A joint WHO mission composed of Ethiopia Country Office, the Africa Regional Office and the Horn of Africa Office for Polio Response Coordination visited health facilities and refugee communities in Gambella Regional State on 5 and 6 August 2015. The mission aimed to strengthen support to the refugee emergency response in the Region.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society (CSOs) members expressed their interest to integrate Tuberculosis (TB) in their respective program areas to contribute to the fight against Tuberculosis and contribute to the reduction of incidence, prevalence and death related to TB. This was during a one-day sensitization workshop on the ENGAGE-TBapproach held on 27 August 2015 in Adama, bringing together 30 participants from NGOs and CSOs working in different programmatic areas, including HIV/AIDS, Maternal Health, Child Health and other community-based programs.

Malaria has put an estimated 3.3 billion people – 40% of the world population – at risk, killing 584,000 people worldwide, 90% these in Africa.

Kaduna, 29 September 2015 - With Nigeria at a defining moment of polio eradication, the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative (WR), Dr Rui Gama Vaz has embarked on townhall meetings with major stakeholders to consolidate on gains recorded.

New York, 25 September 2015 | The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Margaret Chan announced the removal of Nigeria, the then only remaining endemic country in the African Region, from the list of polio endemic countries at the Polio Oversight Board Meeting in New York, USA.

25 september 2015 - WHO announced today that polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria. This is the first time that Nigeria has interrupted transmission of wild poliovirus, bringing the country and the African region closer than ever to being certified polio-free.

One morning, Emma Laudon asked her son, Joseph, why he did not want go to school that day. He told her he had a bad headache and could not drink water or eat food. Later, he began to vomit and foam at the mouth.

A visit to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, revealed Joseph had rabies. He was exhibiting signs of hydrophobia or fear of water – an advanced symptom of the disease. Because of hydrophobia, saliva was accumulating in his mouth and he was unable to swallow.

Countries in the WHO African Region have made meaningful progress towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) but this is insufficient to reach the MDG targets. Much more needs to be done to sustain the gains so far whilst pursuing the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Maiduguri, 24 September, 2015 - The Borno State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Haruna Mshelia has commended the World Health Organization for coordinating early response to the cholera outbreak reported in the internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri the state capital during the 37th  epidemiological week.

Ethiopia marked a major milestone in its path towards zero TB death in children by launching its National Childhood TB Prevention and Control Roadmap on 30 July 2015 in Addis Ababa. The roadmap aims to guide implementation and strengthen prevention and management of childhood TB in the country.