Africa’s ability to respond to the next epidemic will depend less on how many researchers it trains or scientific papers it publishes and more on whether the continent can detect outbreaks, conduct research and make critical decisions faster when a health emergency strikes. That is the challenge the Ministry of Health has put to researchers…
New York — Your Excellency Dr Khalilur Rahman, President of the General Assembly, Your Excellency Amar Bendjama, President of ECOSOC, My sister, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed, The Right Honourable Helen Clark, Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends, Soon after my election as Director-General in 2017, I was invited to speak at an event at Columbia University here in New York…
Africa is facing its 17th Ebola outbreak, and this time the continent is meeting it with the most capable response architecture it has ever assembled. The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was declared on 15th May 2026, and both WHO and Africa CDC have classified it as a public health emergency. The…
Addis Ababa — The African Union Commission has emphasized today the need for stronger continental preparedness and coordinated action to mitigate the potential impacts of the anticipated 2026 El Niño phenomenon. The 2026 El Niño phenomenon is a Pacific Ocean warming climate phenomenon which is expected to pose risks to food security, livelihoods, water resources…
“As we scale up our detection and response, we expect to see more cases initially before the curve begins to go down” These were the words of Prof Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, speaking at the latest WHO press briefing on the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda,…
The report also highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence and digital technologies for preparedness, especially in pandemic monitoring, but warned that inadequate governance could widen global inequalities in health security and access. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the world faces worsening pandemic threats, warning that investments in preparedness are failing to keep pace with…
The 2nd ECOWAS Lassa Fever International Conference (#ELFIC 2025) concluded this Thursday 11 September 2025 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, after four days of high-level discussions, knowledge sharing, and strategic commitments. The gathering brought together more than 800 policymakers, scientists, health professionals, and development partners from across West Africa and beyond to confront one of the…
Lusaka — Across the African continent, fragile health systems are often the first to falter when crisis strikes, with profound impacts on lives and, livelihoods and health, and often times causing long-term socio-economic disruptions. Renewing efforts to protect communities from the growing threat of health emergencies, health ministers meeting for the Seventy-fifth session of the…
The Mpox virus (formerly known as monkeypox) continues to make an unsettling return across several communities in West and Central African countries, with Sierra Leone becoming the latest hotspot. Sierra Leone has faced the previous emergence of mpox cases, but none that escalated into an outbreak of the scale we are witnessing today. The surge…
