This funding is part of the WHO’s new global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan aimed at halting human-to-human transmission of Mpox through coordinated international, regional, and national efforts.

The plan, which was announced following the declaration of a public health emergency of international concern on August 14, will span from September 2024 to February 2025.

It includes substantial financial support for response activities by the WHO, member states, partners, and organizations such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

The comprehensive strategy builds on existing WHO recommendations and focuses on enhancing surveillance, prevention, readiness, and response measures.

Key components include advancing research, ensuring equitable access to diagnostics and vaccines, reducing animal-to-human transmission, and involving communities in outbreak management.

Strategic vaccination will target high-risk groups, including recent case contacts and healthcare workers, to break transmission chains.

Globally, the plan emphasizes strong leadership, evidence-based guidance, and access to medical countermeasures for the most vulnerable populations in affected regions.

The WHO is collaborating with various international, regional, and local partners to improve coordination in preparedness and response efforts, including engagement with groups like the ACT-Accelerator Principals and the R&D Blueprint for Epidemics.

The outbreak has resulted in 25 severe gastroenteritis cases. Urgent medical and environmental interventions have been successfully implemented, including the provision of intravenous fluids and infection prevention supplies.

WHO has also donated 10,000 doses of pharmaceuticals to aid the prison’s health facilities.

The state government has reported a significant reduction in daily cholera cases since the initial spike two weeks ago, though low-grade community transmission continues.

Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, noted no new cholera-related deaths in the past 72 hours and emphasized ongoing countermeasures.

The original outbreak was traced to unregulated street beverages and contaminated water. Samples confirmed the presence of Vibrio cholera bacteria in many beverages lacking NAFDAC accreditation.

The government plans to shut down unregulated production sites and enforce stricter regulations on local beverage manufacturers.

Through its ‘One Health’ approach, Lagos State is collaborating with various agencies to enforce sanitation measures, inspect and disinfect boreholes, and provide potable water to affected areas.

The government is also implementing higher sanitary and regulatory standards for eateries, food handlers, and beverage manufacturers.

Abayomi stressed the importance of continued vigilance and public adherence to health guidelines. He reassured residents that treatment for suspected cholera is free at government hospitals and urged the public to consume safe water and food, maintain good hygiene, and seek medical help if symptoms develop.

The state remains committed to controlling the cholera spread and safeguarding public health.

In a statement released Tuesday by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, NAFDAC warned that prolonged storage of cooked food can lead to contamination by disease-causing pathogens, potentially resulting in fatal foodborne illnesses.

During the 2024 World Food Safety Day, themed ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected,’ Adeyeye emphasized the need for stakeholders in the food supply chain to foster a culture of food safety to mitigate hazards and risks.

She stressed the importance of food safety for both public health and economic development, urging everyone from producers to consumers to contribute to a safer food system.

Parts of the statement read: “She (NAFDAC FG) urged Nigerians to refrain from storing cooked food in the refrigerator for more than three days, warning that cooked food stored in the refrigerator for days is susceptible to contamination by disease-causing pathogens, key agents of foodborne diseases that can lead to death.”

“Let us all stay true to the statements ‘food safety is everyone’s business’ and ‘food safety is a shared responsibility’ as we mark this year’s World Food Safety Day.

“Working together, we will continue to strengthen our food safety system, ensuring its resilience, robustness and preparedness for the unexpected,” she said.

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 600 million – almost one in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food, and 420,000 die every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years.

Lagos has reported 17 confirmed cholera cases and 15 fatalities to date.

Laboratory investigations have identified the strain as cholera sub-type O-1, which is associated with more severe diseases.

The Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, stated on X that this strain has the potential for widespread dissemination.

Community-based case finding and contact tracing have revealed that the number of cases has peaked and is now significantly declining.

The geographical distribution of suspected cases by Local Government Area shows Lagos Island as the epicenter with 106 cases, followed by Kosofe with 49, and other areas with varying numbers of cases.

Support is being received from the NCDC, WHO Nigeria, UNICEF Nigeria, and local NGOs, which are raising awareness and conducting community-based surveillance efforts.

The latest data from 187 countries, released in conjunction with the World Hepatitis Summit in Portugal, indicated a notable increase in hepatitis-related deaths, reaching 1.3 million in 2022 compared to 1.1 million in 2019.

Meg Doherty, head of WHO’s global HIV, hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infection programs, emphasized the urgency of the situation during a press conference, describing it as alarming.

According to the report, “there are 3,500 deaths per day worldwide from hepatitis infections — 83 percent from hepatitis B, 17 percent from hepatitis C.”

While effective and affordable generic drugs exist to treat these viruses, the report highlighted that only three percent of individuals with chronic hepatitis B received antiviral treatment by the end of 2022.

For Hepatitis C, treatment was provided to 20 percent, or 12.5 million people, falling significantly short of the global targets to treat 80 percent of all individuals living with chronic hepatitis B and C by 2030.

Although there was a slight decrease in the overall rate of hepatitis infections, the WHO emphasized the urgent need for intensified efforts to combat this second-largest infectious killer worldwide.

Malawi received the initial shipment of tests, kicking off a global diagnostics programme aimed to speed up the detection of outbreaks.

In total, more than 1.2 million tests will be distributed to 14 high-risk countries over the coming months, the UN health agency said in a statement.

“Countries that will receive kits in the coming weeks in this largest-ever global deployment include those currently severely impacted by cholera outbreaks, such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Syria, and Zambia,” the statement said.

The programme is a joint venture, with the Gavi vaccine alliance handling funding and coordination and the UN children’s agency UNICEF taking care of procurement.

WHO said that it and the Global Task Force on Cholera Control were also lending their support.

The programme is aimed at helping countries speed up and improve the accuracy of cholera outbreak detection and response by boosting routine surveillance and testing capacity, the organisations said.

“We are experiencing an unprecedented multi-year upsurge in cholera cases worldwide, and today’s announcement provides a critical boost in the fight against the disease,” Gavi’s chief programme officer Aurelia Nguyen said in the statement.

Cholera, which is contracted from a bacterium generally transmitted through contaminated food or water, causes diarrhoea and vomiting and can be especially dangerous for young children.

Cases have been surging in recent years, with 473,000 globally reported to WHO in 2022 — double the previous year — and preliminary data indicating that more than 700,000 cases were reported last year.

The soaring number of outbreaks has created unprecedented demand for vaccines from impacted countries.

Even though the global supply of oral cholera vaccines ballooned eighteen-fold between 2013 and 2023, the surging demand has created a global shortage, Friday’s statement said.

WHO last month called for “immediate action” to address the shortage, warning of “unprecedented pressure on the global stockpile of vaccines”.

The situation, it said Friday has forced delays in preventative vaccination campaigns to preserve doses for emergency outbreak responses.

At the same time, recurring outbreaks in countries where emergency vaccination campaigns have already been carried out show a clear need to improve the speed and accuracy in identifying areas where new or persistent transmission is occurring, according to the statement.

“Surveillance diagnostics help pinpoint hotspots with great precision.

“This allows partners to target cholera vaccines to exactly the time and place where the limited supply will save the most lives,” Leila Pakkala, head of UNICEF’s supply division, said in the statement.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer agency of the WHO, released this alarming forecast in a report ahead of World Cancer Day on Sunday, February 4.

The report highlights a critical issue: most nations are inadequately funding essential cancer and palliative care services as part of universal health coverage (UHC).

According to the study, only 39% of the countries surveyed by WHO provide coverage for basics in cancer management in their health benefits packages. Additionally, just 28% of countries cover palliative medicine services.

Examining cancer disparities by Human Development Index (HDI), the report predicts the highest absolute increase in incidence in high-HDI countries, with an extra 4.8 million new cases estimated in 2050 compared to 2022 estimates. Low- and medium-HDI countries face a proportional increase in incidence of 142% and 99%, respectively.

The report reveals striking inequities in cancer burden based on HDI. Women in very high HDI countries face a 1 in 12 lifetime risk of breast cancer diagnosis, whereas women in low HDI countries have a 1 in 27 risk. Despite the lower diagnosis rate, the risk of dying from breast cancer is higher in low HDI countries due to late diagnosis and inadequate access to quality treatment.

Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram, Deputy Head of the Cancer Surveillance Branch at IARC, emphasized the urgent need for global investments to address these inequities.

Dr. Bente Mikkelsen, Director of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases at WHO, highlighted the lack of financial protection for cancer care worldwide and called for major investments to tackle global disparities in cancer outcomes.

The survey attributes the growing global cancer burden to population aging, growth, and changes in exposure to risk factors associated with socioeconomic development.

Key factors contributing to the increasing incidence of cancer include tobacco, alcohol, and obesity, with air pollution remaining a significant environmental risk factor.

Dr. Freddie Bray, Head of the Cancer Surveillance Branch at IARC, emphasized that the impact of the surge in cancer cases will disproportionately affect countries with fewer resources to manage their cancer burdens.

Dr. Cary Adams, Head of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), emphasized the need for political will to ensure everyone has access to affordable, quality cancer services, regardless of their geographical location.

In a public alert (No. 037/2023) released on Monday in Abuja, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, highlighted the affected WHO regions as America, Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia, and Western Pacific.

The agency also reported the detection of the contaminated oral liquid dosage forms (syrup and suspension) in the Maldives and Pakistan. Additionally, some of the implicated products were found in Belize, Fiji, and Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

The listed syrups are identified as ALERGO Syrup, EMIDONE Suspension, MUCORID Syrup, ULCOFIN Suspension, and ZINCELL Syrup, with a total of 23 batches affected. The manufacturer named is PHARMIX LABORATORIES (PVT.) LTD (Pakistan).

As a precautionary measure, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has instructed PHARMIX LABORATORIES to halt the production of all oral liquid dosage medicines.

A Recall Alert has been issued for the five different oral dosage forms manufactured by the company.

Prof Adeyeye emphasized the toxicity of Diethylene Glycol (DEG) and Ethylene Glycol (EG) to humans when consumed, potentially leading to fatal consequences.

Toxic effects include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury, which may result in death.

Manufacturers of liquid dosage forms, particularly syrups containing excipients such as glycol, sorbitol, and/or glycerin/glycerol, are cautioned against the risk of contamination with EG/DEG

The vaccination targets over seven million girls, which is the largest number in a single round of HPV vaccination in the African region.

It was reported that girls aged nine to 14 years will receive a single dose of the vaccine, which is highly efficacious in preventing infection with HPV types 16 and 18 that are known to cause at least 70 per cent of cervical cancers.

In Nigeria, cervical cancer is the third most common cancer and the second most frequent cause of cancer deaths among women aged between 15 and 44 years.

Speaking at the 2023 African Traditional Medicine Day Celebration in Abuja, Minister of State for Health and Social Development, Dr. Tunji Alausa, emphasized the government’s commitment to empowering traditional healers through training, resources, and alignment with international best practices.

He highlighted the significance of traditional medicine, which often serves as a primary health recourse for millions worldwide, and outlined the government’s plans to integrate these practices into the healthcare system.

Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO Representative, echoed this sentiment, referencing the theme of the event, “The Contribution of Traditional Medicine to Holistic Health and Well-being for All.”

He emphasized the importance of evidence-based traditional medicine approaches in achieving health-related Sustainable Development Goals, promoting well-being, and integrating traditional medicine into national health systems.

The collaborative efforts between the government and international partners aim to harness the potential of traditional medicine to address health challenges and foster holistic well-being across Nigeria and the African continent.