The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 118 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover the following events:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Togo
Measles in Chad
Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This revised Emergency Appeal will support 400,000 of the most vulnerable people in these areas for six months, and will also undertake preparedness and prevention work in Equateur’s four neighbouring Provinces.
ResistanceSim is a simulation game for public health professionals. Gamers must take on a resistant virtual mosquito population and improve the health in the Province.
The President has declared the impact of Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe a state of disaster.
• The Cyclone Idai weather system hit eastern Zimbabwe on 15 and 16 March, with Chimanimani and Chipinge districts in Manicaland Province hardest-hit.
• At least 31 deaths have been reported and over 100 peo...ple are missing.
• The town of Chimanimani has reportedly been cut-off by floods and landslides.
more
The official death toll was 447 people as of 25 March, according to the Government.
• Nearly 129,000 people are sheltering in 143 collective sites across Sofala (more than 97,600 people), Manica (more than 14,800 people); Zambezia (more than 9,600 people); and Tete (more than 6,800 people).
...• The entire District of Nhamatanda in Sofala Province has been affected by Cyclone Idai and related floods, and nearly 15,000 people are sheltering in 14 sites across the district
more
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.
The prevalence, availability, and use of antimalarial medicines (AMLs) were studied in six Cambodian provinces along the Thai-Cambodian border. The study was divided into two parts: the first looked at the quality of AMLs available in Pursat, Pailin, Battambang, Bantey Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey, and ...Preah Vihear and the second obtained information about the availability and use of AMLs.
more
UNICEF reports that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is experiencing its most severe cholera outbreak in six years, with over 31,000 suspected or confirmed cases and 230 deaths in the first seven months of 2023. The North Kivu province is particularly affected, recording more than 21,400 c...ases, including over 8,000 children under five—a sixfold increase compared to all of 2022. The surge is attributed to escalating conflict and displacement in eastern DRC, leading to overcrowded camps with inadequate water and sanitation facilities, creating conditions conducive to cholera transmission. UNICEF emphasizes the urgent need for improved access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare to prevent further spread of the disease.
more
On 31st December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. On 7th January 2020, Chinese authorities identified a new strain of Coronavirus as the causative age...nt for the disease. The virus has been renamed by WHO as SARS-CoV-2 and the disease caused by it as COVID-19. The disease since its first detection in China has now spread to over 200 countries/territories, with reports of local transmission happening in more than 160 of these countries/territories. As per WHO (as of 1st April, 2020), there has been a total of 823626 confirmed cases and 40598 deaths due to COVID-19 worldwide.
In India, as on 2nd April, 2020, 1965 confirmed cases (including 51 foreign nationals) and 50 deaths reported from 29 States/UTs. Large number of cases has been reported from Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
more
Initial reports indicate significant damage to Beira and surrounding areas, including destroyed houses.
• Sofala, Manica, Zambezia and Inhambane provinces have been hardest hit by the cyclone’s path and the preceding tropical depression.
• An inter-agency assessment team, led by the Nati...onal Institute of Disaster Management’s (INGC) Director, is on ground in Beira
more
Key figures (to date)
• 168,254 people affected in Cabo Delgado and 900 people affected in Nampula (preliminary estimates from INGC)
• 35,000 houses partially or destroyed
• 37,696 people hosted in accommodation centers throughout the province
• 9 districts identified in Cabo Delgado and... 4 in Nampula as the most impacted
• 11,422 affected people assisted
more
1,800,944 persons affected by Cyclone Idai and Kenneth as reported by INGC
53,246 persons reported across 50 sites in Sofala, Manica, Tete and Zambezia Provinces in DTM’s multi-sectoral location assessment
279,230 persons assisted with various shelter and essential household items in Sofala ...and Cabo Delgado Provinces by IOM.
more
This study explored family adjustment and access to rehabilitative services for children with Down syndrome, between 0-5 years of age, in the ecoculture of Petchaburi Province, Thailand.
Cette étude vise à comprendre les freins à l’observance au traitement antirétroviral et à porter un regard critique sur la qualité d’alliance thérapeutique Infirmier-patient. Il s’agit d’une étude qualitative phénoménologique réalisée dans deux hôpitaux ruraux de la province du ...Kongo-central en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC). Des entretiens semi-directifs ont été réalisés auprès de patients.
more
Depuis fin 2016, des crises humanitaires consécutives liées aux conflits intercommunautaires et attaques des groupes armés secouent la province du Tanganyika en République Démocratique du Congo. Ce contexte a entraîné des déplacements importants de populations, dont certaines ont trouvé ref...uge dans des sites de déplacement.
more
On the 31st December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) China country office reported a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China now known to be caused by a novel virus. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been confirmed as the causative v...irus of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Cases have now been identified in over 100 countries including South Africa.
more
This handbook was designed primarily as a tool for district clinical specialist teams (DCSTs), and for the provincial specialists who will guide and support their work. This handbook will also be useful to managers of health facilities, heads of clinical units and nurses, doctors and allied health w...orkers at the coalface of clinical care. This handbook will be of interest to district managers and other members of the district management team who are dedicated to developing the capacity of the district health system to respond
effectively to the health needs of the population they serve. It will help them understand the role of the DCSTs and the type of
activities they need to engage in to improve the quality of care
more
The number of reported cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) consistently declined in recent weeks, with 14 new confirmed cases reported in North Kivu and Ituri provinces during the epidemiological week of 30 September through 6 October. At peak transmission in April 2019, there were 126 cases in the w...eek. Although the decline in case incidence is encouraging, it must be interpreted with caution as the situation remains highly contingent upon the level of access and security.
more
Cardiology Training is offered only at universities with linked medical schools and training hospitals in South Africa. Limited training positions are available for this subspecialty training, according to government allocations in the respective provinces.
Cardiology Training follows strict guid...elines. A logbook must be kept to prove proficiency in techniques, and a prescribed minimum number of each different procedure performed must be recorded.
The College of Medicine is responsible for conducting the qualifying examination.
more
South Africa has possibly the highest incidence of malignant mesothelioma anywhere, thanks to more than a century of mining asbestos in the Northern Cape, North- West, Limpopo and Mpumulanga provinces. There are three types of asbestos and all were mined in South Africa; the most carcinogenic is cro...cidolite, of which production peaked in 1977. The last asbestos mine closed only in 2002, and massive environmental contamination from unrehabilitated mines and mine dumps will ensure ongoing exposure well into the future.
more