Lessons learned from Congolese Ebola outbreak →

The quick response of the Congolese government and international partners to the outbreak of Ebola included enhancing surveillance in the affected areas, establishing case management facilities and mobile laboratories, and beginning the process of tracing every person who might have come into contact with a patient with the virus. Experts said this was a marked difference from the situation in March, 2014, when cases of Ebola virus disease were first reported in Guinea. Read more.

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Renewed tensions between Uganda and Rwanda will ripple across East Africa →

Ties between Rwanda and Uganda appear to be deteriorating rapidly. The latest ebb in this historically volatile relationship stems from the Ugandan government’s pushback on what it perceives as Rwandan meddling in its domestic affairs. Though Ugandan officials have not gone public with any formal allegations, their dissatisfaction can be read in a recent string of increasingly high-profile incidents. Read more.

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Progress in influenza surveillance in Africa →

Africa has seen substantial advances in influenza surveillance over the past decade. In 2006, fewer than ten countries had surveillance and laboratory capacity, according to WHO. That number has now risen to 30. But while rapid progress has been made, there is still limited surveillance capacity to assess the risk of epidemic. Read more.

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A resurrected peace plan is the best hope for ending South Sudan's brutal war →

Negotiations to bring peace to South Sudan have restarted in earnest, with the parties circulating a power-sharing plan that has failed once before. It is unclear if negotiators have a new strategy to successfully resurrect that agreement or if they are simply out of ideas. Read more.

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A light unto some nations →

Israel is offering tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Africa only one alternative to deportation: detention with no known end date or guarantee of asylum. Read more.

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Will Germany's Social Democrats take one more chance on a grand coalition? →

After a bruising round of negotiations that went days over deadline, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats struck a deal last week with the center-left Social Democrats to extend the coalition that has governed Germany for the past four years. Read more.

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Shila Kaur →

Malaysian public health expert and advocate for access to medicines. Born in George Town, Malaysia, on March 13, 1962, she died of breast cancer in Los Angeles, on Nov 21, 2017. Read more.

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Reconstructing Zimbabwe's health system after Mugabe →

For more than a decade, Zimbabwe's healthcare system has been in a state of collapse. Hospitals have been without basic supplies, and health workers regularly strike over unpaid wages and poor working conditions. With Robert Mugabe forced out of the presidency in November after 37 years in power, there are now crucial questions about how quickly the new administration can turn the health system around – or whether it will. Read more.

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Why the problems for Germany's centrists are only beginning →

Two months after Germany’s federal elections, the country is on the brink of an unexpected political crisis. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats ran first in the vote, but they finished without an outright majority. Since election night, they have been casting about for coalition partners — a process that has proven surprisingly more difficult than political pundits anticipated. Read more.

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How can we improve the development impact of migrant remittances? →

Remittances are already a lifeline for many people in developing countries — but with reforms to the system, leaders across Europe and Africa believe they could become a key driver of global development. Read more.

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Complete COP23 coverage

All of my coverage from the 2017 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany:

• WHO initiative aims to tackle health impacts of climate change

• 'There has been a shifting of goalposts at COP23'

• Without climate adaptation, hunger will persist

• Countries band together to preserve Central African rainforest

• COP23 endorses mainstreaming of gender in climate action

• Climate adaptation is critical for developing countries. Can the private sector help?

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Abdulah Alkhamesi →

Specialist in tropical medicine and health administration who was founder of the Yemen Red Crescent Society. Born in Sana'a, Yemen, on Feb 26, 1941, he died from complications after heart surgery in Sana'a on Aug 31, 2017, aged 76 years. Read more.

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Innovators seek accessible solutions for health →

For Dr. Twalib Ngoma, innovation emerged from simplicity at this year’s World Health Summit in Berlin. At an event showcasing everything from medical record technology to artificial intelligence, it was a mere speculum, acetic acid, and "good eyesight” that struck him as a game-changing combination.

With those widely available tools, a health worker can conduct a simple cervical cancer screening. Ngoma is the executive director of the Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Tanzania, where cervical cancer is the most common form of female cancer.

Read more.

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World Health Summit urges political will to follow up on UHC commitments →

Advocates for universal health coverage this week lauded the way that global political agendas have integrated health issues in recent years. But participants in this week's World Health Summit in Berlin — including Nobel laureates, health ministers from around the world, and leaders of international agencies — warned that, without political will, few countries will be able to deliver on those pledges. Read more.

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With U.S. sanctions on Sudan finally lifted, how will Khartoum act? →

After several false starts over the past decade, the United States finally lifted sanctions it first levied against Sudan nearly two decades ago. Read more.

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