WHO & Regional Offices [to 23 April 2016]

Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) 22 April 2016, vol. 91, 16 (pp. 209–216)
Contents:
209 Meningitis control in countries of the African meningitis belt, 2015

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Call for expressions of interest on tablet and smartphone app regarding in WHO Immunization Summary pdf, 50kb
18 April 2016
Deadline for application: 13 May 2016

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Disease Outbreak News (DONs)
:: 22 April 2016 Cholera – United Republic of Tanzania
:: 22 April 2016 Yellow Fever – China
:: 22 April 2016 Zika virus infection – Papua New Guinea
:: 22 April 2016 Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Saudi Arabia
:: 21 April 2016 Elizabethkingia – United States of America
:: 21 April 2016 Zika virus infection – Peru
:: 20 April 2016 Zika virus infection – Saint Lucia

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Highlights
Process to elect next Director-General of WHO begins
April 2016 — Member States can now nominate candidates to be the new head of WHO, the global public health body. This is the first step in a rigorous process which will culminate in a final vote at the World Health Assembly in May 2017.

Health and social effects of nonmedical cannabis use
April 2016 — Cannabis is the most commonly used psychoactive drug across the globe. A new WHO report examines nonmedical cannabis use, with a focus on the impact of cannabis on young people and the effects of long-term frequent use.

Global Leprosy Strategy 2016-2020
April 2016 — WHO’s new global leprosy strategy, “Accelerating towards a leprosy-free world”, focuses on strengthening government ownership and partnerships, stopping leprosy and its complication, and ending discrimination while promoting inclusion.

Yellow fever vaccination campaign extended in Angola
April 2016 — With 250 deaths and 1908 suspected cases of yellow fever reported since December 2015, Angola’s Ministry of Health, WHO, and partners have extended the vaccination campaign to 2 of the 5 provinces reporting local transmission in Angola.

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:: WHO Regional Offices
WHO African Region AFRO
:: African countries withdraw type 2 component of polio vaccine
Brazzaville, 22 April 2016 – As the world gets closer to global polio eradication, all 47 countries in the African Region are joining the rest of the world to switch from trivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV) in routine immunization schedules.
:: Angola extends yellow fever vaccination campaign to Huambo and Benguela provinces
19 April 2016 – As Angola grapples with its worst yellow fever outbreak in decades, the Ministry of Health, with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners have extended the vaccination campaign beyond the capital Luanda into Huambo and Benguela – 2 of the other 5 provinces reporting local transmission.

WHO Region of the Americas PAHO
:: Some 60 million people set to benefit from vaccines during Vaccination Week in the Americas (04/22/2016)

WHO South-East Asia Region SEARO
:: One year on, health partners review Nepal quake response, call for scaling up emergency preparedness 21 April 2016
:: WHO launches new global strategy seeking accelerated efforts to end leprosy 20 April 2016

WHO European Region EURO
:: From over 90 000 cases to zero in two decades: the European Region is malaria free 20-04-2016

WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region EMRO
:: National polio immunization campaign concludes in Yemen
Sana’a, 21 April 2016 – This week, a national house-to-house polio immunization campaign, organized by the Ministry of Public Health and Population and supported by WHO and UNICEF, concluded in Yemen. More than 4.5 million children under the age of 5 were successfully vaccinated by more than 40 000 health workers. Yemen has been polio free since 2006.
:: Libya completes first polio campaign since 2014 21 April 2016
:: Preventing disease through healthy environments: a global assessment of the burden of disease from environmental risks 21 April 2016
:: Keeping up the fight against polio: maintaining population immunity in Jordan
19 April 2016

WHO Western Pacific Region
:: Ending malaria: A priority in the Western Pacific Region
MANILA, 22 April 2016 – On World Malaria Day (25 April), the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Western Pacific Region calls on governments and partners to accelerate malaria control and elimination efforts in the Region and beyond by 2030.