After 6 years in Juba, WHO’s Abdinasir Abubakar (pictured above) understands better than most the impact war can have on people’s health - from shrapnel wounds and malnutrition to battered and beleaguered hospitals and clinics.

But the impact of the crisis that has raged in the world’s youngest country since late 2013 surpasses anything he saw during the two-decade civil war that tore Sudan in half.

The Gambia has now joined the rest of the international community to commemorate African Traditional Medicines Day 2014 which is usually observed on 31st August every year.  This year’s event which had to be shifted to the 10th September 2014 because of other emerging activities was held at the Kanifing Municipality Council (KMC).

Coordinated response bringing more resources and access to care 
 

LUSAKA, 27th August 2014 - The Ebola outbreak in West Africa and in the Democratic Republic of Congo constitutes an “extraordinary event” and a public health risk to other states. The WHO Country Office donated a consignment of assorted supplies to the Ministry of Health to strengthen the national preparedness in case of an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the country.

Harare, 28 Aug. 2014: This was said by the Honorable Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa, in a press conference he held with the WHO Representative for Zimbabwe, Dr  David Okello. 

Kampala, 28th August 2014:- Uganda’s Minister of Health (MoH), Dr Ruhakana Rugunda has urged health workers to learn from China that has effectively integrated traditional with modern medicine to improve the health of its people.  He recommended this at a 3-days conference on Traditional Medicine (TM) currently going on at Hotel Africana under the theme: “Promoting evidence based use of traditional medicine in the health care system; an opportunity for improving equity in health care”. 

A team of Ugandan doctors and health workers are deployed by WHO to provide medical support for an Ebola treatment centre in Monrovia, Liberia. This team comes with vast experience in managing Ebola outbreaks, having faced many cases of this disease since 2000. They work shifts alongside their Liberian colleagues to provide around the clock care and to help maintain strict infection control measures.

Accra, 28 August 2014 - The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa has called on countries to avoid taking actions that compromise the efforts to effectively respond to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the sub-region.

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, August 26, 2014 – The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa has received a $60-million grant by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support on-going efforts to stop the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).