05 April 2016 -WHO and partners need US$ 2.2 billion to provide lifesaving health services to more than 79 million people in more than 30 countries facing protracted emergencies this year, according to WHO’s Humanitarian Response Plans 2016 launched today.

20 July 2016, Geneva - Ahead of World Hepatitis Day, 28 July 2016, WHO is urging countries to take rapid action to improve knowledge about the disease, and to increase access to testing and treatment services. Today, only 1 in 20 people with viral hepatitis know they have it. And just 1 in 100 with the disease is being treated.

Arusha, 19 November -- Tanzania's Prime Minister, Frederick Sumaye, on Tuesday called for increased government-private sector cooperation in malaria control in Africa. 
Officiallly opening the Third Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Pan-African Conference in Arusha, Mr Sumaye said African governments alone could not control the scourge of malaria on the continent.

WHO Director General, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, said Tuesday in Harare that currently available evidence showed that genetically modified (GM) foods are "not likely to present human health risk", and that therefore "these foods may be eaten". She said that Southern African countries should consider accepting GM food aid in the face of the humanitarian crisis facing the region.

New York -- United Nations Deputy Secretary General Louise Frechette has called on the international community to help in "addressing the needs of Africa where poverty and health challenges are the most acute."

Launching an international health exhibition organized by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the UN Department of Public Information at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday, Mrs Frechette said: "We (the international community) must provide support to Africa …let this exhibition be an inspiration to us all."

Women's health is recognized as a human rights issue and should be promoted and defended as such. Women in Africa represent slightly over 50% of the continent's human resources and so women's health has huge implications for the Region's development. Focusing in particular on the unacceptably high level of maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, the report calls for a fundamental rethinking of approaches to improving women's health informed by an understanding of the sociocultural determinants that are so important in shaping it.

A meeting of health ministers from southern African counties and senior officials of WHO ended Wednesday in Harare, Zimbabwe, with delegates from participating countries renewing their "political commitment for immediate actions with a view to mitigating the health consequences" of the humanitarian crisis facing the region.

A report issued at the end of the meeting said that the ministers "indicated the importance of a strategic response which recognizes the multi-dimensional nature of the current crisis, and which responds effectively to people's priority needs."

As a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa has drawn huge global attention and response.

Numerous queries about immunization services and the risks they present have been raised. Tragically in some areas, there are reports of increased vaccine-preventable deaths, such as measles. In this context, practical guidance on immunization is needed.

The specific purpose of this document is to assist countries to:

Regional Consultation on the roles and responsibilities of WHO and civil society organizations in the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in the African Region

Intercontinental Hotel, Balaclava, Mauritius, 17-18 October 2016

Key facts

• Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide.
• In 2015, 10.4 million people fell ill with TB and 1.8 million died from the disease (including 0.4 million among people with HIV).