The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared the mpox surge in Africa was now a global public health emergency, sounding its highest possible alarm over the worsening situation. The WHO called a meeting of experts to study the outbreak and make a recommendation to the UN health agency’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Today, the emergency committee met and advised me …

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed more than 30 pathogens that are likely to cause the next pandemic in the African region. This was revealed in its latest report titled, ‘Pathogens prioritisation: A scientific framework for epidemic and pandemic research preparedness’. Among the viruses and bacteria are Lassa fever, Mpox, Ebola, dengue fever, respiratory virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, …

The World Health Organisation has recommended a comprehensive set of tobacco cessation interventions, including behavioural support delivered by healthcare providers, digital cessation interventions, and pharmacological treatments in its first guideline on tobacco cessation. The guideline released on Wednesday focuses on helping the more than 750 million tobacco users who want to quit all forms of tobacco. The recommendations are relevant …

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday a death was caused by the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with a subtype of avian influenza. WHO said the 59-year-old resident of Mexico had died on 24 April after developing a fever, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, nausea and general discomfort. This was the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with …

Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that 138.9 million Nigerians require interventions against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). This is according to the latest epidemiological and programmatic data for 2022, which were gathered, compiled, and analysed in 2023, and obtained from the WHO on Saturday. The body also said NTDs are endemic in Nigeria as it ranks first …

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that an increase in malaria vaccines in Africa will boost access to malaria prevention and save many more lives, particularly of pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young people. A WHO official in Ekiti State, Dr Isaac Adedayo, also advocated an increase in the coverage of insecticide-treated nets to win the battle against the …

Nigeria has become the first country to roll out a new meningitis vaccine (Men5CV) recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). According to WHO, this is especially important for countries like Nigeria where multiple serogroups are prevalent. The new vaccine uses the same technology as the meningitis A conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac®), which wiped out meningococcal A epidemics in Nigeria. The …

The largest-ever global deployment of cholera rapid diagnostic tests got underway on Friday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and its partners said, boosting the fight against surging infections. Malawi received the initial shipment of tests, kicking off a global diagnostics programme aimed to speed up the detection of outbreaks. In total, more than 1.2 million tests will be distributed to …

In a significant step forward for mental healthcare, Nigeria has become the first country to contextualise the newest version of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Mental Health Gap Action Programme (MHGAP 3.0). Led by the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP), the initiative demonstrates the government’s dedication to bridging the vast mental health gap in Nigeria. Mental health conditions pose a …

The Regional Director for Africa, World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said about 2.5 million individuals contracted Tuberculosis (TB) in 2022 in Africa, equating to one person every 13 seconds. Moeti also said the number of TB deaths in 2022 reached 424,000, resulting in the loss of one life every minute – even when TB is preventable and treatable. …