Addis Ababa, March 24, 2024
Ethiopia commemorated World Tuberculosis Day (WTD) with renewed resolve, hosting a series of events, including a TB Research Conference held in the capital, Addis Ababa, from March 22nd to 23rd, 2024, to raise awareness about the global fight against Tuberculosis (TB).

The ongoing crisis in Sudan has significantly impeded the ability of the WHO office in Sudan to access and deliver essential emergency medical supplies to the regions of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains.

Due to the limited access and operational capacity in Sudan, the WHO Country Office in Sudan collaborated with WHO South Sudan office to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian commodities from South Sudan and provide the necessary support.

Namibia was one of the countries in the WHO Africa Region (AFRO) to conduct an assessment on the quality of care for maternal and child health in health facilities.  WHO’s vision for quality of care is for every pregnant woman and newborn to receive quality of care throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. The assessment that was conducted in March 2024 was supported by AFRO and aimed to determine the approaches countries employ and document lessons on institutionalizing quality of care for pregnant women and their newborns. 

In September 2022, Namibia joined other Member States in the WHO African Region to implement the Emergency Preparedness and Response Flagship (EPR) Initiative aimed at strengthening, emergency preparedness and response, disease surveillance, including laboratory capacities of countries across Africa. In line with the implementation of EPR flagship initiative, one of the key components calls for member states to have database of surge staff trained in emergency management and ready for deployment within 24 -48 hours to respond to public health events in country and beyond.

Arusha: Tanzania conducted Joint external Evaluation (JEE) in 2023 with results showing that 73% of the indicators had demonstrated developed capacities between the score levels of 3 to 5. Key recommendations on interventions that could move the country higher and better prepared to prevent, detect, and respond to health threats and emergencies were made.

Victoria ‒ In a further move towards pooled procurement of essential medicines and medical products, Ministers of Health from small African islands states established a secretariat and elected Mauritius as the host, taking critical steps to launch joint operations for increased access to affordable, quality-assured and safe medicines and medical supplies.