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WHO Regional Office for Africa
Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

The end of Ebola outbreak in Uganda demonstrates World Health Organization (WHO)’s value in controlling and stopping diseases

With the international imperative to prevent cross-border transmission, health workers were rapidly reoriented, thermal scanners were deployed, and screening protocols were enforced at 13 key entry points, especially at Entebbe International Airport

Uganda has officially declared the end of the Ebola disease outbreak, which was confirmed on 30 January 2025 by Uganda’s Ministry of Health. The outbreak infected 14 people, two of whom were probable (not confirmed by laboratory tests) and caused four deaths (including two probable).  Disease outbreaks, such as Ebola,…

WHO Regional Office for Africa
Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) bolster partnership for enhanced public health emergency response

The two organizations are leveraging their vast networks and presence on the continent to support governments in scaling up response at the community level

World Health Organization (WHO) in the African Region and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have endorsed a regional collaboration framework to strengthen public health emergency response, especially at the community level, and bolster health security. With the WHO in the African Region’s presence in…

WHO Regional Office for Africa

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    • Dr. Owen Kaluwa Assumes Office as World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Ethiopia (1)
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Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Dr. Owen Kaluwa Assumes Office as World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Ethiopia

The Director General underscored WHO's substantial contributions to Ethiopia's healthcare system, emphasizing the anticipation surrounding Dr. Kaluwa's tenure

The recently designated World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr. Owen Laws Kaluwa, formally presented his credentials to H.E. Melaku Bedada, Director General of Protocol Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, marking the official commencement of his tenure in Ethiopia. Offering a warm…

WHO Regional Office for Africa
Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Funding crisis threatens Africa’s fight against neglected tropical diseases

The economic cost of neglected tropical diseases is high for affected families

With chronic underfunding threatening Africa’s fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases, health officials and donors meeting for the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa have called for increased investments to end the neglected illnesses that affect nearly 400 million people in the region. This year, around…

WHO Regional Office for Africa
Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Mauritius is first in Africa to adopt WHO full-scale tobacco control measures

The African region is expected to be home to more than 50 million smokers by 2025 unless more is done urgently to halt the tobacco epidemic

Mauritius has become the first African country to fully implement the entire World Health Organization’s (WHO) package of tobacco control measures aimed at reducing tobacco use and reducing related deaths. The WHO tobacco control package, called MPOWER Package, is a set of six measures to help countries monitor tobacco use…

WHO Regional Office for Africa
Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Consultation on Align and stimulation Investment to address Health Workforce Challenges in Africa

The Charter sets out to mitigate this challenge by enabling strategic investment in health workforce education and employment creation

As part of initiatives to address health workforce challenges that hamper the African Region, the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with partners and Member States, has developed a draft “African health workforce investment charter” that will help to align and stimulate investments to halve inequities in access to health…

WHO Regional Office for Africa
Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Launch of a Regional Initiative to Tackle Climate Change-related Health Challenges for Africa

The participating countries will strengthen multisectoral collaboration and coordination among relevant sectors to enhance the implementation of mitigation and adaptation measures aimed at reducing climate-related health risks

At the Seventy-sixthWorld Health Assembly, African governments represented by Ministers of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa (WHO) and Amref Health Africa have launched a regional initiative to tackle health impacts of climate change in Africa. This is an effort to harness the…

WHO Regional Office for Africa
Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Cyclone Freddy deepens health risks in worst-hit countries

In Malawi and Mozambique the cyclone tore through amid cholera outbreaks

The devastation by Tropical Cyclone Freddy is exposing major health risks in the hardest-hit southern Africa countries where emergency response efforts are being ramped up to provide relief to affected communities. More than 300 health facilities have been destroyed or flooded in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique following the devastation by…

WHO Regional Office for Africa
Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Equatorial Guinea confirms eight more Marburg cases

WHO is working with the national authorities to step up emergency response measures

Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Health has confirmed eight more cases of Marburg, bringing the number of confirmed cases to nine since the outbreak of the viral haemorrhagic fever was declared on 13 February. The new cases were confirmed following laboratory analysis of additional samples. So far, there are 20 probable…

WHO Regional Office for Africa
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…