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Feature Stories

Malaria vaccine pilot in Africa one year on: new vaccine could boost Kenya’s malaria...

Oblivious to the auspicious occasion, a bundle of children winced and gasped as they received their vaccinations. But in that moment, as they clung even tighter to their mothers, they became Kenya’s first children to receive the malaria vaccine through a historic pilot introduction programme initiated in Africa one year ago. Today, on this World Malaria Day, about 82 000[1] Kenyan children in pilot areas have received their first dose of the vaccine and are benefiting from the added protection against malaria.
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Religious leaders join COVID-19 fight in Africa

Abidjan/Nairobi – “You can pray only if you are alive,” quips Abdallah Cissé Djiguiba, one of the grand imams in Cote d’Ivoire. Several African countries have banned gatherings and locked down cities and towns to suppress the spread of COVID-19. With places of worship shut, virtual platforms are not just linking churches and mosques with their congregation but providing space to convey health and safety messages on the virus.

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Enhancing COVID-19 response in South Sudan

Juba – The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with South Sudanese health authorities to expand capacity and infrastructure at the Infectious Disease Unit in the capital Juba to help enhance the country’s emergency response to COVID-19.

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Benin goes on digital offensive against COVID-19

Cotonou – After the first case of COVID-19 was announced in Benin on the 16 March, within four days, the West African nation had set up a range of digital platforms to help combat both the spread of the disease and what the World Health Organization (WHO) has called “infodemic” of misinformation around it.

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Drawing on Ebola readiness to tackle COVID-19

Like many African countries now making use of Ebola and Influenza preparedness to step up their COVID-19 response, Tanzania is tapping into the skills of health workers already knowledgeable in infectious disease control, established influenza sentinel surveillance system and repurposing facilities to tackle the new virus.
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Delivery in an Ebola treatment centre

In Beni General Hospital in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the neonatal ward is full beyond capacity. A row of young women sits on benches outside, proudly holding their newborns. For nurse Espérance Kavira Kavota, this is a welcome return to normal.
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WHO in Africa holds first ‘hackathon’ for COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa hosted its first virtual ‘hackathon’ bringing together 100 leading innovators from across sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to pioneer creative local solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic and address critical gaps in the regional response.
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Amid lockdowns in Africa, WHO launches online training for COVID-19 responders

As staff deployment to support countries becomes unfeasible due to travel restrictions and shutdowns implemented by several African countries to halt the spread of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa today launched the first online training for emergency responders to bolster  efforts in tackling the virus. The two-hour session via video link drew 500 participants and focused on the clinical symptoms of the virus, how to triage COVID-19 cases, treat complications, manage severely ill patients, laboratory testing strategy as well as quarantine strategies.
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Algeria’s main lab anchors COVID-19 response

When a sample sent to the referral laboratory in the capital Algiers gave a positive result, the Ministry of Health announced Algeria’s first COVID-19 case on 26 February, becoming the second African country to confirm the virus. Since then, dozens of people have caught the infection. Unlike years past, it now takes just two hours to analyse such specimen. In addition to speed, the laboratory is also striving to ensure testing integrity – an important cog in the efforts to halt the spread of COVID-19.
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