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WHO Director-General briefs media

Wed, 2016-03-30 08:59 — Mohamed S

WHO Director-General briefs media on outcome of Ebola Emergency Committee

 

Remarks at a media briefing following the Ninth meeting of the Emergency Committee concerning Ebola. Geneva, Switzerland 
29 March 2016

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for joining us.

The ninth meeting of the Emergency Committee on Ebola, convened today under the International Health Regulations, has advised me that the Ebola situation in West Africa no longer constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Although the response to a cluster of new Ebola cases and deaths is being reported in Guinea, that flare-up currently involves a single chain of transmission. It is the Committee's view that the countries have the capacities and capabilities to manage such flares.

To date, nearly 1000 contacts related to this flare-up have been identified, of whom 142 are considered at high risk of exposure.

In making its assessment, the Committee reviewed data on this new cluster of cases together with responses to earlier Ebola flare-ups that occurred after the original chains of transmission were interrupted in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

The response to each and every one of these flares was immediate and very effectively contained.

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Transmission dynamics of Ebola virus disease and intervention effectiveness in Sierra Leone

Wed, 2016-03-30 07:03 — Mohamed S

Significance

 

Since the initial recognition of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in 1976, many epidemics have occurred in Africa. Serious concerns remain that the fatal disease may repeatedly reemerge. In this study, we used data from an unprecedented EVD outbreak in Sierra Leone to map spatiotemporal transmission patterns, identify influential factors, and assess the effects of interventions at the chiefdom level. Furthermore, we have quantified household transmissibility and the temporal association between interventions and household transmission. Our findings have deepened the understanding of the transmission dynamics of EVD and provided key information for future modeling efforts in forecasting future epidemics and establishing intervention strategies.

 

Abstract

 

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WHO Urges Stronger Regulations on Vaccines in China

Tue, 2016-03-29 13:44 — Mohamed S

WHO Urges Stronger Regulations on Vaccines in China

 

 
 
 
BEIJING—

China needs to more closely regulate the market for private vaccines within its borders, the World Health Organization said Tuesday after authorities broke up a massive illegal drug ring earlier this month.

Police in China arrested more than 130 people allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade after the group dumped around $48 million worth of illegal vaccines onto the private Chinese drug market. Much of the medicine had expired before it was sold.

“This incident has highlighted the need for more, stricter enforcement of vaccine management regulations across the board,” WHO China representative Bernhard Schwartlander said in an email.

According to Chinese police, a woman and her daughter, who have since been arrested, led the drug ring and sold more than $100 million worth of illegal vaccines across the country since 2001.

Private sellers

All told, 29 pharmaceutical companies are believed to have sold the illegitimate drugs to 16 institutions.

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“TB Causes more than 4,000 deaths daily” Says MOHS

Tue, 2016-03-29 11:14 — Mohamed S

 

By Lucia S.Kamara
Mar 24, 2016, 17:02		 Email this article
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Ministry of Health and Sanitation has on Wednesday 23rd March, 2016 commemorated World Tuberculosis day on the theme “Unite to End TB”.

The Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Abubakar Fofanah said, TB is the world’s leading infectious killer, causing more than 4,000 deaths every day. He said the burden of the disease is serious enough to possess a significant threat to the social and economic development of any country, unless effective concerted measures are taken to combat the disease.

Dr. Fofanah said that, the bright side of all is that tuberculosis is both preventable and curable, adding that last year in Sierra Leone 12,103 cases of Tuberculosis were reported and put on treatment from 170 service delivery points with a cure rate of 88.1%.

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Global Measle Plan

Tue, 2016-03-29 07:24 — Mohamed S
 

Global Measles and Rubella Strategic Plan 2012-2020

 

 This ten year global plan for measles and rubella outlines the strategy that needs to be fully implemented to achieve the measles and rubella goals endorsed by the World Health Assembly. The plan sets out the: vision, goals and targets for the 2011-2020 period, recommended strategies, guiding principles, priorities, costing of reaching the targets, and the challenges as well as ways to overcome them. The plan incorporates the lessons learnt from 10 years experience in measles and rubella accelerated control and elimination and is jointly developed by the Measles Initiative which is spearheaded by the American Red Cross, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United Nations Foundation, UNICEF and World Health Organization.

follow on:http://who.int/immunization/documents/control/ISBN_978_92_4_150339_6/en/

link to document: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241503396_eng.pdf?ua=1

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Measles

Tue, 2016-03-29 06:56 — Mohamed S

Key facts

 

  • Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children even though a safe and cost-effective vaccine is available.
  • In 2014, there were 114 900 measles deaths globally – about 314 deaths every day or 13 deaths every hour.
  • Measles vaccination resulted in a 79% drop in measles deaths between 2000 and 2014 worldwide.
  • In 2014, about 85% of the world's children received one dose of measles vaccine by their first birthday through routine health services – up from 73% in 2000.
  • During 2000-2014, measles vaccination prevented an estimated 17.1 million deaths making measles vaccine one of the best buys in public health.

Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. In 1980, before widespread vaccination, measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.

The disease remains one of the leading causes of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. Approximately 114 900 people died from measles in 2014 – mostly children under the age of 5.

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Six Years of CARMMA

Tue, 2016-03-29 06:39 — Mohamed S

Six Years of CARMMA: restoring gains in health service delivery

 

March 22, 2016 By Ahmed Sahid Nasralla (De Monk)

The Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone had an adverse effect on the health sector, with gains achieved in the implementation of the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality (CARMMA) suffering a set-back as most women were afraid of accessing reproductive health care services.

Restoring such gains made over the years in maternal and infant mortality reduction initiatives is therefore a key post-Ebola objective in the three Ebola-affected countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

CARMMA @ 6

In Sierra Leone, to mark the sixth year of the CARMMA initiative, the Office of the First Lady (OFL) is collaborating with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), UNFPA, PPASL and Marie Stopes Sierra Leone to host a one day meeting at the Bo government Hospital on the 22nd March 2016 with a focus on enhancing institutional delivery, increasing family planning services and cervical cancer awareness. Partners such as Marie Stopes Sierra Leone and PPASL will provide free family planning services on that day. The OFL will take the lead, with support from UNFPA and MoHS, in restoring the confidence of pregnant women to access reproductive health services.

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Hundreds of contacts identified and monitored in new Ebola flare-up in Guinea

Thu, 2016-03-24 05:38 — Mohamed S

Hundreds of contacts identified and monitored in new Ebola flare-up in Guinea

 

Nzérékoré, Guinea — More than 800 contacts of recently confirmed Ebola cases in Guinea’s southern prefecture of Nzérékoré have been identified and placed under medical monitoring in a bid to contain a new flare-up of Ebola virus disease.

A community in Dubreka Prefecture, Guinea, gathers for Ebola-awareness meeting.
WHO/P. Haughton

On 16 March, Guinean health authorities alerted WHO and partners to 3 probable Ebola deaths and 2 suspect Ebola cases in the village of Koropara Centre, all from the same family. The following day, the 2 suspect cases, a mother and her 8-year-old daughter, tested positive for Ebola virus disease. The child has since died in a treatment facility and the mother is reported seriously ill. A high-risk contact, who travelled to the neighbouring prefecture of Macenta to consult a healer, has also died and has since tested positive for Ebola, bringing the total number of probable and confirmed Ebola deaths in the flare-up to 5.

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Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone "effectively managing" Ebola flare-ups

Mon, 2016-03-21 06:56 — Mohamed S

Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone "effectively managing" Ebola flare-ups

 

Health authorities from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and representatives of partner organizations have expressed confidence in the capacity of the 3 Ebola-impacted countries to effectively manage residual risks of new Ebola infections—pointing to the rapid government-led containment of recent flare-ups of the disease.

Dr Abou Beckr Gaye, WHO Representative, Guinea (left) Dr Sakoba Keita, Ebola Response National Coordinator, Guinea (center) Dr Bruce Aylward, WHO Executive Director ai, Outbreaks and Health Emergencies (right)
WHO/M. Winkler

Meeting in Conakry

 

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Preventing Diseases From Crossing Borders in West Africa Post-Ebola

Mon, 2016-03-21 06:34 — Mohamed S

Preventing Diseases From Crossing Borders in West Africa Post-Ebola:

 

By Mirabelle Enaka Kima

When the Ebola outbreak was confirmed in Guinea two years ago, one of the reasons the virus spread so quickly was due to the high amount of people traffic across the borders of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. To mitigate the introduction of new Ebola cases or other diseases by cross border travellers, the Red Cross has introduced a community event-based surveillance system. It is successful, in large part, due to the engagement of community members.

Settled near the Kolantin River, a Red Cross health screening post is now part of the picturesque landscape at the popular Binticabaya border crossing between Guinea and Sierra Leone. Outfitted with a hand washing kit, a thermometer, and a register, volunteers at the screening post are ready to monitor people crossing the river between the two countries.

"I cross twice a week to visit my wife who lives in a nearby village in Sierra Leone," says one soldier as he stops to wash his hands before going for his temperature check.

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