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Keeping up the vigilance on Ebola in Uganda’s capital

With no new Ebola cases registered in the Ugandan capital since 14 November, the Kampala Capital City health authorities in collaboration with the Ministry of Health recently carried out a seven-day public awareness campaign to maintain the population’s vigilance to help end the outbreak. With support from World Health Organization (WHO), the Central Division authorities worked with more than 1500 community mobilizers and “boda boda” – motor taxi drivers – who went on a door-to-door drive every day to raise awareness, fight rumours and misinformation and ensure that people report any suspected Ebola cases. 
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Caring for Uganda’s Ebola survivors

Mubende, Uganda ‒ Uganda declared the end of Ebola disease outbreak caused by Sudan ebolavirus on 11 January 2023. The health authorities worked intensely, ramping up outbreak control measures that helped to halt the virus in less than four months after it was confirmed. Improved testing, surveillance, contact tracing, supportive clinical care and boosting community participation in the response were critical in ending the outbreak.

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Global Polio Eradication Initiative implements gender equality strategy in Zimbabwe’...

Harare – Zimbabwe successfully completed the first round of a vaccination drive against wild poliovirus between October 27 and 30, 2022, reaching 2.2 million eligible children under the age of five, who are most at risk of infection.

The campaign was launched by the Government of Zimbabwe with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) as part of a comprehensive multi-country response to outbreaks of wild poliovirus reported in Malawi and Mozambique in February and May this year respectively.

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Rallying to defeat mpox in Nigeria

Nigeria is witnessing a rise in mpox cases. Between 1 January and 30 October 2022, 583 confirmed cases were recorded, compared with only 34 confirmed cases during 2021. The surge has prompted the health authorities to ramp up control measures to curb the transmission of the virus.
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Uganda’s capital races to curb spread of Ebola

Uganda declared an outbreak of the Sudan ebolavirus on 20 September 2022 in the country’s central Mubende district, which is about a two-hour drive away from the capital, Kampala. Some Ebola patients travelled from the outbreak epicentre to Kampala in search of care and by 7 November, there were 17 confirmed cases in the city.
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Malawi strives to reach every child in polio vaccination drive

Lilongwe – In mid-October 2022, Malawi completed the fourth round of a vaccination campaign against wild poliovirus. In February 2022 the country confirmed a case of wild polio, the first since 1992. The Ministry of Health, with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, soon launched vaccination campaigns to reach every child, including in 170 settlements in the south of the country hosting people displaced by Tropical Storm Ana and cyclone Gombe back in early 2022.

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In Uganda, fighting Ebola one patient at a time

As soon as the Sudan ebolavirus was detected in Uganda and an outbreak was declared on 20 September 2020, the country’s health authorities placed emphasis on supportive care, as no effective vaccine for this species of ebolavirus has yet been licenced. 
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