The launch for the Polio Second Round campaign in Kenya kicked off this weekend with a passionate appeal to parents and care-givers to open their doors for Polio teams so children could be vaccinated.

The campaign targets 11 counties most at risk including  Migori, Garissa, Wajir, Turkana, Marsabit, Tana River, Lamu, Mandera, Narok, Homa Bay and Siaya

On August 31, Mozambique celebrates the 13th African Traditional Medicine Day on Praça dos Héroes in Inhambane, at 8 AM. Regulation of Traditional Health Practitioners in the African Region is the theme this year, organized by the Institute for Traditional Medicine with support from WHO.

The road to the 200-bed Redemption Hospital in Monrovia is unpaved. During the rainy season it is full of potholes and mud. Patients may have difficulty arriving, but they come, because Redemption is the only public facility in the area and serves some 90 000 people. In August 2014, the hospital was at the center of the Ebola epidemic in Liberia. It quickly became overwhelmed and, for a time, had to close its inpatient department.

Freetown, Sierra Leone – 31 August 2015: Detection of a new case of Ebola virus disease in Kambia, Sierra Leone after the country had marked almost three weeks of zero cases has set in motion the first ‘ring vaccination’ use of the experimental Ebola vaccine in Sierra Leone.

Monrovia, 31 August 2015 – The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO), World Health Organization (WHO) and the Traditional Medicine Federation of Liberia (TRAMEDFOL) has celebrated the 13th African Traditional Medicine Day on August 31, 2015 in Liberia, with a call from the WHO for countries to institute reliable regulatory systems that supports activities of qualified practitioners.

Dar es Salaam, 28 August 2015 - The WHO Tanzania Country Office provided the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare water treatment supplies and disinfectants to strengthen the Cholera Outbreak response in the country. Items handed over included: 1,000 cartons of Water Guard (2,400,000 tablets) and 100 litres of Cresol Saponated Liquid (LYSOL), all worth a total of US$ 21,130 equivalent to Tanzania Shillings TShs 42,260,000.

Addis Ababa. 26 August 2015 – The exceptional leadership of the Ethiopian Government in the efforts to improve maternal and new-born health was commended by the UN H4+ Global Team mission that visited Ethiopia from 17-21 August 2015. The team assessed progresses made on maternal and new-born health as a result of interventions supported in the past two years by UN H4+ agencies – UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNWOMEN and WHO – with the government of Ethiopia. The interventions were supported through funding from the Swedish Government through Sida. 

Malawi has one of the highest rates of preterm birth in the world. Nearly 1 in 5 babies are born before 37 weeks of gestation. Globally, complications of prematurity, such as difficulty in feeding, breathing and regulating body temperature, are the single largest cause of neonatal death. In order to survive, these babies need specialized care and equipment—resources most developing countries do not have.

Malawi is no exception.

Accra, 25 August, 2015 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has signed an Agreement with the School of Public Health, University of Ghana,  for the release of US $ 792,000.00 meant for the   training of  about 200 district and sub-district health and other staff from seven regions to strengthen disease control and surveillance systems in the country.   The need for this training is highlighted against the background of the recent Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa in which inadequate capacity of health staff contribu

Sierra Leone celebrated an important milestone on Monday, 24 August 2015. For the first time in more than a year, there are no people being treated for Ebola virus disease and no confirmed cases of Ebola in the country.