PRESS RELEASE

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — One year after the inaugural Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children in Bogotá, delegates from across Africa have made renewed commitments to intensify efforts to protecting children from violence

To mark the United Nations’ 80th anniversary, WHO, in partnership with other UN agencies and the Government of Liberia, launched a health campaign to deliver crucial preventive care, early detection services, and essential health awareness to people across the country. 

Windhoek—The World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a week-long assisted self-benchmarking exercise aimed at strengthening Namibia’s national regulatory system for medical products. Held in Windhoek from 20 to 24 October 2025, the assisted self-benchmarking used the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) to review the maturity of the country’s regulatory functions and to identify the strengths of the system and priority areas for improvement.

Mbabane—Eswatini faces one of the highest burdens of cervical cancer globally. In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office has supported the Ministry of Health in the development and ongoing implementation of the Cervical Cancer Elimination Acceleration Plan (2024–2028). This plan aims to achieve the 90–70–90 targets by 2030, in alignment with the WHO Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer as a Public Health Problem.

Zambezi Region—The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), supported the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) to conduct a two-day orientation workshop in the Zambezi region. The training focused on the legal and policy framework for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV), from 3 - 4 November 2025.

Windhoek—The World Health Organization (WHO) visited the Namibia Blood Transfusion Service (NamBTS) Headquarters in Windhoek to gain an in-depth understanding of the organization’s operations and identify potential areas for closer collaboration. The visit, initiated by NamBTS, provided WHO an opportunity to observe the entire blood donation and transfusion value chain, from donor recruitment and collection to testing, processing and safe patient transfusion.

Addis Ababa, 7 November 2025 — The Ministry of Health (MOH), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and with financial support from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), has officially launched a month-long mass campaign to screen and treat cervical cancer in six regions: Addis Ababa, Amhara, Central Ethiopia, Oromia, Sidama, and South Ethiopia.

Windhoek—“In 2020, I underwent screening and was told that I had lesions, so I was put on treatment,” said Wendy Kalima, a 43-year-old woman from Sibbinda village in Namibia’s Zambezi region. After completing her treatment course, Kalima was scheduled for a follow-up in 2023, but due to unforeseen circumstances, she could not attend. “Today, I decided to come for follow up screening, and I was told that I am fully treated. I no longer have lesions,” she said with excitement. “I am going to encourage my fellow community members to go for screening.