Feature Stories

Brazzaville/Amman/Geneva – For nearly a decade, the Horn of Africa has battled persistent outbreaks of variant poliovirus. Low immunity in children and unmonitored population movement have fuelled poliovirus spread. At a programmatic level, the lack of access to children living in insecure areas, variable levels of national ownership of polio eradication efforts across countries, limited cross-border coordination and delayed responses to outbreaks have allowed continued spread of poliovirus. 

Victoria – To curb rising rates of obesity, Seychelles is implementing a range of measures from health promotion campaigns in schools, workplaces and public spaces, to free screening, diagnosis and treatment for people with chronic diseases.

Luanda ‒ “I thought I would not survive,” says Abel Kanivete, from Angola's Cuanza Sul province on the country’s West coast. “There were so many people in the cholera treatment centre. I was afraid the nurses could not care for everyone, but they did, and I am alive because of them.” Kanivete is one of the more than 18 000 Angolans affected by the current cholera outbreak, declared in late January 2025.

Juba ‒ Midwives play a critical role in South Sudan, facilitating antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, and postnatal care for mothers and newborns to prevent death and promote a healthy future for both mothers and children.

Maputo ‒ Filipe Basílio, officer in charge of monitoring and evaluation in Mozambique’s malaria programme in the northern Nampula Province recalls the laborious task of data collection and analysis in his day-to-day work: "All record-keeping tools were manual and it used to take a long time for the data to reach the Ministry, because community distributors had to submit their reports at the end of the day to their supervisor, who would then forward them to the district level, then to the provincial level, and only after that would the Ministry receive the information,” he s

Brazzaville – The Republic of the Congo is one of 15 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region where the mpox outbreak remains active. The country has made risk communication and community engagement central to its response strategy. As of April 9, Congo had recorded 50 confirmed cases since the start of the outbreak, with only five active cases remaining and no deaths reported.

Luanda ‒ Manuel Domingos, community leader of the Mussenga neighbourhood in Icolo e Bengo province in northwest Angola, recalls a time when the water supply to his community was serviced by a “unreliable water tank.” This situation is common across Angola, where, according to government data, around 44% of the population has no access to safe drinking water and only 55% has adequate sanitation. In rural areas, these figures are even lower, increasing the risk of diseases such as cholera.

Brazzaville – Congo is intensifying efforts to reduce maternal mortality by introducing innovative tools, including the labour monitoring guide. Also known as the partogram, this is used to monitor the well-being of both mother and baby during active labour. 

In use in the Republic of the Congo since 1993, the partogram supports decision-making in the event of complications, and helps reduce avoidable risks and deaths. In 2022, a simplified version was rolled out to 12 health districts, making it more accessible and easier for maternity staff to use.

Niamey – When 19-year-old Aichatou, from Birni in the Dosso region, found out she was pregnant with her first child in 2023, her hope was for a smooth pregnancy and safe delivery. But she was reluctant to visit a health centre. “My sisters told me the staff don’t pay enough attention to women during antenatal checkups, and that the care is often slow,” she says.