The WHO Country Office and MOH had organized a validation workshop on health facility standards on 7 September 2017 at the Conference Hall of Nyala Hotel in Asmara. The national standard aims to give a shared voice to the expectations of the public, service users, and service providers.

WHO is rapidly scaling up its response to an outbreak of plague in Madagascar that has spread to the capital and port towns, infecting more than 100 people in just a few weeks.

The Government of Madagascar has confirmed that the death of a Seychellois national was due to pneumonic plague. The basketball coach died in hospital in Antananarivo on Wednesday (September 27) while visiting the island nation for a sports event.

Planning for the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) in Kenya is on track with roll out of the vaccine scheduled to begin in 2018. Kenya is one of three African countries selected by the World Health Organization to participate in the first implementation of the vaccine that has been shown to reduce 4 out of 10 cases of malaria, and prevent severe malaria by more than 30% in the age group recommended to receive the vaccine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) supported Uganda to design a harmonized, detailed and realistic road-map of activities to improve collaboration between animal health and the public health sector, in a three-day meeting convened at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala. The roadmap will enable Uganda to prevent, detect and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks. The roadmap highlighted the importance of International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) and the role of WHO, on the mandate of the OIE.

Expectant mothers in the Kunene region will soon be able to have better access to safe delivery services. The Opuwo Town Council signed a contract with Hauseb Construction JV Ya Kandundu Investments on 28 September 2017 for the construction of the Maternity Waiting Home.  The contract signing was followed by the handing over of the site to the contractor for works to commence and the much awaited Maternity Waiting Home will be completed in February 2018. 

25 September 2017, Juba – The Ministry of Health, Republic of South Sudan in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), other government ministries/agencies and partners including FAO, UNICEF and IOM completed the self-assessment of the implementation of International Health Regulations (2005) and Global Health Security Agenda(GHSA).