Programmes and Clusters News

31 October 2017 | Tobacco Control

Official launch of the Ethiopia 2016 global adult tobacco survey (GATS) findings

The Government of Ethiopia released its first ever GATS findings in a workshop officially opened by Mr. Yehule Denekew, Director General of FMHACA. A series of key note addresses were delivered by Dr. Paul Mainuka, on behalf of the WHO Representative to Ethiopia Dr. Akapka Kalu following the welcoming speech by Dr. Tsegereda Kifle, Deputy Director General of the Ethiopia Public Health Institute. More than 200 participants from the House of People’s Parliament, Embassies, Officials from Federal Ministries and Regional Bureaus, universities, civil society organizations, FMHACA and WHO attended the workshop.

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23 October 2017 | Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever

WHO promptly responds to Marburg Outbreak in Eastern Uganda

Following the confirmation of a case of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) in Kween district Eastern Uganda by Ministry of Health (MoH) and the activation of the National Response Team, the WHO Rapid Response team from the coun…

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19 September 2017 | Emergencies

One year after Nigeria emergency declaration.

Eight years of conflict and crisis in north-eastern Nigeria have left two-thirds of health facilities completely or partially destroyed and millions of people without access to healthcare. In August last year, when healt…

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15 September 2017 | Neglected Tropical Diseases Yaws (Endemic treponematoses)

Cameroon investigates yaws outbreak among indigenous populations

Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health has announced it will further investigate an outbreak of yaws, which over the past few months, has affected hundreds of Baka and Bantu people in the Lomie Health District in the east of the country.

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4 September 2017 | Yellow Fever

African Health Ministers pledge firm actions against yellow fever

African health ministers currently meeting for the 67th Session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee in Zimbabwe have agreed on ten priority actions to guide countries to eliminate Yellow Fever (YF) epidemics by 2026.

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31 August 2017 | Universal Health Coverage

African Health Ministers commit to attain universal health coverage

African health ministers meeting in Zimbabwe for the 67th Session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee have adopted a range of actions intended to strengthen health systems in countries and eventually lead to Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

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25 August 2017 | Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Disease

NTD Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, April 18-22, 2017: Celebrating the community's achievements over the past 5 years and planning for the future.

2017 marks the 5th anniversary of the World Health Organization's roadmap on NTDs, the World Health Assembly resolution on NTDs (WHA66.12) and the London Declaration.

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25 August 2017 | Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Disease

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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