Every May 31, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners mark World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.

Juba, 14 June 2017– South Sudan on 14 June 2017 joined the rest of the world in marking the World Blood Donor Day under the theme: “What can you do? Give blood. Give now. Give often” to emphasize the significance of voluntary and regular blood donation and maintain adequate supplies and achieve a national self-sufficiency of blood; strengthen the emergency preparedness of health services in the community by donating blood and thank individuals who donate blood regularly and encourage young people to become new donors. 

WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti highlights the importance of ending the Ebola outbreak and strengthening WHO's capacity to respond to outbreaks. She also underscores the importance of strong health systems to better respond to future emergencies in both affected and non-affected countries.

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Windhoek, 14 June 2017 – The World Health Organization Namibia country office in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS) and the Namibia Blood Transfusion Services (NAMBTS) on 14 June commemorated the World Blood Donor Day. The event, which serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood, saw blood recipients giving testimonies and donors being honoured with certificates. The commemoration was held at the NAMBTS office premises.

Maiduguri, 14 June 2017 - The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in collaboration with Borno state government, WHO and 20 health sector partners have jointly conducted a mid-term review of the northeast health and nutrition emergency response project (HNERP) launched by the FMOH launched in January 2017.

Abuja, 13 June 2017 - The Taraba State Governor, His Excellency Darius Dickson Ishaku is seeking greater collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) in meeting the health needs of the his people. To show his commitment, the Governor paid an advocacy visit to the WHO country Representative (WR) Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu, in his office in Abuja on 09 June 2017.

As the emergency phase of the response to the Ebola outbreak winds down in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the 3 countries face an equally urgent and formidable task: building health systems capable of preventing, detecting and responding to outbreaks.
When Ebola first started spreading in West Africa, the early-warning systems that should have sounded the alarm bell failed to detect the outbreak until it was too late. That allowed the virus to spread rapidly, unhindered by fragile health systems that collapsed under its onslaught.

In the tiny village of Gukpale, deep in the equatorial forests of Bas-Uele province in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a doctor from the Ministry of Health talks to a young man who has fallen ill.

Read more about: In equatorial Congo, WHO and its partners respond to an Ebola outbreak

Hundreds of people who may have been in contact with 8 individuals infected with Ebola virus in Guinea’s southern prefectures of Nzérékoré and Macenta have been vaccinated with the experimental Ebola vaccine in a bid to contain the latest flare-up of Ebola.
WHO’s office in Guinea says more than 1,000 contacts have been identified and placed under medical observation. Nearly 800 have been vaccinated over the past week, including 182 who are considered to be high-risk contacts.