Brazzaville, 10 October 2008 -- The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, has concluded an official visit to the Republic of South Africa at the invitation of the South African Government.

The visit took place from Monday 6th - 8th October 08

Luanda, 8 October 2008 -- Luanda will host a regional consultation on management of hemorrhages during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum from 13-14 October 2008 as part of efforts to improve maternal and new-born health care in the African region.

The meeting is also part of efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals related to maternal health, which target a reduction of maternal mortality by 75 per cent between 1990 and 2015, as well as the improvement of the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel.

With dramatic increases in funding and intense momentum towards reducing the malaria burden in recent years, we have a greater need for reliable information and analysis," said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan.
"This report begins to answer that need. Progress in malaria control has accelerated dramatically since 2006, especially in the wake of the UN Secretary-General’s call for universal malaria control coverage by the end of 2010. We expect these expanded efforts to be reflected in future reports."

Campaign to be completed thanks to first-ever instance of south-south vaccine supply

Brazzaville/Bamako, 11 April 2008 -- A week-long campaign to vaccinate 5.7 million people across the southern half of Mali begins Saturday in the country and, for the first time ever, a mass vaccination campaign will be undertaken thanks to "south-south" vaccine supply: South America's only manufacturer of Yellow Fever vaccine, Bio Manguinhos of Brazil, will be supplying half of the vaccine necessary.

Gambia, 9 September 2008 -- The WHO Representative, Dr Thomas Sukwa, today paid a courtesy call on Her Excellency, the Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia, H.E Dr. Madam Isatou Njie Saidy at State House. Dr Sukwa was accompanied to the Vice President’s Office by the Honorable Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Malick Njie and some staff members of the WHO Country Office

Abidjan/Brazzaville, 8 September 2008 -- The city of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire can once again be considered safe from a Yellow Fever epidemic after the national Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF nongovernmental organizations and others in the Yellow Fever Partnership combined their forces to vaccinate over 2.2 million people in the Ivorian capital.

Brazzaville, 8 September 2008 -- Ministers of health from the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region ended their fifty-eighth session on Friday in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with the adoption of resolutions aimed at improving the health of women and strengthening laboratory capacity in the Region. The meeting also endorsed the Ouagadougou Declaration on Primary Health adopted by the Region’s health Ministers in April this year.

Yaoundé, 5 September 2008 -- The 58th Session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for Africa ended in Yaoundé, Cameroon on Friday 5th September 08.

The Committee deliberated on a range of issues such as women’s health, cancer prevention and control, harmful use of alcohol, strengthening public health laboratories, iodine deficiency, patient safety, oral health strategy, programme budget, amendment of the Medium Term Strategic Plan, the Ouagadougou and Algiers declarations.

Yaoundé, 4 September 2008 -- The WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Luis Gomes Sambo has called for the need to strengthen health systems based on the Primary health Care (PHC) approach.

Speaking at a gathering of academics and students from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Yaoundé One, Cameroon, Dr Sambo highlighted the key principles of primary health care and mentioned some of the factors that slowed down its implementation in the African region.

4 September 2008 | YAOUNDE -- Health ministers from countries of the African meningitis belt today committed themselves to introduce a highly promising candidate meningitis vaccine. The vaccine is designed to prevent periodic epidemics of the deadly disease in these countries.

Meeting at the 58th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa, held in Yaoundé from 1 to 5 September, the ministers adopted the Yaoundé Declaration, committing themselves to several actions.