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…
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…
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)…
Outbreaks of the Ebola virus, monkeypox, and other diseases caused by animal-to-human infection in Africa have spiked by 63% across the last decade, much of that rise occurring in 2019 and 2020 alone. That’s according to a new analysis from the World Health Organization that compares the decade between 2012…
Another case of monkeypox is under investigation in the United States, one of 12 nations seeing transmission of a virus strain linked to West Africa. The latest case, reported Sunday in the U.S. state of Florida, is believed to be linked to international travel. The World Health Organization says confirmed…
Public consultations recently closed on plans to impose an excise tax on e-cigarettes in South Africa, and the suggested policy proposals have already proven controversial. In particular, the South African government intends to introduce a new excise tax on e-cigarettes, applying the duty to both non-nicotine and nicotine solutions used…
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…
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…
BioNTech is moving forward with plans to build vaccine manufacturing facilities on the African continent, with an announcement Tuesday that Rwanda has been chosen for the first site. Dr. Daniel Ngamije, the health minister for Rwanda, said the first facility will be built at the Kigali Special Economic Zone (KSEZ),…
A young child has died after contracting the Ebola virus in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the first such case since the last outbreak of the virus in the country was declared over in May. The Congolese Ministry of Health says the child died on Wednesday. Ebola was then confirmed…
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…
The World Health Organization issued new guidelines on air pollution Wednesday that dramatically reduce the levels of particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants linked to a range of diseases. These illnesses include heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, and respiratory diseases including asthma. “Since WHO’s last 2005 global update, there has…
An outbreak of bacterial meningitis has claimed at least 129 lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with health officials warning that so far, roughly half of the people who became ill have died. Congolese officials, alongside the World Health Organization, said they confirmed the spread of Neisseria meningitidis,…
Authorities in Burkina Faso are monitoring a new case of suspected Ebola in West Africa. The country’s health ministry says a 22-year-old person is being treated at the Bogodogo University Hospital Center in Ouagadougou. They are isolated and receiving care while awaiting confirmation of any Ebola infection. The case points to the possibility…
The western African nation of Cote d’Ivoire has reported its first case of Ebola since 1994. The country’s ministry of health said the case was confirmed at the Institut Pasteur after samples were taken from a patient hospitalized in Abidjan. The unidentified person traveled to Abidjan from Guinea by road…