be empathetic. 

The World Health Organization (WHO)‘Clinical Handbook on the Health Care of Survivors Subjected to Intimate Partner Violence and/or Sexual Violence, Namibia’ has helped doctors, social workers and nurses like Mark Bezuidenhout, an enrolled nurse at Epako Clinic, to be more sensitive toward their patients. 

The leadership of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other health partners visited the Ebola-affected areas of Mubende district on 24 September to assess the health situation, understand the gaps and strengthen the response to the Ebola outbreak in the country.

The delegation was led by the Minister of Health, Honorable Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, and accompanied by the WHO Officer-in-Charge, Dr. Bayo Fatunmbi, representatives of various health development organizations and implementing partners, and three members of the Ugandan Parliament.

It is estimated that more than 1.1 million people in Africa will be dying from cancers annually in 2030 if the current growth of cancers is not checked.  Cancers constitute a significant share of a growing burden of non-communicable disease in Africa, with cancers resulting from infectious diseases being at the highest level compared to other regions of the world.

INDHOEK - As the focus shifted towards managing the global Covid-19 pandemic, essential health services such as routine immunization suffered a blow with many children subsequently missing out on their routine immunization. 

“The issue of Covid-19 affecting our immunization was felt at a national level,” says Tomas Ukola, the Khomas Health Regional Director. The routine immunization programme and maternal and child health days were disrupted primarily because of lockdowns and the decongestion happening in many health facilities. 

RUNDU - About ten kilometres on the eastern outskirts of Rundu is the Mayana village, an area characterized by flood plains. In fact, Mayana means flood plains in the local dialect and is named after the low-lying ground surrounded by water. 

“We have a lot of water bodies down here and mosquitoes breed everywhere,” explains Johannes Lipayi, the AFRO 2 Malaria project coordinator for Mayana and Sikondo villages, situated in the Kavango East and West regions. 

Juba, 21 September 2022 – World Health Organization (WHO) expresses its profound shock and sadness at the killing of its polio field surveillance officer in Bentiu city in South Sudan and condemns the violent death.

Daniel Deng Galuak was shot dead by an unidentified attacker at a health facility in Bieh Internally Displaced Persons camp in the northern Bentiu city in Unity State on 19 September 2022. The motive behind the attack is yet to be established.