After 100 years of chemotherapy with impractical and toxic drugs, an oral cure for human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is available: Fexinidazole. In this case, we review the history of drug discovery for HAT with special emphasis on the discovery, pre-clinical development, and operational challenge...s of the clinical trials of fexinidazole. The screening of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) HAT-library by the Swiss TPH had singled out fexinidazole, originally developed by Hoechst (now Sanofi), as the most promising of a series of over 800 nitroimidazoles and related molecules. In cell culture, fexinidazole has an IC50 of around 1 µM against Trypanosoma brucei and is more than 100-fold less toxic to mammalian cells. In the mouse model, fexinidazole cures both the first, haemolymphatic, and the second, meningoencephalitic stage of the infection, the latter at 100 mg/kg twice daily for 5 days. In patients, the clinical trials managed by DNDi and supported by Swiss TPH mainly conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo demonstrated that oral fexinidazole is safe and effective for use against first- and early second-stage sleeping sickness. Based on the positive opinion issued by the European Medicines Agency in 2018, the WHO has released new interim guidelines for the treatment of HAT including fexinidazole as the new therapy for first-stage and non-severe second-stage sleeping sickness caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (gHAT). This greatly facilitates the diagnosis and treatment algorithm for gHAT, increasing the attainable coverage and paving the way towards the envisaged goal of zero transmission by 2030.
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Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a lethal neglected tropical disease (NTD) transmitted by the bite of infected tsetse flies. The disease is also known as “sleeping sickness”. During the 20th century it caused enormous suffering in the endemic areas in sub-Saharan Africa. HAT transmission l...ast soared in the late 1990s, triggering a renewed, coordinated and very successful control effort. In this paper, we present achievements towards HAT elimination, with a focus on the WHO road map targets for 2020. In particular, reported cases continue to decline, from over 30,000 cases per year at the turn of the century to 663 cases in 2020. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, HAT surveillance was largely sustained, and the network of health facilities able to diagnose and treat the disease further expanded. Looking to the future, the World Health Organization (WHO) set bold new targets for HAT in its 2021–2030 road map for NTDs, namely: the elimination of transmission of gambiense HAT, which occurs in western and central Africa, and the elimination as a public health problem of rhodesiense HAT, which is found in eastern and southern Africa. The strong commitment of national health authorities and the international community will be essential if these goals are to be achieved.
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In Westafrika wird die Bevölkerung in den nächsten Jahrzehnten noch stark
wachsen. Bis 2050 dürfte sich die Einwohnerzahl der 16 Staaten von heute 402 auf
rund 797 Millionen Menschen nahezu verdoppeln. Der Grund dafür sind vor allem
hohe Geburtenraten: Frauen bekommen zwischen Mauretanien und... Nigeria heute
durchschnittlich vier bis sieben Kinder. Deshalb werden mittelfristig mehr Menschen
um Jobs, Schulplätze und Gesundheitsversorgung konkurrieren. Gesellschaften und
Staaten müssen sich sozioökonomische Fortschritte erkämpfen
Religionsgemeinschaften und ihre Vertreter können entscheidend dazu beitragen, dass sich das Bevölkerungswachstum in den westafrikanischen Ländern mittelfristig verlangsamt
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he health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today declared an outbreak of Ebola after a case was confirmed in Mbandaka, a city in the north-western Equateur Province. This is the third outbreak in the province since 2018.
AMSP opens COVID-19 vaccines pre-orders for 55 African Union Member States
The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), in accordance with recommendations from various WHO committees, has developed three flagship programmes to support Member States in the African region to prepare for, detect and respond to public health emergencies. They are the re...sult of extensive consultations with more than 30 African government ministers, technical actors, partners across the continent as well as regional institutions such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), whose contributions have shaped the priority activities. This report provides the second quarterly summary of progress in implementing the flagship programmes.
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To achieve our vision of providing Universal access to safe, affordable surgical and anesthesia care when needed, the PGSSC is working with several Ministries of Health to develop National Surgical, Obstetric and Anesthesia Plans (NSOAP). This is a national health plan specifically focused on surgic...al capacity and access in a country - something which has been traditionally not present in most national health plans.
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Air pollution’s impact on life expectancy in Nigeria is greater than that of HIV/AIDS and almost on par with malaria and unsafe water and sanitation, shortening the average Nigerian’s life expectancy by 1.8 years, relative to what it would be if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5... μg/m3 was met.1 Some areas of Nigeria fare much worse than average, with air pollution shortening lives by almost 4 years on average in parts of Taraba state in Northeastern Nigeria.
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Le Burkina connait depuis les 5 dernières années, une dégradation continue de la situation sécuritaire. Cette situation a connu une détérioration accélérée depuis 2029 principalement dans les régions du Nord, du Centre-Nord, du Sahel, de la Boucle du Mouhoun ,de l’Est et du Centre Est. C...ette dégradation a entraîné un accroissement substantiel des déplacements internes et réduit l'accès déjà très limité aux services sociaux de base, y compris les services de santé, dans un contexte d'extrême pauvreté dans ces localités.
On estime un total de 2,2 millions de burkinabè qui sont dans un besoin humanitaire de plus en plus croissant dans tous les secteurs. Parmi ces populations vulnérables, on compte 1 902 150 déplacés internes à la date du 30 avril 2022 et plus de 1,2 millions étaient directement privées d’un accès aux soins de santé à cause principalement de la fermeture et ou du fonctionnement au minima des formations sanitaires dans les zones à défis sécuritaire. Au total, 290 communes sont concernées par le phénomène des PDIs dont la majorité se retrouvent à Djibo (285 654),
Kaya (123 610), Barsalogho (93 378), Gorgadji (43 651), Fada N’Gourma (85 574), Dori (66 798) et Gorom-Gorom (65 106).
La situation actuelle est rendue complexe par une annonce d’un niveau alarmant d'insécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle selon les analyses faites par le Cadre intégré de Classification (IPC) de la malnutrition aiguë de novembre 2021 (IPC AMN) et du cadre harmonisé (CH) de l’insécurité alimentaire de mars 2022. Tous ces facteurs concourent à la dégradation de la situation alimentaire et nutritionnelle des populations affectées surtout les couches les plus vulnérables que sont les femmes et les enfants. C’est ainsi que le Ministère de la santé en collaboration avec l’UNICEF et le PAM a entrepris de réaliser une nouvelle enquête SMART rapide après celles 2019 et de 2020 auprès de certain nombre de localités abritant un grand nombre de déplacés internes afin d’évaluer la situation nutritionnelle et sanitaire des enfants de 6 à 59 mois et des femmes enceintes et des femmes allaitantes ayant des enfants de moins de 2 ans. Cette enquête a couvert 12 communes et localités qui sont reparties par région et par district sanitaire de la manière suivante: Tougan, Nouna, Kaya, Kongoussi, Tougouri, Pissila, Gayéri, Thiou, Séguénéga, Gorom-Gorom,
Gorgadji et Bani.
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L’ampleur de la crise en 2021 s’est accentuée avec l’expansion de la violence et de l’insécurité dans tout le nord et le centre, et vers le sud du pays. Dans ce contexte de sous-investissements, de pauvreté chronique, de crise sociopolitique, les conflits, l’insécurité multiforme et ...les aléas climatiques (inondations et sécheresses) couplées aux conséquences socioéconomiques de la COVID-19, constituent les principaux déterminants de la crise humanitaire. La juxtaposition de ces aléas menace la vie, accentue les vulnérabilités préexistantes, fragilise les moyens d’existence des ménages affectés et amenuise leur capacité de résilience
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Over 400,000 girls and women in Guinea-Bissau alive today have experienced FGM. Overall, 52 per cent of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years have undergone the practice, varying from 96 per cent in Gabu region to 8 per cent in Biombo
Last accessed on 21.12.2022
The 2020-2021 Biennial Report presents the contributions of WHO Sierra Leone to the Government’s priorities towards the health related SDG targets through technical and leadership support.
A study conducted by the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on older persons both globally and in the African region. Although overall the region’s population is younger relative to many other world regions, the WHO AFRO region ...has a population just over 62 million older people and is ageing rapidly, with the number of older people expected to triple in the next three decades (Aboderin et al., 2020).
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Au Mali, près de huit millions de filles et de femmes ont subi des MGF. À l’échelle nationale, 89 % des filles et des femmes âgées de 15 à 49 ans ont subi cette pratique. À l’échelle infranationale, cette proportion varie de 96 % dans la région de Sikasso à moins de 1 % dans les régio...ns de Gao et Kidal.
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This annual report highlights the work of the WHO from January to June 2021 ( December 2021). The activities featured herein are by no means exhausted but implemented with technical and financial support through WHO in Nigeria; facilitated by its presence at all levels of governance (national, state..., local government, and wards).
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Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey (NMIS) - Key Indicators 2021
République Démocratique du Congo: Bulletin de Marché
In Sierra Leone, Health care delivery is organized around a three-tier system i) primary level constituting peripheral health units (community health centers, community health posts, and maternal and child health posts secondary level constituting district hospitals tertiary level comprising region...al and national referral hospitals [Figure 3].
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