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.

Freetown/ Brazzaville, 24 August 2015 – Ongoing efforts to get to zero Ebola cases in Sierra Leone are yielding good results.

WHO Country office Ethiopia is playing an essential role in supporting the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies with public health consequences. To deliver on its core commitments and performance standards, the country office fulfils four critical functions in emergency response: leadership, information, and technical expertise and core services.

Kampala, 21th August 2015:- Ministry of Health and World Health Organization (WHO), CDC Atlanta and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) conducted a two-day Polio Outbreak Response Table top Simulation Exercise (PORSE) at the Ministry of Health Emergency Operation Centre in Kampala in order to test the response plan and preparedness for the country to respond, to a Wild Polio Virus  (WPV) outbreak.

The 13th Horn of Africa Technical Advisory Group meeting on polio has ended with a call for the affected countries to close gaps in surveillance sensitivity in high risk areas, improvement of routine immunization, population immunity and end to continued undetected low level polio transmission.

The TAG met in Nairobi August 17-20 to look at country situations, preparedness plans and standards in surveillance, Routine immunization and eradication of the Wild Polio Virus (WPV) and Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (cVDPV).

On the 23rd of November 2014 a volcanic eruption occurred on the island of Fogo in the archipelago of Cabo Verde. During the early hours of the eruption, critical infra-structure such as roads and telecommunications where immediately destroyed by a massive torrent of lava flow that also covered a substantial area of arable land. However, considering the slow movement of magma, the population had sufficient time to be evacuated out of the affected area. 

Freetown, 19 August 2015 - The UN Country Team (UNCT) in Sierra Leone is shocked by the report that an 18-year-old girl, Hannah Bockarie, was brutally raped and murdered on 13 August 2015 at Lumley Beach, Freetown.  The UNCT condemns this horrendous act in the strongest terms and it calls on the Sierra Leone Government to conduct a prompt, thorough and independent investigation into the girl’s death and to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.

Juba, 19 August 2015 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners are racing to cope with the health needs of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northeastern South Sudan where fighting continues and the humanitarian situation remains dire.

Banjul, The Gambia, 1st September 2015 - The United Nations System in The Gambia has once again extended its support to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOH&SW) in the fight against  the dreadful Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

Harare, 18 August 2015:  The Zimbabwe Public Health Association (ZiPHA) was launched on the 14th of August in Harare at a function attended by many public health practitioners from all over Zimbabwe. The association, whose vision is the attainment of the highest possible standards of health for all Zimbabweans, is committed to improving the health and living status of the people of Zimbabwe through the dedicated and active involvement of its members in all aspects of public health in Zimbabwe and through collaboration with stakeholders.