23 July 2015, Geneva -On World Hepatitis Day (28 July) WHO highlights the urgent need for countries to enhance action to prevent viral hepatitis infection and to ensure that people who have been infected are diagnosed and offered treatment.

Monrovia, 28th July, 2015:- The Disease Prevention and Control (DPC) Division of the Ministry of Health of Liberia convened a 3-day stakeholders’ meeting to share, harmonize and map partners’ planned support for epidemic preparedness, disease surveillance and response - one of the key areas of the strategic health investment plan for building a resilient health system and strengthening health security for the Liberian people.

‘Nine more hospitals in Liberia ready to strengthen IPC using Alcohol Based Handrub ’

Liberia, July 2015 - The Ministry of Health in Liberia in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Corporation in January 2015 initiated a pilot project to produce Alcohol Based Handrub (ABHR) for Infection Prevention and Control measures in ten hospitals. This project was conceived as a result of a joint collaboration between WHO Collaboration Center on Patient Safety Infection Control and Improved Practices and the University of Geneva Hospital, Faculty of Medicine.

Aker Moyom Jok is all too familiar with death due to Hepatitis E Virus (HEV).

In 2014, the 29 year old mother of five lost her brother-in-law to the disease. So, when she noticed the signs and symptoms of HEV in her 13 year old daughter, Awel Wech Ayom, she immediately sought medical attention.

“I am grateful to health partners because this is a killer disease and some people have died, but my daughter is alive,” she says.

Banjul, The Gambia, 1st September 2015 - The African Vaccination Week (AVW), which is traditionally observed during the last week of April every year, was officially launched in the Gambia at the Atlantic Hotel in Banjul on Wednesday 28th July 2015. The event, which was a joint effort of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and other partners, was launched by the Honourable Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Hon. Alhaji Omar Sey.

Brazzaville, 27 July 2015 – Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Chris Elias, President of the Global Development Division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Dr Trevor Mundel, President of the foundation’s Global Health Division, have reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen collaboration between the two organizations in the WHO African Region.

The World Health Organization convened 75 mental health experts to discuss the social and mental health impacts of the Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and ways to strengthen response plans in the event of a future Ebola outbreak.

Banjul, The Gambia, 1st September 2015 - On 28 July 2015, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), Medical Research Council (MRC) and other partners commemorated World Hepatitis Day under the theme: “Prevent Hepatitis – Act now”.  The theme this year focuses on the prevention of hepatitis B and C that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, causing acute and chronic liver disease and killing close to 1.5 million people every year.

Yaoundé, 23 July 2015 – The World Health Organization (WHO) African Region continues to be challenged by frequent natural and man-made emergencies as well as large-scale disease outbreaks that cause injuries, deaths, population displacements, destruction of health facilities and disruption of health care services.

The ongoing Ebola outbreak clearly demonstrates how the inability to prevent, detect, and control a threat in one part of the world poses a threat to everyone, everywhere. It has the potential to cause enormous damage in terms of lives lost, economic impact and human development around the world.