WHO supports four countries to design plans to strengthen family planning services

WHO and country participants at the meeting in Kampala
There is an urgent need to improve family planning services in Africa, where more than 47 million women, who wish to stop or delay pregnancies have limited access to contraception. A five-day meeting on strengthening family planning services in, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Uganda began on 17th December 2018 in Kampala.  It is organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health of Uganda, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Advancing local production and supply of quality assured medicines to improve access in the Africa region

Participants attended a training workshop on “Key enabling factors for successful local production and supply of quality-assured medicines”
An international training workshop on “Key enabling factors for successful local production and supply of quality-assured medicines” started on Monday 17th Dec. in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. WHO Head Quarter, in collaboration with USP/PQM and NEPAD, organized this three days training workshop that will take place from 17-19, December 2018 with a support by WHO Ethiopia to benefit pharmaceutical manufacturing companies based in the Africa region. 

WHO Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Health review 2018 progress and 2019 health priority agenda

Group photo of the senior managements and technical officers of the WHO Country Office in Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation
Towards the end of every year, the senior managements, and technical officers of the WHO Country Office in Sierra Leone and the senior leadership of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation meet to review progress and challenges of their work and agree on priority areas of work for the following year. The review meeting this year discussed progress on a range of operational and technical activities including, administrative, financial and technical performances as well as the quality of management and leadership and collaboration between the two partner institutions. The engagement also aimed to ensure continued and strengthened cooperation and improve collaboration.

Nigeria launches Yellow fever vaccination campaign to stop outbreak in Edo state 

WHO team with a family of a presumptive case of Yellow fever for detailed case investigation
The Government of Nigeria with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), and partners launched this week a Yellow fever reactive vaccination campaign , funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The campaign will be implemented in 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Edo state where cases have been confirmed. The immunization drive is a response to the unprecedented yellow fever outbreak recently identified in the State.

African Development Bank gives a grant to support cholera control activities in Zimbabwe

Honorable Minister of Finance and Economic Development Prof. Mthuli Ncube and WR Dr Gasasira shaking hands after signing for the grant

Harare, 17 Dec. 2018 Today witnessed the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and World Health Organization signing a USD 1 million grant for emergency assistance to support efforts to control and stop the 2018 cholera outbreak.  The $1 million will be used to contribute to financing implementation of Zimbabwe’s National Cholera response plan. The World Health Organization will administer the implementation of this grant on behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe.

Government and partners rally against adolescent pregnancy and unsafe abortions

Teenage pregnant girl in her third trimester_i

Abuja, 14 December, 2018 - The Federal Government in collaboration with key partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO) recently resolved to redouble efforts to tackle the menace of unsafe abortions and adolescent pregnancies. Teenage pregnancies particularly in secondary and tertiary institutions are on the rise, leading many of the affected to commit unsafe abortions – as abortion is illegal in Nigeria. 

Members of Parliament commit to advocating for the attainment of Universal Health Coverage in Uganda

Members of Parliament, Ministry of Health, WHO officials and partners at the breakfast meeting

Kampala, 13th December 2018: - On 12th December 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its member states commemorated the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) day. In Uganda, a high-level breakfast meeting was convened by the Ministry of Health (MoH) with support from WHO and other partners- Living Goods and PATH to engage parliamentarians on promoting UHC as a smart investment for the country and their role in achieving UHC through a multi-sectoral approach.

Ethiopia commemorates the 30th World AIDS DAY

The 30th World AIDS DAY commemoration participants in Bishoftu town
Federal HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Office (FHAPCO) in collaboration with Oromia Regional Health Bureau commemorated the national 2018 World AIDS DAY (WAD) in Ethiopia on 1st Dec 2018. Dukem town, which is one of the industrial towns of Oromia Regional State, hosted the event under the 2018 WAD theme, “Know Your Status”.