Establishment of the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre in Mauritius Ministry of Health and Wellness – a key milestone for greater health security in Mauritius

Public health emergencies arising from multi hazards and threats continue to be a major concern, especially in the African Region with more than 100 public health emergencies reported and responded to annually. To enhance swift, effective and coordinated prevention, preparation, response and recovery to these emergencies, the International Health Regulations recommend the establishment of a functional Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) to serve as the ‘nerve centre’ for preparation and response to public health emergencies. Mauritius strives to have an established PHEOC with a well-established incident command and control system, with the necessary well trained core workforce, tested standard operating procedures, well equipped physical facility where results from surveillance and/or early detection of alerts can be managed in a timely manner and lead to swift and effective response of public health emergencies to subsequently reduce the health and socio- economic burden on the country.

Bold Initiative to Combat Workplace Harassment and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Ethiopia

Bold Initiative to Combat Workplace Harassment and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian country office of the World Health Organization (WHO Ethiopia) has taken a significant step towards addressing workplace harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in the health sector. 

In line with this, WHO Ethiopia successfully conducted three sessions of Training of Trainers (ToT) on National Health Sector Prevention and Response to Workplace Harassment and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (NHS-PRWPH & SEA) guidelines.

Mauritius tackles anti-microbial resistance through formulation of a second Plan of Action

Mauritius has successfully developed its second national action plan on anti-microbial resistance (AMR) 2024-2028, through a three-week robust workshop supported by the World Health Organization. This comes following the evaluation of the first national action plan (NAP) 2018-2022 by the same team from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) in September 2023. The Ministry of Health and Wellness of Mauritius has shown great concern about the burden of AMR.  A significant number of deaths in Mauritius can be attributed to hospital-acquired infections, many of which are caused by drug-resistant organisms. The global findings are also worrying with 1.27 million deaths caused by AMR while a further 4.95 million deaths are associated with AMR in 2019. The WHO Representative Dr Anne Ancia has underlined the high rates of multi-drug organisms reported at hospital level and most importantly in the intensive care units. The growing rates of AMR and the decline in new antibiotics emerging on the pharmaceutical market are likely to accentuate the problem of lack of treatment for resistant infections contributing to higher mortality rates.

Navigating the Waves of Cholera: A Tale of Recovery and Community Resilience

Navigating the Waves of Cholera: A Tale of Recovery and Community Resilience

“I was seated beside my friend when an unexpected wave of unease and fatigue washed over me. Abruptly, a sudden onset of slightly whitish and watery diarrhea, coupled with relentless vomiting, compelled me to rush to my backyard several times an hour” Mohammed Hadji Ahmed, a 30-year-old resident of the Cholera outbreak-affected Melkaoligadi kebele in Gasera Woreda, Bale zone of Oromia regional state in Ethiopia recalls his harrowing experience.

Mauritius upscales Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response

Mauritius upscales Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response
The Covid-19 pandemic has left major impact globally. Mauritius has been very efficient in responding to the pandemic through various measures established during the crisis. Although the response has been swift, the toll on the health of population as well as the socio-economic implications cannot be undermined. Among the key lessons learned, the need for strengthened preparedness and real-time early warning systems are of high priority. Mauritius thus endeavors to consistently strengthen its public health emergency preparedness and early warning system through the upscaling of its Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) System. The Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) with the support of World Health Organization has therefore made major progress in IDSR this year through 1. the adaptation of the 3rd edition of the WHO technical guidelines for IDSR to meet Mauritius context, 2.  the capacity building of healthcare workers through training of  46 trainers and 151 regional Health Care Workers on IDSR, 3. the initiation of a national cascade training of IDSR aiming to train 7000 health professionals in 181 health facilities in the Republic of Mauritius by December 2024, and 4. the revision of the list of priority diseases that will be part of the real-time surveillance and early warning system.

WHO Africa, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pursue collaboration to leverage data analytics to fight diseases

WHO Africa, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pursue collaboration to leverage data analytics to fight diseases

Brazzaville - The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) have committed to strengthening collaboration towards the use of data analytics in the fight against diseases in the African region.

The commitment was made during a technical visit to the WHO Africa office in Brazzaville, Congo by a delegation from BMGF led by Jennifer Gardy, Deputy Director, Surveillance, Data, and Epidemiology from 8 to 10 January 2024.