Juba 23 November: The fight against viral hepatitis is gaining momentum in South Sudan. The government with technical support from WHO, has embarked on a long and treacherous journey to eliminate viral hepatitis in the country. WHO in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and experts from Universities, medical specialists, public health professionals from MoH, and partners validated the draft practice guidelines for health professionals as well as the draft National plan to combat viral hepatitis.

29 November, Mbabane: The Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland dedicated the whole month of November to Diabetes awareness, with a special focus on women in line with the World Diabetes Day 2017 theme: “Women and diabetes - our right to a healthy future”.

The Gambia joined the International Community in observing World Diabetes Day, commemorated on 14 November every year. The activity was organized by the Gambia Diabetes Association (GDA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoH&SW) and the WHO Country Office (WHO), hosted by the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) Headquarters in Kanifing. The day started with a march pass involving members of GDA, volunteers and civil society groups.

Monrovia, 19^th November 2017: Antibiotics are im

Abuja, 29 November 2017 - Nigeria has the second highest burden of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection in the world. With about 3.2 million people living with HIV, the country requires all three tiers of government to respond to the epidemic.

Gaborone, Botswana - 28 November 2017: A capacity building training for the members of the Botswana national EMTCT Validation Committee (NVC) was held in Gaborone from 22-24 November 2017. The committee was appointed by the Ministry of Health and Wellness to help spearhead assessment and compilation of a country report on efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis.

The tenets of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underscore the critical nature of having mechanisms to ensure effective health facility management strategies and systems to assure quality of service. It is in line with these objectives that the training of the hospital managers was conducted, following the training needs assessment in September 2017. From this assessment, 17 topics were selected that were deemed as high priority.  

In line with the World Antibiotic Awareness Week, Eritrea launched its first antibiotics awareness week campaign this year (13th – 19th November). The ceremony was held on November 13, 2017 at Orrota National Referral Hospital Conference Hall.