Kajiado County—At the busy Kitengela Hospital of Kajiado County in Southern Kenya, nurses Jackline Tabo and Grace Nyangweso bring healing in the quiet rooms where life’s most fragile moments happen. They are proud participants in WHO Kenya’s on-site mentorship, an initiative that’s designed to enhance the quality of sexual and reproductive health services at the point of care.

With support from a major donor, World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health concluded a joint assessment mission focused on enhancing maternal and newborn health (MNH) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services across five rural counties in Liberia.  The joint mission took place from 11 May to 24 May 2025 in Gbarpolu, River Cess, Maryland, Grand Kru, and River Gee counties. Its overarching goal was to evaluate the readiness and robustness of health facilities and maternity waiting homes in providing MNH and SRHR services.

Pretoria – Each year, more than 8 million people worldwide lose their lives to tobacco-related diseases including over 1 million due to second-hand smoke. These are not just numbers; they are parents, siblings, children, and friends.

In the heart of Kampala, an 18-year-old university girl is invited by a friend to a house party. While Shisha and e-cigarettes are banned by law, their availability at such young people’s functions is common.  

Dar es Salaam:  The National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) in Dar es Salaam has been officially designated as a World Health Organization (WHO) HIVResNet National Laboratory for HIV Drug Resistance (HIVDR) testing for 2025. This designation places Tanzania at the forefront of global efforts to monitor and respond to HIV drug resistance, a critical component in the fight to end the AIDS epidemic.

Kampala-Under the aegis of the Global Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) strategy and with support from Gavi, UNICEF, WHO, and Uganda’s Ministry of Health, the country has successfully completed phase 3a of its nationwide accelerated yellow fever vaccination campaign in response to the epidemiological situation, achieving an impressive 92% vaccination coverage in the 19 targeted districts. This phase, undertaken on 10-16 April 2025, was particularly significant as it was also used to respond to an active outbreak.

Pretoria - World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with South Africa’s National Department of Health (NDoH), hosted a high-level five-day consultative workshop from 26–30 May 2025 in Pretoria. The workshop marked a critical milestone in South Africa’s journey to eliminate malaria by 2028. Focused on Microstratification and Foci Implementation Review, the meeting brought together provincial health officials, technical experts, and operational partners to refine and align data-driven malaria strategies with WHO recommendations.

The Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) Committee held a pivotal meeting from 19 to 22 May 2025 at Cresta Botsalo Hotel in Palapye. The session brought together 16 committee members alongside representatives from the Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BOMRA), the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), and the World Health Organization (WHO). The gathering focused on refresher training, onboarding new members, and conducting causality assessments of AEFI cases reported in 2024/2025.

Entebbe. Uganda and 13 other countries in Eastern Africa have successfully concluded a three-day joint simulation on outbreak preparedness and response.  With more than 50 participants, including specialists in case management, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), infection prevention and control, and logistics, the simulation exercises took place inside the Infectious Diseases Treatment Module (IDTM), an innovative, rapidly deployable medical facility developed under INITIATE²  to respond to infectious disease outbreaks.  

During a two-day workshop in Praia, the National Health Directorate and WHO Cabo Verde brought together professionals from various areas to review the death registration process in the country, with a view to proposing improvements in the quality and modernization of mortality data.