Timely and expanded access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Namibia is showing benefits for HIV-positive people, according to Dr Kevin De Cock, who visited Katutura State Hospital in Windhoek, Namibia, during his tenure as the Director of the WHO HIV/AIDS Department.

Harare, 28 July 2009 --  The Honourable Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Henry Madzorera stated that immunization is safe for all Zimbabwean children in a press conference he held with local and international media. This follows some media reports in the days following the National Immunization Days that some children were falling sick after immunization.

Abidjan, 23 July 2009 -- The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis G. Sambo had an audience with the Ivorian Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Dr Allah Kouadio Rémi, at the Minister’s residence in Toumodi, about 220 kilometers north of the capital - Abidjan. He was accompanied by the WHO Representative in Côte d’Ivoire, Dr Etienne Komla Siamevi and some members of staff of the WHO Country Office. The Prefect of Toumodi was also present at the event.

Treatment of tuberculosis involves taking tablets daily for at least six months. TB patients must take all their medications as prescribed, failing which they may not recover and dangerous drug-resistant TB strains may develop. That is why it is considered ideal for TB patients to come to a treatment facility to take their tablets in the presence of a health worker -- at least in the early, intensive phase of the treatment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) organized in Kigali, Rwanda, from the 15th to the 16th of April 2008, a meeting of the WHO Representatives of the Eight Pilot Countries on the United Nations Reform. Those countries are: Albania, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uruguay and Vietnam. The Headquarters delegation was led by Mr. Denis AITKEN, Director-General’s Representative with the participation of the Representative of the Regional Director for Africa. 

Lusaka, 4 July 2009 -- Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, the President of the Nippon Foundation/Sasakawa Health Memorial Foundation (NF/SHMF) and WHO Goodwill Ambassador for the Elimination of Leprosy visited Zambia from 29th June to 4th July 2009 to follow-up on the country’s Leprosy elimination achievements. He was met by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zambia Mr. Rupiah Bwezani Banda at State House on 2nd July 2009. Mr. Sasakawa’s message to the President was that of making the country free from Leprosy by ensuring that it is put high on the health agenda.

Geneva, 1 July 2009 -- A clinical trial is being launched in three African countries of a drug that could eliminate onchocerciasis, or river blindness, one of the leading infectious causes of blindness across Africa. The drug, moxidectin, is being investigated for its potential to kill or sterilize the adult worms of Onchocerca volvulus, which cause onchocerciasis.

President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of the United Republic of Tanzania on 30th June 2009 launched the Health Sector Strategic Plan III July 2009 – June 2015 - “Partnership for Delivering the MDGs”.

Introduction

The Blood Donor Day, 2009 in Tanzania was commemorated at national level in Mbeya City, southern Tanzania. The occasion was officiated by the Hon. Minister of Health and Social Welfare and attended by the Regional Commissioner and other regional officials, Ministry of Health Officials, WHO, CDC and other partners, Voluntary Blood Donors, the Media and the Mbeya community.

Major events on WBDD, 2009

Brazzaville, 24 June 2009 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo has urged countries in the region to be extra vigilant and strengthen their disease surveillance to ensure prompt detection and response to the Pandemic H1N1 2009.

The advice came following the confirmation of ten (10) cases of the new flu virus in five countries: Cape Verde, Algeria, Ethiopia and Cote d'Ivoire and South Africa where the first confirmed case of the virus was reported on 18 June 09.