The African vaccine week in Eritrea was observed from 25-30 April, 2016 at national level in all zobas focusing more on polio eradication endgame and the importance of quality of vaccination.  The service provided was to strengthen the routine immunization programmes in the country by increasing public awareness on the importance of every person’s right to be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases at set times and schedules.

6 June 2016 - WHO launched the first ever drug module kit for the management of Severe Acute Malnutrition and Medical Complications in children. South Sudan is the first country in the world to introduce the use of the kit. The kit constitutes the most essential and basic medicine for the treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition and medical conditions. The kits comprise four basic modules of routine, basic, supplementary and malaria drugs.

Lusaka, June 6, 2016 – On 19th May 2016, the World Health Organisation Country Office signed a financing agreement with the African Development Bank (ADB) on  leveraging mobile technology to improve access to basic health services in Zambia. Through this agreement, the ADB will provide WHO a grant  amounting to US$ 385,000  to support the Ministry of Health in  implementation of the Mhealth initiative.

In order to address some of the staffing challenges that affect Sierra Leone's health sector, a two-day summit attended by technical and policy experts from around the world was held in Freetown, Sierra Leone from 2-3 June 2016. The summit, organized by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation with support from the World Health Organization and the Clinton Health Access Initiative aimed to lay a foundation to improve human resources for health in Sierra Leone . 

Ghana celebrated World No Tobacco Day on 31st May 2016 in an Exhibition on Pictorial Warnings organized by the Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), The Ghana Health Service and its partners, including WHO, with the theme “Get Ready for Plain Packaging” at the GNAT Hall, in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.  

Entebbe 1st June 2016 - The Ministry of Health (MoH) with support from the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Education Fund and Center for Disease Control held a three-day training for the members of of Uganda’s armed forces (Military, Police and Prisons) on the usage of Electronic Health Management Information System (eHMIS) at Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel, Entebbe.

Rwanda celebrated World Health Day on 29th May 2016 in an event organized by the Ministry of Health/Rwanda Biomedical Center and its partners, including WHO, with the theme “Scale-Up Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention, Strengthen Care, and Enhance Surveillance”. The national theme for World Health Day aligns with the global theme, “Beat Diabetes”, with a call to address the broader non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Brazzaville, 1 June 2016 - Today the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of Ebola virus transmission in the Republic of Guinea. Forty-two days have passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola virus disease tested negative for the second time. Guinea now enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance to ensure that any new cases are identified quickly before they can spread to other people.

Kampala, 1st June 2016 - As Uganda marked the World No Tobacco Day 2016, the major highlight of the event was the formal launch of the Tobacco Control Act 2015 at a function presided over by the Minister of Health Dr Elioda Tumwesigye representing the Right Honorable Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda.

Lusaka, 30 May 2016 - The commemoration of the World Malaria Day (WMD) 2016 in Zambia was held on 25th April, 2016 in Katete District, Eastern Province at Vulamukoko Rural Health Centre. The theme for the commemoration was “End Malaria for Good”. The theme is reflective of the vision of a world free from malaria as provided in the Global Malaria Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030.