An experimental Ebola vaccine was highly protective against the deadly virus in a major trial in Guinea, according to results published today in The Lancet. The vaccine is the first to prevent infection from one of the most lethal known pathogens, and the findings add…
In response to the poliomyelitis outbreak associated with type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) and ambiguous vaccine derived polio virus (aVDPVs) identified in Unity state, the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with Ministry of Health and partners immunized over 155 000 migrant children under…
World AIDS Day is commemorated each year on 1 December. The National Department of Health appeals to all South Africans to remember the importance of this day and support those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. Under the theme "It Is In Our Hands…
World Antibiotic Awareness Week is being marked 14-20 November 2016. Antibiotics have saved millions of people’s lives from infections that were once deadly. We have come to rely on antibiotics in modern medicine and agriculture, to treat humans and animals that are sick and to…
New data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its 2016 Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report show that countries need to move much faster to prevent, detect and treat the disease if they are to meet global targets. Governments have agreed on targets to end…
World leaders today signalled an unprecedented level of attention to curb the spread of infections that are resistant to antimicrobial medicines. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) happens when bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi develop resistance against medicines that were previously able to cure them. For the first…
Key updates Countries and territories reporting mosquito-borne Zika virus infections for the first time in the past week: None Countries in the Western Pacific Region have been reporting new cases as seen in Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia. Countries and territories reporting microcephaly and other central…
Since 2013, an unexpected rise in the number of reported cases of the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome2 (GBS) in French Polynesia, Brazil and other countries in the Americas led specialists to infer a link with an ongoing outbreak of Zika virus infection. Reports of unexpected…
A major part of the largest emergency vaccination campaign against yellow fever ever attempted in Africa has been completed, with more than 7.7 million people vaccinated in record time in the city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In less than two weeks, the…
The National Department of Health will from September 1, 2016 offer test and treat for all HIV positive patients in line with the World Health Organization's guidelines. In December 2015 the World Health Organisation announced new guidelines for the treatment of people living with HIV…