Features

By Ronald Musoke Frustration as `top Uganda government officials’ are implicated in trafficking poached elephant tusks In the last two years, about 12 tonnes of ivory from poached elephants has been seized in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi; and all of it came from Uganda.  John Okot Emitchell, the field officer …

By Flavia Nassaka Progress made on immunisation but maternal, child health lagging Starting next year, the Ministry of Health is to introduce a new polio vaccine for children, according to the Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunisation (UNEPI) Programme Director, Dr Robert Mayanja. Dr Mayanja was speaking to The Independent …

By Flavia Nassaka The Medical Research Council (MRC), a body under the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), is this year marking 25 years of operations in Uganda. Prof. Pontiano Kaleebu, the director, spoke to Flavia Nassaka about the current state of medical / health research in the country. Briefly, what …

By Nicole Namubiru Doctors explain why it’s best to use protection in a discordant relationship If a couple is in a long term sexual relationship and one of them is HIV-positive and the other is negative, scientists refer to them as a `discordant couple’. Dr Raymond Mwebaze, a general physician …

By Flavia Nassaka If crying helps our emotional state, why is it discouraged? Shedding tears is one of the least explainable human behaviors. It can involve anything from merely getting moist eyes to full-on sobbing.  It is at once welcomed as a form of emotional release following a traumatic event, …

By Flavia Nassaka Ugandan experts speak out on what World can do in West Africa Just as the world was grappling with the worst ever outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever, Ebola, in West Africa with over 4000 dead, tragedy struck thousands of kilometres away in Uganda. A male radiographer at …

By Flavia Nassaka Going to health clubs has become a hobby for many Ugandans Shamim Nassuna, a young woman in her early twenties, has been battling acne of the face; a common skin disease which causes pimple-like blisters. She has tried a variety of lotions and creams with little success. …

By Flavia Nassaka Can new blood-test detection improve treatment outcomes? Dr Harriet Birabwa, a Butabika based psychiatrist says that 20% of all patients that report to the hospital have had an episode of depression and of 100 aging people, 80 are depressed. Also, the World Health Organisation estimates show the …

By Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Margie McGlynn Researchers are learning a great deal from the responses of three groups of patients An ounce of prevention, Benjamin Franklin famously said, is worth a pound of cure. But that is not always true when it comes to research into infectious diseases. Though scientists …

By Flavia Nassaka Contact lens wearers suffer more discomfort using computers A phone, a television set, or a computer are a must have in today’s modern society. Due to their multi- functional features, especially at the work place staring at a computer monitor for long hours has become part of …