Latest World Health Organization News
Mpox cases in Congo may be stabilizing. Experts say more vaccines are needed to stamp out virus
GOMA, Congo (AP) — Some health officials say mpox cases in Congo appear to be “stabilizing” — a possible sign that the main epidemic for which the World Health Organization made a global emergency declaration in August might be on the decline. In recent weeks, Congo has...
Tuberculosis infected 8 million people last year, the most WHO has ever tracked
LONDON (AP) — More than 8 million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis last year, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, the highest number recorded since the U.N. health agency began keeping track. About 1.25 million people died of TB last year, the new report said, adding...
Pakistan begins another vaccination campaign after a worrying surge in polio cases
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampered years of efforts to stop the disease in one of the two countries where it has never been eradicated. Pakistan regularly...
Rwanda says no community transmission of Marburg virus, with zero new infections in recent days
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Rwanda's health minister said Sunday that an outbreak of the Marburg virus is not spreading in the country, citing the absence of new infections or deaths in the past six days. “We don't have community transmission,” Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana told...
Mali's traditional theater gives psychiatric patients the stage
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — In the courtyard of a psychiatric ward in Mali’s capital, a small group of patients acts out scenes of a village dispute to the beat of a djembe, a traditional West African drum. One patient, Mamadou Diarra, cries out to another in the Bambara language,...
A gold mining town in Congo has become an mpox hot spot as a new strain spreads
KAMITUGA, Congo (AP) — Slumped on the ground over a mound of dirt, Divine Wisoba pulled weeds from her daughter’s grave. The 1-month-old died from mpox in eastern Congo in August, but Wisoba, 21, was too traumatized to attend the funeral. In her first visit to the cemetery, she...
Why is Congo struggling to contain mpox?
KAVUMU, Congo (AP) — Health authorities have struggled to contain outbreaks of mpox in Congo, a huge central African country where a myriad of existing problems makes stemming the spread particularly hard. Last month, the World Health Organization declared the outbreaks in Congo...
Global vaccine alliance GAVI to buy 500,000 doses of mpox vaccine
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The global vaccine alliance Gavi will buy 500,000 doses of mpox vaccine to battle outbreaks of the disease in African countries, the organization said on Wednesday. The vaccine doses — manufactured by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic — will be available...
The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the UN says
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the U.N. said Monday. It’s a devastating setback for polio eradication, since the virus is one of the world’s most infectious and any unvaccinated groups of children where the virus is...
WHO grants first mpox vaccine approval to ramp up response to disease in Africa
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday it has granted its first authorization for use of a vaccine against mpox in adults, calling it an important step toward fighting the disease in Africa. The approval of the vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic A/S means that donors...
