Health

Could a universal coronavirus vaccine future-proof our response? COVID-19 SPECIAL FEATURE  | Priya Joi | Although the COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise, with many still reeling at how drastically the world has changed, scientists and global health experts had been expecting something like this for years. Coronaviruses are notorious for spilling over …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  Researchers from Makerere University School of Public Health want the government to include sex workers on the list of people who will get the COVID-19 vaccine. The researchers made their plea during the release of study findings on how communities at the border posts of …

Minor side effects are a normal sign that the immune system is mounting a protective response following vaccination, although they aren’t universal. COVID-19 SPECIAL FEATURE  |  Linda Geddes |  Tens of millions of people have already been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, and in the coming months, hundreds of millions more will follow. …

Unhealthy, processed foods are now frequently consumed in low- and middle-income countries including Uganda | RINA SWART, MAKOMA BOPAPE AND TAMRYN FRANK | COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on people with obesity and noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes. The pandemic has underlined the importance of the food environment and …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  The health ministry has warned that the current drop in COVID-19 numbers is not good news. Health ministry officials say the drop in numbers is just the calm before an impending second wave. As of today, the health ministry has recorded 40,243 cases of the …

Medicine availability across the country currently stands at 85 percent with a target of reaching 90 percent within the next 1-2 years | THE INDEPENDENT | The National Medical Stores (NMS) has called upon all government health facilities to submit their medicine requests within the set deadlines according to the …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  Key populations operating at borders points to Uganda say that they can’t adhere to the Ministry of Health’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of maintaining a physical distance as protection against COVID-19. According to the World Health Organization, in the wake of COVID-19 everyone is encouraged …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  The Development Partners have called for equity in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The partners note that underdeveloped countries should not be made to wait longer for the vaccines.  They argue that access to the Coronavirus Vaccine is a human rights issue and without the …

Dodoma, Tanzania | THE INDEPENDENT | Tanzanian Finance Minister Philip Mpango is back home, after being discharged from Benjamin Mkapa Hospital in Dodoma where he had been admitted for the past two weeks. “God bless you,” he repeatedly told the doctors and nurses at Mkapa Hospital where he held a …

Lyantonde, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | More than 50,000 cows and 15,000 goats have so far been vaccinated in Lyantonde district in a campaign to control the spread of Foot-and-Mouth disease-FMD.  This comes about two weeks after the district confirmed the outbreak of the highly contagious FMD in more than 20 …