Abuja, 27 March 2017 - Following the reported cases of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) in four(4) local government areas (LGAs), the Niger state government  in north central Nigeria has activated one of the most robust CSM disease outbreak preparedness and responses yet. With close to 60 suspected cases so far, the state has taken major steps including the appointment Dr Mustapha Jibril, the  Commissioner for Health, to lead the state response in close coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO). 

BANJUL, 27 March 2017 : The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Government of the Republic of the Gambia has introduced a new three-year tobacco taxation policy, 2017-2019, following discussions with and capacity building from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Juba, 27 March 2017— The third National Health Summit for South Sudan opened today with some 500 participants coming together to consider the challenges and opportunities of delivering health in South Sudan, and to establish a clear vision for health in the years ahead. 

Organized by the Republic of South Sudan’s Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) is a key organizing partner. The five day event’s theme is “Harnessing Strong Partnerships for a Resilient Health System towards attainment of Universal Health Coverage.” 

The Ministry of Health in collaboration with partners including WHO has finalized a fruitful health week with thousands turning up for different health interventions countrywide. The health week was held between 13th-18th March 2017, and it delivered an integrated package of preventive services known to be highly cost-effective for improving maternal and child health, malaria, HIV, Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and malnutrition control interventions. The health week was covered by different media countrywide, print, audio visual, online and community outreach.

Maiduguri, 25 March 2017 - Regardless of the insecurity in Borno state, more than 14, 000 volunteers are set to vaccinate 1.9 million children under 5-years old against wild poliovirus. The exercise, which is the first nationwide campaign against polio this year, will take place from 25 to 29 March 2017. WHO and partners have trained 1,817 house-to-house, 410 fixed posts and 362 transit teams in addition to 150 health camps across 206 wards in all local government areas (LGAs) except Abadam and Marte due to insecurity. 

BANJUL, 28 March 2017 : Stakeholders representing different interest groups and institutions attended a day’s workshop held on 23 March 2017 to discuss draft zero of the new mental health legislation for the Gambia.

Abuja, 24 March 2017 - In keeping with the 2017 World Tuberculosis (TB) Day slogan of ‘Accelerating TB Case Finding and Treatment’, Nigeria is scaling up availability of GeneXpert machines country-wide in order to start reversing the country’s unflattering position of having highest burden of TB in Africa.

FREETOWN, 24 March 2017 - On World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, the Government of Sierra Leone together with the World Health Organization and CISMAT called for united action to end TB in Sierra Leone, which is one of 30 countries globally with a severe burden of the disease.

23 March 2017, Kampala – The three day annual EPI Managers’ Meeting for East and Southern African (ESA) countries came to a close on 22th March, 2017 in Kampala, Uganda with EPI Managers approving recommendations to refine immunization country plans to improve coverage and equity in immunization and partners renewing commitments to supporting the immunization programme.

Last Friday 24th March 2017 - Rwanda joined the World to celebrate World Tuberculosis day focusing on the young population in Kigali City. The Ministry of Health through Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) with partners support, including WHO, has employed stringent ways that have caused a significant decline in Tuberculosis incidences in Rwanda.