Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

World Health Organization (WHO) Uganda Country Office in charity drive

The drive targeted two charity homes caring for and rehabilitating orphans and vulnerable children to benefit from assorted care packages that included foodstuffs, personal care items, household items and toys, for the children and their care givers

As part of the yearlong celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO) and commemorate the 2023 World Health Day, staff members at the Uganda Country Office organised a charity drive to support vulnerable children and bring smiles to at least 75 faces. The drive targeted…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Africa's largest polio vaccination drive since 2020 targets 21 million children

The multi-country initiative is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)

Africa’s largest polio vaccination campaign since 2020 kicks off today in three West and Central African countries, in a combined effort by national health authorities to immunise a total 21 million children under the age of five. The exercise, which will begin in Cameroon, Chad and Niger before being extended to the Central…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Africa needs to vaccinate 33 million children to put progress back on track

Decreased vaccination levels have led to a surge in outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases such as measles, meningitis, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever

An estimated 33 million children will need to be vaccinated in Africa between 2023 and 2025 to put the continent back on track to achieve the 2030 global immunization goals that include reducing morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases, an analysis by World Health Organization (WHO) finds. The unprecedented impact…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Burundi declares outbreak of circulating poliovirus type 2

The Burundian government plans to implement a vaccination campaign to combat polio in the coming weeks, aiming at protecting all eligible children against the virus

Health authorities in Burundi today declared an outbreak of circulating poliovirus type 2 (CVDPV 2) after confirming eight polioviruses, the first such detection in more than three decades. The cases were confirmed in a four-year-old child in Isale district in western Burundi who had not received any polio vaccination, as…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

African leaders call for urgent action to revitalize routine immunization

Across the continent, immunization coverage for many vaccine-preventable diseases is well below the 90‒95% range needed to keep Africa free of these diseases

African heads of state today agreed on key measures to revamp routine immunization across the continent following massive disruptions by the COVID-19 pandemic that stymied childhood vaccination programmes and heightened outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. A total of 8.4 million children in the African region, compared with 18 million globally, were…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Over 33 Million Children Vaccinated against Wild Poliovirus in Southern Africa

A total of nine wild poliovirus cases have been reported so far, with one in Malawi and eight in neighbouring Mozambique since the declaration of an outbreak on 17 February 2022 in Malawi

A year since Malawi confirmed its first case of wild poliovirus type 1 in 30 years, more than 33 million children across five southern African countries have been vaccinated against the virus, with over 80 million vaccine doses administered over the past year. A total of nine wild poliovirus cases…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Africa’s Advances in Maternal, Infant Mortality Face Setbacks: World Health Organisation (WHO) Report

In sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that 390 women will die in childbirth for every 100 000 live births by 2030, the Atlas 2022 reports

A slowdown in the progress made during the past decade against maternal and infant mortality is projected in the African region, a new World Health Organization (WHO) report released today finds. The Atlas of African Health Statistics 2022 assessed the nine targets related to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Mothers Adopt Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention Drugs to Keep Malaria at Bay in Adamawa State

SMC is administered monthly for four months during the highest malaria transmission periods, using Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP) and Amodiaquine (AQ) (SPAQ) to children aged 3 – 59 months to reduce the cases of malaria outbreaks

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…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

COVID-19 Threatens Elimination of Deadly Form of Meningitis in Africa, more than 50 Million Children Miss Vaccination

The pandemic severely disrupted meningitis prevention and control services, with disease surveillance, laboratory confirmation of cases and outbreak investigations all steeply declining

With the COVID-19 pandemic delaying meningitis vaccination campaigns for more than 50 million children in Africa, the region is at a heightened risk of outbreaks of meningitis type A, which has nearly been eliminated on the continent. In a race against time, World Health Organization (WHO) and partners have launched…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

African Union and World Health Organization (WHO) Urge Swift Action Against Childhood Tuberculosis

The African region is home to 17 of the 30 countries with the highest tuberculosis burden globally and accounts for around 322 000 children and young adolescents (aged 0—15 years) or a third of tuberculosis cases among those under 15 years of age worldwide

The African Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) today called for immediate and comprehensive measures to end the significant toll of tuberculosis among children in Africa. The appeal was made jointly with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) and the Stop TB Partnership on the side-lines of the…