Lomé – Spurred by the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fragile health systems, African health ministers this week adopted a new eight-year strategy to transform health security and emergency response in the region. The Regional Strategy for Health Security and Emergencies 2022–2030, endorsed during the Seventy-second session of the World Health Organization (WHO)

Lilongwe, 24 August 2022 – The cholera outbreak, initially limited to the southern part of the country, has now spread to Malawi's northern and central regions. To date, 1,483 cases and 58 deaths have been recorded with the case fatality rate at 3.9 per cent[1]. This is of serious concern as cases continue to rise outside

Lomé – As Africa strives to recover from the deepfelt impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, health authorities and experts gathering this week for the Seventy-second session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa launched a new drive to find ways of revamping the region’s health systems. At a special event on Rethinking and rebuilding

Lomé – African health ministers today launched a campaign to ramp up awareness, bolster prevention and care to curb the toll of sickle cell disease, one of the most common illnesses in the region but which receives inadequate attention. More than 66% of the 120 million people affected worldwide by sickle cell disease live in

Lomé – With the burden of cardiovascular disease, mental and neurological disorders and diabetes rising in the region, African health ministers today endorsed a new strategy to boost access to the diagnosis, treatment and care of severe noncommunicable diseases. The health ministers, gathering for the Seventy-second session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for

Brazzaville/Kinshasa – Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a resurgence of Ebola late last night, following confirmation of one case in the country’s eastern province of North Kivu.   A 46-year-old woman died on 15 August 2022 in Beni, a town located in North Kivu. She received care at the Beni Referral Hospital, initially

Abuja, 22 August, 2022 - Targeting universal immunization, the government of Nigeria through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, on 22 August 2022, introduced the rotavirus vaccine into  Routine Immunization (RI) Schedule.  The introduction of the vaccine into the RI programme is in

Lomé – The President of the Republic of Togo, H.E President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé opened the Seventy-second session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa with African health ministers and government representatives in attendance. The region’s foremost public health gathering held annually will discuss and agree on measures to lower the burden

20 August 2022 Brazzaville/Kinshasa – Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are investigating a suspected case of Ebola virus disease, in the country’s eastern province of North Kivu. Thecountry’s National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) is in the process of testing samples to determine if the patient contracted Ebola.   The suspected case is a

Kaduna, 19 August 2022 - When health workers took the Tuberculosis (TB) testing outreach to Rigasa community, Kaduna State, Rabi Umaru, a 37-year-old housewife, did not need much convincing to get tested.  She had been coughing for two weeks but had not visited any health facility because of lack of funds.  “I usually hear on

By Tatenda Chimbwanda Kadoma, Zimbabwe – National Action Plans (NAPs) are essential tools used by governments to address the global threat posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR).   NAPs provide a framework of sequence of actions to align activities of different stakeholders in different sectors toward one large goal of mitigating AMR. In 2017, the Government of

Niamey – As one of the first-ever female urologist surgeons in sub-Saharan Africa, Dr Médina NDoye regularly faces students’ astonishment at her choice to embrace a “male speciality”. “Unfortunately, this is a well-anchored stereotype in people’s mindset and surprisingly quite widespread in the medical community, too,” says Dr Ndoye. “As a female urologist, diving into