Distinguished Guests,

Mr. Nahu-Senaye Araya, Chairman Rotary International National Polio plus Committee, Polio plus Program and Rotary International participants
Dr. Peter Salama, Representative, UNICEF Ethiopia
Colleagues from WHO and UNICEF 

It is our great pleasure to host this important ceremony this morning. I warmly welcome you all to WHO.

3-14 December 2012, Nairobi -- Two regional workshops on the “United Nations OneHealth Costing Tool”, developed by UN agencies (UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF World Bank and WHO) were held in Nairobi.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) launched four pharmaceutical policy documents on 14 December 2012 in Freetown. The documents included the National Medicines Policy, National Essential Medicines List, Standard Treatment Guidelines for Primary Level Prescribers and a National Formulary. The policy documents were launched by Dr Alhassan Seisay, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry on behalf of the Acting Minister of Health. Participants at the event included officials of the MoHS, WHO, the Pharmaceutical Society, civil society and Non-Governmental Organizations.

14 December 2012, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -- In a handover ceremony hosted at WHO Ethiopia Country Office, Mr. Nahu-Senaye Araya, Chairman, Rotary International National Polio plus Committee (NPPC), Polio plus Program handed over a check of ETB 3.5 million to Dr Khaled Bessaoud, Acting WHO Country Representative and Ms. Patrizia DiGiovani, Deputy UNICEF Country Representative to support Polio Eradication activities in Ethiopia.

14 December 2012, Bishoftu, Ethiopia -- The Five - Days workshop on “Implementation Research Protocol Development” concluded on December 14, 2012. The workshop was part of the initiative established to build the capacity of African countries (Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Guinea, Mozambique, and Zambia) in the areas of implementation research with focus on Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (Millennium Development Goal-(MDG 4) and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (MDG 6) programs.

Dear Distinguished Colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

First and foremost, I would like to thank the FMOH and Ethiopian Health, Nutrition and Research Institute for taking this initiative to collaborate with WHO in this implementation research platform.

14 December 2012, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -- In a handover ceremony hosted at WHO Ethiopia Country Office, Mr. Nahu-Senaye Araya, Chairman, Rotary International National Polio plus Committee (NPPC), Polio plus Program handed over a check of ETB 3.5 million to Dr Khaled Bessaoud, Acting WHO Country Representative and Ms. Patrizia DiGiovani, Deputy UNICEF Country Representative to support Polio Eradication activities in Ethiopia.

Dar es Salaam, 12 December 2012 -- Strengthening Africa’s immunization systems, curbing the increase in the number of wild polio virus cases in Nigeria and closing the funding gap for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) topped the list of recommendations made by the fourth Annual Regional Conference on Immunization in Africa (ARCI) which ended on Wednesday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Other recommendations related to lowering the cost of delivery of vaccines and strengthening human resource capacity in Africa.

On 12th December, 2012, The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Luis Sambo visited the United Republic of Tanzania mainly with the purpose to participate in the 4th Annual Regional Conference on Immunization.

Dar es Salaam, 12 December 2012 -- Nigeria, the only polio-endemic country in Africa, has outlined its strategies to interrupt wild polio virus transmission in the country by 2013.

The strategies were outlined in a presentation made by Dr Mahmud Mustafa Subaru of Nigeria’s National Primary Healthcare Development Agency at the fourth Annual Regional Conference on Immunization in Africa which ended on Wednesday (12 December)  in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.