New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed the need for the private sector to contribute more to improving maternal health services across the world through the UN's 'Every Woman, Every Child' initiative. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The third African Vaccination Week (AVW), organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Region, will be celebrated from 22 to 28 April, 2013, under the theme “Save lives. Prevent disabilities. Vaccinate”, PANA reported here, quoting a statement from the organization's regional office in Brazzaville, Congo.Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - Three out of 10 African children have not received vaccination for the first time in their life, Dr. Richard Mihigo, coordinator of the routine immunization and new vaccines programme at the World Health Organization (WHO), said.Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The third African Vaccination Week (AVW), an initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and implemented by countries in the region, will hold 22-28 April, the WHO African Regional Office said here Friday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), through its flagship programme - the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) - is set to hold a special workshop on nutrition from 25 February to 1 March in Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – Twenty per cent of Congolese children (or one in every five children) are affected by malnutrition, according to Mrs. Marianne Flach, the country representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Congo, announced here Monday.Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is assisting the Burundian government step up itsa fight against "avoidable diseases" by introducing the second vaccine dose against measles into the routine national immunization programme with immediate effect, a communiqué said on Tuesday. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) – The medical NGO, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has expressed alarm at the rate of malnutrition and mortality among Malian children in the M'Bera refugee camp in Eastern Mauritania, a report published Thursday in Nouakchott announced.Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The ECOWAS Commission has called on member states to support the implementation of regional Policy and Plan of Action for Child Protection and Child Trafficking, as entry points for addressing the challenges related to the protection of the rights of women and children in the region. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The World Health Organization on Sunday said a 12-day vaccination against the deadly yellow fever outbreak in Darfur has been going on smoothly though the death toll among victims has risen to 127 cases.Full text...

Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - Four in five children (83%) worldwide received the recommended three doses of diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis (DTP) vaccine during infancy in 2011, according to new data being released in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and in the WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) Friday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Food security conditions in South Kordofan, Sudan, are dramatically declining, and malnutrition among children in the rebel-held areas of the conflict-torn state is on the rise, a new report issued Thursday by international NGO Enough Project said. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday commended the recent achievements in push for maternal and child nutrition while renewing the call to Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Somalia’s interim government has signed a pact with the UN, pledging to protect children from falling victim of shoot-to-kill orders and a pledge by the country’s defence minister to issue commands against the killing of children. Full text...

Lomé, Togo (PANA) - Togo's national strategic plan for food and nutrition which seeks to fight malnutrition and promote optimal nutrition in the country, has been validated sources close to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Lome said on Thursday. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) – The World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday launched an additional food programme for 30,000 children from 6 to 24 months in Mauritania to prevent malnutrition, according to a statement from the UN agency made available to PANA. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - World Bank’s senior official in charge of nutrition matters Menno Mulder Sibanba has met Gambian Vice-President Isatou Njie-Saidy in the nation's capital, Banjul, in a bid to strengthen partnership on nutrition between the bank and the country. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that at least one million children are at risk of dying of malnutrition in parts of Africa’s Sahel region due to a drought crisis, and called for more resources to assist those in need. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana on Thursday made history as the first African country to simultaneously introduce pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines in its national immunization programme, in a bid to fight pneumonia and diarrheoal diseases, each of which accounts Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The first-ever World Health Organization’s World Immunization Week (WIW) has kicked off with activities in more than 180 countries, the global health body has announced. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The resident representative of the UN Children's fund (UNICEF) in Senegal, Mrs Geovanna Barberis, on Monday said that some 20,000 children affected by severe and acute malnutrition had been recorded in several regions of the West African country. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The 2012 African Vaccination Week (AVW) is to be held across the continent 23-28 April under the theme “An unimmunized child is one too many. Give polio the final push,” the WHO Regional Office for Africa said in a statement made available to PANA here Tuesday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday appointed 27 global leaders from countries, organizations and the private sector to advance ''the strength and security of nations'' in improving maternal and child nutrition. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Saturday warned that more than a million children in the Sahel region of West Africa were at risk of severe and life-threatening malnutrition over the coming year as a result of ongoing food shortages. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday marked the World AIDS Day by stressing on the importance of providing food and nutrition support to people living with HIV and their families. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The Global Alliance for Immunization and Vaccine is to end its financial support to Congo in 2016 in view of the country’s economic growth over the past few years making it a middle income country. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said over a million animals were vaccinated in the war-hit region of Darfur in the last 10 months, as well as 100,000 in the equally beleaguered region of south Kordufan. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The Congolese government will hold a national maternal and child health immunization campaign, from 26 October to 1 November, aimed at reducing mortality and maternal and child morbidity, an official source disclosed here Wednesday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday welcomed a US$ 56 million donation from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that will increase resources for programmes in Ethiopia providing vital nutrition assistance to people living with HIV (PLHIV). Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday that stronger partnerships and industry support were needed to meet the demand for life-saving nutrition products for children, which had reached an all time-high. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - In a bid to stop millions of people dying and suffering every year from malnutrition, the World Health Organisation Wednesday launched a new web-powered initiative that clarifies guidance on life-saving nutrition interventions, and assists governments and healthcare providers to better scale up action against all forms of malnutrition.Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The Congolese government on Thursday launched a campaign in Brazzaville to vaccinate children aged 0-11 months against several childhood killer dieases. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday said that Government of Niger needed international support to curb alarming levels of child malnutrition, as well as deal with its underlying causes. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - The French government has allocated 720,000 euros to the World Food Programme (WFP) to help fight malnutrition and provide food assistance to vulnerable people in Mauritania, the French Embassy here said in a statement. Full text...

Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will from 25 to 29 June hold the fourth stage of the poliomyelitis vaccintion campaign, the Minister of Health, Victor Makwenge Kaput, said in a press briefing on Wednesday in Kinshasa. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has congratulated the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) on its London conference, in which public and private donors pledged US$ 4.3 billion, which it said will save millions of lives.Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Hailing Tanzania’s efforts to improve the nutrition of infants and mothers, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has challenged countries around the world to come up with national programmes that will end the global crisis of chronic under-nutrition. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - More than 75 million children, women and men from 22 countries in the WHO African Region were vaccinated in April against polio and many other vaccine-preventable diseases, in the first-ever, region-wide vaccination campaign Full text...

Lome, Togo (PANA) - About 1,694,209 children, under five years, have been vaccinated during the second round of the Togolese national immunization programme against polio which was due to end Sunday, PANA learnt from official sources. Full text...

Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) – Some 600,000 children were not covered in DR Congo's countrywide routine vaccination programme last week, the minister of Public Health, Victor Mankwenge Kaput, said on Tuesday.Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said about 180 countries and territories were for the first time carrying out simultaneous UN-backed immunization campaigns this week, targeting diseases such as influenza, measles, polio and tetanus.Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The African Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) will observe the first African Vaccination Week (AVW) in the last week of April 2011, the Region said in a statement made available to PANA here Monday. Full text...

Luanda, Angola (PANA) - United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Wednesday in Luanda, commended the role of the Angolan Parliament in respecting children’s rights. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding they say will significantly contribute to reducing malnutrition in Africa. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Mali has established a research and training unit in maternal and child health (URFOSAME), Ministry of Health sources told PANA here Tuesday. Full text...

Praia, Cape Verde (PANA) – The UN System in Cape Verde will grant US$ 5,611,000 by 2014 to Praia in support of school feeding programme in the archipelago, PANA learnt in Praia from the UN agency. Full text...

Niamey, Niger (PANA) – A national immunization campaign against meningitis A is under way in Niger, where a new vaccine called MenAfrivac approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) is being administered to people aged from 1 to 29 years, official sources said. Full text...

Luanda, Angola (PANA) – The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Luis Gomes Sambo, has visited the northern Angolan province of Cabinda and held discussions with the director of health services, Dr. Carlos Zeca, to support and encourage the local authorities who are organizing a second round of polio vaccination from 4-6 December, targeting 600,000 children and adults. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- The Cameroonian Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday launched a nationwide vaccination campaign in Yaounde against the H1N1 flu virus . Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- The World Food Programme (WFP) has been given 65 0,000 euros by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Service (ECHOS) for Maur i tania to feed thousands children under-five as well as pregnant and breast-feedi n g women, according to a statement from WFP on Monday. Full text...