New Minister of Health recommits government to end Hepatitis E Outbreak

Minister of Health and Social Services, Hon. Dr. Kalumbi Shangula

The Ministry of Health and Social Services has recommitted itself to ending the Hepatitis E Outbreak which has claimed 41 lives since December 2017. A National Health Emergency Management Committee was activated since confirmation of the outbreak and the Ministry has engaged partners and mobilized resources to respond to the outbreak. Despite these control measures, the disease persists and has now spread to more than 7 of the 14 regions of the country.

With support from WHO, the Ministry of Health to rollout Mobile Phone-Based Surveillance System to every health facility in South Sudan

Dr. Boris Pavlin, WHO Epidemiologist demonstrates the use of an EWARS mobile phone during the training

15 February 2019, Juba – In 2016, with support from WHO and partners, South Sudan was the first country in the world to roll out “EWARS in a box,” the early warning, alert and response system (EWARS) that permitted mobile phone-based reporting of priority outbreak-prone diseases from a number of partner-supported health facilities in the conflict-affected areas of the country. 

WHO reaffirms support to improve health and well-being of Algerians

Dr Moeti visits a pharmaceutical plant in Algeirs, Algeria
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti has re-affirmed WHO’s support to improve the health and well-being of Algerians. She made the remarks during a courtesy call on His Excellency Ahmed Ouyahia, Prime Minister of the Republic of Algeria.

WORLD CANCER DAY 2019: ‘I Am And I Will’. A Call for Personal Commitment And Action To Fight Cancer

Dr B. Ori, Director Health Services, Dr Hon. A. Husnoo, Minister of Health and Quality of Life, Dr L. Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius and the Lord Major of the Municipal Council of Port Louis, Mr Daniel Eric Clive Laurent attending the official launching of activities in the context of the World Cancer Day 2019
Every year the World Cancer Day is marked globally on 4th of February to raise awareness and educate the population across the globe about cancer and unite efforts be it governments or individuals to take action against the disease to save millions of preventable deaths.  In Mauritius, the World Cancer Day was marked this year under the theme ‘I Am And I Will’ on 12 February 2019 at Roche Bois Social Welfare Centre.  On this occasion, Dr Hon. Anwar Husnoo, Minister of Health and Quality of Life launched a series of activities in view of sensitizing people on the prevention and control of cancer in the country.  Eminent personalities namely the Lord Major of the Municipal Council of Port Louis, Mr Daniel Eric Clive Laurent and Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius were present during the official launching of the activities. Dr Hon.  A.  Husnoo , in his speech, stated his appreciation that a large number of people was attending the launching of activities and he added that ‘this is an indication that people are aware of the magnitude of the problem and they show their interest  in participating in the  national prevention and control programme against cancer that is being carried out by the Ministry.’  Right at the start, the Health Minister expressed his concern on the rising number of new cancer cases in Mauritius.  According to the Cancer Registry, there were 2500 new cases of cancer in 2015 and the number of death due to cancer has also increased.  In fact, 13.3% of deaths in 2015 in Mauritius were due to cancer and in Rodrigues, the figure was 14.3%. 

Universal Health Coverage: leaving no one behind in the Kingdom of Eswatini

Dr Juliet Nabyonga from Inter- country Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa making a presentation

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently conducted the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scoping exercise in the Kingdom of Eswatini from 28 January to 1 February 2019. The exercise was led by the Ministry of Health with participation of other stakeholders. Dr Juliet Nabyonga from Inter- country Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa, Dr Stanley Midzi from Zimbabwe country office, Dr. Akin. Oyemakinde, a consultant and Dr Khosi Mthethwa, the Health Systems Strengthening focal point in Eswatini WHO country office provided the required technical support for the exercise.

A pivotal moment demanding urgent action on ‘Food Safety’: Unsafe food is unacceptable

Dr. Tedros Adhanom, WHO Director General during his opening speech
The First FAO/WHO/AU International Food Safety Conference started today in Addis Ababa in Mandela hall of the African Union Headquarters conference center. This joint conference brought together Ministers of Health, Ministers of Agriculture, leading scientific experts, partner agencies as well as representatives of consumers, food producers and distributors. The conference aimed to identify key actions and strategies to address current and future challenges to food safety globally and to strengthen commitment at the highest political level to scale up food safety in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.