Infographics

To enhance Sierra Leone's polio surveillance capacity, a team of Environmental Surveillance (ES) experts from WHO Regional Office for Africa visited the country to support the Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Agency (NPHA). The mission focused on improving the performance of Environmental Surveillance (ES) sites in Freetown, considering expansions to other towns, and building the capacity of local sample collectors and supervisors.

Botswana has taken a significant step toward strengthening the governance of biological resources with the development of its National Policy on Access to Human Biological Material and Equitable Benefit-Sharing. This initiative, driven by the Ministry of Health (MoH) with support from the WHO Botswana Country Office, addresses critical gaps in managing biological resources, data sharing, and benefit distribution in healthcare and research.
The policy development process comprised three key phases. 

Environmental Surveillance (ES) was introduced in August 2022 to complement case-based AFP surveillance. The first established site for ES was Gaborone, Glen Valley Wastewater Treatment Site. Through this surveillance, the circulating Vaccine Derived Poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was detected on October 4, 2022. Following the country risk assessment, a recommendation was made to conduct a nationwide vaccination campaign using the novel polio type 2 polio vaccine (nOPV2) for all children under the age of 7.

Maiduguri, 26 August, 2024 - A’ishatu Tafida, a 23-year-old mother of two children in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, has been sticking to her resolve to exclusively breastfeed her children for the first six months after birth.

“In the beginning, I faced a lot of challenges,” Aisha recalled. “There were days when I felt exhausted and doubted my ability to continue. But I found support from my husband and mother-in-law who is a nurse and encouraged me to be committed,”

The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative (WR), Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, has reiterated the organisation's commitment to supporting the Lagos State Government in its quest to improve health indices and the quality of care for the state's population.

Dr Mulombo made the statement during a courtesy visit to the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.