Lagos, 11 March, 2020 - Following the successful deployment of ad-hoc Environmental Health Officers by the Lagos State Government aimed at beefing up Point of Entry (PoE) surveillance personnel requirement at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos, the World Health Organization (WHO) has provided additional coordination and technical expertise to passenger entry screening at both arrival terminals of the international airport to reduce the possibility of importation on COVID-19.
Ministers of Health from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) this week agreed to harmonize and coordinate their efforts to respond to COVID-19 in the region. South Africa – a member of the SADC – confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on 5th March, the first country and so far only country in southern Africa to do so.
The Ministry of Public Health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reported the country’s first case of COVID-19. Health authorities said tests found that a Congolese national, who had recently returned to Kinshasa from his residence in France had tested positive for the virus.
Zimbabwe has made tremendous progress in reducing maternal mortality. The maternal mortality rate reduced from 651 per 100 000 live births (ZDHS 2015) to 462 deaths per 100,000 live births (MICS 2019). Despite the reduction, the maternal mortality rate is still unacceptably high.
Zimbabwe's Director of Epidemiology and Disease Control in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Portia Manangazira has been recognised as one of the women leaders who have taken on the fight against typhoid.
Today, 8 March 2020, the world is celebrating the International Women Day. The theme this year is "I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”. It is a call to address inequities. The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa committed to achieving gender parity among its staff. Women now account for 33% of WHO workforce, up from 27% in 2015.
Abuja, March 6, 2020- Nigeria has re-committed to eradicating Tuberculosis (TB) and controlling Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) by 2030. This was re-iterated at the just concluded United Nations High-level Joint Programming mission on TB and NCDs.
March 6, 2020, WHO provided technical guidance and facilitation support for the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Ethiopian Public Health Institution (EPHI) COVID-19 Table Top Simulation Exercise (TTX), which was held on March 5, 2020.
A cloud of dust lifted slowly off the forecourt of Sebkha health centre where an ambulance had just rushed a patient. Inside visitors milled about as nurses paced up and down the corridors. When one of the nurses passed by, an elderly woman waiting outside the delivery room sat up and asked how her daughter was doing. “Don’t worry madam,” came the reply, “your daughter will give birth safely. She’s in good hands.”
