Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | August 2026 – The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, will host the Seventy-sixth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa (RC76) in Addis Ababa from 24 to 28 August 2026.

Following two national polio vaccination campaigns and two campaigns carried out in coordination with the Republic of Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in border areas, which enabled more than nine million children under the age of five to be vaccinated, Angola is translating the lessons learned into concrete actions to strengthen immunization, reach more children, and accelerate efforts towards the eradication of polio.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 3 August 2026 – The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office in Ethiopia and the University of Gondar have signed a two-year Project Collaboration Agreement (2026–2027) to strengthen health financing research, institutional capacity and evidence-informed policymaking in support of Ethiopia's progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Ethiopia has taken another significant step toward strengthening its public health emergency preparedness and response capacity with the graduation of 89 health professionals under the fourth cohort of the African Volunteer Health Corps (AVoHC SURGE) initiative. The training was implemented by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and funding from the Pandemic Fund.

Stakeholders implementing Ghana's Pandemic Fund Project met in Accra for the first Annual Review Meeting to assess progress made over the past year, discuss implementation challenges, share lessons learned, and agree on priority actions for the year ahead.

Mokolo, Cameroon—For five years, 29-year-old Denise lived with an obstetric fistula, a childbirth-related complication that profoundly affected her life. After undergoing surgery at the Mokolo Regional Annex Hospital in Cameroon’s Far North Region in April 2026, she is gradually rebuilding her life.

“This operation has changed my life in many ways. Today, I feel like any other woman,” says Denise.

Abuja – “We want a health system that listens to young people now, not later,” said Dr Muhammad Jafar, a young medical doctor with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, as he addressed participants at the United Nations building in Abuja.

Nairobi - For many women in Kenya, pregnancy and childbirth are a time of hope and new beginnings. Yet for some mothers, this period is accompanied by mental health challenges. 

Feelings of worry, sadness, and emotional distress may arise during pregnancy and after childbirth but often go unrecognized by health professionals, thus limiting access to the mental health care that women need.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 16 July 2026 — The World Health Organization (WHO) Ethiopia congratulates the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) on its 100th anniversary and the convening of the Fifth Public Health Scientific Congress, recognizing a century of outstanding contributions to protecting and improving the health of the Ethiopian people.