Health in North Africa

  • Global Malaria Target Met Amid Sharp Drop in Cases

    BOTSWANA, 2015/09/22 Malaria death rates have plunged by 60 % since 2000, but the ancient killer remains an acute public health problem with 15 nations mainly in sub-Saharan Africa accounting for some 80 % of cases and deaths globally, according to a new United Nations statement released today. “World malaria control is one of the great public health success stories of the completed 15 years,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the UN World Health Organization (WHO). “It’s a sign that our strategies are on target, and that we can beat this ancient killer, which still claims hundreds of thousands of lives, mostly children, each year.”

  • GSK invests $365m in ongoing development of malaria vaccine

    AFRICA, 2015/07/28 GSK, a British Multinational Pharmaceutical Company, has announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a positive scientific opinion for its malaria candidate vaccine MosquirixTM. The drugs manufacturer has so far invested $365 million into the vaccine’s development. The drug is as well known as RTS, S, in children aged 6 weeks to 17 months.

  • Unicef, UN Health Agency Report Increase in Immunization Figures for World's Children

    BOTSWANA, 2015/07/18 An increasing number of children are receiving life-saving vaccinations around the world, according to the new data released by two United Nations agencies. In a press release issued before today, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) confirmed that the number of nations reaching and sustaining 90 % vaccination coverage for their children with the required three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis containing vaccines (DTP3) had doubled since 2000. In 2000, 21 million children did not receive even a initial dose of DTP, a figure that has presently dropped to 12 million, the WHO and UNICEF said.

  • Algiers Minister of Health, People and Hospital Reform Abdelmalek Boudiaf.

    ALGERIA, 2015/01/30 A joint committee bringing together the representatives of Health Ministry and those of the Business Leaders Forum (FCE) will be created to examine ways to facilitate investment in the pharmaceutical industry, said Wednesday in Algiers Minister of Health, People and Hospital Reform Abdelmalek Boudiaf. This committee will hold a conference each month to identify the problems and constraints faced by investors so that to encourage the national production, said the minister at the end of a conference with FCE's President Ali Haddad.

  • Algeria: 'Pink October' Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign Kicks Off

    ALGERIA, 2014/10/09 The official kick-off of the campaign against breast cancer, entitled "Pink October", was given Tuesday night in Algiers by minister of Health, People and Hospital Reform, Abdelmalek Boudiaf, minister of Post and Data and Communication Technologies Zohra Derdouri and the Dean of breast specialists and department chief at Pierre and Marie Curie Centre (CPMC), Ahmed Bendib. The official launch of "Pink October" campaign was attended by representatives of several ministries, the medical profession, associations and the media to support patients with breast cancer and encourage other women to have early screening. Boudiaf announced that a census operation of cancer cases was underway in all health care facilities nationwide to develop a national cancer registry.

  • Mauritania takes preventive measures against ebola virus

    MAURITANIA, 2014/03/31 The Mauritanian government Friday announced preventive measures against the Ebola fever, which has for several weeks ravaged Guinea, causing dozens of deaths, 'No cases of Ebola fever has been detected in Mauritania. But during its weekly conference on Thursday, the government was briefed on the subject and decided to take preventive measures following instructions from the President of the Republic,' according to the Minister of Health, Ahmedou Ould Hademine Ould Jelvoune . He said that a technical committee, in collaboration with partners, has been put in place to monitor developments, strengthen surveillance and ensure epidemiological prevention at all levels by controlling travelers coming from or going to neighboring nations by air, land or sea.

  • UNAIDS is working to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Arab world

    MAURITANIA, 2014/03/22 UNAIDS is working to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Arab world following 'records of alarming' spread of the pandemic in those nations, sources told PANA on Wednesday ahead of the visit of the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé. Despite the weak prevalence of the pandemic in the Arab world, statistics indicate that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS went up by 47% between 2001 and 2011. It jumped up from 170,000 in 2001 to 230,000 in 2011 with new infections going up from 19,000 to 28,000 during the same period. The sources said the situation forced UNAIDS to sound the emergency bell and urge the Arab authorities to 'intensify efforts to fight for a drop in the prevalence rate'.

  • Libya will launch a one-week nationwide poliomyelitis vaccination campaign

    LIBYA, 2014/03/10 Libya will launch a one-week nationwide poliomyelitis vaccination campaign from 15 March, the director of the national disease centre, Dr. Bedreddine Béchir al-Najjar, said here Saturday. 'The centre has taken all the measures needed to supply the quantities of vaccines for the campaign, which targets children from birth to pre-school age.' said Dr. al-Najjar in an interview with the the Libyan news agency. He said that the Centre worked together with several health centres and hospitals from all regions of the country to mobilize 1,500 medical teams which will supervise the campaign aimed at eradicating the disease in Libya.

  • Technology Meets Health and Spurs Invention in Africa

    AFRICA, 2013/11/20 Young African entrepreneurs are taking giant steps forward in addressing some of the continent's most pressing health issues. Arthur Zang, a 24-year-old Cameroonian engineer, has developed a digital medical tablet, called Cardiopad, equipped with a touch screen that performs electrocardiogram (ECG) tests to determine the heart's activity and diagnose ailments. The Cardiopad comes in handy, as the World Health Organization reports that heart diseases in Africa are increasing. With a people of additional than 20 million, Cameroon has fewer than 40 cardiologists in the country, making the portable invention all the additional useful, says Mr. Zang. Most of the cardiologists are based in urban centres, making access difficult for patients in rural areas.

  • Dr. Luis Gomez Sambo, WHO Regional Director in Africa

    CONGO BRAZZAVILLE, 2013/09/04 The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Luis Sambo, has recommended six actions that nations should take to improve health, in the light of prevailing challenges and some opportunities. Speaking at the start of the 63rd session of the Ministers of Health of the WHO African Region in Brazzaville, Congo, Monday, Dr. Sambo recommended the stepping up of efforts to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), active participation by nations in discussions to define the post-2015 health schedule priorities and the implementation of the International Health Regulations. Other actions include putting mechanisms in place to achieve universal health coverage along with carrying out WHO and Member National’s joint vision to improve the health of people.
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