Ethiopia News

Addis Ababa - Ms. Heran Gerba, Director General (DG), Ethiopia Food and Drug Authority (EFDA) has received the 2021 World No Tobacco Day Award today for her efforts in tobacco control through her leadership role at FDA.

In a ceremony organized today, WHO Ethiopia handed over the award to Ms Heran, which includes a medal and certificate of recognition signed by the WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom.

Ms Heran is one of the six awardees selected for this year from the WHO Africa region.

A four-day polio campaign has been conducted house to house to vaccinate 5.8 million  under-five children in selected high-risk areas with two drops of potent bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (bOPV) and achieving 100% coverage. More than 111,000 of the vaccinated children were in refugee camps (Afar 4,949; Benishangul Gumz 12,576, Gambela 65,077& Somali 28,581).

The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) is collaborating with the Ethiopian Ministry of National Defense and the Federal Police Commission of Ethiopia to establish and strengthen surveillance systems in the health facilities and structures serving armed and police forces, their families and communities. Critical in this process is a well-trained workforce with skills to collect, analyze, and interpret surveillance data and initiate timely public health response to health emergencies, reducing associated morbidities and deaths.