10 - 14 December 2012, Durban South Africa -- WHO and the Department of Health of the Republic of South Africa organized a practical training course on ship sanitation inspection (SSI) and issuance of ship sanitation certificates for States Parties in the African Region. The purpose of the training was to build countries' capacity in the implementation of the International Health Regulations.

17 December 2012 – Monrovia, Liberia – Women living in Africa face a formidable range of threats to their health throughout their life time.

Johannesburg -- In continuing the implementation of the 2011 Post Introduction Evaluation of New Vaccines (PIE) recommendations for South Africa, WHO and the South African Department of Health held a national training attended by national and provincial EPI, Cold Chain and Depot managers to improve Effective Vaccine Management. The workshop was facilitated by Ms Diana Chang Blanc (WHO HQ) and Mr Serge Ganivet (WHO IST-ESA) with funding from the US Centres for Disease Control.

On 13th December 2011 -- The WHO and UNFPA Representatives on behalf of the United Nations Systems through Joint Programme 2 (JP 2) on Maternal, Newborn and Child mortality reduction, handed over to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, four ambulances and emergency obstetrics, newborn and child care equipment worth US$ 600,252 equivalent to Tshs 1,019,829,160.

14 December 2012, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -- In a handover ceremony hosted at WHO Ethiopia Country Office, Mr. Nahu-Senaye Araya, Chairman, Rotary International National Polio plus Committee (NPPC), Polio plus Program handed over a check of ETB 3.5 million to Dr Khaled Bessaoud, Acting WHO Country Representative and Ms. Patrizia DiGiovani, Deputy UNICEF Country Representative to support Polio Eradication activities in Ethiopia.

14 December 2012, Bishoftu, Ethiopia -- The Five - Days workshop on “Implementation Research Protocol Development” concluded on December 14, 2012. The workshop was part of the initiative established to build the capacity of African countries (Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Guinea, Mozambique, and Zambia) in the areas of implementation research with focus on Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (Millennium Development Goal-(MDG 4) and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (MDG 6) programs.

Dear Distinguished Colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

First and foremost, I would like to thank the FMOH and Ethiopian Health, Nutrition and Research Institute for taking this initiative to collaborate with WHO in this implementation research platform.

Distinguished Guests,

Mr. Nahu-Senaye Araya, Chairman Rotary International National Polio plus Committee, Polio plus Program and Rotary International participants
Dr. Peter Salama, Representative, UNICEF Ethiopia
Colleagues from WHO and UNICEF 

It is our great pleasure to host this important ceremony this morning. I warmly welcome you all to WHO.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) launched four pharmaceutical policy documents on 14 December 2012 in Freetown. The documents included the National Medicines Policy, National Essential Medicines List, Standard Treatment Guidelines for Primary Level Prescribers and a National Formulary. The policy documents were launched by Dr Alhassan Seisay, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry on behalf of the Acting Minister of Health. Participants at the event included officials of the MoHS, WHO, the Pharmaceutical Society, civil society and Non-Governmental Organizations.

3-14 December 2012, Nairobi -- Two regional workshops on the “United Nations OneHealth Costing Tool”, developed by UN agencies (UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF World Bank and WHO) were held in Nairobi.