Uganda declares end to Ebola outbreak

Uganda declares end to Ebola outbreak

Uganda declared an end to its Ebola outbreak on Wednesday, after completing a 42-day waiting period in which no new cases emerged. The announcement came less than four months after the first case was identified in September. “Uganda put a swift end to the Ebola outbreak by ramping up key…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

Ghana begins new COVID policy for China travel

Ghana begins new COVID policy for China travel

Beginning on Friday, travelers arriving in Ghana from China will require screening for COVID-19 due to concern over the current rise of coronavirus cases in China. They will need to produce a 48-hour negative PCR test and undergo a mandatory antigen test on arrival. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is…

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

African leaders decry racism after CDC head stopped in Germany

The acting director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says he won’t be attending this year’s World Health Summit in Berlin after experiencing difficulties with immigration control when his flight landed in Germany — a situation that immediately sparked outrage on social media. “I’ve been mistreated at…

Tedros opens WHO meeting in Togo amid reports of new Ebola case

African health ministers and government officials gathered in Togo on Monday for the Regional Committee on Africa meeting, headed by the World Health Organization with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivering the keynote remarks. The meeting, hosted in Lomé by President Faure Gnassingbé, centers on issues faced by African nations…

WHO declares global health emergency over monkeypox

The World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency because of the monkeypox outbreak now affecting 75 countries and territories. The decision by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus follows an emergency committee meeting held Thursday, in which the committee remained split on a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)…

Ethiopia files complaint over Tedros remarks on Tigray crisis

The Ethiopian government has filed a formal complaint with the World Health Organization, calling for an investigation of WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus because “he has not lived up to the integrity and professional expectations required from his office.” A formal letter has been sent detailing the complaints against…

Nigeria added to UK travel ‘red list’ as COVID spreads

Nigeria has been added to the UK “travel ban” list because of concerns about the spread of COVID-19 and a rise in cases linked to the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The decision prompted a new wave of frustration among Africans, with the Nigerian high commissioner in London, Sarafa Tunji…

Sexual abuse in DR Congo ‘a dark day for WHO’

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…

WHO: Africa COVID surge is dangerous and dire

Namibia reported a record high of 2,547 new COVID cases on Thursday, as health minister Kalumbi Shangula appealed for more oxygen supplies and nurses. South Africa saw 18,762 new cases as the government began deploying its COVID surge team. Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya – they’re all seeing impacts from a trending…

Africa’s need for a dedicated Covid-19 vaccine supply

As with so many other facets of global wealth (and health) inequality, the rollout of the four Covid-19 vaccines produced by Western pharmaceutical companies and approved by American and European health officials – the “Big Four” of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson – has quickly became yet another…

WHO works to trace 70+ contacts of new Ebola case in DR Congo

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…