Tanzania has extinguished a deadly outbreak of Marburg virus, but elsewhere across Africa, an alarming surge of health crises continue to unfold – including expanding mpox infections in Uganda, a cholera outbreak in Angola and a first-ever cholera case in neighbouring Namibia. The Marburg virus outbreak in Tanzania has officially ended, Tanzanian health authorities declared […] Continue reading ->
Access to contraception must be lowered to allow teenage girls to make informed decisions about their bodies, relationships, and futures, say key African health stakeholders – including sexual and reproductive health workers and advocates. But are policymakers ready to adopt this change – particularly as the debate over sexual and reproductive health rights becomes ever […] Continue reading ->
GEITA, Tanzania —The first time 78-year-old Hadija Kisanji got lost on her way home, neighbors found her sitting under a baobab tree, staring blankly at the dusty road. When they asked where she was going, she whispered, “I think I live nearby.” That was three years ago. Today, Kisanji barely remembers her own name. She’s […] Continue reading ->
(The New Humanitarian) The International Rescue Committee, one of the oldest humanitarian aid organizations in the United States, is cutting thousands of staff, in another sign of the turmoil rippling across the humanitarian sector as the US aid funding freeze continues. “We have had to take immediate and significant cost-cutting measures, including laying off and furloughing […] Continue reading ->
As Africa battles a relentless mpox outbreak, a sudden freeze in United States foreign aid is crippling containment efforts, threatening vaccine distribution, and leaving the hardest-hit regions scrambling for solutions, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned on Thursday. In conflict-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the outbreak, […] Continue reading ->
From the deadly mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the composition of the next seasonal flu vaccine, the collapse of USAID and the US CDC communications blackout are creating new challenges for WHO and its partners to respond in disease emergency hotspots – well beyond the direct loss of financial support. That […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – A coalition of South African civil society groups have urged South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa to “step up” and lead a coordinated national and regional response to prevent “mass healthcare disruptions, preventable deaths, and surges in new HIV infections and drug resistance,” in the wake of the US President Donald Trump’s cut off […] Continue reading ->
The disengagement of both USAID and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from the WHO-led global polio eradication initiative, threatens efforts in the world’s poorest countries with about $233 million more in a year in budget shortfalls, WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Hanan Balkhy, said on Friday. This, in a year […] Continue reading ->
Despite Waiver, Many US-Funded HIV Programmes Remain Paralysed; Trump Orders Face Protests, Lawsuits
Many HIV programmes worldwide remain paralysed despite being exempted from the United States’ 90-day freeze on foreign aid and “stop work order”. This is largely because the axe Elon Musk has taken to US agencies has resulted in there being too few staff members left to support their work, including processing payments and ensuring that […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu has been appointed as Acting Regional Director of the African Regional Office, until a new regional director is nominated and confirmed by the Executive Board – moves all due to happen in May and early June. Meanwhile, the EB also confirmed the appointment of Hans Henri Kluge to a second five-year […] Continue reading ->