Sierra Leone conducted post epidemic evaluation of the cholera outbreak that affected 12 out of the country’s 13 districts with a cumulative of 22,971 reported cases and 299 deaths and case fatality rate of 1.30 between January to December 2012. The evaluation was conducted in March 2013 with the objective to assess the overall  outbreak response and preparedness with a view of documenting lessons learned, identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and make recommendations.

Brazzaville, 15 April 2013 -- From 22 to 28 April, African countries will celebrate the third African Vaccination Week (AVW), an initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and implemented by countries in the region.      

The Government of United Republic of Tanzania is hosting a multi-country scale up workshop at the Tanzanian Training Centre for International Health (TTCIH) in Ifakara on the “One Million community health workers” campaign. The workshop participants include key national representatives from ministries of health of ten (10) African countries. The opening ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Seif Rashid.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) launched the first Integrated National Waste Management Policy and Strategy, and an Integrated Vector Management Strategic Plan on 12 April 2012. The occasion was also used to distribute the Country Report of the Situation Analysis and Needs As-sessment on Health and Environment. The documents were launched by Dr Abu Bakarr Fofanah, Deputy Minister-1 of MoHS.

Burundi is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa, bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. It has a population of 8.383 million (2011) and is divided into 17 provinces, 117 communes.

About this Special issue

This is a special edition of WHO Ethiopia Country office focusing on the celebration of the World Health Day on the 7th of April 2013 in Addis Ababa. The event was observed under the theme “Prevent Non-communicable diseases– reduce risk factors through lifestyle changes”.

Ethiopia - Newsletter - Bulletin No .03 –11, April 2013

Maputo 10 April 2013 - The Mozambican Ministry of Health, introduced on 10 April 2013 the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 10 (PCV-10) into the national immunization program. The launch of the PCV-10 took place in Boane District and was chaired by the Minister of Health, Dr. Alexandre Manguele, who also gave the first vaccine.

The introduction of the PCV-10 was organized collaboration with the WHO, UNICEF, GAVI, USAID, Save the Children, VillageReach, Fundação para Desenvolvimento da Comunidade (FDC), and other partners.

Lesotho commemorated World Health Day on 07th April 2013 and the commemoration was hosted at Lithabaneng, Maseru under this year’s global theme; “HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE”. The function was organized by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with WHO and was beautified by the presence of the Honorable Minister of Health, Dr. Pinkie Rosemary Manamolela; Mr. Mohlakola Hlabana, WHO PHE officer speaking on behalf of the WHO Representative to Lesotho; Dr. Mpolai Moteetee, Director General of Health Service in the Ministry of Health; Dr. Lugemba Budiaki, Director of Primary Health Care; Mr.

Kampala, 16th April 2013 -- Uganda formally commemorated World Health Day 2013 with a national function held in Budaka district, Eastern Uganda. The commemoration under the theme “High Blood Pressure: A silent killer” was presided over by the Minister of Health Dr Christine Ondoa.

The Ministry of Health, with support from the UN country team, conducted the MAF validation workshop for stakeholders on the costed MAF action plan on the 28th March 2013. The costing of the MAF action plan was facilitated by the WHO Inter Country Support Team through Dr. Nganda from Harare and Dr. Getachew Atnafu from the WHO Ethiopia. The objective of the workshop was to share and discuss identified interventions, bottlenecks and solutions on MAF action plan and reach consensus. Director General of Health Services, Dr. Mpolai Moteetee, opened the meeting.