1. WHO Africa
  2. Countries
  3. Mali

Mali News

Mali: School committees to protect youth from smoking

Bamako – It has been almost a year since 17-year-old Aziz*, a final-year high school student, quit smoking. He had fallen into smoking at the age of 14 due to peer pressure and curiosity. “I started smoking a little just to fit in. At first, it was just to try it, but then I couldn’t stop. I was smoking almost every day,” the teenager admits. “When I smoked, I felt more grown-up, cooler, but I didn’t realize the risks it posed to my health.”

Read more »

Mali: Greater protection for children against malaria

Bamako, April 2025 – Fatoumata, aged 2 years and 4 months and wearing one of her most beautiful dresses, attended an event of great importance for her health on Friday morning, as her mother Niemba explains: “I was on my way to the community health centre for my child’s routine vaccination; from there, I was directed to the site of the ceremony where a new vaccine protecting children against malaria was being launched.”
Read more »

Meeting the health needs of Malians displaced by security crisis

Sitting holding her newborn in the courtyard of her home, Aissata*, a displaced person in Ménaka city centre, remembers the day she fell ill while pregnant. "My stomach hurt that day, I was weak and I had no appetite. Worst of all, I had no money and my husband was away," she recalls.
Read more »

Tackling sexual abuse and exploitation in Mali

Bamako – “He punched me, kicked me, hit me with objects and insulted me. I was only 12, married off by my parents to a 55-year-old man who already had two wives. By the time I escaped four years later, I had already suffered two miscarriages,” says the young woman, who today credits World Health Organization (WHO) training for helping her become a “voice for the voiceless” in her community.

Read more »

Tackling malaria in Mali through stronger surveillance

How can numbers save lives? In three malaria-prone districts in central Mali, regular recording of cases is helping local health officials keep track of infection trends, but more importantly, they can now trigger an emergency response when the infection threshold is crossed and helping to curb potential large outbreaks.
Read more »

No community too remote for Mali doctor

“A patient is a patient,” says Dr Mahamadou Diawara. “Our job is to go where people are who need health care.” For Dr Diawara, a surgeon deployed by World Health Organization (WHO) in eastern Mali, this dedication to reaching patients anywhere has extended to many living under crisis conditions.
Read more »