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

Strengthening mental health services in emergencies across Africa

Efforts are being made to scale up mental health services through training, system strengthening, and community engagement

In response to the growing mental health needs triggered by public health emergencies or natural disasters in the African region, World Health Organization (WHO) is working closely with countries to integrate mental health and psychosocial support into every stage of emergency response, aiming to have at least 80% of countries…

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

Mental health conditions affect 150 million in Africa amid insufficient care services

Despite growing recognition of mental health as a public health priority, services remain severely under-resourced, fragmented and inaccessible, particularly in rural and underserved areas

Nearly 150 million people in Africa are living with mental health conditions, with limited access to decentralized and integrated care, highlighting the region’s mental health challenges, a new mental health dashboard launched today by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa shows. Mental health conditions such as depression,…

WHO Regional Office for Africa

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    • Africa: Ministerial Malaria Champions Step Up Malaria Fight with New Commitments and Accountability Scorecard
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Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Africa: Ministerial Malaria Champions Step Up Malaria Fight with New Commitments and Accountability Scorecard

Committed to tackling malaria’s “perfect storm”, leaders pledged to act together-rallying political will, accountability, and sustainable financing to protect hard-won gains and reignite Africa’s momentum toward malaria elimination

Ministers of Health, partners, and global health leaders convening on the sidelines of the Seventy Fifth WHO Regional Committee for Africa (RC75) have issued an urgent call to accelerate Africa’s malaria response amid a “perfect storm” of challenges threatening to erode hard-won gains. Despite major progress, including a 16% reduction…

WHO Regional Office for Africa

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    • Advancing access to sexual and reproductive health services in South Sudan
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Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Advancing access to sexual and reproductive health services in South Sudan

Health authorities, with support from WHO and partners, have focused on expanding access to care that responds to people’s needs, choices and rights, through resilient primary health systems

In an effort to address severely limited access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services in South Sudan, the Ministry of Health, with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, has been implementing several initiatives to expand access in seven of its 10 states.  Years of overlapping…

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)
    • Dr. Owen Kaluwa Assumes Office as World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Ethiopia (2)
    • Dr. Owen Kaluwa Assumes Office as World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Ethiopia (3)
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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…