Malian President, WHO Regional Director for Africa launch synchronized polio campaign in West and Central Africa

Moribabougou (Mali), 6 March 2010 – Malian President Ahmadou Toumani Toure and WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Luis Sambo on Saturday launched a massive vaccina-tion campaign which will see more than 85 million children in 19 West and Central African countries immunized against polio.

The synchronized cross-border campaign flagged off in Moribabougou, a small town and commune situated 15 kilometers south-east of the Malian capital, Bamako.

Africa united in fight against polio outbreak - 85 million children to be immunized across 19 countries

Dakar/Brazzaville, 4 March 2010 - More than 85 million children under five years old will be immunized against polio in 19 countries across West and Central Africa in a massive example of cross-border cooperation aimed at stopping a year-long polio epidemic.

Nine countries in West and Central Africa – Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone – are considered to have active outbreaks of polio (i.e. cases within the last six months).

:: Fact Sheet on polio in West and Central Africa

Pandemic Influenza (H1N1) 2009 - Current situation in the WHO African Region

As of March 03, 2010, 09H00 GMT, 34 countries have officially reported 17,325 laboratory confirmed human cases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 including 167 deaths.
View breakdown of confirmed cases by country

Meeting reviews country adaptation of guidelines for HIV prevention and mother to child transmission of HIV

Brazzaville, 15 February 2010 – Twenty five experts from WHO, the US President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the US Centers for Disease Control met in Brazzaville from 4-5 February to discuss how countries in the Africa could be assisted to review and adapt their antiretroviral therapy (ART) guidelines in line with the 2009 WHO recommendations on treatment of HIV infected children, adults and adolescents, as well as prevention of maternal to child transmission of HIV and infant feeding in the context of HIV.