6 OCTOBER 2017 | ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR - WHO has delivered nearly 1.2 million doses of antibiotics and released US$1.5 million dollars in emergency funds to fight plague in Madagascar.

“Plague is curable if detected in time. Our teams are working to ensure that everyone at risk has access to protection and treatment. The faster we move, the more lives we save,” said Dr. Charlotte Ndiaye, WHO Representative in Madagascar.

Juba, 05 October 2017: Immunization has made a significant impact on the health of the people of South Sudan, with services reaching and protecting even the most marginalized and vulnerable populations.

The increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is evident in most developing countries and Namibia is no exception. Cancer is one of the four major NCDs with cervical, breast, and prostate cancer being amongst the top 5.  

Although data on the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) burden in the general population of Namibia in not year available, in Southern Africa, about 3.2% of women in the general population are estimated to harbour cervical HPV-16/18 infection at a given time.   61.8% of invasive cervical cancers are attributed to HPVs 16 or 18.  

Planning for the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) in Kenya is on track with roll out of the vaccine scheduled to begin in 2018. Kenya is one of three African countries selected by the World Health Organization to participate in the first implementation of the vaccine that has been shown to reduce 4 out of 10 cases of malaria, and prevent severe malaria by more than 30% in the age group recommended to receive the vaccine.

The WHO Country Office and MOH had organized a validation workshop on health facility standards on 7 September 2017 at the Conference Hall of Nyala Hotel in Asmara. The national standard aims to give a shared voice to the expectations of the public, service users, and service providers.

WHO is rapidly scaling up its response to an outbreak of plague in Madagascar that has spread to the capital and port towns, infecting more than 100 people in just a few weeks.

The Government of Madagascar has confirmed that the death of a Seychellois national was due to pneumonic plague. The basketball coach died in hospital in Antananarivo on Wednesday (September 27) while visiting the island nation for a sports event.

Expectant mothers in the Kunene region will soon be able to have better access to safe delivery services. The Opuwo Town Council signed a contract with Hauseb Construction JV Ya Kandundu Investments on 28 September 2017 for the construction of the Maternity Waiting Home.  The contract signing was followed by the handing over of the site to the contractor for works to commence and the much awaited Maternity Waiting Home will be completed in February 2018.