World Health Day

        On this day in 1948, the United Nations fulfilled its ambition to create a global health body in a bid to make the world safer and to serve those most in need. Every year since, the date has been observed as World Health Day. In the African region, the noteworthy milestone of WHO’s 75th anniversary provides an opportunity to celebrate the many public health successes that have significantly improved quality of life over the years. It also serves as a poignant moment to redouble commitment to tackling the current and future health challenges confronting the region and steering it towards a brighter tomorrow. But for all the hard-won gains that have been made over the past 75 years, more than 100 health emergencies still occur in the African Region annually, including outbreaks of cholera, yellow fever, meningitis, measles and Ebola. These emergencies still pose a significant threat to the health, well-being and development of African countries. The COVID-19...

Acounting for more than half of public health events recorded in the region over the past two decades, a new analysis by World Health Organization (WHO) shows.                                 The analysis found that of the 2121 public health events recorded in the African region between 2001 and 2021, 56% were climate-related. The region is witnessing an increase in climate-linked emergencies , with 25% more climate-related events recorded between 2011 and 2021 compared with the previous decade. World Health Day is being marked on 7 April under the theme Our Planet. Our Health .” WHO is calling on governments to, among other recommendations, prioritize human well-being in all key decisions, stop new fossil fuel explorations and subsidies , tax polluters and implement WHO air quality guidelines. “Climate change is one of the greatest threats to humanity. The entire foundation of good health is in jeo...

                                    As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year, a group of mayors from the African region have committed to improve city governance for health and wellbeing as well as to promote measures for sustainable livelihoods. The African Mayors Dialogue on Urban Governance for Health and Wellbeing, an event organized jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) , with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) took place on 30 March 2022 at the UN Hub of the Expo Dubai . The event featured mayors from five major African cities: Brazzaville, Congo: Douala, Cameroon; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Gaborone, Botswana; and Lusaka, Zambia. “This is an opportunity to rethink the paradigm we use in health service delivery, ” said Dr Oumar Sylla, UN-HABITAT acting ...