Huambo is Angola’s second biggest city and the province with the largest urban population after Luanda province.

It is also one of the eleven Angolan provinces currently with confirmed local transmission of Yellow Fever cases.  The urban nature of this outbreak and its spread to countries like DRC, Congo, Kenya and China, is of major global concern.

A staggering 95% of people infected with hepatitis B or C around the world do not know they are infected. One reason for this is that people can live without symptoms for many years. When they find out they have hepatitis, it is often too late for treatment to be fully effective. As a result, liver damage becomes cirrhosis or liver cancer.

To help countries build up national hepatitis testing and treatment programmes and to encourage more people globally to get tested, WHO will shortly release new testing guidelines for hepatitis B and C.

Brazzaville -- Resistance to available anti-malarial drugs has become a growing threat to efforts to control the malaria in Africa, the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Africa warned in Brazzaville on Wednesday.

In a statement to mark the continent's second Africa Malaria Day on Thursday, whose theme is Mobilizing Communities to Roll Back Malaria, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim Samba, said a result of this development had been an increase of malaria cases and deaths on the African continent.

oday Sierra Leone kicked off bed net distributions to help protect its population against malaria, which remains one of the country’s most deadly diseases. In total, 4.3 million insecticide treated bed nets will be distributed through the landmark nationwide campaign.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 40 million children aged below 15 years fall victim to violence each year. The ensuing traumas vary according to the gravity of the violence and the child's personal experience and can, in the long run, have medical and psychosocial consequences.

Brazzaville, 10 March 2014 – The 5th Inter-Agency Meeting on Coordination and Harmonization of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria strategies in Africa was held on Friday 7 March 2014 in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo.

Brazzaville -- What actions should countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other development partners take to accelerate the development of human resources for health in the African Region?

Answers to this question are contained in a document prepared by the WHO Regional Office for Africa for discussion at the 52nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa taking place from 8 to 12 October in Brazzaville, Congo.

Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) is a severe, often fatal illness, with a case fatality rate of up to 90%. It is one of the world’s most virulent diseases. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people. Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. During an outbreak, those at higher risk of infection are health workers, family members and others in close contact with sick people and deceased patients.

The WHO Regional Office for Africa is soliciting proposals for nominations for current vacancies on its Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group (RITAG).  Nominations are required to be submitted no later than 02 May 2016. Nominations will be carefully reviewed by the RITAG membership selection panel which will propose the selection of nominees for appointment to the WHO Regional Director for Africa.