Sudan Cholera Epidemic – ‘14,659 Infected, 292 Dead’
Khartoum / White Nile / North Kordofan — On Thursday, Sudan’s Health Minister Bahar Idris Abugarda briefed the parliament about the spread of the “acute water diarrhoea” epidemic in the country. New cholera cases were reported in the country’s capital, White Nile state, and North Kordofan. The Minister told the parliament in a session organised […]
Botched Vaccination Kills 15 Children in South Sudan
At least 15 children have died in rural South Sudan in a botched measles vaccination campaign that saw people as young as 12 years old administering vaccinations, reports say. South Sudan’s health ministry on Friday blamed the deaths on human error. Health workers vaccinating the children against measles used the same syringe without sterilising it, […]
Local solutions, people-centred health systems key to ending AIDS epidemic
Fanaye Hailu says her daughter Betty was born HIV-free and is now eight years old and suggests that every mother, every pregnant woman must get tested for HIV which can save the lives of the mother and her baby. Photo: UNAIDS While global optimism has fuelled a major push to end the AIDS epidemic by […]
DR Congo approves Ebola vaccine to counter outbreak; UN-trained volunteers to educate local populations
To contain the latest outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provided technical support to 145 volunteers of the Congolese Red Cross and community health workers to deliver lifesaving information to local populations in remote areas along the Central African Republic border. “Working in […]
Botswana Govt Backtracks On ‘Self-Injury’ Directive
Government has beat a hasty retreat hardly a month after the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MoHW) shocked many with an order that from April 01, state health facilities will no longer provide medical assistance to members of the public with “self-inflicted conditions”. A savingram dated 29th March 2017 titled: REMOVAL OF MEDICAL COVER FOR […]
Could Big Data Help End Hunger on the Continent?
Computer algorithms power much of modern life from our Facebook feeds to international stock exchanges. Could they help end malnutrition and hunger in Africa? The International Center for Tropical Agriculture thinks so. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture has spent the past four years developing the Nutrition Early Warning System, or NEWS. The goal is […]
Ensuring Safer Pregnancies for Kenyan Women in Urban Slums
Globally, there’s a general decline in the number of women who die from pregnancy or childbirth complications. However in Kenya, it remains high at 488 deaths per 100,000 live births. Maternal mortality is a health indicator of the wide gaps between rich and poor, urban and rural areas within countries. The lack of appropriate maternal […]
Smoking And Sustainable Development – Potentially Reduced Risk Products, A Viable Solution?
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that six million people die prematurely every year because of the consumption of tobacco products. The organization estimates that if nothing changes, there will be more than one billion smokers worldwide by 2025. In recent years, various products considered less harmful alternatives to the conventional cigarette have been designed, […]
UN agency sets up health resource centre at Midlands State University
A UNITED Nations agency has set up a state-of -the-art model health resource centre at the Midlands State University in Gweru to help mitigate the growing number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among students. The health facility, which boasts of pool tables, computers, HIV and Aids literature, a boardroom and counselling room, is the brainchild […]
Ethiopia Celebrates First African Leader of the World Health Organization
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hopes to expand healthcare access for the world’s poor. But his tenure as former Ethiopian health minister has not been without controversy. Health representatives of 186 countries gathered in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday to elect former Ethiopian foreign minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, usually known as Dr. Tedros, as the new director-general of […]
