“Blood donation to save lives”, was conceived by the UN Heads of Agencies as part of activities marking UN@74, which is in line with WHO’s challenge to countries to get 100% of their blood from voluntary blood donation.

The World Health Organization Country Office in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) spearheaded this exercise in Soma District Hospital, Lower River Region of The Gambia. Heads of the different UN Agencies and staff participated in the event.

The Minister of Health, Honourable Lizzie Nkosi opened the second consultative workshop for improving access to affordable vaccines for Middle Income Countries (MICs) in Africa, at the Royal Swazi Convention Centre in Ezulwini on 30 October 2019. This meeting, organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa is attended by stakeholders involved in the procurement and use of vaccines from seven Middle Income  Countries in  African. 

Maiduguri, 1 November, 2019 - Not so long ago, collecting and evaluating large amounts of data in the field on disease trends and patterns – an activity known as surveillance – was a cumbersome process. Surveillance officers noted information by hand on paper and sent hard copies of weekly reports to the local government area (LGA) secretariat via disease surveillance and notification officers (DSNOs). 

Juba, 25 October 2019: To improve reporting performance and capacity to detect outbreaks, South Sudan reviewed and adapted the Third Edition of the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) guidelines for timely detection and prompt response to disease outbreaks and public health risks.

The Ambassador of Japan to Rwanda, His Excellency Mr. Takayuki Miyashita, joined Rwanda to emphasize community engagement in preventing Ebola. Mr.Tukayuki along with Dr. Mwinga Kasonde, World Health Organisation Rwanda Office Representative  and State Minister for Primary Health Care and Public Health Dr. Patrick Ndimubanzi conducted an Ebola Virus Disease community mobilization exercise on the September 20, 2019 in Gahanga Sector, Kicukiro District, Kigali City.

Abuja, 29 October, 2019 - Five-year-old Hadiza Malami* and her siblings were born with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Hadiza’s parents, who are both HIV positive, only started receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment a year after Hadiza’s birth when an HIV testing and treatment centre opened in their neighbourhood.