Johannesburg, 11 August 2009 -- The emergence of the Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Pandemic puts an additional pressure on health systems of African countries already stretched with other competing public health priorities, said Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Regional Director for Africa.

Health Ministers from ten southern African countries and senior officials of the World Health Organization meet from 26 - 28 August in Harare, Zimbabwe, to examine the response of the health sector to the acute and large-scale humanitarian crisis facing the region.

The African Region commemorates from 23 to 28 April 2012 the second African Vaccination Week. This year's AVW is "An Unimmunized Child is One Too Many. Give Polio the Final Push". The AVW is a unique opportunity to accelerate progress towards the eradication of polio. In 2011, the African Region recorded only 350 polio cases.