WHO Africa Online Press Briefing on COVID-19 in Africa

The briefing is on-the-record and it is an opportunity for you to ask questions about the COVID-19 in Africa

Please join an online media briefing with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa (www.AfRO.who.int), Dr. Matshidiso Moeti and UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Mohamed Malick Fall. The briefing is on-the-record and it is an opportunity for you to ask questions about the COVID-19 in Africa.…

Coronavirus - Nigeria: COVID-19 response in southern Nigeria boosts surveillance of other diseases

Early detection of any disease is the goal for health workers in the Delta

In many countries, tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has taken cues from other disease approaches, such as lessons from protecting communities against Ebola. But in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, health workers have found inspiration from guarding against the coronavirus. They have exploited the rigorous surveillance standard set by the COVID-19 response to…

WHO ramps up COVID-19 support to hotspot countries in Africa

As the continent nears one million cases, WHO is expanding support to countries experiencing a significant uptick in cases

The first members of a surge team of health experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) have arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa to bolster the country’s response to COVID-19. As the continent nears one million cases, WHO is expanding support to countries experiencing a significant uptick in cases. South Africa…

WHO Africa Online Press Briefing on COVID-19

The media briefing is facilitated by APO Group

Please join an online media briefing with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa (https://www.afro.who.int/), Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the Minister of Public Health of Niger, Hon Dr Idi Illiassou Mainassara and the Minister of Health of Rwanda, Hon Dr. Daniel Ngamije for an update on COVID-19. The media…

Coronavirus - Africa: WHO urges greater COVID-19 health services in Africa’s humanitarian settings

WHO advises that activities like food distribution or education be adjusted to limit mass gatherings and strengthen infection prevention and control

The World Health Organization (WHO) today called for greater access to COVID-19 detection, testing and care among vulnerable populations grappling with the impacts of protracted conflict and humanitarian emergencies across Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to over 26% of the world’s refugees. Long-running conflicts in regions like the Sahel have…

Coronavirus - Burkina Faso resumes Polio Vaccination Campaigns under strict COVID-19 prevention measures

The campaign is the first to be conducted since the government suspended all mass immunization on 27 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Burkina Faso today concluded a four-day mass polio immunization campaign, vaccinating 174 304 children under five years of age in two districts of the country’s Centre-East region, while observing COVID-19 infection prevention and control measures. The campaign is the first to be conducted since the government suspended all mass immunization…

Coronavirus - Africa: COVID-19 African Numbers

#COVID19 cases continue to increase in #Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa suffers the most severe outbreak, while Cameroon & Ghana have more than 1000 confirmed cases. Ghana, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire & Guinea have reported rapid increases in case numbers in the past week.

Coronavirus - Africa: World Health Organization (WHO), World Food Programme (WFP) and the African Union (AU) deliver critical supplies as COVID-19 accelerates in West and Central Africa

The medical cargo contains face shields, gloves, goggles, gowns, masks, medical aprons and thermometers, as well as more than 400 ventilators

Just over two months since COVID-19 was first detected in Africa, the disease has now spread to nearly every country, resulting in nearly 17 000 confirmed cases and around 900 deaths across the continent.  While South Africa has sub-Saharan Africa’s most severe outbreak, West and Central Africa are of growing…

New milestone towards a polio-free world, but there is no time to relax

The last case of type 3 in Africa was detected in northern Nigeria in 2012

In another historic step for humanity towards a world free of polio, an independent commission of experts today certified – on World Polio Day – that the second of three types of the wild poliovirus had been eradicated globally. There are three individual and immunologically distinct wild poliovirus types: wild…

Africa today heads into the last mile to be free of wild polio

Certification that the WHO African Region is free of wild polio is expected in early 2020

Africa today passes a milestone threshold – three years with no case of wild poliovirus detected. This three-year landmark sets in motion a comprehensive evaluation process by the Africa Regional Certification Commission to determine if the entire WHO African Region of 47 countries indeed can be declared to have eradicated…