Nairobi 10th October - For the first time in the history of Kenya, World Mental Health Day was observed on 10th October as the rest of the world. Kenya has been observing this day on the last Friday of the month as 10th was falling on a national day that has since been removed.

The National Malaria Control Programme of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in collaboration with the World Health Or-ganization has conducted orientation of field enumerators to un-dertake malaria rapid impact assessment in the country. This is taking into consideration the recent increased financial invest-ment and coverage of anti-malaria interventions in the country which are expected to result in reduction of malaria cases and deaths. The assessment will be carried out from 6-9 October in selected public/private hospitals around the country.

The Ministry of Health of Rwanda in collaboration with World Health Organization and other partners organized a national capacity building training on child management in Musanze District, Northern Province, from 19th to 23rd September 2011.

At less than five years to the MDG target, a still high under five mortality prevails and the coverage of key child survival interventions remain low, particularly in the African Region.

On 30th September 2011, the Government of Tanzania acknowledged with appreciation the support given by WHO in making the ministry of health a model of excellence in the delivery of quality and equitable health and social welfare services.

Windhoek, 30 September 2011 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) received a generous donation worth over N$240,000 from Rotary Windhoek and Rotary International to improve the immunization status of children aged under 5 years against vaccine preventable diseases in particular polio. The donation consisting of loudspeakers, Information, Education, Communication (IEC) materials and T-shirts was handed over to WHO during a Rotary Luncheon for members. The items are aimed at awareness raising and public health education on vaccine preventable diseases, particularly polio.

Harare, 27 Sept. 2011 -- Zimbabwe will become the first country in the sub-region to set up a congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) sentinel surveillance site. The site will be at Harare Children's Hospital. The sentinel site will help in documenting the burden of the disease in Zimbabwe and also provide evidence for future control actions. Presently there is no reliable information of the disease burden in Zimbabwe which makes the planning of appropriate interventions difficult.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation in collaboration with its health sector partners is currently planning to undertake the fifth round of polio National Immunization Days campaign in 2011. The campaign will be conducted from 30 September through 3 October 2011 to vaccinate all children in the country below the age of 5 years against polio.

Rongo, 23rd September 2011 -- A sub-national polio campaign was launched in Rongo district, Kisumu City following a confirmed polio case in the same district last month. The launch graced by the Assistant Minister for Public Health and Sanitation, Hon. Dr James Gesami, was held at the Rongo Primary School, it was attended by senior government officers from the national, provincial and district levels, area political and religious leaders, partners, including the WHO Kenya Country Representative, Dr. Abdoulie Jack, school going children, and members of the public and media.

New York, 20 September 2011 -- The landmark UN high-level conference on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) ended on Tuesday in New York after considering strategies to prevent and control mostly life-style and diet-related diseases that have become major killers in Africa and across the world.