The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, has concluded her three-day visit to Ghana at the invitation of the Ghanaian Authorities.  The visit provided an opportunity for her to acquaint herself with ongoing efforts, successes and challenges as the country strives to improve the health and overall well-being of Ghanaians. 

Dr Moeti paid a courtesy call on His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.  Accompanying her were the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku, Honourable Minister of Health, Madam Tina Mensah, WHO Country Representative, Dr Owen Kaluwa, Officials from WHO AFRO, Dr Kasolo and Dr Kizito and senior officials from the Ministry of Health. 
In her discussions with the President, Dr Moeti first congratulated him on his nomination as co-Chair of the eminent Committee on SDGs and thanked the Government of Ghana for inviting her to visit Ghana

Dr Moeti and her team called on some members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health at the Parliament House to hold discussions on health related matters of interest.  She applauded the Legislature for passing the LI for Mental Health Bill (MHB) and also the increase in districts offering mental health services.  Dr Moeti mentioned that inadequate funding to support mental health programmes was a challenge in most African Countries, including Ghana.  She however advocated for more resources for Mental Health Programmes in Ghana, since according to her was a health pr

Abuja, 24 April 2018 – The Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with international donors and development partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO), today validated the 2nd National Strategic Health Development Plan. The plan which is designed to provide an over-arching strategic direction for health in Nigeria towards Universal Health Care (UHC) comes at a time the Government of Nigeria has set out its UHC agenda through Primary Health Care revitalization.

FREETOWN, April 25, 2018 --- This week, 23rd-29th April, is African and Global Vaccination Week, when the World Health Organization joins partners, health workers and communities across the world to celebrate the critical role of vaccines in promoting child health and survival. The week has been gazetted by world leaders at the World Health Assembly and the African Regional Committee to promote and champion vaccinations, as one of the most important, cost-effective interventions for saving children’s lives, and keeping adults, communities and nations, healthy.

The Annual Health Summit hosted by the Ministry of Health began y 23 April 2018 at the Labadi Beach Hotel under the theme "Achieving Universal Health Coverage:  Using Innovative Approaches”. This was a platform for bringing all stakeholders (other line Ministries, civil society, UN agencies, private sector and academia) together to discuss pertinent health issues in Ghana and also provides an opportunity to widen the scope of discussions on these very important health issues.

Dr Moeti paid a courtesy call on Her Excellency the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo.  She commended the First Lady’s efforts in maternal and child health in Ghana, particularly among others her support for the construction of a Mother-Baby Unit for the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital to ease the congestion at the maternity unit and improve outcomes for mothers and newborns. 

Dr Moeti and her team visited the Shai Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region. She first visited the District Health Directorate to interact with the District Health Management Team.  The District Director made a presentation on the performance of the district. From there the team visited the Ayikuma CHPS to give Dr Moeti the opportunity to familiarize herself with service delivery at the lower levels.