Combat Drug Resistance: “No action today, No cure tomorrow”

Addis Ababa, April 7, 2011 ‐- Left unchecked, the uncontrolled rise in resistant germs threatens lives and wastes limited resources. Urgent and coordinated action is required at all levels to ensure the preservation of these life‐saving drugs for future generations, said WHO Country Representative, Dr. Fatoumata Nafo – Traoré, in the keynote message she delivered on the day on behalf of Dr. Luis Gomes Sambo, Regional director for the WHO African Region.

World Health Day was nationally commemorated in Eritrea on April 7, 2011 under the theme, “Combat Drug Resistance: No action today, No cure tomorrow”.

The event was marked through a conference and a panel discussion on key issues on drug resistance in the presence of high officials from the Ministry of Health, physicians, pharmacists, Orotta School of Medicine and Asmara College of Health Science staff and students, UN representatives as well as community representatives.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) with support from WHO initiated the first step to establish system aimed at contributing to the hu-man security and development. Experts were drawn from all WHO levels to assist the country to conduct a situation analysis that led to a roadmap in health sector risk reduction and emergency management (DRM).

Brazzaville, 5 April 2011 -- Health Ministers and Heads of Country delegations currently in Brazzaville for the WHO African Region Ministerial Consultation on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) were briefed on the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the Regional Office on Tuesday 5 April 2011.

The meeting took place on the side lines of the ongoing three-day consultation which began on 4-6 April 2011.

Windhoek, 5 April 2011 -- The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) will commemorate World Health Day from 6-7 April 2011 under the theme “Combat Drug Resistance: “No action today, No cure tomorrow”. Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) occurs when medicines that have proven to work are no longer effective to fight more lethal and tough germs.

Brazzaville, Congo 4 April 2011 -- More than 150 experts on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) began a consultation in Brazzaville, Congo as part of efforts of Member States in the WHO African Region to address the growing prevalence of these diseases.

World TB Day was celebrated on 24th March at Botsabelo Multi–Drug Resistant (MDR)/ Extensively-Drug Resistant (XDR) TB Hospital in Maseru. This is a modern state of the art facility that reflects innovative ways in management and control of MDR/XDR TB with bed occupancy of 22, laboratory, X-ray and pharmacy units. The Hospital was established in 2006 by the Government of Lesotho in collaboration with Partners.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 30 March 2011 -- Vaccines save millions of lives in developing countries; eradicated smallpox; lowered the global incidence of polio by 99 percent since 1988; and have achieved dramatic reduction in morbidity and mortality from a wide range of vaccine preventable diseases.

However, the cost of immunizing a child exceeds the total per capita governments spend on all health care in many developing nations. Sustainable vaccine financing increasingly represents a critical aspect of maintaining a stable vaccination program.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 30 March 2011 -- Vaccines save millions of lives in developing countries; eradicated smallpox; lowered the global incidence of polio by 99 percent since 1988; and have achieved dramatic reduction in morbidity and mortality from a wide range of vaccine preventable diseases.

However, the cost of immunizing a child exceeds the total per capita governments spend on all health care in many developing nations. Sustainable vaccine financing increasingly represents a critical aspect of maintaining a stable vaccination program.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 30 March 2011 -- The construction of African developmental states has been called for as a means for promotion of structural economic transformation, scaling up integration endeavors, achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other social development objectives.