The year 2022 in review
The year 2022 in review
The year 2022 began on the back of a new COVID-19 wave driven by the more infectious Omicron variant. The continent was grappling with its fourth pandemic wave amid the world’s lowest vaccination rates. World Health Organization, the COVAX Facility and partner organizations ardently pushed for vaccine equity and ramped up supply and support to countries to increase vaccine uptake.
A vaccination campaign aiming to reach 100 million people in 10 priority countries helped increase the population’s protection against the virus. With a significant decline in COVID-19 cases as the year progressed, countries eased key pandemic control measures as economies reopened and efforts intensified to resume normalcy.
Beyond COVID-19, the region also faced major health emergencies including wild polio outbreak in southern Africa, Ebola and Marburg outbreaks as well as cases of mpox. But significant milestones were also crossed: Togo eliminated trachoma as a public health problem; healthy life expectancy rose by almost a decade; new efforts to strengthen emergency response were launched; and by the end of the year a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been delivered to the continent. Below is a highlight of the key moments in the region’s health landscape.
20 January 2022
Cases drop for first time as Africa’s fourth COVID-19 wave ebbs
As the year begins, weekly COVID-19 cases drop significantly and deaths dip for the first time since the peak of the fourth pandemic wave.
17 February 2022
Malawi declares polio outbreak
A case of wild poliovirus type 1 is detected after Africa goes for more than five years without any known infection, leading to ramped-up disease surveillance, vaccination and public awareness campaigns.
1 March 2022
Obesity rising in Africa, WHO analysis finds
New WHO analysis finds that obesity is projected to rise among children and teenagers in 10 high-burden African countries if no robust measures are taken.
18 May 2022
Mozambique confirms wild poliovirus case
A second (after the one in Malawi) imported case of wild poliovirus is detected in Mozambique. National health authorities scale up response to the virus, including preparations for vaccination campaigns.
2 June 2022
WHO, partners seek to reboot Africa’s health emergency response
Despite great progress in reducing response rates, at least 100 health emergencies annually require urgent reforms to fill gaps across countries.
30 June 2022
Bolstering monkeypox laboratory testing in Africa
World Health Organization steps up support to African countries to bolster surveillance and laboratory diagnosis to detect cases and deter a silent spread of the virus.
22 August 2022
Africa’s top health forum opens to tackle major challenges
The Seventy-second WHO Regional Committee for Africa opens in Lomé, Togo, the first to be held in-person since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
20 September 2022
Uganda declares Ebola Virus Disease outbreak
The health authorities declare an outbreak after a case of Sudan ebolavirus is detected in the central Mubende district, triggering response to curb the disease.
6 October 2022
Suicide prevention awareness campaign launched
WHO launches campaign to spread awareness and spur action for suicide prevention in the region, which has the world’s highest rate of death by suicide.
17 November 2022
WHO steps up support to Uganda’s evolving Ebola outbreak
World Health Organization boosts efforts to support the government-led response against the outbreak as the first doses of candidate vaccines against the Sudan ebolavirus are expected in the country.
1 December 2022
Africa’s advances in maternal, infant mortality face setbacks
Progress made during the past decade against maternal and infant mortality in the African region is projected to slow down, a new analysis from the Atlas of African Health Statistics 2022 finds.
14 December 2022
One billion COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered to Africa
Africa receives 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses since deliveries began in early 2021. While the continent has made significant efforts to vaccinate its population, less than 30% of the population is currently fully vaccinated against the virus.