The World Health Organization was saddened to hear this morning about the sudden death of a dear colleague in Beni, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The colleague was deployed from a neighbouring country to Beni to work in the Ebola response, where he supported the administrative team. The exact cause of death is still under investigation, but a preliminary medical report has ruled out Ebola and violence.
Currently, there are 500 WHO staff deployed in the DRC to support the Ebola…
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa writes about the cost of pollution for Africa. This opinion piece was published in the Financial Times.
The beginning of November in Dakar, Senegal, marks the end of the rainy season and the start of the peak in air pollution levels that the dry season brings. While August and September are the best months for breathing in the city, the pollution levels from December to March are, on average, above recommended safety levels.
We know…
Op-Ed by Dr. Matshidiso Moeti
Over the past six and a half years, we’ve witnessed an extraordinary international endeavour to stamp out Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), a group of dangerous, destructive conditions that threaten the lives and well-being of more than 1.5 billion people worldwide. NTDs earned their name because they were relatively unknown and overlooked for decades. But that is rapidly changing, thanks to the coordinated efforts of governments, health and development…
Op-Ed by Adelheid Onyango and Bibi Giyose
When faced with a crisis, our natural reaction is to deal with its immediate threats. Ateka* came to the make-shift clinic with profuse diarrhoea: they diagnosed cholera. The urgent concern in the midst of that humanitarian crisis was to treat the infection and send her home as quickly as possible.
But she came back to the treatment centre a few days later – not for cholera, but because she was suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Doctors had…
The ‘Nursing Now’ campaign, to be launched in Geneva, London and Kampala on 27 February 2018, aims to improve health globally by raising the status and profile of nursing, and enable nurses to maximize their contribution to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
‘Nursing Now’ is hosted by the Burdett Trust for Nursing, an independent charitable trust in the UK, supported by the UK Departments of Health, and Trade and Industry, and the Department of International Development. Nursing Now…
This World AIDS Day, December 1, the Government of Sweden, together with the regional offices of UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNICEF and WHO, announces the start of a USD45 million Joint United Nations (UN) four-year Regional Programme to reduce unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), new HIV infections, maternal mortality and sexual and gender-based violence (GBV) across East and Southern Africa.
Rooted in the spirit of UN reform and a commitment to Deliver as One, the new Joint…
WHO expresses sadness over the death of a colleague working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cleaning up Africa’s air would pay for itself in economic gains: Pollution is dragging down the continent’s GDP and harming its children
Africa: The Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases Is Finally Within Reach
Health is more than the absence of disease: adequate nutrition is a critical part of the equation
Statement of the Regional Director, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, on the launch of “Nursing Now”
Government of Sweden and four UN agencies announce new Joint Programme to boost efforts to achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health and to end AIDS