Brazzaville – Africa is witnessing a surge in outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases over the past year. Almost 17 500 cases of measles were recorded in the African region between January and March 2022, marking a 400% increase compared with the same period in 2021. Twenty African countries reported measles outbreaks in the first quarter of…

Dar es Salaam, 27 April 2022 – The World Health Organization (WHO) Tanzania Country Office launched the third WHO Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS). The strategy launched provides a roadmap for WHO support to the United Republic of Tanzania for the next five years (2022-2027). The launch event took place at the Nyerere International Convention Centre…

At least 1.8 million received free oral treatment for schistosomiasis (bilharzia) and soil transmitted helminthiases (intestinal worms) during a mass treatment exercise conducted from 3-9 April 2022.  Bilharzia and intestinal worms are two of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) prevalent in Zimbabwe targeted for elimination by year 2030. The Ministry of Health and Child Care…

Abuja, 27 April, 2022 - To commemorate the 2022 World Malaria Day (WMD), World Health Organization (WHO) and stakeholders have endorsed a collective, innovative and transformative approach towards tackling the malaria scourge in the Nigeria.  This call came at the Ministerial Press conference organized by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in collaboration with WHO…

Ibadan, 27 April 2022 - Fatunmobi Christiana, a nursing officer with nearly 30years of working experience, is very well-known in her community, particularly among mothers. As matron and officer-in-charge of Idi-Ogugun Primary Health Care Centre in Ibadan Oyo State, her mission is to ensure no child falls victim to polio or any other preventable childhood…

Brazzaville/Kinshasa — The Democratic Republic of the Congo today kicked off Ebola vaccination in Mbandaka, the capital city of Equateur Province in the north-west, to halt the spread of the virus following an outbreak which has claimed two lives since 21 April. Around 200 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine have been shipped to Mbandaka…

Abuja, 26 April, 2022 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has kicked off a five-day workshop on 25 April 2002 in Abuja for public health officials to strengthen the capacities to integrate oral cholera vaccination (OCV) into the emergency and preventive measures in some Anglophone Cholera Priority countries in Africa.  With participants from six countries…

Abuja, 26 April, 2022 - Cuddling his 14-week-old daughter, who had received the scheduled childhood vaccines, Mr Aliyu Fawaz Bello, an architect and father of four residing in Abuja, said he always ensures that his children never miss a required vaccine dose. Mr Bello was at the government-run Family Health Municipal Clinic in Abuja to…

On Thursday, 20 April 2022, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Africa was admitted to the Honorary Fellowship of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA). The formal ceremony that was presided over by Professor Flavia Senkubuge, the President of the Senate of the CMSA took place at Rhema Bible…

25 April 2022 Lilongwe – Malawi launches the second of four rounds of vaccination campaigns against wild poliovirus type 1 today. More than eleven (11) million doses will be administered to more than 2.9 million children under 5 years in the four-round vaccination drive in Malawi after the country declared an outbreak on 17 February—the first…

RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) is the first vaccine recommended by WHO for use against a human parasitic disease of any kind. If introduced widely, it could save tens of thousands of lives each year. The Government of Malawi was the first to launch the vaccine in a landmark pilot programme in April 2019. In this Q&A, Dr Mike Chisema,…

Brazzaville/Kinshasa, 23 April 2022 – The health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today declared an outbreak of Ebola after a case was confirmed in Mbandaka, a city in the north-western Equateur Province. This is the third outbreak in the province since 2018. So far, just one case has been confirmed. The patient, a…