Brazzaville, 30 August 2004 -- Leprosy prevalence in the African region has witnessed a sharp decline of about 90% over the last decade, from 560,000 cases in 1992 to below 60,000 in 2003, the Word Health Organization (WHO) reports.

Brazzaville, 30 August 2004 -- African countries can improve access to care and treatment for HIVAIDS by strengthening their health systems, undertaking greater advocacy, decentralizing and integrating treatment programmes into health sector policies, and mobilizing resources and communities.

This is contained in a report by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim Samba, on scaling up access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment under the "3 by 5" Initiative which aims at reaching three million people needing antiretroviral therapy worldwide by the year 2005.

Brazzaville, 27 August 2004 -- WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim Samba, has called on western-trained doctors, pharmacists and other modern health practitioners to respect and promote traditional medicine.

"Contemporary medical science should enhance and enrich (African) traditional medicine so that people can feel comfortable with it", Dr Samba said in a message to commemorate the second African Traditional Medicine Day which falls on 31 August. "If we, Africans, do not develop and promote traditional medicine, no one else will", he said.

Brazzaville, 11 August 2004 -- An editorial in the August 7 issue of The Lancet painted a bleak picture of the work of WHO in the African Region, giving the impression that WHO is not recording any successes there. In fact, despite the challenges of poverty and ongoing instability, the opposite is true.

For example, in spite of recent political difficulties, the number of polio-endemic countries in the African Region has fallen from 20 in 1999 to just two today. Huge efforts are underway to eliminate the disease completely.

Brazzaville, 23 April 2004 -- Dr Ebrahim Malick Samba, WHO Regional Director for Africa has urged Member States to intensify anti-malaria activities, in order to achieve the objectives of the Abuja Declaration adopted in April 25, 2000 by the African Heads of State.

"Malaria control efforts have shown substantial progress and achieved significant results at country level, but we should not lose sight of our goal: halving the malaria burden by 2010".

Brazzaville, 17 April 2004 -- The progress on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Sub Saharan Africa indicates that the goals for poverty reduction would not be realized until 2147 and for improvement of child health until 2165 unless concerted efforts are made. Sadly, Sub Saharan Africa, which represents 12% of the global population, contributes 48% to the global maternal deaths of approximately 529,000 per annum.

Nairobi, 16 April 2004 -- Oral health is an integral part of general health. Oral diseases directly affect quality of life. They have a serious impact on an individual's well being and ability to fulfil desired functions in society. Decayed and painful teeth affect dietary intake and aggravate malnutrition in children because of chewing difficulties. The consequences of conditions like oral cancer and Noma are even worse. They can be life threatening and often result in life-long functional impairment, disfigurement and death.

Nairobi, 16 April 2004 -- Oral diseases, although not always life-threatening, remain a major public health problem in the African region because of their high prevalence and significant impact on general health.

This indication was given Thursday by the World Health Organization Adviser for Oral Health in the African Region, Dr Charlotte Ndiaye, during a presentation at the first international conference on oral health in Africa taking place from 14 to 16 April in the Kenyan capital.

Nairobi, 16 April 2004 -- The conference on oral health in Africa, held from 14 to 16 April in the Kenyan capital, ended Friday with the adoption of the Nairobi Declaration on Oral Health.

Highlights of the Declaration include emphasis on oral health as an integral part of general health and the need for appropriate oral health programmes in Africa. Participants expressed commitment to general and oral health as a basic human right.

Nairobi, 15 April 2004 -- African countries have been urged to prioritize oral health and increase budgetary allocations to their oral health programmes. Making the call Wednesday in Nairobi at the start of a three-day conference on oral health in Africa, Kenya's Health Minister, Mrs Charity Ngilu, said, "the problem (posed by oral diseases in Africa) is compounded by the fact that budgetary allocations to oral health programmes have been minimal."