Zimbabwe launches new vaccine during the National Immunization Days

Eastview nursery school performing a play about immunization

Harare, 21 Sept. 2015 :  The Honorable Minister of Health and Child Care Dr. David Parirenyatwa, in conjunction with WHO, UNICEF, and other partners, launched the National Immunization Days (NIDs) on 21 September in Harare. NIDs are selected days when measles vaccines as well as vitamin A supplements are given to children between the ages of 6 – 59 months, irrespective of vaccination status, and are extra doses which supplement and do not replace the doses received according to routine immunizations.

The African regional workshop on Pediatric and Adolescent HIV & AIDS

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Entebbe, 17 September 2015:- Day 3 of the workshop focused on delivering HIV & AIDS services through a continuum of care, Community Engagement and Participation and Strategic information; monitoring and evaluation.

Delivery of HIV & AIDS services through a continuum of care

WHO/UNICEF report: Malaria MDG target achieved amid sharp drop in cases and mortality, but 3 billion people remain at risk

Child in front of insecticide treated bed net EPA/K. Ludbroo

17 September 2015 - Malaria death rates have plunged by 60% since 2000, translating into 6.2 million lives saved, the vast majority of them children, according to a joint WHO-UNICEF report released today.
The report – “Achieving the malaria MDG target” – shows that the malaria MDG target to “have halted and begun to reverse the incidence” of malaria by 2015, has been met “convincingly”, with new malaria cases dropping by 37% in 15 years.

Rapid response to new Ebola infection in Bombali, Sierra Leone

Ebola contact tracing team at work in the quarantined village, Bombali district, Sierra Leone.

WHO is helping Sierra Leone to mobilize all its experience and partners to ensure that any new cases of Ebola are investigated and transmission of the disease stopped as rapidly as possible. Sad news that a 16-year old girl had died from Ebola in Bombali district, a part of the country that had a large outbreak 6 months ago, sparked an immediate inter-agency rapid response. Partners sent people with the skills and equipment needed to stop further infection in Bombali.

Day One Bulletin: African Regional Workshop on HIV in Children and Adolescents

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Entebbe, 15 September 2015:- The African Regional Workshop on HIV & AIDS in Children  and Adolescents has today opened at Imperial Golf View Hotel under the theme  “Stepping up the case for HIV & AIDS care and treatment among children and adolescents in the African Region”, to review country progress in addressing HIV among children and adolescents.

13th African Traditional Medicine Day commemorated in Ethiopia

13th African Traditional Medicine Day commemoration in Ethiopia

The 13th Africa Traditional Medicine Day was commemorated under the theme “Regulation of Traditional Health Practitioners in African Region” in August 31, 2015 in a workshop organized by WHO and the Food, Medicine and Health Care Administration and Control Authority. On this occasion, Ms Heran Gerba, Deputy Director General of Food Medicine and Healthcare Administration and Control Authority (FMHACA) while delivering an opening remark highlighted the valuable contribution of the traditional medicine in Ethiopia where 80% of the people use the traditional medicine.

Finding Every Last Poliovirus

Amina Ismail, a surveillance officer in Kenya, visits health care centres, schools, community leaders and traditional healers to build their knowledge of how to identify and report cases of polio.

Surveillance Officers like Amina Ismail in Kenya spend their days chasing the poliovirus to its final hiding places, so that it can be stopped forever.

Down to zero – Nigeria on the path to polio eradication

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Abuja, 11 September 2015 - There’s starting to be a breath of fresh air for parents in Africa, and around the world, as Nigeria approaches being removed from the notorious polio-endemic list. From more than 1122 cases in 2006 to zero today, Nigeria has made tremendous progress in polio eradication with no children being paralyzed in more than one year.

Over 11,000 people received first dose of Oral Cholera Vaccine at Kasinthula in Chikwawa district – Malawi

A young child taking in the Oral Cholera Vaccine during the first dose campaign in Chikwawa

Lilongwe: The Ministry of Health and World Health Organization in collaboration with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) implemented the Oral Cholera Vaccine campaign in the area around Kasinthula area in Chikwawa district from 10 to 15 August 2015. A final report produced by the District Health Office on 15 August shows that 11,474 people received the first dose of the Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) in Kasinthula area representing 93% coverage.