News Releases | Sixty-seventh session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa

Significant progress in improving people’s health in Africa applauded

The significant progress in improving people’s health in Africa has been commended by delegates attending the 67th session WHO Regional Committee for Africa, which began today in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. This follows the presentation of the 2016-2017 Biennial Report on the Work of WHO in the African Region by Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa. The report highlights progress achieved during the past biennuim in the Region in emergency preparedness and response, elimination of priority diseases including HIV, TB, malaria; tackling non-communicable diseases, progress in protecting children from illness and deaths, among others.
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An African consensus for addressing environment impact on health

Brazzaville, Congo/Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 25 August 2017 - Did you know that in the African Region, 23% of premature deaths are attributable to unhealthy environments, at the same time as the Region is facing a double burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases. 20% of cancers, 31% of cardiovascular diseases, 31% of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and 44% of asthma cases are associated with air pollution, tobacco smoke and chemicals. In fact, as said by Dr.

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Africa on the verge of winning the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases

For more than 40 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has worked to control river blindness (onchocerciasis), the second major infectious cause of blindness in Africa. Today, 30 years after a major donation of medication by Merck & Co, a pharmaceutical company, and after 20 years of the success of the African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) the reduction of the disease intensity has allowed WHO to shift the goal from control to elimination – a really ambitious achievement.
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What needs to be done to solve the shortage of health workers in the African Region

The sight of a long queue of patients waiting for their names to be called to see the doctor or nurse at a hospital or health centre is a familiar spectacle that drives home the message that the shortage of skilled health workforce is an issue that warrants urgent attention. There is no doubt that hospitals or health centres are busy places. The shortage of skilled health workforce means that a limited number of doctors and nurses have to attend to hundreds of patients daily and quality health care can’t be rushed.
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African Health Ministers to discuss ways to improve the health and well-being of peo...

Health Ministers from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) African Region will be gathering in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe from 20 August – 1 September for the annual WHO Regional Committee for Africa to discuss a range of strategies and actions aimed at improving the health and well-being of people in the Region. The Regional Committee is the Organization’s highest decision-making body on health in the Region and its decisions have over the years contributed immensely in the region’s health development.
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