ALCOHOL LAW: Do we need laws to sort behavior change issues? Talk to Betty Nambooze Bakireke, the Mukono Municipality Member of Parliament about the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2016 which she on Oct. 05 introduced as a Private Members’ Bill to parliament and you will be struck by how animated …
Read More »Study shows young women boozing like the boys
Paris, France | AFP | Young women in Western countries have caught up with their male counterparts in drinking habits, according to research published this week. Women aged 18-27 years old have almost reached parity with men of their age group in three categories of drinking — the likelihood of …
Read More »ANALYSIS: As Xi’s star rises, experts ask if the centre can hold
Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese Communist chief Xi Jinping’s ascension to the highest title in the party hierarchy formalises his position as its pre-eminent figure, analysts said, making him the country’s most powerful leader in a generation and inviting comparisons with Mao Zedong. The ruling party’s declaration that Xi …
Read More »Brazil preparing to release millions of factory-bred mosquitoes
Brazil mutant mosquitoes to breed out diseases Piracicaba, Brazil | AFP | Scientists in Brazil are preparing to release millions of factory-bred mosquitoes in an attempt to wipe out their distant cousins that carry tropical diseases. The insects’ method: have sex and then die. British firm Oxitec says its …
Read More »NMS, CIPLA-QC in court over ‘imported’ Aids and Malaria drugs
The High Court in Kampala on Wednesday summoned the Attorney General of Government and National Medical Stores (NMS) to respond to claims that it has continuously withdrawn money from the consolidated fund to purchase imported anti-retroviral and anti-malarial drugs from a local manufacturer disguised as locally made. Documents presented to …
Read More »TB treatment’s high success rate hailed as ‘breakthrough’
London, United Kingdom | AFP | A new treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis patients, that reported a success rate of 82 percent in a study, has been hailed as a “breakthrough” at a medical summit in Britain. The final results were unveiled at this week’s Union World Conference on Lung Health …
Read More »US’ Patient Zero and the origins of the AIDS epidemic
Paris, France | AFP | A labelling error and reckless media hype in the 1980s led to unjustly branding a gay airline employee as “Patient Zero” in the US AIDS epidemic, scientific and historical sleuthing detailed Wednesday. The deadly virus, which has claimed more than 650,000 lives in the United …
Read More »NMS, Cipla bickering over expensive HIV/AIDS drugs
NMS, Cipla: Fight over pricing could lead to higher costs for patients and the government “NO ARVs means death.” That shocking but true fact was stated by Joshua Wamboga, the head of the Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organisations (UNASO) in January when Uganda was reeling from a major stock-out …
Read More »Taxes, love: The more we lie, the easier it gets
Slippery slope: the more we lie, the easier it gets Paris, France | AFP | Whether cheating on taxes or one’s lover, the little lies we tell can quickly escalate into big ones, according to a study released Monday that describes dishonesty as a “slippery slope”. Serial untruths, moreover, register …
Read More »Heading the ball ‘affects memory’ – study
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Heading a football can significantly affect a player’s brain function and memory up to a day, a study by researchers at Scotland’s Stirling University has said. Memory performance was reduced by between 41 percent to 67 percent following heading practice, according to the research, …
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