Feature Stories

Nairobi – Kenyan health authorities have implemented a raft of preparedness and response measures to swiftly detect and halt the spread of mpox, which was confirmed in the country on 31 July 2024.

Abuja – World Health Organization (WHO) is stepping up support to the Nigerian authorities to provide emergency health assistance following devastation caused by severe flooding that has so far affected more than 610 000 people, damaged key basic infrastructure and raised the risks of food insecurity and spread of infectious diseases.

The floods have displaced more than 225 000 people, with 201 deaths reported in 15 of the country’s 36 states and about 115 000 hectares of farmland inundated.

Nairobi/Kinshasa ‒ World Health Organization (WHO) today delivered 14 metric tons of medical supplies and equipment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to support infection prevention and control and case management for the ongoing response to halt the mpox outbreak.

Juba ‒ Cecilia Achuwor, a 38-year-old mother of six children, is one of the hundreds of thousands of refugees and returnees who have crossed the border into South Sudan since the beginning of the conflict in neighbouring Sudan 16 months ago. “My husband remains in Khartoum,” she says. “We separated from him without any communication. He doesn’t know where we are and we also don’t know where he is. I am here alone with the children, and they are all sick,” she says.

Pretoria – One night in September 2023, 21-year-old university student Sinalo Tungwashe, who had been experiencing flu-like symptoms for some weeks, was roused from a fitful sleep by sharp chest pains. “I was struggling to breathe,” he recalls. “I knew that something was not normal. For a second, I thought I was about to die.”

Sokodé –​​​​ In Togo, the health landscape is characterized by high morbidity and maternal mortality rates. According to the National Health Development Plan (NHDP 2023–2027), the maternal mortality rate in 2021 was 399 deaths per 100 000 live births, a slight improvement from the 401 deaths per 100 000 live births reported in the 2013–2014 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS).