Maputo, 28 October 2014- The Acting WHO  Country Representative for Mozambique, Dr. Ambrose Disadidi, met on  Monday-  with the Mozambican delegation to the 64th Session of the WHO Regional Committee (RC 64)  for Africa to take place in Cotonou, Republic of Benin from 3rd to 7th  November 2014. The Acting WHO representative was accompanied by Program Officers from the WHO country Office.

Second Africa Regional Health Report Launched

As the Ebola outbreak grows and spreads, a small but significant group of people is also growing - the Ebola survivors. Emerging shell-shocked from what one described as a "glimpse of hell", the survivors have not found life easy on the other side of the Ebola ward.

Some in the community brand them as "witches" for surviving. For many, the faces they longed to see again while lying in the Ebola ward are no longer there. Husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers have all been carried off to unmarked graves by Ebola virus disease.

Cotonou, 3 November 2014 – President Boni Yayi of Benin has urged African countries to strengthen their fragile health systems to respond to the epidemics that plague the continent.

Cotonou, 3 November 2014 – Countries in the WHO African Region have made progress in improving the health of the people in the past decade, but much remains to be done. This is highlighted in a report released today in Cotonou at the meeting of the 47 health ministers and high ranking health officials from the WHO African Region.  

On Friday the 31st of October 2014, the Minister of Public Health, Mr. André Mama Fouda presided over the official launching ceremony of the 9th round of the National Immunization Days against Poliomyelitis coupled with the Second Mother and Child Health Nutrition Action Week in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Present at this very important ceremony was a delegation of members from the Global Poliomyelitis Eradication Initiative at the head of which was His Excellency Ambassador John E Lange of the UN Foundation.

31 October 2014 – Monrovia, Liberia. Today a new Ebola treatment unit opens at the former Ministry of Defence compound, on the outskirts of Monrovia. This new unit adds another 200 beds to the almost 500 currently available for Ebola patients in the Liberian capital, which remains the epicentre of the outbreak.

Addis Ababa. 24 October. The Government of Ethiopia will deploy 200 volunteer health professionals to Ebola affected countries in West Africa along with USD 500,000 of financial support. Ethiopia’s support to West Africa will focus on strengthening case management, surveillance and organization of community care.

Addis Ababa. 24 October 2014 – The World Polio Day was commemorated today with the theme "End Polio Now!" in an event organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Rotary International at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) premises, as a symbol of the UN and Rotary International standing together in the fight against polio. The Day was also for the first time celebrated alongside UN Day.

Juba, South Sudan. 25 October 2014. - To commemorate UN day and in service to the community, WHO joined other UN agencies to provide integrated health services to the community in Kapuri, Juba, Central Equatoria State.  Although UN day falls on 24 October, WHO employees, alongside the rest of the UN family, contributed their time and expertise on Saturday 25 October to “serve the community we work in.”

This was in line with the local theme chosen by UN agencies working in South Sudan for this year’s UN Day: ‘UN! With the people, for the people.’