Photo Stories

Lilongwe - Sensitizing border communities on the occurrence of a polio case is critical to enhance vaccine uptake and stop the spread of the virus. This is the multi country approach taken in Malawi and its neighboring countries since the confirmation of a wild polio case near Lilongwe and the subsequent declaration of the polio outbreak as a public health emergency in February 17th, 2022.

Brazzaville – Access to tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis as a crucial first step to detect and treat the disease remains a huge challenge in Congo, where around half of the estimated 21 000 TB cases are detected every year.

Lilongwe, 17 March 2022 - Cyclone Gombe has battered southern Malawi, bringing heavy rains to the districts of Machinga and Mangochi and prompting a cholera emergency. Currently, 19 cholera cases and 1 death have been reported.

Antananarivo – When tropical cyclone Batsirai hit Madagascar on 5 February 2022, the country was already grappling with multiple health emergencies.

Nigeria has stepped up COVID-19 genomic surveillance to effectively track the evolution of the virus and adjust responses to pandemic waves driven by variants of concern. The country began carrying out genomic sequencing in March 2020. Currently it can carry out around 500 sequences per month. Before the pandemic, the country only had two laboratories with sequencing capacity. Genomic sequencing is currently done through a network of four laboratories coordinated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s National Reference Laboratory.

COVID-19 cases have been on the rise in the Republic of the Congo in recent weeks, prompting the authorities to ramp up control measures. A community screening campaign, with the support of World Health Organization (WHO), is underway in hotspot locations involving mobile health teams visiting communities to trace contacts of known COVID-19 cases, relay public health information and see that those who test positive receive treatment at home or referred to health facilities. The campaign kicked off on 25 October and runs for 10 weeks.