Brazzaville, 19 February 2015 – Newly elected WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, was received in audience by Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Basile Ikouebe. The audience was devoted to the presentation of Dr Moeti’s letters of credence, after taking office at the WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville (Congo).

19 FEBRUARY 2015. GENEVA/LONDON/ADDIS ABABA – TheWorld Health Organization (WHO) urges affected countries to scale up their investment in tackling 17 neglected tropical diseases in order to improve the health and well-being of more than 1.5 billion people. This investment would represent as little as 0.1% of current domestic expenditure on health in affected low and middle income countries for the period 2015-2030.

Kampala, 18th February 2015- Uganda hosted the Regional Meeting on Accelerating Nutrition Improvements (ANI) in Africa  that reviewed implementation status of the project from the 11 participating countries. At the same time, delegates analyzed and documented successes, challenges and lessons learned in addition to mapping ways of accelerating delivery of all targets by December 2015 when the project ends.

Dar es Salaam, 18 February 2015 - The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare with support from the World Health Organization, held the 2nd stakeholders’ meeting to review implementation of the first year of the HPV Demonstration Project in the Kilimanjaro region. The HPV Demonstration Project launched early in 2014 aims to demonstrate how the HPV vaccine targeting girls aged 9 to 13 years can be delivered in routine settings while looking at implications on coverage, feasibility, acceptability and cost.

The Global ALL IN campaign against adolescent infection and death by HIV-AIDS kicked off with calls to listen, involve and include young people in efforts to reduce AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections. 

The launch presided by the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and lauded by various UN global leaders, is a fresh call to act on the rising numbers of infection and death among global and African youth. The campaign aims to achieve reductions in AIDS-related deaths by 65% and new HIV infection by 75% by 2020.

The "Rescue Team", an association set up by Ebola survivors to help fellow survivors trying to put their lives back together again, is now exploring ways to contribute to the Ebola outbreak response in Sierra Leone.
"How can I make a life when I have no hope? My future is blind," says Sherrie Bangura as he contemplated life after recovering from Ebola virus disease.

Nairobi Kenya, 9 February 2015 - The Horn of Africa Technical Advisory Group Meeting opened in Nairobi today with a clearer indication that the intensive response to the polio outbreak launched 21 months ago is beginning to bear fruit.

Jigjiga/Wardher, 9 February 2015 - A pledge of commitment for a polio-free Ethiopia was made on 8 February 2015 in Jigjiga and Warher at the launch of the polio national immunization days (NIDs) in Somali Regional State. Ethiopia has been polio free since 5 January 2014, but the risk of polio cases in Horn of Africa prevails. The campaign running until 11 February 2015 aims to reach over one million children under the age of five in the region.

WHO’s social mobilization team is using radio to reach communities with information about how to prevent the spread of Ebola in Sierra Leone.

Reaching communities not just physically, but psychologically and emotionally as well.

One of the great challenges in this Ebola outbreak is finding ways to safely provide essential health services like child immunization while still fighting the Ebola outbreak.