Botswana develops first ever multi-sectoral Tobacco Control Strategy

One of the groups drafting a component of the strategy

Gaborone, Botswana - 18-22 March 2019: The Ministry of Health and Wellness convened tobacco control stakeholders in Gaborone to develop a first ever national multi-sectoral tobacco control strategy. The week long workshop brought together stakeholders from both within and outside of government. Some of the key stakeholders included Ministries of trade, local government, basic education, youth and culture, the police, Botswana Unified Revenue Services and NGOs such as Anti-tobacco network, Botswana Substance Abuse Network (BOSAsnet), Humana People to People and Skygirls.

Diseases cost the African Region $2.4 trillion a year, says WHO

Diseases cost the African Region $2.4 trillion a year, says WHO
Nearly 630 million years of healthy life were lost in 2015 due to diseases afflicting people in the African Region, according to a new report by the WHO Regional Office for Africa. This amounts to a yearly loss of over $ 2.4 trillion of the region's gross domestic product.

Ethiopia’s effort in fighting against Tuberculosis (TB) is progressing: TB still predominates in the younger population

WHO TB Program Officer visiting St Paulos Hospital
Ethiopia commemorated World TB Day on 24th March 2019 in Afar region Samara town. The theme of World TB Day for 2019 is ‘It is time to end TB’ that puts the accent on the urgency to act on the commitments made by global leaders to scale up access to prevention and treatment; to build accountability; to ensure sufficient and sustainable financing including for research; to promote an end to stigma and discrimination, and promote an equitable, rights-based and people-centered TB response. TB is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide and the leading cause from a single infectious agent (above HIV/AIDS). Millions of people continue to fall sick with TB each year. In 2017, TB caused an estimated 1.3 million deaths among HIV-negative people and there were an additional 300 000 deaths from TB. 

Zanzibar commemorates World Hearing Day

Zanzibar commemorates World Hearing Day
On World Hearing Day 2019, WHO draws attention to the importance of early identification and intervention for hearing loss. Many people live with unidentified hearing loss, often failing to realize that they are missing out on certain sounds and words. Checking one’s hearing would be the first step towards addressing the issue. This year, the day was marked in Zanzibar under the theme "Check Your Hearing”.