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

Southern Africa faces acute surge in cholera due to floods, displacement

Southern Africa is experiencing an active cyclone season which usually runs from January to April. Above-average rains continue in cyclone-prone areas

Cholera cases in Southern Africa region have risen by over seven times in the first six weeks of 2026 compared with the same period the year before due to severe flooding triggered by cyclones, infrastructure damage and inadequate water and sanitation among displaced populations, an analysis by World Health Organization (WHO)…

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

Newly released 2025 scorecard unveils progress and setbacks on health and gender equality across Southern Africa

First developed in 2019, the scorecard serves as a social accountability tool and uses a "traffic light" system to track 20 indicators

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has launched its biennial scorecard, a critical tool that tracks progress on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) across its 16 Member States. New data, including from demographic health surveys, shows great strides in improving the sexual and reproductive health of people across the…

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

Africa sets course for affordable, quality medicines with new 10-year roadmap

This strategy represents a paradigm shift from Africa’s current fragmented and donor-dependent health product landscape to a coordinated, self-reliant system

African leaders and global partners have agreed on a bold 10-year regional vision to redesign how essential health products are financed, produced, and delivered, marking a major step toward ensuring that everyone in the African Region can access affordable, quality-assured medicines and health technologies. Meeting at the Blue-Sky Visioning and…

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

Countries, experts agree on 10-year Africa health workforce agenda

WHO called on all partners to sustain investment and political momentum to ensure the successful rollout of the agenda once it is endorsed and launched next year

African countries have reached consensus on the priority actions, commitments and milestones that will shape the Africa Health Workforce Agenda 2026–2035 in a major step towards transforming how the continent plans, trains and retains its health workforce.  Member States, professional councils, universities, development partners and technical experts gathering in Pretoria…

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

"Closing the care gap - the role of families" in Breast Cancer battle

The PS outlined that families can foster an inclusive natural environment where individuals feel safe to express their needs

The Ministry of Health, Cancer Unit has recorded 577 cases of cancer between January 2023 and June 2023, 33 of which are cancers of the breast. While many cancer patients in middle-income countries succumb to the disease, 50-year-old Fikile Hlatjwayo is lucky to have survived the deadly disease. Hlatjwayo was…

WHO Regional Office for Africa

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    • Dr Kaluwa commended the efforts of the country to respond to the pandemic and strengthening the health systems
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Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Strengthening Health Systems Resilience Towards Universal Health Coverage in South Africa

The Director General of the Department of Health, the Heads of Department of all provinces and the participants highly appreciated the rich discussions and ideas that emanated out of the UHC policy workshop

The World Health Organization Country Office for South Africa, in partnership with the National Department of Health (NDoH) and Clinton Health Access Initiative, organized a policy workshop on Strengthening Health Systems Resilience Towards Universal Health Coverage on 19th  and 20th May 2022 in Cape Town. The workshop brought together the high-level health sector leadership…

WHO Regional Office for Africa

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    • Strategizing to accelerate the reduction of maternal mortality in the African Region
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Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Strategizing to accelerate the reduction of maternal mortality in the African Region

One of the main roles of WHO/AFRO is to produce, disseminate and monitor the implementation of global guidelines and standards that are adapted to the regional context

The African Region accounted for 66% of the 303,000 maternal deaths recorded globally in 2017.  To address this situation, WHO in collaboration with UNFPA, UNICEF and partners supports Member States to ensure that all women and girls have access to quality and timely health services, particularly during pregnancy, childbirth, and…

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

Coronavirus: Botswana, South Africa deepen probe into new Omicron sub-variants

The identified sub-lineages variant are BA.4 and BA.5

Researchers in Botswana and South Africa have detected new sub-lineages of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 and are carrying out further investigations to fully understand crucial traits such as infectivity and virulence. The identified sub-lineages variant are BA.4 and BA.5. World Health Organization (WHO) experts are working with scientists…

WHO Regional Office for Africa

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    • Coronavirus: African countries scale back on COVID-19 measures
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Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Coronavirus: African countries scale back on COVID-19 measures

Contact tracing is a key strategy for curbing the spread of the virus and reducing mortality

With new COVID-19 cases significantly dropping, many countries are increasingly curtailing COVID-19 surveillance and quarantine measures. While the need to reopen economies and resume social life is important, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for caution and consideration of the risks involved.  Contact tracing is a key strategy for…

WHO Regional Office for Africa

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    • Low funding, COVID-19 curtail tuberculosis fight in Africa
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Source: WHO Regional Office for Africa |

Low funding, COVID-19 curtail tuberculosis fight in Africa

Every year the African region requires at least US$ 1.3 billion for TB prevention and treatment

Inadequate investment and funding for tuberculosis (TB) control in Africa is jeopardizing the efforts to meet the global target of ending the disease by 2030, while the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to roll back progress made so far in the continent, an assessment by World Health Organization (WHO) finds. Every year…