Promoting and Protecting Breastfeeding for a better start in Life

Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius, advocating for the setting up of a ‘National Breastfeeding Promotion and Protection Committee’ as recommended in the National Framework to improve Maternal Newborn Child Health
Mauritius marked World Breastfeeding Week 2020 by an official ceremony performed by Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Hon. Kailash Jagutpal on 06 August 2020 at the Victoria Hospital, Candos. In line with this year’s theme, the country aims at creating awareness among young people on the importance of breast feeding and its positive contribution to a healthier planet. During the opening of the official ceremony, Dr Hon. Kailash Jagutpal, Minister of Health and Wellness, emphasized breastfeeding as key to all of the United Nations SDGs.  “Breastfeeding is directly linked to goal 3 on greater health and wellbeing and can also be aligned with Goal 4 on Education”, stated Dr Hon K. Jagutpal.  He added that mothers should be sensitized on the entire benefits of breastfeeding, including improving the cognitive ability of the child which is conducive to better learning outcomes.  “Breastfed babies are healthier and they are less likely to need excessive medical attention as they grow", said the Health Minister.  “The optimum use of energy and less waste to our landfills has a direct bearing on our commitment to curb down global pollution trends. This is reminiscent of Goal 12 of the SDG as it contributes to the health of our planet”, highlighted the Health Minister. WHO Representative in Mauritius, Dr Laurent Musango during his address, advocated for the setting up of a "National Breastfeeding Promotion and Protection Committee" as recommended in the National Roadmap/Framework to improve Maternal Newborn Child Health published in November 2019.  

Update COVID-19 10 August 2020

COVID_19 Update Rwanda

10 August 2020 — Twelve (12) new COVID-19 cases were identified out of 5720 samples tested today. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to two thousand, one hundred and fifty-two (2152). To date, one thousand, three hundred and ninety-two (1392) patients have recovered and been discharged, including forty-six (46) in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases is eight hundred and fifty-three (753) and seven (7) deaths.

Update COVID-19 09 August 2020

COVID_19 Update Rwanda

09 August 2020 — Six (6) new COVID-19 cases were identified out of 5175 samples tested today. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to two thousand, one hundred and forty(2140). To date, one thousand, three hundred and forty-six (1346) patients have recovered and been discharged, including forty-six (46) in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases is seven hundred and eighty-seven (787) and seven (7) deaths. The new death is a male aged 77 years old from Kigali.

Update COVID-19 08 August 2020

COVID_19 Update Rwanda

Update COVID-19  08 August 202008 August 2020 — Six (6) new COVID-19 cases were identified out of 4452 samples tested today. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to two thousand, one hundred and thirty-four (2134). To date, one thousand and three hundred (1300) patients have recovered and been discharged, including three (3) in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases is eight hundred and twenty-eight (828) and six (6) deaths. The new death is a male aged 51 years old from Kigali.

Update COVID-19 07 August 2020

COVID_19 Update Rwanda

07 August 2020 — Seventeen (17) new COVID-19 cases were identified out of 2902 samples tested today. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to two thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight (2128). To date, one thousand, two hundred and ninety-seven (1297) patients have recovered and been discharged, including thirty-nine (39) in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases is eight hundred and twenty-six (826) and five (5) deaths. 

WHO ramps up COVID-19 support to hotspot countries in Africa

WHO ramps up COVID-19 support to hotspot countries in Africa
The first members of a surge team of health experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) have arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa to bolster the country’s response to COVID-19. As the continent nears one million cases, WHO is expanding support to countries experiencing a significant uptick in cases.

Kaduna State and WHO scale up COVID-19 and  TB search with mobile testing in communities

Health worker taking COVID-19 sample in Makarfi LGA in Kaduna state

Kaduna, 6 August 2020 - World Health Organization (WHO) Nigeria has supported the screening of 2306 persons for COVID-19 and 2506 persons for Tuberculosis (TB), using Chest X-Ray, and GeneXpert machine through mobile testing in Kaduna State communities. Already, 265 COVID-19 cases and 105 presumptive with eight TB cases were diagnosed in six weeks (June and July 2020).

Update COVID-19 06 August 2020

COVID_19 Update Rwanda

06 August 2020 — Seven (7) new COVID-19 cases were identified out of 3196 samples tested today. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to two thousand, one hundred and eleven (2111). To date, one thousand, two hundred and fifty-eight (1258) patients have recovered and been discharged, including twenty-one (21) in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases is eight hundred and forty-eight (848) and five (5) deaths.