ADDIS ABABA, 17 May 2016 | An Official Handover Ceremony of Rotary’s Grant

The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International grants Eth. Birr 88.8 million for operational support to ENDPOLIONOW in Ethiopia through WHO- Ethiopia. As long standing supporter of polio eradication initiative for the last 25 years, Rotary’s grant globally is bout USD 2.3 Billion.

Abuja, 16 May, 2016 – Today, the Government of Canada, through the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, announced a contribution of $19.9 million towards the eradication of polio in Nigeria. The grant, which will be implemented during the period 2016/17 – 2020 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is expected to sustain the polio eradication gains through strengthened routine immunization (RI). The project will help immunize approximately 6.6 million girls and 6.9 million boys against polio in 11 high risk Nigerian states.

airobi, May 16, 2016 - Kenya has rolled out a massive nation-wide Measles-Rubella campaign which targets almost half the population. The campaign which runs from May 16-24 will cover all the 47 counties and target 19,922,722 children between 9 months and 14 years. The rubella component will be offered in public health facilities for the first time but will be offered as one vaccine with measles. In addition, 11 targeted counties will offer tetanus vaccination for girls and women aged 15-49. These are counties more at risk and with low immunization coverage.

Mbale, 16th May 2016 - The Ministry of Health with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a three-day regional training on sample collection, packaging and transportation of dangerous pathogens at Crown Suits Hotel in Mbale District. 

Delivering the key note address on her behalf by the Chief Director of the Ministry of  the Ministry of Health Dr Afisa Zackaria, Her Excellency the First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, Mrs Lordina Mahama, mentioned that tremendous progress had been made in the domain of reducing childhood illnesses and deaths and preventing the spread of vaccine preventable diseases.

Abuja, 10 May 2016 - Having interrupted the transmission of indigenous wild poliovirus in 2015 and put in place measures to further improve and sustain certification standard surveillance; Nigeria has now embarked on efforts towards ensuring adequate documentation of surveillance and immunization activities towards certification.

A coordination meeting was conducted at the National Polio Laboratory in Addis Ababa on April 5, 2015. The participants of this meeting included the Head of the Polio and Measles Laboratory, senior laboratory experts, and staff from WHO. The purpose of the meeting was to review the 2015 polio and measles laboratory performance.  

Collecting patients’ data in a comprehensive national registry is key to improved and effective cancer care in Africa. This was the main conclusion of a recent workshop held in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. The workshop brought together health authorities and cancer control experts from 19 francophone African countries.

Health workers in Ethiopia are mostly women and they are playing a key role in immunization. In addition to many other responsibilities that they have, they are serving their communities by immunizing their children against vaccine preventable diseases towards saving lives of millions of children. Polio vaccination campaigns in Ethiopia rely on the commitment of local health workers who visit each and every house to ensure that no eligible child is left behind.

Central EPI Team members supported the Ethiopian Food, Medicine and Health Care Administration and Control Authority (EFMHACA) to conduct a training of trainers (TOT) on Adverse events following immunization (AEFI) causality assessment for regional task force members in Adama town. The TOT was conducted in two rounds from 28th March - 1st April, 2016 and from April 12-15, 2016 respectively.