Brazzaville, 25 April 2003 -- "As we commemorate Africa Malaria Day 2003, I call on our collaborators and partners to join hands with governments of the Region to protect our pregnant women and children". 
This is the thrust of the message issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim Samba, on the occasion of the third Africa Malaria Day.

Brazzaville, 25 April 2003 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) is to provide technical support for the development and commercial production of dihydro-artemisinin, a plant-based anti-malarial medicine reputed to have the highest cure rate for the disease, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr E.M. Samba, has said. 
The medicine is extracted from Artemisia annua, a Chinese medicinal plant which also flourishes in Tanzania, and grown in commercial quantities in the country's Southern and Northern highlands.

Brazzaville, 30 April 2003 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim Samba, has commended organizations in the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partnership for their role in the fight against malaria in the African Region. 
Speaking on his return to Brazzaville, after the commemoration of Africa Malaria Day and the launch of Africa Malaria Report 2003 in Nairobi, Kenya, Dr Samba expressed appreciation for the re-energized commitment of the global malaria control community to the fight against malaria.

In Africa, 30 million women living in malaria-endemic areas become pregnant each year. For these women, malaria is a threat both to themselves and to their babies, with up to 200 000 newborn deaths each year as a result of malaria in pregnancy.

Epilepsy is one of the major brain disorders thought to affect between three and four million Africans. Sometimes called a seizure disorder, epilepsy is a chronic medical condition produced by a temporary change in the electrical function of the brain, causing seizures which affect awareness, movement or sensation. The disease affects people in all nations and of all races. Left untreated, like any other disease, it could impede the social development of the patient.

Brazzaville, 14 April 2003 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO) is maintaining a very high alert in the Region following the emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a respiratory illness that has recently been reported in Asia, North and South America and Europe.

The Director of Programme Management at WHO/AFRO, Dr Luis G. Sambo, said in Brazzaville Monday that WHO had requested Member States in the Region to be on the lookout for any cases of this rare form of pneumonia.

More than 70% of the deaths of the children in Africa are due to six major diseases which are directly or indirectly related to environmental risks factors, namely acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, measles, malaria, HIV/AIDS and malnutrition. 
It is estimated that one in five children in the Region will not live till its 5th birthday mainly because of environment related diseases. Many of those who survive are unable to grow and develop to their full potential because of disabilities and long-term disorders.

Brazzaville, 12 March 2003 -- Emergency situations caused by wars, civil strife and natural disasters constitute some of the most serious threats to health in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim Samba, said Wednesday in Brazzaville.

Brazzaville 10 March 2003 -- As of 8 March 2003, 115 probable cases were reported in the current Ebola outbreak in the Republic of Congo, with the death toll rising to 97, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Congo, Dr Lamine Sarr, said in Brazzaville Monday.

Harare, 26 February 2003 -- Significant progress is being made in the control of vaccine-preventable diseases in the Eastern and Southern African epidemiological blocks, the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) reports.