There should 47 Presidents involved in the virtual fest. But Mali’s Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta who was deposed in a military coup last week, remains in detention.

The WHO’s Africa region doesn’t include North Africa. However, there has not been a case of wild polio there  since  2004 so WHO Africa director Matshidiso Moeti correctly declares the entire continent free of the disease that used to paralyze 75 000 children a year.

That leaves only Afghanistan and Pakistan as the only countries on the the planet still reporting polio cases.

Vaccines are very much front and centre of public consciousness with the race to find one against COVID 19.

The politicians are taking the lead in this battle with Donald Trump maintaining a COVID 19 vaccine could still arrive in time for the November 3 U.S. Presidential election he is desperate to win.

Both China and Russia maintain they have actually produced a vaccine but there is no rush by the public to avail themselves of such poorly tested measures.

The scientists  maintain that COVID 19 will be with us for some time, even after a reliable vaccine is produced.

So far in medical history, smallpox is the only infectious disease to have been eradicated by vaccine. That was 40 years ago.

Rinderpest, spread among animals, is the other.

The World Health Organization lists 17 vaccines against dangerous and deadly diseases.

The polio eradication efforts led by Gates and Dangote began almost three decades ago and failed to meet its millennium target.

A 2003 boycott of the vaccination programme in Nigeria led to the disease spreading to 20 other countries in the next five years.

The eradication programme looked like it had succeeded in 2015 but four new cases were reported in 2016.

The Nigerian problem was focused on Borno State where the Islamist terror group Boko Haram prevented medical access to the population.

The authorities used the army to back up vaccination teams that used guerrilla tactics to get their job done.

They moved into areas made safe, even for a few days, and vaccinated children accompanying their parents to markets.

The children immunized in this way passed this on to their peers through drinking water.

Unfortunately some of the vaccine viruses muted and spread to villages where immunization was not total.

That strain is much less virulent – one in 200 cases results in paralysis.

In 2018, 68 children were infected. This number increased to 320 last year.

The WHO fears that this number may increase because of the COVID 19 lockdown preventing access by polio vaccination teams.

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The epidemic in all 26 provinces of the DRC has killed more than the EBOLA outbreak in the east of the country.

The measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the largest and fastest-moving in the world.

It has killed 3500 people – mainly children – this year.

The highly-infectious viral illness can lead to brain and lung problems.

Previous immunization attempts have failed to quell it because people lack access to the vaccine and basic health care.

As is the case with EBOLA, insecurity and hostility of the local population to health workers hampers their operation.

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It’s the second largest outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic disease in history and its killed more than 1600 people.

President Felix Tshisikedi announced that a multi-disciplinary committee answering to his officer will deal with the year-long EBOLA outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His decision follows the declaration by the World Health Organization of the outbreak being a public health emergency of international concern.

It is only fourth time the United Nations health arm has made such a declaration.

In his resignation letter, health minister Oly Illunga says in a war – which is what the fight against EBOLA has become – it creates confusion having several centres of decision making.

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They are assuring the public that every possible measure is being taken to ensure their safety.

The woman patient has travelled from Malaba on neighboring Uganda’s eastern border.

The two EBOLA fatalities in Uganda occurred across the country on its western border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Authorities say blood tests should reveal with 24 hours whether the woman has EBOLA.

They point out that several other diseases feature symptoms similar to EBOLA.

The Kenyan scare follows the decision by the World Health Organisation not to declare the second worst outbreak of EBOLA in history, that’s has killed more than 1 400 people in the Congo,  a global  health emergency. 

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Its the  fourth volunteer slain by suspicious locals since the outbreak the deadly hemorrhagic disease that’s killed more than 1200 people since last August.

The health centre was looted and three houses in the North Kivu village of Vusahiro were burned down after the health worker was killed.

Rebels, many crossing the border from Uganda,  and hostility from local residents is making the work of health specialists nearly impossible.

Violence has forced the World Health Organisation to evacuate staff and close a number of treatment and vaccination centers in Ituri and North Kivu where the EBOLA outbreak has become the second worst on the planet. 

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Rebel activity in the east of the country where the deadly hemorrhagic disease is spreading is disrupting the work of specialist vaccination teams and there is deep distrust of medical workers.

Health authorities in eastern DRC say more than 1450 confirmed cases of EBOLA have occurred in the nine-month outbreak.

The World Health Organisation, which was criticized for its second ruling  last month that the outbreak is not an international medical emergency, now anticipates a scenario of continued intense transmission.

The surge in new cases – 126 last week alone – is put down to increasing attacks on medical personnel and treatment centers 

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They say this violence has become politicized by the elections at the end of last year.

Two health centers closed by violence in eastern DRC have re-opened but without volunteers from Medicines Sans Frontiers who says it is impossible to carry out vital treatment and vaccinations there.

WHO manager Michel Yao says equipment and vehicles were damaged, making the task more difficult.

Focal point of the violence is Butembo that has close ties with neighbouring  Uganda.

More than 560 people have died in the latest EBOLA outbreak that’s become the second worst in recorded history. More than 300 people are infected.

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The World Food Program has supplied emergency food aid to more than 86 000 people since the outbreak last August.

The World Health Organization says the tenth outbreak of EBOLA in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the second largest in history.

More than 330 people have died of the haemorrhagic disease afflicting  North Kivu and Ituri provinces and threatening to spread further.

The WHO estimates there are 200 people carrying the virus who have not been treated by medical response teams.

More worrying is the fact that many of the 580 cases have been contracted from unknown sources.

EBOLA is spreading because the outbreak is located in an active conflict zone where militia have been killing civilians for years and show no inclination to work with medical response teams.

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Medical specialists are in lockdown after fighting in the Kivus at the weekend killed 18 people.

The Ebola outbreak in the DRC is the seventh most serious in medical history with 69 confirmed deaths.

WHO head of prevention and emergency response Peter Salama says the deadly haemorrhagic threatens to spread into neighbouring Uganda.

However his teams dispensing vaccinations tracking the spread of Ebola  and education the population about preventative measures is hunkered down against fighting between 134 armed groups in what has become one of the longest, bloodiest  and potentially most dangerous wars on the planet. 

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This warning from the World Health Organization as three patients escape quarantine in the first city the deadly haemorrhagic disease has reached.

Head of the WHO emergency response Peter Salama says the Ebola outbreak in the DRC is on a epidimiological knife edge.

Seven more cases have been reported and the death toll is 27.

At least 150 people have come into contact with each case and all of these have be be vaccinated.

Salama explains: “There are three separate chains of transmission we’re following. Each one has the potential to expand if not controlled.” 

Three patients escaped from quarantine in Mbandaka the Congo River port upstream from Kinshasa and Brazzaville and downstream from Bangui.

Medicines Sans Frontiers says two of them have been found dead. 

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