News Releases

Namibia became a member of the United Nations at Independence in 1990 and has since ratified several Conventions on drug control including the UN Convention against Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988; the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime of 2003; the UN Convention against Corruption of 2004 and the SADC Protocol against Illicit Drug Trafficking of 1996.

Kinshasa – The number of internally displaced persons in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has more than doubled to 6.3 million since the end of 2022 amid a spike in conflict and insecurity, as well as natural disasters and disease outbreaks that are deepening the plight of millions of people and exponentially heightening health needs.

Bujumbura – Burundi’s health authorities today launched the country’s first national polio vaccination campaign since 2011, targeting nearly 3 million children under seven years of age following the first alerts of circulating poliovirus type 2 in more than three decades.

Brazzaville/Kinshasa - The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today launches its first major immunization campaign using the novel polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), to protect children against the devastating consequences of the virus.

Brazzaville/Accra – While Africa has made significant progress in the fight against polio, the World Health Organization (WHO) is prioritizing the strengthening of in-country laboratory capacity in recognition of the critical role of high-quality data in the detection of poliovirus outbreaks.

In partnership with the Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN), WHO is capacitating countries including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Senegal in poliovirus sequencing techniques.