After graduating from medical school in 2012, Fadário had a dream: to help get as many Angolan children vaccinated as possible, to reduce vaccine-preventable deaths.

Thanks to the joint efforts of government authorities at all levels, national and international partners, civil society and the population in general, Fadário has witnessed significant achievements in immunization in recent years, with the certification of Angola as a wild polio-free country in 2015 and the introduction of new vaccines such as pneumococcus, rotavirus and the combined measles and rubella vaccine. Disruptions associated with COVID-19 vaccination efforts overwhelmed health systems in 2020 and 2021, resulting in dramatic setbacks and many children being left out of vaccination coverage.

Despite the progress that has been made, Angola still faces several challenges in terms of increasing immunization indicators and reducing vaccine-preventable deaths. The country needs to ensure the effective management of vaccines and vaccination material, to avoid stock-outs and guarantee the availability of vaccines at all vaccination posts. In addition, it is crucial to increase vaccination coverage of all antigens in all the country’s municipalities and implement supplementary vaccination activities for targeted diseases such as polio, measles and maternal tetanus.

Fadário is aware of these challenges, given his extensive career in the health sector. At the age of 20, he joined the Public Health Department of the Ministry of Health as an immunization technician and, in 2001 he became a WHO immunization officer. As a WHO officer, he has worked in various locations in the country and in the Republic of Mozambique.

With pride, he recalls the work carried out in Mozambique, where, based on the experience of Angola, he supported the introduction of a model that promoted the participation of other community players in the use of the polio vaccine, which had previously been exclusive to health technicians. This approach has helped to improve community engagement, reduce rejection and significantly increase vaccination coverage in Mozambique. He cites this experience as a perfect example of peer-to-peer country learning which WHO promotes.

Currently stationed in Benguela province, in southern Angola, Fadário is responsible for active case search of children with Acute Flaccid Paralysis in hospitals and communities, training health workers and other agents who participate in the process of detecting public health events, as well as ensuring the training of vaccinators and post-vaccination monitoring teams.

“No child should be left unvaccinated. The vaccine is one of the greatest achievements of medicine, through which we have the possibility to preventing and protecting our children against diseases, particularly polio which causes childhood paralysis.”

With the aim of vaccinating all children and ensuring a polio-free world, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has defined three crucial strategies that are also being implemented in Angola, which include routine immunization with the polio vaccine, supplementary polio immunization activities and surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis.

Angola is successfully implementing these strategies and is on the right track towards maintaining a polio-free status, Dr Fekadu Lemma, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative Coordinator in Angola, remains unwavering in his confidence: Despite the challenges such as high cross-border population movement and the presence of several informal crossing points that pose risks of importing the polio virus, Angola can expedite immunization and protect all children against polio by integrating polio vaccination with other health interventions and services and ensuring proactive ownership of the vaccination program by local governments. Despite the persistent challenges to the implementation of vaccination initiatives for all children, Fadário has no doubt: It is possible, and we will all, together, ensure a world without polio and without deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) – Angola.

In Zangba, in the Central African Republic (CAR), a series of crises led to the closure of several schools during the 2023/24 academic year. In collaboration with local education authorities, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) supported the resumption of classes in three affected schools.

The school year was first interrupted in November 2023, when serious flooding prevented children from getting to school. Since March 2024, military operations linked to the conflict have also had an impact on learning. In April, insecurity forced over 800 families to move, and more children stopped attending school.

“For the pupils, it was the risk of a missed year,” says Jean-Michel Mawando, a parent whose child attends the Ouambé Croisement school. “Parents lived in anguish because of the insecurity, but also because their children’s academic future was compromised by the closure of the school.”

Without access to school, children are forced to stay at home. As well as the effect this has on their learning, they are exposed to increased protection risks, such as recruitment by armed groups, child labour, sexual violence and forced marriages.

A rapid response

Faced with this critical situation, the Zangba school sector appealed to NRC for help. With support from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, we worked with the Lower Kotto school authorities to put in place a rapid response.

This enabled classes to resume, thus avoiding a missed year of learning. It also improved children’s wellbeing by introducing psychosocial support activities designed to help them overcome the stress of the traumatic events they had experienced.

The response included:

the distribution of learning materials and recreational kits
training teachers on how to better to respond to the mental health needs of children
the setting up of a referral system

As a result, 938 children were able to return to school on 10 June 2024.

Almost 10,000 students are acutely vulnerable

However, despite these encouraging results, education needs in Zangba remain acute. Of the 50 schools in the area, which has 10,401 students and 121 teachers in total, 10 schools were closed following the crisis. Of the 10 schools, only three have benefitted from this emergency education assistance, leaving 9,463 children out of school and in a situation of acute vulnerability.

It is imperative to expand this programme to all schools in the region, to ensure that every child has access to safe, quality education. More resources and partners must be mobilised to ensure that all children can benefit from their fundamental right to education, and thus, build a better and safer future.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Norwegian Refugee Council.

Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO), has urged African oil-producing member countries to contribute their $83 million subscription fees to facilitate the establishment of the $5 billion Africa Energy Bank (AEB), set to launch in Nigeria in September 2024. Dr. Ibrahim will also be a key speaker at the MSGBC Oil, Gas&Power 2024 conference and exhibition in Dakar, which is scheduled for December 3-4.

APPO in collaboration with the African Export-Import Bank, established the Africa Energy Bank (AEB) to provide private sector financing for oil, gas, and energy development projects across Africa. The AEB aims to partner with over 700 African banks to create a profitable pathway for the continent’s energy sector.

Explore opportunities, foster partnerships and stay at the forefront of the MSGBC region’s oil, gas and power sector. Visit www.MSGBCOilGasandPower.com to secure your participation at the MSGBC Oil, Gas&Power 2024 conference. To sponsor or participate as a delegate, please contact sales@energycapitalpower.com.

At the MSGBC Oil, Gas&Power 2024 event, Dr Ibrahim will discuss how the AEB can ensure high returns on investment while boosting economic growth through increased energy access in West Africa. Traditionally, African energy projects rely on development finance institutions and multilateral development banks, which have recently restricted fossil fuel financing due to climate change concerns. By channeling pension funds into African projects rather than relying on international banks, the AEB can leverage the region’s natural resources, including oil, gas, and green hydrogen projects.

Dr. Ibrahim will share his expertise on the latest energy advancements in the region and strategies to advance ongoing projects. In July 2024, Woodside’s Sangomar project achieved its first oil production in Senegal, with plans to increase output to 100,000 barrels per day. On the gas front, Senegal and Mauritania’s Grande Tortue Ahmeyim project, developed by bp and Kosmos Energy, is expected to produce its first gas by the end of 2024. Looking ahead to 2035, Mauritania aims to produce 12.5 million tons of green hydrogen, supported by large-scale projects such as CWP’s 35 MW Aman and Chariot and TotalEnergies’ 10 MW Project Nour.

“APPO has always been at the forefront of championing energy initiatives in Africa by ensuring access to necessary financing and providing its business expertise. Dr. Ibrahim’s presence reaffirms the organization’s commitment to making the MSGBC region the new frontier for oil and gas developments,” said Sandra Jeque, Event and Project Director at Energy Capital&Power.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital&Power.

WHO is appalled by the increasing attacks on health care in Sudan, with 22 such attacks verified in the last 8 weeks alone. Attacks on health care are deplorable and a violation of international humanitarian law. Access to health care is already severely constrained in Sudan due to the war that has been raging for over a year.

Since the war erupted in April 2023, WHO has verified 88 attacks on health care – including on health facilities, ambulances and transport, assets, patients and health workers – resulting in 55 deaths and 104 injuries. Among these, the 22 attacks on health care verified since 1 June 2024 led to the deaths of 16 health workers and patients, including children, and injuries to 56 people.

Hospitals, health facilities, ambulances and other health assets are a lifeline to Sudan’s people, who endure relentless fighting and frequent displacement due to the ongoing war. Sudan’s health workers continue to provide life-saving care – working in incredibly difficult conditions – driven by their commitment to serve the millions of people in need of urgent care. Yet their tenacity and dedication are rewarded with bombardment, harassment, intimidation, injury and death.

Health workers should not have to risk loss of life or limb as they strive to save others. Patients should not risk death in the course of seeking medical care.

Sudan’s health system is already hanging by a thread. It has been devastated by the effects of war, displacement, disease outbreaks, severe shortages of medical supplies, and a shortage of cash to run operations and pay salaries. The health system remains functional through the support of health partners and the dedication of health workers who risk their lives daily to help others.

Less than 25% of health facilities are functional in the Sudanese states hardest hit by the war and only 45% such facilities are fully functional in other states. Sudan’s people are already struggling to access the life-saving care they need. Half of the population – 24.8 million people – need humanitarian assistance and nearly 15 million people require urgent health assistance for their survival. Attacks on health care are taking away critical life-saving care from these people, over 10.6 million of whom are displaced within the country.

Under international humanitarian law, health care, health assets, health workers and patients must be protected even in war. We call for all health workers, patients and facilities to be protected at all times.

Ultimately, peace is a prerequisite to ensure the health of Sudan’s people and to rebuild the country’s health system.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization – Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.