Nigeria crisis

Healing the mental scars of violence in northeastern Nigeria

10 April 2018 - Nearly 7 million people are living in camps for internally displaced people (IDP) in northeastern Nigeria. In emergency settings, the rate of common mental disorders can double. Gender based violence, abductions, and gross atrocities can trigger psychological problems which take years to heal. WHO estimates that as many as 1 in 5 people in IDP camps may need mental health care.

This feature tells the story of Aisha, a 13-year-old girl in northeastern Nigeria who witnessed her brother's killing. Her story is one of the many.

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Nigeria’s Lassa fever outbreak is slowing, but remains a concern

26 MARCH 2018 | ABUJA, NIGERIA – After nearly 400 confirmed infections and 100 deaths, the spread of Lassa fever in Nigeria is beginning to slow but the epidemic is far from contained, the World Health Organization and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have warned.

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Nigeria battles its largest Lassa fever outbreak on record

1 March 2018 - The current Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria shows an increasing trend in the number of cases and deaths in recent weeks with 317 confirmed cases reported in 2018 so far. This is the largest outbreak of Lassa fever ever reported in Nigeria.

Lassa fever is endemic in the West African countries of Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo and Nigeria. As of 22 February 2018, 10 suspected cases who fell ill in Nigeria were reported in Benin, and confirmed cases have been reported from Beninese states that border Nigeria.

• Disease outbreak news
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WHO moves to contain Nigeria’s Lassa fever outbreak

13 February 2018 - WHO is scaling up its response to an outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria, which has spread to 17 states and may have infected up to 450 people in less than five weeks. “The high number of Lassa fever cases is concerning. We are observing an unusually high number of cases for this time of year.” said Dr. Wondimagegnehu Alemu, WHO Representative to Nigeria.

• News release

Nigeria set to vaccinate 25 million people, its biggest yellow fever campaign ever

24 January 2018, Abuja - The Government of Nigeria will launch a mass vaccination campaign to prevent the spread of yellow fever on Thursday (January 25) with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners. More than 25 million people will be vaccinated throughout 2018, in the largest yellow fever vaccination drive in the country’s history.

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Update on yellow fever in Nigeria

21 December 2017 - Reports of yellow fever cases throughout Nigeria are escalating concerns about the risk of large, costly, and difficult-to-control outbreaks in urban areas requiring huge supplies of life-saving vaccines and increasing the potential for large-scale national and worldwide spread. Fears that the situation in globally connected Nigeria could soon mirror the massive 2016 urban outbreak in Angola, during which cases were exported to neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo and as far as China, are raising urgent calls for quick containment.

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WHO helps Nigeria control cholera in Borno state

22 December 2017 -- Nigeria has successfully contained a five-month cholera outbreak in conflict-affected Borno state, with support from the World Health Organization and other health partners. The Government announced the end of the outbreak on Thursday (December 21) after two weeks had passed with no new cases.

“With the support of WHO and other health actors, Borno State moved to quick action to control the outbreak. With that strong resolve to limit mortality and morbidity, this was achieved, and we can say that we have succeeded,” said Dr Muhammad Aminu Ghuluze, Director of Emergency Response, Borno State Ministry of Health.

• Read the full story from the Regional Office website