1. WHO Africa

News Releases

Improving adolescent and youth health services

Nineteen-year-old Armande* recalls her disastrous first visit to a health centre. “It was awful,” says the teen from Kongo Central, in western Democratic Republic of the Congo. “I was younger then and looking for information on HIV, and the nurse there made fun of me in front of everyone because of my age.”
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COVID-19 takes a heavy toll on women’s health

Disruptions to essential health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic are being felt broadly. As the world marks International Women’s Day, a new World Health Organization (WHO) analysis finds that women’s health services are far from being fully restored, with 40% of African countries reporting disruptions to sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services.
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Obesity rising in Africa, WHO analysis finds

One in five adults and one in 10 children and teenagers are projected to be obese by December 2023 in 10 high-burden African countries if no robust measures are taken to reverse the trends, a new World Health Organization (WHO) analysis shows.
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The Gambia Inaugurates an Ultra-Cold Chain Store for Vaccines

The Ministry of Health recently launched an Ultra-Cold Chain Vaccines that will be used to store Coronavirus vaccines in the fight against Covid-19 in the country.

In an official ceremony, Dr Ahmed Lamin Samateh, Hon. Minister of Health noted that the provision of the Ultra Cold Chain Vaccines is meant to ensure that “we are able to restore vaccines in our collective endeavor against COVID-19.”

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New push to drive up Africa’s COVID-19 vaccination

One year since the COVAX Facility delivered the first COVID-19 vaccines to Africa, around 400 million doses have been administered – the region’s largest ever vaccine rollout in a single year. However, vaccination rates in the continent are the lowest in the world. To help bolster uptake, World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and partners are supporting mass vaccination campaigns in 10 priority countries to reach 100 million people by the end of April 2022.
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Malawi declares polio outbreak

Brazzaville/Lilongwe – The health authorities in Malawi have declared an outbreak of wild poliovirus type 1 after a case was detected in a young child in the capital Lilongwe. This is the first case of wild poliovirus in Africa in more than five years.

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Africa on track to control COVID-19 pandemic in 2022

Almost two years after Africa identified its first case of COVID-19 (14 February 2020), the World Health Organization (WHO) finds that, if current trends continue, the continent can control the pandemic in 2022. However, WHO warned that continued vigilance is key.
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Africa needs to ramp up COVID-19 vaccination six-fold 

Although COVID-19 vaccine supplies to Africa have risen significantly, the continent is struggling to expand rollout, with only 11% of the population fully vaccinated. The vaccination rate needs to increase six times if the continent is to meet the 70% target set for the middle of this year. The World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and partners are launching a new initiative aimed at resolving bottlenecks.
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