South Sudan: African Development Bank and WHO hand over vehicles to support COVID-19 response

Mr Kanu and Dr Ndenzako handing over the keys to Honorable Minister for Health, Honorable Elizabeth Achuei

Juba, 1 September 2021 - The African Development Bank has donated two cars to support South Sudan’s ongoing COVID-19 response as part of efforts by the Bank and its partners to ease the toll of the pandemic on vulnerable African states. The donation was made to the Ministry of Health through the World Health Organization (WHO), which is implementing the Bank-financed COVID-19 response project on behalf of the Government of South Sudan.

Ghana holds Conference on Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition

High level personalities that participated in the conference

Over the past few decades, the maternal mortality rate in Ghana has seen a steady decline due to several factors and robust systems put in place to ensure safe pregnancy and delivery. Data available to the Ghana Health Service shows a total number of 875 maternal deaths in 2018 and 838 in 2019.  This figure further decreased to 776 in 2020 despite the increase in total deliveries while institutional maternal mortality ratio reduced from 117 in 2019 to 106 in 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and all its associated impact.

Ghana Infectious Disease Center installs first Arterial Blood Gas Analyzer

WHO Staff on a tour at the facility during the installation process
Ghana like many other countries across the globe, is grappling with a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic driven by the delta variant. Since July 2021, the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded have increased significantly by 6.5 times compared to the month of June 2021 with 5-fold increase in deaths. All efforts are being made to provide the best of care to COVID patients but with only 2.7% of the population fully vaccinated and the delta variant in circulation, the country still stands a   high risk of COVID-19 infections with increased hospitalizations. 

• WHO launches Leadership for Health Transformation Programme to provide high-level strategic leadership to Senior Managers of Ghana’s Health Sector

Dr Kasolo, WHO Country Representative for Ghana delivering a statement at the function

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has gained momentum, especially among developing countries. Ghana’s UHC Roadmap, launched in 2020, will shape health care in the country till 2030. 
Straightening all crooked paths leading to the achievement of UHC, where all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, and without financial hardship requires a critical look at health sector reforms.

Sierra Leone safeguards children with new vaccine against polio

Immunizing children in Sierra Leone against polio
A sub-national polio immunization campaign starts today in Sierra Leone to protect an estimated 520,000 children under five years of age using the novel Oral Polio vaccine. The campaign will run for four days and will be implemented by national and district teams and frontline health workers that will go house to house in three districts - Tonkolili, Western Area Urban and Western Area Rural districts - to immunize eligible children.