Libreville, 20 March 2006 -- The President of Gabon, El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba has called the attention of the international community to the challenge posed by the emergence of the virus that causes avian influenza. President Omar Bongo made this call at the opening of the regional meeting of the United Nations systems on the avian influenza situation in Africa.

Libreville, 17 March 2006 -- The capital of Gabon is hosting, from 20-22 March 2006, a major meeting on the avian influenza situation in Africa. The meeting is being jointly organized by the Government of Gabon and six agencies of the United Nations System (*).

Brazzaville, 08 March 2006 -- The continental consultation on Scaling Up Towards Universal Access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support in Africa ended Wednesday in the Congolese capital with the adoption of the Brazzaville Commitment  French  

Over 200 high level participants from 53 African countries meet in Brazzaville to discuss comprehensive scaling up of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support

Brazzaville, 03 March 2006 -- The 13th meeting of the Task Force on Immunization (TFI) in Africa ended on Thursday March 3, 2006 in Brazzaville, Congo with the adoption of 17 recommendations intended to reinforce Routine Immunization, eradicate polio and advance successes in accelerated disease control initiatives.

Brazzaville, 28 February 2006 -- The 13th meeting of the Task Force on Immunization (TFI) in Africa and the 12th meeting of the African Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Committee (ARICC) will take place from 28 February to 3 March 2006, in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. 

The TFI and ARICC meetings, held annually since 1993, provide a forum for the review of the regional immunisation activities to control vaccine preventable diseases, which cause nearly one million of childhood deaths in Africa every year.

Abuja, 13 February 2006 -- Nigeria’s Health Minister, Prof. Eyitayo Lambo, has urged Nigerians not to panic and assured that the government was taking measures to ensure that there was no human infection of the bird flu confirmed in poultry in northern Nigeria early this month.

Abuja, 13 February 2006 -- A team of World Health Organization (WHO) experts led by the Agency’s Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, arrived Nigeria Sunday to support the country’s efforts to contain an outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza which was first reported in Nigeria on 6 February. 

9 February 2006-- The confirmation of H5N1 avian influenza in poultry in Africa is a cause for great concern and demands immediate action. This is the first reported incidence of this highly pathogenic virus on the continent, where people are already enduring the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other serious infectious diseases. The H5N1 virus now confirmed in Nigeria poses a risk to human health and livelihood.

National Health Policy Would focus on the sustainable development of the health sector

Luanda, 9 February 2006 -- A team of international experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) is currently in Angola for a ten-day mission aimed at supporting the country in the process of elaboration of its National Health Policy. A special request in this regard has been made by the Ministry of Health which is willing to finalize a National Health Policy in the next two months, with the technical support of WHO.