Abuja 3 September 2011 -- The WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Sambo arrived in Abuja on Saturday 3 September 2011 to visit victims of the bomb attack on the United Nations house. He was met on arrival at the Abuja International Airport by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health Dr Linus Awute and the WHO Representative in Nigeria Dr David Okello.

Yamoussoukro, (Cote d'Ivoire), 1 September 2011 -- The growing public health movement in Africa got a boost on Wednesday 31 August with the launch of the African Federation of Public Health Associations (AFPHA) at the Felix Houphout-Boigny Foundation in Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire.

The launch took place in the presence of African and other health leaders gathered in the Ivorian political capital for the Sixty-first session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa which opened at the same venue on Monday 29 August 2011.

Yamoussoukro, (Cote d'Ivoire), 1 September 2011 -- Countries in the WHO African Region continued to make good progress in polio eradication in spite of outbreaks recorded in some Member States over the last two years.

Yamoussoukro, (Cote d'Ivoire), 1 September 2011 -- World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, has proposed a strategy for the elimination of measles in the African Region by 2020.

Yamoussoukro, (Cote d'Ivoire), 1 September 2011 -- World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, has proposed a framework for public health adaptation to climate change in the African Region.

The framework, based on five guiding principles, is designed to guide the formulation of country-specific action plans that will form the health component of national change adaptation plans aimed at minimizing the adverse public health effects in Africa.

The World Health Organization on Thursday 25th August 2011 donated various items worth more than US$155,000 to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS). The donation included 3 Toyota Hilux vehicles, 30 Blue Trunk Libraries (BTL), 2 XL motor bikes and 36 pairs of rain gears to support the activities of dif-ferent programmes of the Ministry.

The items were handed over by Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu, WHO Representa-tive to Dr Alhassan Seisay, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of MoHS.

Yamoussoukro, 29 August 2011 – The sixty-first session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa got underway on Monday in Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire, with a call on Member States to honour their commitment to the Abuja Declaration of allocating at least 15 % of their national budgets to health.

The call was made by Ivorian Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Mr. Daniel Kablan Duncan, who opened the meeting on behalf of President Allasane Ouattara.

The World Health Organization, in collaboration with UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF and the Ministry of Health of Rwanda, organizes at Kigali, Rwanda, a three days workshop, from 24th to 26th August 2011, on the strengthening male involvement in the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

As part of their continuing efforts aimed at improving the lives of mothers and children in Rwanda, and reducing the relatively high rate of deaths from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, WHO and UNFPA are currently providing both technical and financial support to the Rwanda Ministry of Health to evaluate the impact of the implementation of recommendations made following the conduct of maternal death audits (MDA) in Rwanda.

Nairobi-Kenya, 23rd August 2011 – Kenya held the First National Forum on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) today in Nairobi. The forum was officially inaugurated by the Right Honorable Prime Minister, Hon. Raila Odinga at a colorful opening ceremony also attended by the Health Ministers; Hon. Prof Peter Anyang Nyong'o, the Minister for Medical Services and Hon. Dr. James Gesami, the Assistant minister for Public Health and Sanitation.