Gaborone, Botswana - 05 Decemebr 2017: The Ministry of Health and Wellness in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Chambers are training 40 government lawyers on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Tobacco Control Bill that is about to go to parliament for debate and approval. The aim of the training is to develop a critical mass of lawyers who understand the basis and significance of the Bill and will expertly advise management of sectors where some of them are attached as legal advisors.

Juba, 1 December 2017:  With the theme “Right to Health”. ‘Everyone with the Right to Realize the highest attainable standard of Health without Stigma and Discrimination’, the national commemoration of the World Aida Day was officiated by H.E the Vice President, James Wani Igga on 1 December 2017 at Nyakuron Cultural Center in Juba.

Abidjan, December 5, 2017 – The important role of the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV and AIDS (OAFLA) in Ending Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV has been under discussion at a special session organised by the World Health Organsiation and  OAFLA on the margins of 19TH International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA). 
 

Kole, 5 December 2017:- The President of Uganda, His Excellency, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, called for increased involvement of men in efforts to tackle HIV & AIDS in Uganda. This was at the national commemoration of the World AIDS Day (WAD) 2017 under the theme ‘Reaching men, girls and young women, to reduce new HIV infections” at the Abilonino National Instructors College in Kole District.

Juba, 04 December 2017—Six million people in South Sudan—well beyond the half of the population (56%)— were estimated to be severely food insecure in September 2017, out of which 40 000 in humanitarian catastrophe. The current harvest season, between October to December 2017 is expected to reduce the number of people experiencing food insecurity to 4.8 million. However, the situation could worsen next year exposing multiple locations across the country to high risk of famine due to poor harvest.

Juba, 1 December 2017:  Every second, someone in the world needs blood. Blood transfusion is one of the therapeutic procedures performed during hospitalizations and undoubtedly helps patients who are injured, having surgery, receiving treatments or are being treated for diseases that affect the blood.

FREETOWN, December 4 2017 --- This November, Sierra Leone’s Directorate of Food and Nutrition with support from WHO and UKAid organised a five-day training for hospital staff on the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), which is an initiative pioneered by WHO and UNICEF to help maternity facilities become trusted centres of breastfeeding and mother/baby bonding support. 

Juba, 1 December 2017 – The Ministry of Health (MoH) with support from the World Health organization (WHO) and partners has commenced the implementation of a road map to introduce and institutionalize National Health Accounts(NHA) in South Sudan. The NHA is a framework for measuring total national health expenditures including public, private, and donors. It provides key indicators that are used to diagnose the ‘financial health’ of the health system. NHAs are the main source of data on money flows in healthcare and are used both for national and international purposes.

Abuja, 04 December 2017 - Reactive vaccination is continuing in high risk states to contain a Yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria. The International Coordinating Group (ICG) on vaccine provision for yellow fever has provided 1.4 million vaccine doses for an immunization campaign that starts to help control an ongoing yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria.

Gaborone, Botswana - 4 December 2017:  A five-day Joint External Evaluation (JEE) of the International Health Regulations (2005) core capacities for Botswana is being conducted from 4-8 December, 2017 at Masa Square Hotel in Gaborone.