WHO Regional Office for Africa / Press Release

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | Mar 17, 2023

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 | Feb 19, 2023

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 | Feb 17, 2023

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 | Dec 01, 2022

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 | Sep 30, 2022

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 | Sep 08, 2022

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 | Aug 24, 2022

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…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | Jul 21, 2022

Historic Funding to Expand Roll-out of First-ever Malaria Vaccine in Africa

This international support of nearly US$ 160 million from 2022-2025 will facilitate increased vaccine access to children at high risk of illness and death from malaria

The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the launch by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, of the landmark opportunity for countries to apply for funding to introduce, or further roll-out, the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine. This international support of nearly US$ 160 million from 2022-2025 will facilitate increased vaccine access to children…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | Jun 11, 2022

Nigeria combs communities to protect eligible children against polio

To ensure no child is left unprotected against all forms of polioviruses or suffers the consequence, the Government of Nigeria is supported by WHO to adopt an initiative to improve immunization activities

When a team of vaccinators arrived in Obele, a boundary town between Nigeria and Benin Republic, to vaccinate children against the circulating Vaccine Derived poliovirus (cVDPV2), the community leader, Chief Babafemi Ogunmade was not surprised. “We are aware that some vaccinators were coming to vaccinate our children against the polio…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | May 31, 2022

More African countries fight unethical marketing of breast-milk substitutes

Over the past two years, six African countries have adopted or reinforced measures against inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes

A growing number of African countries are fighting back against the unethical marketing of breast-milk substitutes by tightening laws to protect the health of mothers and children from misleading marketing practices, the 2022 report on the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes finds. Over the past two years, six…

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