Health

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The fight for safe abortions is an uphill struggle with half of all terminations worldwide still conducted in risky conditions, pro-choice advocates told a major women’s health conference in Nairobi. Despite gains in many countries, there are huge barriers in poorer parts of the world, they …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | A technique that sterilizes male mosquitoes using radiation will soon be tested as part of global health efforts to control diseases such as chikungunya, dengue, and zika. Known as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), the process involves rearing large quantities of sterilized male mosquitoes …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  National Information Platforms on Nutrition-NIPN has called for door to door nutrition training for maids and parents in order to reduce stunted growth in urban areas. Nutritionists say several children in well to do families have stunted growth and retarded brains due to lack of …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo Thursday introduced a second vaccine to fight the deadly Ebola virus in the east of the country, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity said. It said the new vaccine, produced by a Belgian subsidiary of Johnson & …

Amuru, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  Health officials in Amuru are alarmed by the high rate of HIV prevalence among the youth population in the district. The epidemic stands at 6.4 percent. Records from the district Community-Based Department indicate that the youth form 27 percent, women 49 percent while the elderly …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said it had prequalified an Ebola vaccine for the first time, hailing a “critical step” towards its licensing, access and roll-out in countries most at risk of outbreaks. “This is the fastest vaccine prequalification process ever conducted by WHO,” …

Kitgum, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  Kitgum General Hospital management have renewed calls to the Health Ministry to elevate the facility to a Regional Referral Hospital. They argue that for long the health facility has been offering health services beyond the level of a district Hospital with limited funding from government. …

Amuru, Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | Amuru district health department is facing difficulties to respond to medical emergencies due to lack of functioning ambulance services. The only two ambulances belonging to the district including one that was donated around 2006 by Medicines Sans Frontiers, an international humanitarian medical non-governmental organization …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  The Ministry of Health is set to resume the supply and distribution of the recalled Hepatitis E vaccines to patients across the country. The drugs, Texavir, manufactured by Cipla Quality Chemical Industries were voluntarily recalled in July this year due to errors in their packaging. …

  What you need to know about posting online about emotional distress | THE INDEPENDENT | “Sadfishing” is when someone solicits attention online by posting something emotional.  There’s no definitive way to tell whether someone is truly in crisis, so any alarming post should be taken seriously, say experts. Is …