Brazzaville, 16 April 2007 -- WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, spent her 100th day in office (13 April) visiting health facilities in Africa, and re-iterated her pledge to improve the health of the people of Africa.

Brazzaville, 13 April 2007 -- WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, on Thursday explained that she used one of her six core areas of action in the years ahead –evidence and information for policy – as the basis for making Africa one of her priorities during her tenure.

Brazzaville, 12 April 2007 -- WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, held discussions Thursday in Brazzaville with Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso on health challenges facing Africa, and the need to take urgent action to ease the heavy and growing disease burden in the region.

Brazzaville, 11 April 2007 -- WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, is expected in Brazzaville on Wednesday on her first official visit to Africa since she assumed office on 4 January.

Dr Chan’s visit will enable her to meet all senior WHO leaders in the African region, a region with various daunting health challenges which, she says, rank top on her list of priorities during her tenure as Director-General of WHO.

Brazzaville, 5 April 2007 -- WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, has commended efforts being made by Member States in the region to increase investment in health, but warned that more needs to be done to check the persistent threat posed especially by infectious diseases.

Lilongwe, 29 March 2007 -- Strategic collaboration among health practitioners is pivotal if southern African countries are to make significant headway in combating the region’s most daunting health challenges - Tuberculosis, Malaria and HIV and AIDS. According to World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Luís Gomes Sambo, the region must work together to exchange experiences and increase epidemic surveillance and response.

Brazzaville, 26 March 2007 -- Experts, researchers and malaria control programme managers are meeting in Brazzaville from 26-30 March under the auspices of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM), the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa.

Brazzaville, 21 March 2007 -- Thirty WHO Member States from the African Region which have ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are meeting in Brazzaville, Congo, to prepare for the implementation of the treaty – the first negotiated under the auspices of WHO.

Brazzaville, 6 March 2007 -- The health landscape across Africa is changing, with real, measurable progress in key areas. More children are receiving life-saving vaccines. The opportunities to prevent and treat malaria and HIV/AIDS are growing. Several countries are demonstrating how African approaches are improving road safety, giving people better access to health workers and making the first months of a child's life safer.