Health

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health has launched the National Emergency Medical Services Policy. The policy supposed to streamline emergency response services in the country, aims at reducing avoidable mortality, morbidity and disability, by ensuring all people in need of emergency care access it. The policy will …

Makerere University scientists give traditionalists a boost | THE INDEPENDENT | An organic research group at Makerere University Kampala has embarked on testing the safety, quality and efficacy of herbal remedies in a bid to ensure that only those found safe and effective are used. The group from the university’s …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A century after it was discovered, insulin still remains out of reach for many people living with diabetes, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report published Friday to commemorate the milestone anniversary. Diabetes is characterized by elevated levels of blood sugar which over time, can cause …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | No new countries have achieved measles elimination target, just a month to the end of the year. This is according to the World Health Organization-WHO. By the end of 2020, 81 countries had succeeded in sustaining their measles elimination status despite the pandemic. WHO reports …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | HIV activists have made an outcry about shortages of an expensive HIV drug, raltegravir, which is recommended for decreasing the amount of HIV in the blood. Raltegravir is used by people living with HIV that are on third-line treatment. It is administered as a tablet, …

Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Health officials in Arua city have embarked on homecare camps to manage the outbreak of chicken pox in Ayiforo, Dadamu and Tanganyika cells in Ayivu division, Arua city. The contagious disease was first observed in Ayiforo cell, three weeks ago after a teenage girl developed …

In a bid to stave off looming disaster, scientists are trying to repurpose drugs used for malaria and other diseases, but infrastructure and recruitment challenges stymie progress | ABDULLAHI TSANNI | For more than a year, Adeola Fowotade struggled to recruit people to a clinical trial for COVID-19 treatments. A …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Every hour, about five babies are born at Kawempe National Referral Hospital. According to the Deputy Executive Director, Dr Lawrence Kazibwe, they daily deliver between 100 and 150 babies ever since the second COVID-19 lockdown was lifted. This number is almost triple the 50 …

Why is it more aggressive than in women? Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | Experts at the Uganda Cancer Institute have come out to warn that although breast cancer is common in women, men can also get it and it is more aggressive. Dr. Noleb Mugisha, an oncologist who heads …

WHO says most tests are carried out on people with symptoms, whereas much of the transmission is driven by those who do not show symptoms | NELSON MANDELA OGEMA | Only one in seven COVID-19 infections are being detected in Africa because of inadequate testing, the WHO said in an …