2004 was a period of uncertainty, but at the height of the controversy over the oral polio vaccine (OPV), the wife of the Governor of Yobe State, Hajia (Dr) Maryam Abba Bukar Ibrahim, braved the odds on March 2, by publicly supporting her husband and the deputy governor, declaring that the vaccine is safe. By January 2005, she appeared on national breakfast television to further affirm her support for polio eradication

Luanda, 26 July 2005 -- World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa Dr. Luís Gomes Sambo will visit his native country of Angola from July 27-29, 2005, accompanied by Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services for International Affairs Dr. William Steiger. The purpose of this visit is to bolster international support for the reconstruction of the Angolan health system, continue the fight against the most dangerous communicable diseases and conduct efficient epidemiological surveillance nationally.

Nairobi, 11th July 2005-- The Director of Medical Services, Dr. James Nyikal officially opened an inter-country WHO workshop on new ways of working on behalf of the Minister for Health, Hon. Charity Ngilu. This workshop whose main objective is to address the critical issue of positioning WHO Office to better give technical support to country offices, has brought together WHO leadership from 15 countries in the African Region in addition to representatives from WHO Regional Office Brazzaville and WHO Headquarters Geneva.

Brazzaville, 4 July 2005 -- The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO) has appointed Dr Pascal Mocumbi of Mozambique as the Goodwill Ambassador for maternal, newborn and child health, with special attention to mortality reduction, in the WHO African Region.

Brazzaville, 30 June 2005 -- The World Health Organization (WHO), working with partners and governments of endemic countries, has recorded appreciable progress in combating leprosy in the African Region. However, more efforts should be made in order to eliminate the disease as a public health problem worldwide.

Hamisu Ahmadu and Ahmadu Sani had no idea of a law making it compulsory for all children under five years to be vaccinated against polio when they came in their wheelchairs to the Katsina Central Market June 14. But they had a strong message - they didn't want others to become polio victims like them.

Luanda, 28th June 2005 -- The Ministry of Health announced Tuesday in Luanda that one polio case has been detected in a one year old child girl living in Kikolo commune, in Cacuaco municipality, in the Luanda Province.

According to the Angolan Vice Minister for public health, Dr. José Van-Dunnem, this case was confirmed on 23th June 2005 by the laboratory of Johannesburg, South Africa, that had tested the case as positive for poliovirus.

Accra, 25 July 2005 -- The Honorable Minster of Health of Ghana, Major (Rtd) Courage Quashigah today said that for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other agreed national and international goals, Africa will need to adopt a paradigm shift to focus more on health promotion.

"This is because most of the determinants of health lie outside the traditional boundaries of the health sector; and improving health will require actions that are multi-sectoral as well as intersectoral", he said.

Brazzaville, 16 June 2005 -- The WHO Regional Office for Africa plans to designate 2006 as the “Year of Accelerated Prevention of HIV in Africa”.

This indication was given by the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, at the just-concluded WHO-organized Consultation on HIV Prevention in THE region which took place in Brazzaville, the Congolese capital.

Brazzaville, 10 June 2005 -- WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, has appealed to health authorities in the region to promote and intensify the collection of blood from voluntary unpaid blood donors through well-organized donor recruitment systems, as this has been shown to be safer, more effective and more efficient than hospital-based family or replacement donations.