With the death toll from the world’s worst measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) surpassing 6000, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for more funding to stop the outbreak. Under the leadership of the DRC Ministry of Health, WHO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and other partner aid agencies vaccinated more…
Roche expands its Global Access Programme
Roche announced on Tuesday that the Global Access Program is expanding beyond HIV, to include Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), Hepatitis B and C (HBV and HCV), and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) for low- and middle-income country programs where the disease burden is the highest. The expansion of the Global Access Program highlights Roche’s commitment to improve access…
WHO lauds Rwanda’s Ebola preparedness efforts
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday commended Rwanda on its ongoing Ebola preparedness efforts and confirmed that no cases of Ebola have been reported from the country to date. “Rwanda has been proactive and engaged in Ebola preparedness at all levels since the outbreak was declared almost one year ago in neighbouring Democratic Republic…
Ebola response, too little, too late!
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has called on the Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to demonstrate resolute leadership on Ebola or resign. The call, coming shortly after the WHO finally declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on July 17 wants the…
Somalis urged to vaccinate children against polio
Somalia and Puntland health authorities rolled out a polio campaign yesterday to vaccinate more than 940 000 children under 5 years of age to stop an ongoing outbreak of a strain of poliovirus. The campaign runs from 24 to 27 June 2019, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s…
DR CONGO: Major cholera vaccination campaign kick off
A vaccination campaign against cholera in North Kivu in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that targets over 800,000 people has on Monday been launched. The campaign is being implemented by the DRC Ministry of Health with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners and funded by Gavi,…
Ebola outbreak response gets new funding
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance on Monday provided an extra US$ 9.2 million to support Ebola vaccinations in Eastern DRC, where the Ebola outbreak has now claimed over 1,100 lives. The new funding for the WHO will support operational costs for the vaccination effort, funding the vaccination teams, transportation, syringes and other vaccine supplies, as well…
Strengthening health systems to better fight infectious diseases in Africa
The WHO reports that 13 million people die from infectious diseases each year. In some countries, one in every two deaths is a result of an infectious disease; while in Africa, diseases like HIV/Aids, TB, malaria and hepatitis account for the majority of these deaths. Dr Izukanji Sikazwe, CEO of the Centre of Infectious Disease…