Author: Merveille Ilunga

A Joint Roadmap Anchored in National Vision In a ceremony marked by measured optimism, Minister of Health and Population Jean-Rosaire Ibara and the World Health Organization’s Representative, Dr Vincent Dossou Sodjinou, unveiled the new Congo-WHO Cooperation Strategy 2025-2028 in Brazzaville on 5 December 2025. The document, built around the Republic’s Plan national de développement sanitaire 2023-2026 and the Fourteenth WHO General Programme of Work, sketches a common ambition: a resilient health system able to deliver quality services to every citizen, even in the face of shocks (WHO press release, 5 Dec 2025). Covering the period from January 2025 to December…

Brazzaville hosts pivotal CRCA session on polio eradication From 2 to 5 December 2025 the Congolese capital temporarily became the nerve centre of the continent’s anti-polio campaign, as the thirty-fifth meeting of the African Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (CRCA) convened under the auspices of the Ministry of Health with technical support from the World Health Organization’s country office. Over the course of four intense days, government delegations and public-health experts from Ethiopia, Angola, Senegal, Chad and the host nation reviewed surveillance data, compared operational lessons and drafted a set of general and country-specific resolutions aimed at consigning poliomyelitis…

A High-Level Forum Signals Renewed Commitment On 9 December 2025 Brazzaville welcomed researchers, clinicians, diplomats and community advocates to the second National Scientific Day on HIV/Sida organised by the National AIDS Control Programme (PNLS). Held under the patronage of the Minister of Health and Population and opened by his adviser Jean-Claude Moboussé, the gathering underscored the Republic of Congo’s aspiration to consign the epidemic to history. In the packed auditorium of the ministry, Dr Moboussé paid tribute to what he described as a “synergy between political leadership, international partners and grass-roots actors” that has already translated into tangible advances in…

Regional Certification Body Convenes in Congo From 2 to 5 December 2025 Brazzaville became the epicentre of Africa’s anti-polio effort, hosting the 35th session of the African Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (CRCA). Delegations from Angola, Ethiopia, Senegal, Chad and the Republic of Congo reviewed the ground covered since the 2024 meeting in Dar-es-Salaam, debated persistent gaps and calibrated the next wave of interventions. The opening remarks were delivered by Dr Jean-Claude Moboussé, health adviser to the Minister of Health and Population, while Professor Donatien Mounkassa, the minister’s chief of staff, drew the curtain on the deliberations alongside Professor…

A milestone for Congo’s health diplomacy The vast amphitheatre of the Kintélé International Conference Centre filled early on 5 December 2025. Cabinet members, United Nations officials and development partners converged to witness Minister of Health and Population Jean-Rosaire Ibara formally launch the 2025-2028 Cooperation Strategy between the Republic of Congo and the World Health Organization. The document, costed at more than 25 billion CFA francs, represents the most ambitious multiyear framework ever agreed with the WHO since Congo joined the agency in 1961. “This new strategy reinvigorates our shared commitment to safeguarding the health of every Congolese citizen,” the minister…

Brazzaville hosts pivotal health diplomacy From 2 to 5 December 2025 the banks of the Congo River became a diplomatic health corridor as Brazzaville welcomed the 35th session of the African Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication. Delegations from Angola, Ethiopia, Chad, Senegal and the host country joined senior officials of the World Health Organization (WHO) to scrutinise the continent’s polio dossier and craft the final offensive against the disease. The choice of Brazzaville, home to the WHO Regional Office for Africa, underscored both symbolic continuity and Congo’s growing stature as a convening power on public-health security. Assessing performance indicators…

A renewed partnership for universal health coverage In a ceremony held on 5 December 2025 at the Kintélé International Conference Centre, the Republic of Congo formally unveiled its new Country Cooperation Strategy with the World Health Organization for the period 2025-2028. Presiding over the event, Minister of Health and Population Professor Jean-Rosaire Ibara was joined by Minister of National Defence Charles Richard Mondjo, the WHO Representative in Congo Dr Vincent Dossou Sodjinou, the acting WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Chikwé Ihekweazu, representatives of UNESCO and the United Nations system, and local authorities including Kintélé Mayor Stella Mensah Sassou Nguesso.…

Patient rights charter poised for signature At the headquarters of the African Centre for Peace, Education and Development (CAPPED) in Brazzaville, the Congolese Observatory for Consumer Rights, O2CD, convened on 27 November 2025 an intensive workshop devoted to disseminating the draft Patient and Health-Service Users Charter. Presided over by O2CD chairman René Ngouala, the gathering brought together some twenty stakeholders—predominantly physicians—eager to scrutinise a text already deposited with the Government in December 2024 and now awaiting the final imprimatur of executive authority (O2CD press release, 27 Nov 2025). A bridge between caregivers and citizens Speaking at the opening session, Mr…

A continent-first simulation in Brazzaville At dawn on 3 December 2025, the auditorium of the National Public Health Laboratory in Brazzaville was transformed into a war room. Screens streamed mock epidemiological alerts, while teams from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Livestock and the Armed Forces exchanged rapid-fire updates. The scenario, conceived with experts from the World Health Organization, postulated the emergence of a multidrug-resistant bacterium spreading simultaneously through a hospital ward in Makélékélé and a poultry farm on the outskirts of Dolisie. Within minutes the digital dashboard wp-signup.phped a spike in unexplained septic shocks, launching what officials described…

Corporate wellness anchored in port operations On the busy quays of Pointe-Noire, Congo Terminal has long understood that operational efficiency depends on the well-being of its workforce. World AIDS Day, observed on 1 December 2025, offered the concessionaire of the Port Autonome the opportunity to translate that conviction into concrete action. More than 900 employees, from crane operators to administrative staff, were invited to a dedicated awareness campaign designed and delivered by a network of peer educators. The initiative builds on the company’s internal health policy, which emphasises prevention and rapid access to care as key levers of productivity and…