Infographics

Mauritius Marks World No-Tobacco Day 2025 with Youth-Focused Awareness Campaign

Mauritius commemorated World No-Tobacco Day on 02 June 2025, engaging nursing, medical, and university students in a campaign aimed at raising awareness about the tobacco industry's evolving marketing tactics—particularly those targeting young people. The event sought to alert the youth to the dangers of new nicotine products and strategies designed to initiate addiction and promote harmful smoking habits. Participants were warned about flavoured tobacco and nicotine products, which are engineered to reduce the harshness of tobacco and increase its appeal. Special attention was drawn to the rise of electronic nicotine delivery systems and other sophisticated, attractive devices that are aggressively marketed to young people, luring them into addiction at the expense of their health and future. Minister of Health and Wellness, Hon. Anil Kumar Bachoo, reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to combating the tobacco epidemic in Mauritius. He highlighted the government's ongoing efforts to prevent smoking initiation and to support those seeking to quit. The Minister proudly referenced the WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Award, which he received from Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the 78th World Health Assembly in May 2025, acknowledging Mauritius’ global leadership in tobacco control. “We shall leave no stone unturned to make Mauritius a country where no one dies from a preventable disease,” declared Minister Bachoo.

Over 990 communities reached in Gambella’s cholera vaccine campaign

The Gambella region has successfully concluded a comprehensive Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) campaign, marking a critical milestone in the ongoing fight against the cholera outbreak that has impacted multiple districts.

Launched at the end of March, the campaign aimed to reach more than 990 communities, with strong coordination between federal and regional health authorities.

Communities in Sierra Leone are ready for the mpox vaccine

Freetown, Sierra Leone - Community engagement is visibly reshaping Sierra Leone’s response to mpox. Since the first confirmed case in January 2025, health workers and mobilisers have been moving steadily through affected areas, bridging information gaps, building trust, and helping people understand how to protect themselves and their families.

Enhancing reproductive health services through on-site mentorship in Kenya

Kajiado County—At the busy Kitengela Hospital of Kajiado County in Southern Kenya, nurses Jackline Tabo and Grace Nyangweso bring healing in the quiet rooms where life’s most fragile moments happen. They are proud participants in WHO Kenya’s on-site mentorship, an initiative that’s designed to enhance the quality of sexual and reproductive health services at the point of care.

WHO and Ministry of Health conduct joint mission to strengthen maternal and newborn ...

With support from a major donor, World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health concluded a joint assessment mission focused on enhancing maternal and newborn health (MNH) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services across five rural counties in Liberia.  The joint mission took place from 11 May to 24 May 2025 in Gbarpolu, River Cess, Maryland, Grand Kru, and River Gee counties.

Tanzania’s National Public Health Laboratory Designated as WHO HIVResNet National La...

Dar es Salaam:  The National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) in Dar es Salaam has been officially designated as a World Health Organization (WHO) HIVResNet National Laboratory for HIV Drug Resistance (HIVDR) testing for 2025. This designation places Tanzania at the forefront of global efforts to monitor and respond to HIV drug resistance, a critical component in the fight to end the AIDS epidemic.

Uganda achieves 92% coverage in accelerated yellow fever vaccination campaign

Kampala-Under the aegis of the Global Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) strategy and with support from Gavi, UNICEF, WHO, and Uganda’s Ministry of Health, the country has successfully completed phase 3a of its nationwide accelerated yellow fever vaccination campaign in response to the epidemiological situation, achieving an impressive 92% vaccination coverage in the 19 targeted districts. This phase, undertaken on 10-16 April 2025, was particularly significant as it was also used to respond to an active outbreak.

Strengthening Malaria elimination strategies in South Africa

Pretoria - World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with South Africa’s National Department of Health (NDoH), hosted a high-level five-day consultative workshop from 26–30 May 2025 in Pretoria. The workshop marked a critical milestone in South Africa’s journey to eliminate malaria by 2028. Focused on Microstratification and Foci Implementation Review, the meeting brought together provincial health officials, technical experts, and operational partners to refine and align data-driven malaria strategies with WHO recommendations.