Abuja, 19 November 2009 -- The first of two five-day inter-country workshops on pandemic influenza A H1N1 vaccine depolyment organized by the World Health Organziation (WHO) for its Member States in the African Region got underway on Monday in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

The workshop, being attended by representatives of French- and Portguese-speaking countries will be followed by another, scheduled from 23 to 27 November 2009, for English-speaking countries. read more

17 November 2009 -- The largest-ever yellow fever mass vaccination campaign will kick off next week across three African countries. The week-long event will target 11.9 million people across Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone, all three of which are at high risk of yellow fever outbreaks.

:: Read the new release on the yellow fever campaign
:: Read the fact sheet on yellow fever

Port-Louis, 14 November 2009 -- The International Conference on Diabetes and Associated Diseases has ended today with the unanimous adoption of the Mauritius Call for Action which aims at identifying key strategies and commitments urgently required for planning and implementing national diabetes and non-communicable diseases prevention and control programs.

More than 300 delegates from over 50 countries expressed concern about the scale of the diabetes epidemic and its impact on socio-economic development particularly in the African region. They proclaimed their commitment to integrate diabetes and other non-communicable diseases into primary health care as well as increase sensitisation and advocacy to fight the growing epidemic. read more

:: View the Mauritius Call For Action

Port-Louis, 13 November 2009 -- The figures are alarming. Nevertheless they are real. By 2010, more than 285 millions people worldwide will live with diabetes of which 4 million will die. The number of cases could rise up to 438 millions by 2030.

These statistics are published in the World Diabetes Atlas 2009 presented by David Whiting, epidemiologist, at the International Conference on Diabetes and Associated Diseases held in Port-Louis (Mauritius). read more

Port-Louis, 12 November 2009 -- The International Conference on Diabetes and Associated Diseases opened today in Mauritius with calls for action to address diabetes which is already having a tremendous impact on the life and health of millions of individuals, families and communities in many parts of the world.

Addressing delegates at the conference, His Excellency Dr The Honourable Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius said that diabetes is an epidemic that is exploding across the world. He pointed out that the holding of this conference is in line with the call for the African region to respond to this epidemic which is a serious challenge to the attainment of internationally agreed development goals. read more

As of November 16, 2009, 09H00 GMT, 29 countries have officially reported 14950 laboratory confirmed human cases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 including 103 deaths.
Breakdown of confirmed cases by country