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…

Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola outbreak declared over, Uganda boosts response

The Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been caused by the Zaire ebolavirus – one of the six species of the Ebola genus

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…

Ebola Disease caused by Sudan virus - Uganda

As of 25 September 2022, a cumulative number of 18 confirmed and 18 probable cases have been reported from Mubende, Kyegegwa and Kassanda districts

Outbreak at a glance On 20 September 2022, Uganda health authorities declared an outbreak of Ebola disease, caused by Sudan virus, following laboratory confirmation of a patient from a village in Madudu sub-county, Mubende district, central Uganda. As of 25 September 2022, a cumulative number of 18 confirmed and 18…

World Health Organization (WHO) Bolsters Ebola Disease Outbreak Response in Uganda

Forty-three contacts have been identified and 10 people suspected to have caught the virus are receiving treatment at the regional referral hospital in Mubende

In an accelerated effort to scale up response to the Ebola disease outbreak in Uganda, World Health Organization (WHO) is delivering medical supplies, providing logistics and deploying staff to support the national authorities in halting the spread of the virus. So far, seven cases, including one death, have been confirmed…

World Health Organization (WHO) Validates Malawi for Eliminating Trachoma, First Country in Southern Africa

Malawi has been known to be endemic for trachoma since the 1980s

World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Malawi as having eliminated trachoma—a bacterial eye infection that can cause irreversible blindness if untreated—as a public health problem. Malawi becomes the first country in southern Africa and the fifth in Africa to achieve this significant milestone. “Malawi’s achievement is life-changing for millions of…

Uganda Declares Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak

The Uganda Virus Research Institute confirmed the case after testing a sample taken from a 24-year-old male

The health authorities in Uganda today declared an outbreak of Ebola after a case of the relatively rare Sudan strain was confirmed in Mubende district in the central part of the country. The Uganda Virus Research Institute confirmed the case after testing a sample taken from a 24-year-old male. This…

Alleviating Public Health Threats through Meaningful Partnerships in Rwanda

The Government of Japan in collaboration with WHO provided critical assistance to Rwanda's COVID-19 National Joint Task Force

It has been over two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) sounded the alarm on COVID-19. In March 2020, the virus Rwanda had apprehensively watched from afar had emerged on its doorstep. Few could have imagined how life would change. The handshakes once used with impunity became a deadly…

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…

Video News Release: WHO Africa Online Briefing

African Health Ministers Adopt New Regional Strategy to Transform Health Security

The Regional Strategy for Health Security and Emergencies 2022–2030 aims to reduce the health and socioeconomic impacts of public health emergencies

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…