Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

African leaders unite in pledge to end AIDS in children

Currently, around the world, a child dies from AIDS related causes every five minutes

Ministers and representatives from twelve African countries have committed themselves, and laid out their plans, to end AIDS in children by 2030. International partners have set out how they would support countries in delivering on those plans, which were issued at the first ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance to end…

Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

A child or youth died once every 4.4 seconds in 2021 – United Nations (UN) report

Another 1.9 million babies were tragically stillborn during the same period, according to a separate UN report

An estimated 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth aged between 5–24 years lost their lives in 2021, according to the latest estimates released by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME). In a separate report also released…

Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Tackling Emerging Antimalarial Drug Resistance in Africa

In recent years, there have been reports from Africa of emerging parasite resistance to artemisinin – the core compound of the best available medicines to treat malaria

WHO is launching today a new strategy to respond to the urgent problem of antimalarial drug resistance in Africa. The strategy is being released during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, a global annual campaign to improve awareness of the growing threat of resistance to antibiotics and other medicines. In recent years,…

Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) welcome King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) funding for measles and polio epidemics prevention

UNICEF will support the five high-risk countries of Afghanistan, Central African Republic, DRC, Guinea, and Pakistan with the procurement and in-country distribution of polio and measles vaccines

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF welcomed today funding agreements from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) valued at US$ 10 million to further bolster polio and measles programmes in eight countries. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the World Health Summit in Berlin.…

Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Almost One Billion Children and Adults with Disabilities and Older Persons in Need of Assistive Technology Denied Access, According to New Report

WHO and UNICEF call on governments, industry, donors and civil society to fund and prioritize access to assistive products

A new report published today by WHO and UNICEF reveals that more than 2.5 billion people need one or more assistive products, such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, or apps that support communication and cognition. Yet nearly one billion of them are denied access, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where…

Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Over 1 million African children protected by first malaria vaccine

On World Malaria Day, WHO calls for continued innovation to save lives

More than 1 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have now received one or more doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine, thanks to a pilot programme coordinated by WHO. The malaria vaccine pilots, first launched by the Government of Malawi in April 2019, have shown that the RTS,S/AS01…

Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Anticipatory action and timely response help avert major outbreaks and protect the most vulnerable from health effects of drought

The anticipatory action project has also supported scaling up of essential health care services, including treatment of severely malnourished children in nutrition stabilization centres across the states covered

Somalia has witnessed intermittent drought over the last 3 decades. Each drought, and natural catastrophe, has brought with it a string of health consequences, magnified even further in a country with fragile and vulnerable health system. CERF support delivering anticipatory action To respond to an impending drought situation in Somalia…

Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

WHO welcomes historic decision by Gavi to fund the first malaria vaccine

WHO and partners are committed to finding approaches and taking actions to accelerate vaccine availability to increase vaccine access and reduce child illness and deaths

WHO welcomes the historic decision by the Gavi Alliance Board to invest in the first malaria vaccine programme. The decision secures investment in the long-awaited malaria vaccine and assures that many more children at risk will benefit from this life-saving vaccine and additional malaria prevention. The Gavi Board  approved an…

World Health Organization (WHO)
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    • Dr Sivile at the multi-month dispensing unit that was installed to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: ©Dr Sivile/Bauleni Clinic
    • Dr Sivile and HIV testers at the clinic review the log-books and discuss the data together. Credit: ©Dr Sivile/Bauleni Clinic
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Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

Strength in numbers: data, partners and leadership create resilient HIV services during COVID-19 in Zambia

WHO applauds Zambia’s Ministry of Health and all the health workers for their resilience and achievements in delivering HIV testing and treatment services in face of many challenges

Dr Suilanji Sivile is an HIV clinician in Zambia who started working in the Eastern Province nearly a decade ago. He is also an HIV Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Health, leading many national COVID-19 activities. Reflecting on how the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in Zambia, Dr Sivile highlights key…

Source: World Health Organization (WHO) |

WHO recommends groundbreaking malaria vaccine for children at risk

Historic RTS,S/AS01 recommendation can reinvigorate the fight against malaria

The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending widespread use of the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine among children in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high P. falciparum malaria transmission The recommendation is based on results from an ongoing pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi that has…