WHO Regional Office for Africa / Press Release

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | May 17, 2025

World Health Organization (WHO) Strengthens Field Presence and Support to Cholera Response During High Level Visit to Kwanza Sul and Benguela

The visit highlighted the importance of a whole-of-society response to cholera, one that not only treats the disease but addresses its root causes: lack of access to clean water, sanitation, and health services

As part of ongoing efforts to support Angola’s fight against the cholera outbreak and to reinforce regional health systems, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Angola, Dr Indrajit Hazarika, conducted a field mission to the provinces of Kwanza Sul and Benguela this week. The visit served to strengthen collaboration…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | Apr 27, 2025

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,…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | Apr 18, 2025

African health experts commit to accelerate efforts to eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases

WHO is working closely with Member States and partners to adapt public health strategies, enhance surveillance, and ensure timely responses to evolving NTDs challenges

African health experts have renewed commitment to accelerate efforts to end Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) that continue to affect over a billion people globally, 40% of whom live in the African region. Meeting in Togo from 15 to 17 April 2025 for the NTD Programme Managers meeting, the experts also…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | Apr 17, 2025

Health ministers launch landmark polio vaccination campaign to protect 83 million children in Lake Chad Basin

Over 50% of the polio cases reported in Chad in 2024 are linked to the strain circulating in Cameroon, underlining the importance of coordination and synchronization of polio response efforts

In a renewed effort to eradicate circulating polio variant type 2 in the Lake Chad Basin, Ministers of Health from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger and Nigeria launched today a synchronized regional vaccination campaign aimed at protecting 83 million under 5 children. The initiative is a crucial milestone…

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Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | Feb 19, 2025

Community engagement in the fight against cholera in Angola: Mr Celestino Mbambali – “The Lifesaver”

The WHO has played a key role in responding to the cholera outbreak in Angola, collaborating closely with the Ministry of Health (MINSA), Ministry of Water and Energy and the Provincial Health Office to contain the spread of the disease

For more than twenty-five years of volunteering in his community, 55-year-old Celestino Mbambali has witnessed countless health emergencies, including cholera outbreaks. A qualified nurse by profession, he was always concerned about the lack of a health center in his neighborhood and, driven by his commitment to his neighbors, decided to take…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | Aug 29, 2024

African health ministers, partners urge equitable access to critical tools to curb cervical cancer threat

Of the more than 76 000 cervical cancer deaths globally in 2022, the most updated data available, nearly a quarter (23%) were in Africa

Inequitable access to vaccines and high-performance screening tools is hampering efforts to effectively reduce the growing burden of cervical cancer in the African region, which accounts for the highest rates of new cases and deaths due to the disease. Despite being preventable and treatable through human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | May 14, 2024

Timely outbreak response, enhanced surveillance halts wild poliovirus transmission in Southern Africa

To enhance polio surveillance, over the past two years, 15 new wastewater surveillance sites were established in the affected countries

Following thorough assessments in Malawi and Mozambique, an independent Polio Outbreak Response Assessment Team (OBRA) today recommended the closure of the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) outbreak in Malawi and Mozambique, marking a significant milestone in the fight against polio in the African region. The last WPV1 case in the…

Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa | Feb 10, 2024

Nearly 10 000 children vaccinated as malaria vaccine rollout in Africa expands

A wider malaria vaccine rollout is underway this year in several African countries, with Cameroon being the first outside the malaria vaccine pilot programme to do so

Nearly 10 000 children in Burkina Faso and Cameroon have now received the RTS,S malaria vaccine since being introduced this year. A wider malaria vaccine rollout is underway this year in several African countries, with Cameroon being the first outside the malaria vaccine pilot programme to do so. Cameroon launched…

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 27, 2023

Mozambique targets 720 000 people in cholera vaccination drive

People aged one year and older will be vaccinated in the five-day campaign, which started just 10 days after the country took delivery of vaccine doses

Mozambique today kicked off a cholera vaccination campaign targeting around 720 000 people in eight districts as the country steps up control measures against an outbreak in which 5260 cases and 37 deaths have been recorded to date since September 2022. People aged one year and older will be vaccinated…

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