Ambatondrazaka, Madagascar – “The vaccine at all costs to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.” This is the credo of Justine Rasoanindrina, a grandmother of eight Ambatondrazaka district, more than 270 km from Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo. At 78, Justine continues to practice both as a masseuse and a matron. Well-known in her community, she embraced the profession of

Yola, 30 September, 2022 - In line with the target of improving the health of billions of people by 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting three states in northeast Nigeria – Borno, Adamawa and Yobe – (BAY states), to strengthen their health workforce to respond to the humanitarian crisis affecting the region through

Yola, 30 September, 2022 - Sitting on a wooden stool in front of her house at Dobeli community in Yola North Local Government Area (LGA), Hajara Yusuf, a (27 years old mother of three) was coaxing her sons to take the seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) drugs.  “I usually look forward to when they administer the

Manyara Region - Until recently, Tanzania was among a few African countries that have fully vaccinated less than 10% of their eligible target population. As of June 2022, Tanzania had fully vaccinated only 8% of the target population above 18 years, although COVID-19 vaccination was introduced in July 2021. Yet, several independent studies, including Anjorin et

It is estimated that more than 1.1 million people in Africa will be dying from cancers annually in 2030 if the current growth of cancers is not checked.  Cancers constitute a significant share of a growing burden of non-communicable disease in Africa, with cancers resulting from infectious diseases being at the highest level compared to

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is a sensitive topic that requires professionals working with victims and survivors to be empathetic.  The World Health Organization (WHO)‘Clinical Handbook on the Health Care of Survivors Subjected to Intimate Partner Violence and/or Sexual Violence, Namibia’ has helped doctors, social workers and nurses like Mark Bezuidenhout, an enrolled nurse at Epako Clinic

Brazzaville/Kampala/Kinshasa – The Democratic Republic of the Congo today declared the end of an Ebola outbreak that re-emerged six weeks ago in the country’s North Kivu Province. The announcement came as neighbouring Uganda races to curb an unrelated outbreak declared last week. With only one case confirmed, the just-ended outbreak was one of the Democratic Republic

The leadership of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other health partners visited the Ebola-affected areas of Mubende district on 24 September to assess the health situation, understand the gaps and strengthen the response to the Ebola outbreak in the country. The delegation was led by the Minister of Health

Kinshasa – In 2018, World Health Organization (WHO), working with the Democratic Republic of the Congo health authorities and other health partners, set up a programme to monitor the health of Ebola survivors and support them in their recovery. Dr Raymond Pallawo, a WHO epidemiologist and the programme’s coordinator explains why it is critical to

Kigoma - Maternal death is a significant problem in Tanzania. According to the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey 2016, by average 556 women die from childbirth, a slight decrease over ten years from 578 in 2005. With the current annual rate of reduction, Tanzania may not meet the global goal of reducing maternal deaths to

INDHOEK - As the focus shifted towards managing the global Covid-19 pandemic, essential health services such as routine immunization suffered a blow with many children subsequently missing out on their routine immunization.  “The issue of Covid-19 affecting our immunization was felt at a national level,” says Tomas Ukola, the Khomas Health Regional Director. The routine

RUNDU - About ten kilometres on the eastern outskirts of Rundu is the Mayana village, an area characterized by flood plains. In fact, Mayana means flood plains in the local dialect and is named after the low-lying ground surrounded by water.  “We have a lot of water bodies down here and mosquitoes breed everywhere,” explains