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It was 1988 when Asunta Wagura was diagnosed with HIV – a time when such a diagnosis was literally a death sentence. Rejected by family and friends, Asunta found herself on the streets of Nairobi with nothing. Together with several friends, Asunta started an association to help others in her situation known as KENWA (the Kenyan Network of Women with AIDS).

A spike in malaria cases is threatening the health of people in parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where health workers are also battling an Ebola outbreak.  In response, a four-day mass drug administration (MDA) campaign was launched today in the Northern Kivu province town of Beni, with a target to reach up to 450 000 people with anti-malarial drugs combined with the distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

Moses “Supercharger” Nsubuga, a musician and radio host in Uganda, has been living with HIV since 1994. “I lived in denial for four years and did not want anyone to know that I had HIV”, he says. He points out that given the nature of his work, admitting his status meant risking the loss of his audience and being stigmatized. “However, living in denial didn’t help me at all. I fell sick, became weak, lost weight and could barely work”, he says.

WHO launches “Pathways to Leadership” program to give senior managers the tools and knowledge they need to transform health in Africa.

HIV self-testing presents an opportunity to reach the 30% of people with HIV who do not yet know their HIV status. Following the WHO recommendation to use HIV self-testing as an additional HIV testing tool, more countries are starting to develop and implement policies. As of January 2018, 14 countries were actively implementing HIV self-testing services, 42 had developed policies to enable such services, and an additional 47 reported that a policy was in development.