The African region completes a critical step towards wild polio eradication as the independent commission to decide on the African Region’s wild poliovirus-free status has concluded its final field visit to Nigeria today, after conducting critical analysis to verify the documentation presented by the Nigerian Government.
The Federal Ministry of Health has confirmed a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) case in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The case, which was announced on the 13th of March 2020, is the first one to be reported in Ethiopia since the beginning of the outbreak in China in December 2019.
12 March 2020, Seychelles – On Wednesday 10th March 2020, the WHO Representative for Seychelles Dr. Teniin Gakuruh met with the President of the Republic of Seychelles, His Excellency Danny Faure at the State House in Victoria, to discuss Seychelles’ preparedness status for COVID19. This was in the presence of the Secretary of State for the Department of Health (DoH), Ambassador Marie-Pierre Llyod.
Abuja, 12 March, 2020 - While celebrating women this week, the UN Women Representative in Nigeria Ms Comfort Lamptey defined the Nigerian woman as “a symbol representing – courage, strength, resilience, hope, tenacity and transformational power.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
