When Sierra Leone’s first Ebola patient came through the door of the Kenema Government Hospital in Freetown, Issa French was there to admit her. Since that day, Issa has tended to more than 500 people, all victims of the epidemic that engulfed his country. Ebola killed many of his patients, as well as dozens of his colleagues.
More and more people are living longer than before in Africa
In Africa, older people are valued for their wisdom and knowledge, and have also been traditionally hard to find. Fifty years ago, the average life expectancy at birth in the continent was under the age of 45. But the life expectancy at birth for most of Africa has now grown to exactly 60 years in 2015, with the number increasing in many countries by 20 percent or more over the past 15 years.
28 August 2014 -- WHO today issues a roadmap to guide and coordinate the international response to the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in west Africa. The roadmap aims to stop ongoing Ebola transmission worldwide within 6-9 months while rapidly managing the consequences of any further international spread.
Statement by WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan
19 August 2015
On this 12th World Humanitarian Day, 19 August, WHO is drawing the world’s attention to the contributions and sacrifices of health workers who respond to humanitarian crises.
More than a decade since the first World Humanitarian Day, the demands on emergency responders are unprecedented, with 82.5 million people in 37 countries needing humanitarian assistance. The costs, too, are unprecedented, reaching an estimated US$20…
The second meeting of the Emergency Committee (EC) regarding yellow fever was convened by the Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR 2005) by teleconference on 31 August 2016, from 13:00 to 17:30 Central European Time.
The WHO Secretariat briefed the Committee on the status of, and response to, the outbreaks of yellow fever in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on other countries reporting international spread or at high risk, and provided…
By Dr Matshidiso Moeti, 1 December 2015
As someone who has been involved in HIV/AIDS prevention and control for years, I vividly remember a time the epidemic seemed unsolvable, globally and in Africa.
When I was working on HIV/AIDS at UNAIDS and the World Health Organization's Africa Regional Office in the late 1990s and early 2000s respectively, the outlook was certainly bleak.
Getting to zero: the unsung heroes of the Ebola fight need our help
The time to ensure a healthy and dignified ageing for Africans is now
WHO issues roadmap to scale up international response to the Ebola outbreak in west Africa
WHO thanks health workers on World Humanitarian Day 2015
Second meeting of the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations (2005) concerning yellow Fever
Over 30 Years of HIV in Africa: What We've Learned and the Road Ahead