Infographics

Juba, 27 February 2024 – Today, South Sudan launched a nationwide polio campaign aiming at vaccinating 3.1 million children using the novel oral polio vaccine type 2.

The novel oral polio vaccine type 2 has been designed to provide safe and reliable protection against poliovirus and is genetically more stable than the previous oral polio vaccine types. This means that it has the potential to be a game-changer in preventing new outbreaks of type 2 circulating variant-polio viruses (cVDPV2).

Banjul, The Gambia - In a heartfelt gesture of recognition and gratitude, Dr. Desta Tiruneh, the esteemed WHO Representative for Gambia since 2017, was bid farewell with sincere regards by His Excellency, Vice President Muhammad B. S. Jallow, ahead of his departure from The Gambia to Zimbabwe to undertake his new role as WHO Country Representative. This significant dispatch marks the end of Dr. Tiruneh's tenure in The Gambia, where he has left an indelible mark on the nation's health landscape.

Access to information is key to realizing the right to health for all.  Health inequities are endemic to every region of the world, with rates of disease significantly higher amongst the poorest and most excluded groups.

Dar es salaam – Nearly 8 million children in Tanzania have received vaccinations to stay protected against measles-rubella following the recent sporadic and hot spots of measles outbreaks in different areas of the country since July 2022.  In response, the Ministry of Health together with the World Health Organization and partners conducted several periodic surveillance exercises and now the intensive vaccination campaign which targeted children between 12 months to 52 months of age across the country.

Dar es Salaam - Tanzania is paving the way in the African region on the implementation of the Intersectoral Global Action Plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders 2022-2031 (IGAP). Using epilepsy and Parkinson disease as tracer conditions, WHO and Tanzania Ministry of Health are working together to identify barriers to medication access and interventions to improve access, in collaboration with local partners, including people with lived experience, health care providers and civil society representatives.

Over two hundred Scientists and Research and Development (R&D) focal points gathered in Uganda to tackle the pressing need to enhance research readiness for potential filovirus outbreaks across Africa. The workshop, which took place from 20th to 22nd February in Kampala, was jointly hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health Uganda.

Kampala, February 21, 2024 – Health Development Partners (HDPs) in Uganda have pledged to improve the harmonization and coordination of their efforts to effectively support the national health development plan and budget in 2024. This commitment was made at their recent HDP annual retreat held at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Uganda, which is the secretariat of the HDP Forum.

In the remote reaches of Simada district, North-West Ethiopia, amidst rugged terrain and hard-to-reach communities, a quiet hero emerges in the fight against disease outbreaks. Meet Melkamu Alemayehu, a 35-year-old public health practitioner whose unwavering commitment to his community has become a beacon of resilience in the face of adversity.

David Komaketch is a 37-year-old man who lives in Mbale, Uganda. A father of three, David was constantly exposed to tobacco smoke, which has put him at risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. In 2016, he suffered respiratory distress, a frequent problem among second-hand smokers.