As Chief Medical Director at the Sokoto Noma Children’s Hospital in the northwest corner of Nigeria, Dr Shafiu Isah dedicates his days to treating children suffering from a neglected disease that few people have even heard of.
More than 91 million Africans live with Hepatitis B or C, which are the deadliest strains of the virus, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) scorecard that launched today – ahead of tomorrow’s World Hepatitis Day.
The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the launch by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, of the landmark opportunity for countries to apply for funding to introduce, or further roll-out, the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine.
Administered COVID-19 doses rose by 74% in June 2022 compared to the previous month after a sustained three-month decrease between March and May. This is due to mass COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in 16 countries in June. Nineteen mass vaccination campaigns are being implemented in July.
Ghana has announced the country’s first outbreak of Marburg virus disease, after a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre laboratory confirmed earlier results.
Africa is facing a growing risk of outbreaks caused by zoonotic pathogens, such as the monkeypox virus which originated in animals and then switched species and infected humans. There has been a 63% increase in the number of zoonotic outbreaks in the region in the decade from 2012-2022 compared to 2001-2011, according to World Health Organization (WHO) analysis.
Ghana has announced the preliminary finding of two cases of Marburg virus disease and if confirmed these would the first such infections recorded in the country. Marburg is a highly infectious viral haemorrhagic fever in the same family as the more well-known Ebola virus disease.
Mozambique today kicked off the third round of vaccination against wild poliovirus type 1 as southern Africa countries launch a further drive to protect all under 5 children and halt the debilitating virus from spreading. Neighbouring Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia will also embark on the third phase of mass vaccination campaigns in the coming weeks.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo today declared the end of the Ebola outbreak that erupted less than three months ago in Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur Province in the northwest. It was the third outbreak in the province since 2018 and the country’s 14th overall.
With three African countries with no previous history of human monkeypox transmission reporting cases, World Health Organization (WHO) is working with national health authorities in the region to bolster surveillance and laboratory diagnosis to detect cases and deter a silent spread of the virus.
