Zambia joined the rest of the world to commemorate the World No Tobacco Day on 31st May under the theme “Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship”. The Ministry of Health took the lead in mobilising various partners and stakeholders to participate in the campaign events. Government Ministries and Departments, Non-Governmental Organizations, Youth Organizations, schools and community based organisations are taking part in the various advocacy and awareness raising events lined up for the WNTD 2013 campaign.

31 May 2013 -- Today Zimbabwe joined the rest of the world in commemorating World No Tobacco Day in an event held at Rutendo Hall in Mufakose, Harare. This commemoration comes when  Zimbabwe is working on ratifying the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and hoping to implement their obligations under the framework convention.

Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on 31st May 2013 under the theme: “Ban All Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and sponsorship”.

The commemoration marks 26 years since the declaration by WHO to observe a “World No Tobacco Day” once annually. It also marks 10 years since Nations unanimously adopted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

World No Tobacco Day was commemorated on May 31st in Thaba-Bosiu, Maseru District, under a very timely and relevant theme for Lesotho :

“Ban Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship”.

To demonstrate that Lesotho does not need to rely on the tobacco industry to run events, the Ministry of Health, with support from the World Health Organization, organized a sports tournament for the youth of the area. Key health messages on the dangers of tobacco use were shared routinely with the crowd throughout the tournament.

Sierra Leone commemorated World No Tobacco Day 2013 on 31 May 2013 on the theme: “Ban Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship”. The Day is commemorated every year in Sierra Leone and countries around the world as opportunity for health authorities to inform all sectors of their populations of the dangers particularly the devastating health consequences associated with the use of tobacco products. The theme for this year’s commemoration is a call on countries to put a stop to all forms of promotion of tobacco.

Tanzania commemorated this year’s World No Tobacco Day at the University of Dar es Salaam premises, in Dar es Salaam on 31st May 2013. The Guest of Honour for the occasion was Regional Commissioner for Dar es Salaam who was represented by the Ilala District Commissioner, Mr Jordan Rugimbana. Others who were present at the event were the Executive Director for the Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum, Ms.

The Human Papilloma Virus vaccine has been introduced for the first time in the immunization programme in Zambia. The vaccine was introduced on 27th May 2013 on pilot basis in Chongwe, Kafue and Lusaka districts to pave way for scale-up to the rest of the country. The vaccination programme is using a school-based strategy which is targeting all girls in grade 4 while out of school girls aged 10 years will access the vaccines from the health centres and through community based strategies.

The Sixty-sixth session of the World Health Assembly took place in Geneva during 20–27 May 2013. At this session, the Health Assembly discussed a number of public health issues such as blindness, disability, mental health, neglected tropical diseases, Millennium Development Goals and the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children.

Inside this issue:

1 About this issue

2 & 3 Dr Luis G. Sambo, WHO Regional Director for Africa’s visit to Ethiopia

4 Ethiopia commemorates World Malaria Day 2013

6 WHO Country Office Contact

Ethiopia Newsletter Bulletin - 05, May 2013

Nigeria has joined the rest of the world to commemorate the 2013 World Tuberculosis (TB) Day.

The slogan for this year's campaign is ''Stop TB in my lifetime" while the theme is "Nigeria free of TB".  The event was held at the Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja on Friday 22nd March 2013.