More than 300 health facilities have been destroyed or flooded in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique in the wake of Cyclone Freddy, WHO estimates. That has left hundreds of communities without adequate access to health services even as the cyclone’s double whammy of devastation has raised public health risks including the increased spread of cholera, […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) hopes to be able to fast-track the testing of various Marburg candidate vaccines following outbreaks of this rare and deadly viral haemorrhagic fever in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea. “WHO is leading an effort to evaluate candidate vaccines and therapeutics in the context of the outbreak,” WHO Director General Dr Tedros […] Continue reading ->
Health authorities in Burundi have declared a national public health emergency response to an outbreak of circulating poliovirus type 2. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Africa region announced on Friday that polio had been detected in an unvaccinated four-year-old boy in Isale district in western Burundi and two other children who had been in contact […] Continue reading ->
The first three weeks of 2023 were encouraging for the African continent’s fight against COVID-19. With cases down 97% year-on-year since the same period in 2022, hospitalizations for severe illness and deaths from the virus decreased significantly, the World Health Organization’s African Regional Office said. “For the first time since COVID-19 shook our lives, January […] Continue reading ->
With more cholera outbreaks overstretching the world’s limited vaccine supply, WHO recommends temporarily suspending the standard two-dose regimen to vaccinate more people. Meanwhile, Africa aims to re-energize its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, despite steady decline in public turnout for vaccination.  A shortage in the global supply of cholera vaccines has forced the World Health Organization to […] Continue reading ->
Over 90% of appeals for urgent hunger-related funding made through the United Nations humanitarian system were not fully funded in 2021, according to a report produced by Action Against Hunger. While global funding has increased by 233% over the past decade, overall humanitarian needs are up 500%.  “This means that 42% fewer UN appeals are […] Continue reading ->