Tag Archives: Health officials

AMA, Health

From data to decisions: strengthening health security in Africa

MaraviPost 1 Comment

Geneva, Switzerland, 04 March 2026-/African Media Agency(AMA)/-Across the African region, health threats are increasingly being detected early, bolstering measures to protect communities. To further reinforce health emergency preparedness, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa today launched an integrated intelligence system to narrow the gap between decision-making lifesaving response even more.

The Preparedness Data Exchange, or PDX, is an integrated, AI-enabled intelligence system is designed to support early, evidence-based decisions across the region. It brings together real-time all-hazards risk scoring, International Health Regulations core capacity monitoring, primary health care readiness indicators, climate intelligence, workforce data, laboratory trends, emergency operations information and media tracking within a single operational environment.

Rather than analysing these elements separately, the platform synthesises them to generate a unified risk picture that highlights vulnerabilities before they escalate.

PDX shortens the time between signal detection and coordinated response. At its core is an embedded artificial intelligence assistant that allows health officials to query live preparedness data in plain language and receive source-cited, auditable answers grounded in validated WHO datasets.

The platform is designed to strengthen national systems rather than replace them. Ministries of health and WHO country offices can use PDX to monitor evolving risk conditions, test hypotheses and inform readiness measures such as pre-positioning supplies, deploying rapid response teams or reinforcing laboratory capacity. Epidemiologists and disease surveillance officers remain central to interpretation, with technology supporting coordinated action.

“When we speak about AI-enabled preparedness, we are not speaking about replacing epidemiologists or public health leaders. We are speaking about augmenting them, using federated learning, integrated surveillance, and high-performance computation to move from reactive response to anticipatory intelligence,” said Dr Marie Roseline Belizaire, Regional Emergency Director at WHO Africa.

The shift reflects the realities facing the African region. Countries are managing overlapping epidemic threats, climate-related hazards and humanitarian pressures, often with uneven analytical capacity.

Over the past decade, diseases surveillance systems have strengthened significantly, yet preparedness gaps persist when information remains fragmented. Climate alerts, laboratory signals and community reports may each indicate heightened risk, but without rapid integration, opportunities for early action narrow.

For Dr Dick Chamla, Team Lead for Emergency Preparedness and Response at the WHO Emergency Hub in Nairobi, “preparedness is becoming a continuous discipline rather than an episodic activity. Integrated intelligence allows us to identify risk conditions early and act before disease transmission accelerates.”

Through PDX, WHO, partners and African governments are advancing a model of preparedness that is integrated, transparent and forward-looking, ensuring that action begins before emergency escalates. The Preparedness Data Exchange signals WHO Africa’s commitment to AI-driven, anticipatory and unified preparedness intelligence built to protect populations across the continent.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of Word Health Organisation

The post From data to decisions: strengthening health security in Africa appeared first on African Media Agency.

Lifestyle

UK suspends trade deal negotiations with Israel

Maravi Post Reporter

The British government says it is suspending free trade negotiations with Israel and has leveled new sanctions targeting West Bank settlements as it criticizes Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Tuesday’s actions came a day after the UK, France and Canada condemned Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and its actions in the occupied West Bank.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK’s existing trade agreement is in effect but the government can’t continue discussions with an Israeli government pursuing what he called egregious policies in the West Bank and Gaza. Lammy said the persistent cycle of violence by extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank demanded action.

“We are unwavering in our commitment to your security and to your future, to countering the very real threat from Iran, the scourge of terrorism and the evils of anti-Semitism. But the conduct of the war in Gaza is damaging our relationship with your government,” Lammy said.

The announcement came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ramped up his criticism of Israel on Tuesday, saying the level of suffering by children in Gaza was “utterly intolerable” and repeated his call for a ceasefire.

Mounting pressure as humanitarian crisis worsens

International pressure has been building on Israel following a nearly three-month blockade of supplies into Gaza that led to famine warnings.

The United States, a staunch ally of Israel, has also voiced concerns over the growing hunger crisis.

While Israel allowed trucks with baby food and desperately needed supplies to begin rolling into Gaza on Monday, U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described the volume of aid a “drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.”

Israel initially received widespread international support to root out Hamas militants following the group’s surprise attack that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7, 2023, and took 251 captives.

But patience with Israel is wearing thin after more than 53,000 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children. This number is the official count published by Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.

Israel’s latest onslaught has killed more than 300 people in recent days, local health officials said.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/15/43/96/08/ED_PYR_1543968_20250520160524.mp4
Lifestyle

Israeli cabinet approves plans to capture all of the Gaza Strip

Maravi Post Reporter

More hardship in store for the embattled population of Gaza as the Israeli cabinet on Monday approved plans to capture the entire Palestinian enclave and stay there for an unspecified amount of time.

It also calls for hundreds of thousands of people to move to Gaza’s south and would see Israel take over aid deliveries to the devastated territory.

A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he’s “alarmed” by the Israeli decision.

Israel’s army spokesperson, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, said the objective of the operation is to “return our hostages, topple and subdue the Hamas regime”.

“These two goals are intertwined. The operation will include a broad offensive that includes moving a majority of Gaza’s population to protect it in a sterile area from Hamas,” he said.

This would likely amount to their forcible displacement and exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

Defrin added that the operation would include “continued airstrikes, the elimination of terrorists, and the dismantling of infrastructure”.

Details of the plan were not formally announced, and its exact timing and implementation were not clear.

Its approval came hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers.

An defence official said the operation would not begin until after US President Donald Trump wraps up his expected visit to the Middle East this month.

The announcement has angered the families of the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza, who fear that any extension of the conflict will endanger their loved ones.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on Monday to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, calling for a deal to release the captives.

Israel says 59 hostages remain in Gaza, although about 35 of them are believed to be dead.

Since Israel ended a ceasefire with the Hamas militant group in mid-March, it has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds.

It has captured swathes of territory and now controls roughly 50 per cent of the enclave.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

Israel’s offensive has displaced more than 90 per cent of Gaza’s population. Palestinian health officials say more than 52,000 people there have been killed, many of them women and children.

The officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/06/82/01/ED_PYR_1406821_20250505181909.mp4
Lifestyle

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 27 people in Gaza

Maravi Post Reporter

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight into Monday killed at least 27 Palestinians, according to local health officials. The Israeli military has not issued comments regarding the attacks.

An airstrike hit a home in Beit Lahiya, killing 10 people, including a Palestinian prisoner, Abdel-Fattah Abu Mahadi, who had been released as part of the ceasefire. His wife, two of their children and a grandchild were also killed, according to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, which received the bodies.

Another strike hit a home in Gaza City, killing seven people, including two women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service. Two other people were wounded. 

Heba Abu Mahadi is the mother of a one-and-a-half-year-old who was killed in the attacks. “I got the news in the morning”, she said, holding the body of her son. “He was burned. The bones in his head are gone, a child like this.” 

The bombardments and widespread hunger are taking a heavy toll on Gaza’s most vulnerable residents, including pregnant women and children. 

Israel has carried out daily strikes on Gaza since it broke its ceasefire with Hamas on 18 March. 

The country has also blocked fuel, food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies from entering Gaza since 2 March, in what it says is an attempt to pressure Hamas to release hostages. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

The United Nations’ International Court of Justice on Monday began holding hearings regarding Israel’s legal obligations to “ensure and facilitate” humanitarian aid into Palestinian territories.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the case was “part of a systematic persecution and delegitimisation of Israel.”

Israel has banned the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, to operate on its territory, claiming that it has been infiltrated by Hamas.

The Health Ministry says 2,151 people, including 732 children, have been killed since Israel shattered the truce on 18 March.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is either destroyed or agrees to disarm and leave the territory.

Israeli jets also hit the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday, about an hour after issuing a warning, marking the third Israeli strike on the area since a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect in late November. The Israeli army said it “struck a terrorist infrastructure site containing precision Hezbollah missiles.” Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the attack. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/13/44/83/06/ED_PYR_1344836_20250428131009.mp4
Lifestyle

Global Markets Plummet, Wrongful Deportation Deadline, Second Measles Death

Maravi Post Reporter

President Trump’s trade war has prompted further market declines. The Trump administration has a midnight deadline to return a man deported to El Salvador in what a federal judge has called a “grievous error”. And, a second child in Texas has died of measles according to state health officials.

Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.

Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Kara Platoni, Russell Lewis, Marc Silver, Lisa Thomson and Janaya Williams.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Lifestyle

Measles Outbreak, Foreign Aid Cuts, Bolsonaro Charges

Maravi Post Reporter

Health officials are warning about a measles outbreak in Texas. Trump administration efforts to shrink the federal government have temporarily cut off funding to pro-democracy groups abroad. And Brazil’s former leader Jair Bolsonaro is charged with participating in a coup.

Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.

Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Alfredo Carbajal, Padmananda Rama, Tara Neill, Reena Advani and Janaya Williams. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Simon-Laslo Janssen and our technical director is Stacey Abbott. Our Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Lifestyle

Immigration Crackdown, Health Officials Muted, Oscar Nominations

Maravi Post Reporter

Congress passes an immigration crackdown in President Trump’s first legislative win, the Trump administration temporarily silences health officials and the Oscar nominations are announced.

For more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.

Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Jason Breslow, Diane Webber, Clare Lombardo, Olivia Hampton and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Chris Thomas, Milton Guevara and Claire Murashima. We get engineering support from Zachary Coleman, and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Regional

Ghana declares end of Marburg outbreak

Maravi Post Reporter
– –

Health officials in Ghana have declared that the recent outbreak of the Marburg virus is now over following no positive case in 42 days.

In July, an alert over the outbreak of the highly infectious disease related to Ebola was issued  after two deaths were recorded.

One of those later turned out to have been incorrectly diagnosed.

In all, three people contracted the virus and there were two fatalities: a father and his 14-month-old child. The third person – the mother – recovered and last tested positive in August.

Almost 200 contacts of the three infected people had been followed up but none had any symptoms.

– –

“Ghana is safe,” Ghana Health Service Director General Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye told reporters in Accra on Friday.

He went on to thank the World Health Organization and other partners who helped the country deal with the outbreak.

“Despite having no previous experience with the disease, Ghana’s response has been rapid and robust,” the AFP news agency quotes WHO Africa head Dr Matshidiso Moeti as saying.

This was the second time that Marburg has been identified in West Africa.

– –

There was one confirmed case in Guinea last year, but that outbreak was declared over in September, five weeks after the case was discovered.

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source: Africa Feeds