News Releases

The World Health Organization (WHO) is scaling up novel coronavirus preparedness efforts in the African region and supporting countries to implement recommendations outlined by the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee, which met in Geneva, Switzerland on 30 January. On the advice of the Emergency Committee, the WHO Director-General, declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). 

Kenya, Mozambique and Niger have curbed polio outbreaks that erupted in different episodes over the past 24 months, allowing them to regain their polio-free status, World Health Organization (WHO) announced today.

WHO and partners unveil a five-year plan to monitor, prevent and respond to growing HIV drug resistance in Africa. HIV drug resistance is threatening the significant progress made in the global fight against the virus.

Around 2.2 million children are to be vaccinated against measles in North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where efforts are underway to curb the world’s second-worst Ebola outbreak amid persistent insecurity.

Equatorial Guinea completes a joint external evaluation (JEE) of its capacity to prevent, detect and rapidly respond to public health risks. It is the 46th country in the African region to identify critical gaps and prioritize opportunities for better preparedness and response.

On 4 and 5 December 2019, 17 African countries will respond to an outbreak of a potentially deadly communicable disease as part of a simulation exercise being conducted jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the West Africa Health Organization.

Five small African island countries agree on a joint strategy to procure drugs and vaccines in an approach meant to improve quality and supply as well as cut costs and boost health services.

Six African First Ladies today renewed their commitment to ending childhood AIDS in Africa by 2030 and keeping their mothers healthy. This came during a high-level meeting organized by the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) on the sidelines of the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) in Kigali, Rwanda.

WHO Regional Office in Africa launches a social media campaign, #TheTeaOnHIV, that aims to better inform at least one million adolescents and young people about preventing HIV infection as well as living positively with the virus.