Health

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Researchers from half a dozen states in West Africa have joined together in a battle against what one expert calls a root crop “Ebola” — a viral disease that could wreck the region’s staple food and condemn millions to hunger. Their enemy: cassava brown …

Paris, France | AFP | The near 40-year quest for an AIDS vaccine received a hopeful boost Saturday when scientists announced that a trial drug triggered an immune response in humans and shielded monkeys from infection. Shown to be safe in humans, the candidate vaccine has now advanced to the …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Employees of Uganda’s leading beer brewer Nile Breweries Limited, plans to donate pads to at least 1,000 pupils annually, according to the company’s legal and corporate affairs director, Onapito Ekomoloit. Onapito, who was speaking during the handover of 300 pieces of So Sure …

AIDS: Four vaccines reach highest level of testing ever Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | HIV/AIDS prevention researchers at the Medical Researcher Council (MRC) are excited about two upcoming vaccine trials. The two trials; a PrepVac and a mosaic concept study will start in December and January 2019 respectively.  The …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  Thousands of doses of Ebola vaccine arrived Wednesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is facing an outbreak of the deadly virus, the health ministry said. Congolese authorities declared the outbreak in the northwest region near Congo-Brazzaville on May 8, and three have …

AFRICAN ARGUMENTS | Alice McCool & Brian Mutebi | In an informal settlement in central Kampala, Yusuf Byaruhanga sits within the faded pastel walls of a school. With his walking stick resting next to his chair, the 63-year-old talks openly about the fact he is HIV-positive. “Most men fear shame, stigma and …

Obuasi, Ghana | AFP | Bismark Owusu moves food and bowls from a bedroom and covers clothes and furniture with a large sheet before mixing a mosquito-killing chemical with water in his spray pack. He then puts on head-to-toe safety gear, straps the pack to his back and methodically sprays …

TLD to be available in July but experts warn of sustainability of supply and lack of sensitization Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | Starting in July, HIV/AIDs patients picking their Anti-Retroviral (ARV) drug refills might notice a difference; they might be given prescriptions of one pill a day instead of …

Washington, United States | AFP | US First Lady Melania Trump had surgery Monday for what aides called a “benign” kidney condition, and will remain in hospital for the rest of the week. The Slovenia-born wife of Donald Trump underwent an embolization procedure, said her communications director Stephanie Grisham. “The …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization said Friday it was preparing for “the worst case scenario” in a fresh outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “We are very concerned, and we are planning for all scenarios, including the worst case scenario,” WHO’s head of …