65th session of Programme Subcommittee begins

The International Day of the Midwife was celebrated globally on 5 May 2015 and commemorated in Ethiopia on 7 May 2015 with the theme, “Midwives for a better tomorrow.”

With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) coming to an end in September 2015, this is indeed a special year to highlight the role of midwives in the achievement of MDG 4 and in the progress towards the achievement of MDG 5 in Ethiopia. The recognition of midwives this year is key also in light of the world’s move to the UN Sustainable Development Goals beyond 2015.

The external assessment team that conducted the final Polio outbreak assessment in Ethiopia on 8-12 June 2015 confirmed that Ethiopia has successfully interrupted polio transmission. This encouraging conclusion was received nearly two years after the outbreak was confirmed in the Horn of Africa and outbreak activities initiated to respond to and interrupt Polio transmission.

Abuja, 15 June 2015 - Nigeria joined the rest of the world in marking the  2015 World Blood Donor Day, which commenced  with a procession along Shehu Shagari Way in  Abuja  dubbed “walk for life”, followed by a press briefing  on Saturday, 13th June 2015. The procession was led by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Linus Awute.

A national conference aimed at launching a campaign to end child marriage in Eritrea was held at Hotel Asmara Palace in June 2016. The national launch was coordinated by the Ministry of Health, and a number of line ministries and other organizations like the Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare, Ministry of Education, the national Union of Eritrean Women, and the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students participated actively. The launch was organized in partnership with the African Union Commission, WHO, UNFPA and UNICEF.

The United Republic of Tanzania is one of 15 countries that is being supported by the Renewed Partnership, a collaborative initiative between the European Union (EU), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), which aims to improve patient health outcomes, achieve health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and attain universal health coverage.

Abuja, 14 June 2015 - States in the North West of Nigeria comprising  Jigawa,  Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto, sharing international borders with the Republic of Niger, have administered oral polio vaccine to 24, 952 children aged  0-59 months during the sub-National Immunization Plus Days (sNIPDs) conducted from 6-9 June 2015 to boost the immunity of populations living in border settlements.

Abuja, 13 June 2015 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has coordinated immunization activities to support Adamawa State to immunize 68,495 under five children from 687 previously unreached settlements due to insecurity during the 6-9 June, 2015 sub-National Immunization Plus Days (sNIPDs), out of which, 646 were receiving oral polio vaccine (OPV) for the first time.

Abuja, 11 June 2015 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has joined the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA) in the grant signing ceremony of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) of funded humanitarian programme titled “Integrated Humanitarian Assistance for North East Nigeria” held in Abuja on 11 June 2015.

Niamey, 12 June 2015 – The situation of the meningitis epidemic in Niger, caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C, has improved thanks to intensive efforts at the national and international levels.