Communicable diseases responsible for majority of deaths in Africa, WHO official says

Speaking on Monday in Luanda, Angola, at the opening session of the inaugural meeting on Medical Education, sponsored by the Faculty of Medicine of Agostinho Neto University, WHO Regional Director for Africa Luis Gomes Sambo said communicable diseases account for 63 percent of deaths in Africa, with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) responsible for the majority of those, the Angola Press reports. Nonetheless, Africa has made significant progress against HIV/AIDS and malaria, as well as in improving child and maternal mortality, he said, according to the news service (10/22). Sambo also "said on Monday in Luanda that the population's health depends on the provision of health care for those [in] need, as well as the efforts made by the society to protect, promote and re-establish the people's well-being," another article from Angola Press notes (10/23).