Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — The management and staff of the World Health Organization (WHO) Ethiopia warmly congratulate H.E. Dr. Mekdes Daba on her reappointment as Minister of Health of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

We commend Dr. Mekdes Daba for her exemplary leadership, dedication and continued commitment to advancing Ethiopia’s health agenda and strengthening the country’s health system. Her leadership has contributed to improved health outcomes and well-being of the people of Ethiopia.

Angola continues to bolster its response to the Mpox outbreak, which has so far resulted in 796 confirmed cases and two deaths since 2024, according to figures released by the health authorities. Against this backdrop, journalists from various media organizations visited the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (COESP) in Luanda as part of an initiative by the Angolan Government to strengthen risk communication and the public’s access to reliable information about the disease.

Angola continues to intensify its efforts to interrupt the transmission of dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), focusing on community surveillance, coordination among partners, and promoting sustainable access to safe drinking water.

Angola is strengthening its strategic vaccination plan for the period 2026 to 2030, in a process led by the Ministry of Health, through the National Directorate of Public Health (DNSP), with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and other partners in the health sector.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has supported the National Institute for Health Research (INIS) in assessing and improving the quality systems of its diagnostic laboratories for yellow fever, measles, and rubella. This is an important step towards achieving international accreditation and strengthening epidemiological surveillance in Angola.

Freetown – The National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG), working closely with the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) and partners including WHO, UNICEF, the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLCRS), CHAI, and AFENET, has commenced a three-day Vaccine Portfolio Optimization and Prioritization (VPOP) exercise to support Sierra Leone's Gavi 6.0 strategy application.

Kampala, Uganda - In 2025, Uganda confirmed 66 separate measles outbreaks across the country, with a cluster of deaths in an underserved region. The outbreaks hit hardest among young children who had never received a single dose of the vaccine.

For health authorities, that gap between effort and outcome deserved a hard look. The recurring outbreaks signaled that the challenge was driven not by parental hesitation, but by systemic gaps in reaching every child.

The second round of the bivalent oral polio vaccination (bOPV) campaign conducted across Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz regions, as well as in two zones of Oromia Region (Kellem Wollega and West Wollega), targeting 1,029,048children under the age of five years and have reached a total of 1,048,555 target children making the administrative coverage of 102%. 

Brazzaville - The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa is advancing the digital transformation of public health delivery with the launch of the DIGIT Health Campaign Data Digitization Project, a regional initiative designed to modernize how health campaigns are planned, coordinated, implemented and monitored across the continent.