Sierra Leone conducts immunization and birth registration campaigns for children under five

In Sierra Leone, the Ebola outbreak has affected all aspects of health care. Exact numbers are yet to be confirmed but it is clear that many children have missed out on routine vaccination services and birth registration during the outbreak. To counter this, mass immunization campaigns are being held to enable children to ‘catch-up’. In June this year, an integrated measles and polio campaign was conducted reaching 97% of children under the age of 5.

ADDIS ABABA | 14 July 2015 - Ethiopian Minister of Health Dr Kesetebirhan Admasu, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Margaret Chan, The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) Chief Executive Officer Dr Seth Berkley and UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ms Yoka Brandt participated in a high level polio vaccination event at Selam Health Centre in Addis Ababa. Also present at the event were UNAIDS Executive Director Mr Michel Sidibe, US Ambassador Ms Patricia M.

Cape Town, 13 July 2015 – The World Health Organization (WHO) has brought together 200 high-level experts from governments, development agencies, civil society and international organizations to make the world a safer place. The conference called “Building Health Security Beyond Ebola” will be held in Cape Town, South Africa from 13 to 15 July.

Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) surveillance training and experience sharing workshop was held in Harare, Zimbabwe from 17-19 June 2015. The participants came from 11 African countries, including Ethiopia. The workshop was facilitated by WHO's Inter Country Support Team of Eastern and Southern Africa (IST/ESA) and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Achieving MDG targets for better health in Ethiopia

Fifteen years ago the world united around a common agenda to tackle poverty. This agenda is what we know as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); it committed global leadership to a new partnership to reduce extreme poverty and set out a series of time-bound targets with a deadline of 2015.

As the MDG end date approaches, it is time to reflect in what was achieved during the past years spent on pursuing the MDG targets. 

Six STOP mission consultants who have been working in Ethiopia since February 2015 finalized their field work in June 2015. The 45th STOP team presented their final review of achievements and recommendation to FMoH on 27 June 2015.

The post introduction evaluation of the rotavirus vaccine was conducted in Ethiopia 15-27 June 2015. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess how the introduction of rotavirus vaccine in 2013 impacted the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) and provide recommendations for improvement. Furthermore, it drew lessons from the rotavirus introduction to inform planning process for the introduction of other new vaccines.

The HPV Demo Programme Aims to Vaccinate 14,434 Girls

Over the past 20 years, Ethiopia has risen from scoring the worst in global health indicators to a success story of expanding health services. Global development assistance is said to have been instrumental in this process of growing access to primary health care. 

9 July 2015 -- In Sierra Leone’s Magazine Wharf community, people distrust the services set up to tackle Ebola. When ambulances arrive to take away those who are ill, patients, their families, and their neighbours fear they will never return or they will be mistreated. So, WHO and its partners held a demonstration to reassure communities.