April 2014 - When Abdullah D. saw a doctor in the hospital close to his home in Conakry in late March 2014, he had high fever, headaches and felt very weak. The doctor immediately called in the infectious disease experts who arranged for Abdullah to be admitted to the country’s isolation facility at Donka, one of the biggest hospitals in the Guinean capital Conakry. When a laboratory test confirmed that Abdullah was infected with Ebola, he was devastated.

Luanda, 14 April 2014 - Health experts have begun a two day meeting in Luanda, Angola to discuss a range of issues aimed at improving the health of people living in the African Continent. The two-day meeting precedes the African Health Ministers meeting to be held from 16-17 April 2014 in Luanda.

Polio supplemental immunization activities (SIAs) have been met with stiff resistance in 478 quranic (Tsangaya) schools in the security-compromised state of Borno due to an array of reasons which deduced Immunization as a western ploy to check the growth of muslim population and fear that non-compliant parents may withdraw their children from schools that allow immunization

Nyamapanda: 16 April 2014. Zimbabwe welcomed the Racing Against Malaria 2 (RAM2) convoy at Nyamapanda border post which borders Zimbabwe with Mozambique. RAM is a regional advocacy campaign aimed at raising malaria awareness in communities in malaria endemic SADC countries. This year’s RAM started in Malawi on the 14th of April 2014 and is running under the theme “A malaria free SADC: Moving towards malaria elimination by 2020”. The RAM convoy will drive through Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana reaching Angola on the 25th of April.

Monrovia 9 April, 2014: Following reported 22 suspected and 5 confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease, including 10 deaths from the 24th of March 2014 to present, Liberia has been scaling up activities to prevent further spread of Ebola. The Minister of Health and Social Welfare has established the National Task Force to coordinate Ebola outbreak response in the country. The Task Force meets on a daily basis to give updates on progress made, challenges and opportunities in prevention and control of the disease.

APRIL 9, 2014 - Conakry, Guinea – The efforts to control the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Guinean capital Conakry are being intensified. More resources were mobilised and WHO and partners are streamlining their coordination of different components of the response.

Freetown 8 April 2014 - WHO Country Office in Sierra Leone donated various personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to the Ebola outbreak in neighboring Guinea and Liberia. This second of at least 4 more consignments included more than 2,000 PPE suits, respirators, gloves, face shields, face masks, gowns , body bags and bio hazard plastic bags.

The Honourable Minister of Health, Professor C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, had in the presence of the WHO Country Representative Dr. Rui Gama Vaz, hosted a Ministerial Media Conference to mark the 2014 World Health Day with the theme: ‘Small bite, Big threat’, focusing on preventing Vector-borne diseases.

Ghana joined the rest of the world to celebrate the 2014 World Health Day (WHD) at the forecourt of the Ghana Health Service Headquarters in Accra. The focus this year was on Vector Borne Diseases (VBD) which includes Malaria, Lymphatic filariasis (which can cause Elephantiasis) and Yellow Fever. Highlighting the serious and increasing threat these diseases pose to global health and the need to protect ourselves from the vectors such as the mosquitoes which play a key role in the transmission of VBD, the slogan for the campaign was “small bite, big threat”.

Brazzaville, 7 April  2014 - The above headline would have been unimaginable 30 years ago when Guinea-worm disease (GWD) was robust, alive and well in much of Africa.