A case of Guinea worm disease (GWD) was confirmed in Angola in June 2018.  The case, an eight-year girl, hails from the Cunene Province in Angola, which borders Ohangwena and Omusati Regions in Namibia.  In response, Angolan authorities, with WHO support, carried out further case searches in three southern provinces of the country, including Cunene. During the exercise, a suspected case was detected who, at the time of her illness, had travelled to Engela in Ohangwena Region for a wedding and was treated at the Engela District Hospital.

The WHO Country Office in Eritrea held the goals week in February 2019 organized as a retreat in the beautiful historic port of Massawa. It was a perfect opportunity to take a step back from the day-to-day work of the office and spend some time thinking about the big picture of the possible way forward for implementation of the GPW13 as a team.

Entebbe, 27th February 2019: - Data quality, analysis and use are instrumental in the delivery of quality and equitable health services in Uganda. Consequently, the Ministry of Health (MoH), with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), is conducting a three-day workshop aimed at strengthening health facility data quality, analysis and use.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti leaves Yaounde this morning after wrapping up a three-day maiden visit to Cameroon. The visit took place from 21-23 February 2019.

February 22, 2019

Kenya has attained maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination status, MNTE, following a successful WHO-led validation process in 2018 to confirm the elimination of the disease. The process was preceded by a pre-validation assessment in September 2017 done by the Ministry of Health with the support of WHO and UNICEF.
Elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) means a reduction of neonatal tetanus incidence to below one case per 1000 live births per year in every district (county). 

The Zambian government has committed itself to ending cholera by the year 2025 through the validation of the national multi-sectoral cholera elimination plan for the period 2019 to 2025. Four cabinet ministers signed a pledge of commitment to end cholera in the country at the closing ceremony of a workshop which was organized by the Ministry of Health to finalise and validate the cholera elimination plan. The multi-sectoral cholera elimination plan will be used to mobilise resources and guide the strategies and activities to be implemented in the country in order to eliminate cholera.

Abuja, 21 February 2019 - Engagement of community informants for Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance has yielded positive impact    in Borno State. 

Kampala, 20 February 2019:- The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) have today signed a partnership agreement to strengthen Ebola screening for travelers crossing boarders across Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with an aim of saving lives.

Under the agreement, WHO with funding from DFID Uganda, will provide USD 161,662 to complement the Uganda Red Cross Society efforts to deploy man power to manage all the 25  mapped entry points at high risk.