Feature Stories

Juba ‒ South Sudan is witnessing some of its worst flooding in decades that has caused widespread devastation in several parts of the country and has so far left more than 226 000 people displaced, homes, livelihood impacted with roads and key infrastructure submerged and several communities devastated.

Brazzaville – Access to mental health services in the African region is still inadequate despite recent progress. While countries have made advancements including increasing the number of mental health specialists, investment and policy development, challenges ranging from poor awareness to stigma and insufficient services continue to undermine effective mental health care. Dr Naeem Dalal, a mental health emergency response consultant for WHO in the African Region, discusses some of the common barriers to this critical care.

Kinshasa – To ensure adequate and prompt detection of mpox cases, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is decentralizing laboratory services and accelerating efforts to curb the disease through close coordination with support from partners, including World Health Organization (WHO), who are providing critical diagnostic equipment and supplies to bolster the outbreak response.

Nairobi – Kenyan health authorities have implemented a raft of preparedness and response measures to swiftly detect and halt the spread of mpox, which was confirmed in the country on 31 July 2024.

Abuja – World Health Organization (WHO) is stepping up support to the Nigerian authorities to provide emergency health assistance following devastation caused by severe flooding that has so far affected more than 610 000 people, damaged key basic infrastructure and raised the risks of food insecurity and spread of infectious diseases.

The floods have displaced more than 225 000 people, with 201 deaths reported in 15 of the country’s 36 states and about 115 000 hectares of farmland inundated.

Nairobi/Kinshasa ‒ World Health Organization (WHO) today delivered 14 metric tons of medical supplies and equipment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to support infection prevention and control and case management for the ongoing response to halt the mpox outbreak.

Juba ‒ Cecilia Achuwor, a 38-year-old mother of six children, is one of the hundreds of thousands of refugees and returnees who have crossed the border into South Sudan since the beginning of the conflict in neighbouring Sudan 16 months ago. “My husband remains in Khartoum,” she says. “We separated from him without any communication. He doesn’t know where we are and we also don’t know where he is. I am here alone with the children, and they are all sick,” she says.