On the whole, communities on the African continent have made greater strides in life expectancy than in any other region of the world, according to a new assessment report from the World Health Organization (WHO). The life expectancy of Africans went up by an average 10 years per person between…
A second person has died of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, following reports of a new outbreak in Equateur Province in the northwestern part of the country. The World Health Organization says the 25-year-old woman died after first exhibiting symptoms nearly two weeks ago. She was…
Exactly two years after the first COVID-19 was confirmed on the African continent, the outlook for 2022 remains positive in terms of getting the pandemic under control, according to the World Health Organization. “The African continent has gotten smarter, faster and better at responding to each new surge in cases…
Health officials on the African continent are seeing a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, with an 83% surge seen during the past week. The surge is driven by both the Delta and the Omicron variants, according to World Health Organization (WHO) experts who provided an update Tuesday. They warn that…
World Health Organization leaders responded with shock and sorrow after an independent panel released an investigative report that found widespread sexual abuse committed by workers during the 2020 Ebola outbreak in the country’s east. Malick Coulibaly, a panel member, said the commission interviewed dozens of women who were offered work…
Top African health officials are calling for more equitable vaccine distribution, noting that less than 2 percent of the vaccines delivered to date have been for people on the continent and most of that is in just 10 nations. “Although progress is being made, many African countries have barely moved…
The head of the World Health Organization said Monday that officials in Democratic Republic of Congo have identified more than 70 contacts of a woman with confirmed Ebola virus who has already died. “WHO is supporting local and national authorities to trace them and provide care where needed,” said Tedros…
President John Magufuli of Tanzania – no stranger to controversy where the COVID pandemic has been concerned – has made new and alarming statements about the coronavirus during a public appearance. Magufuli questioned the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, according to local media accounts of his remarks, and put…
The Urumuri robot helping to screen passengers at Rwanda’s Kigali International Airport is just one of more than 120 health technology innovations that Africans are using in the fight against COVID-19. That’s according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) analysis of 1,000 new or modified technologies developed around the…
Africans celebrated the end of wild poliovirus on the continent on Tuesday, making good on an international promise that dates to 1996 and the Nelson Mandela era. “This is a momentous milestone for Africa. Now future generations of African children can live free of wild polio,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti,…
More than 200,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed on the African continent, and the sweep of the pandemic is accelerating, according to World Health Organization (WHO). Officials said Thursday the coronavirus count reached the benchmark of 100,000 cases in 98 days, but it then took only 19 days to…
The strain of Ebola virus that’s active in a new outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo is not related to the previous two outbreaks, according to the World Health Organization. “Genetic sequencing from new Ebola cases in Équateur DRC shows that the outbreak is not linked to North Kivu or…
WHO held its executive board meeting in Geneva on Monday, with Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, reappointed to her position. Yet much of the meeting focused on the 2019nCov outbreak, which was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on Thursday. China’s latest update…
A week-long campaign to help end polio is wrapping up in 13 African countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. More than 116 million children are receiving vaccinations in what WHO describes as one of the largest synchronized and simultaneous campaigns ever achieved on the African continent. More than 190,000…