Coronavirus - Africa: The vaccines success story gives us hope for the future

Vaccines remain the safest, most cost-effective protection against disease and will provide a powerful tool to address the COVID-19 pandemic

The World Health Organization (WHO), working in partnership with both public and private sectors, has a proud history of vaccinology. By assessing vaccines for global supply, WHO’s groundbreaking Prequalification programme has made possible the deployment of quality-assured, safe and effective vaccines to dozens of countries across the world. This programme…

Coronavirus - Africa: Situation update for the WHO African Region, External Situation Report 9 (29 April 2020)

As of 28 April 2020, a cumulative total of 22 376 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 899 deaths (case fatality ratio 4.0%) have been reported across the 45 affected countries in the region

A steady increase in the number of cases has been observed in the WHO African Region since the first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was reported on 25 February 2020 in Algeria. All Member States have since been affected, with the exemption of Comoros and Lesotho where there have…

Coronavirus - Africa: WHO AFRO Outbreaks and Other Emergencies Week 14

Cases of COVID-19 are rising rapidly and spreading geographically across the WHO African Region, with 45 (96%) of the 47 countries in the Region now reporting cases

This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 111 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover key new and ongoing events, including: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the WHO African Region Ebola virus disease…

Coronavirus - Africa: WHO concerned as COVID-19 cases accelerate in Africa

To contain COVID-19, many countries in Africa are implementing measures, which restrict gatherings and the movement of people

With more than 6000 COVID-19 cases reported in Africa, the virus is threatening fragile health systems on the continent. Infections are increasingly spreading not only between African countries but within different localities in the hardest-hit countries. For instance, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where COVID-19 cases were at…

WHO Africa Media Leader Briefing on COVID-19 with support of the World Economic Forum

The briefing is on-the-record and organized with support from the World Economic Forum as part of the COVID Action Platform

I would like to invite you to join an online media briefing today, Thursday 19 March, at 13:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) / 14:00 Central European Time / 15:00 Central Africa Time (16:00 East Africa time) with experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) on COVID-19 in Africa. The briefing…

Advocates around the World #SpeakUp for #RoadSafety

Despite progress, road traffic deaths continue to rise, with an annual 1.35 million fatalities

In the context of the Fifth UN Global Road Safety Week (6-12 May 2019), thousands of road safety advocates from around the world are highlighting the need for more effective leadership for road safety. Strong leaders - both government and nongovernment alike - are those who #SpeakUp for road safety…

African Health Ministers commit to ending cholera outbreaks by 2030

Cholera is a major global public health problem, but the burden and impact of the waterborne disease is greatest in sub-Saharan Africa

African Health Ministers have pledged to implement key strategies for ending cholera outbreaks in the African region by 2030. Forty-seven African countries adopted the Regional Framework for the Implementation of the Global Strategy for Cholera Prevention and Control today (28 August) at the 68th session of the World Health Organization’s…

Africa on the verge of winning the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases

Today, 30 years after a major donation of medication by Merck & Co, a pharmaceutical company, and after 20 years of the success of the African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) the reduction of the disease intensity has allowed WHO to shift the goal from control to elimination – a really ambitious achievement

For more than 40 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has worked to control river blindness (onchocerciasis), the second major infectious cause of blindness in Africa. Today, 30 years after a major donation of medication by Merck & Co, a pharmaceutical company, and after 20 years of the success of…

WHO supports Cabo Verde in managing Zika virus

Responding to a request from the Ministry of Health in Cabo Verde, the World Health Organization (WHO) is sending a team to Cabo Verde, with joint participation of experts from WHO AFRO and the Institut Pasteur, Dakar.   Although the number of cases of Zika in Cabo Verde is declining,…