Moscow, Russia | AFP | A vast and contentious network of facial recognition cameras keeping watch over Moscow is now playing a key role in the battle against the spread of the coronavirus in Russia. The city rolled out the technology just before the epidemic reached Russia, ignoring protests and …
Read More »Rwanda begins vaccinating against Ebola
Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | Rwanda on Sunday started a voluntary Ebola vaccination programme at its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in a bid to prevent the spread of the deadly virus from its neighbour. All countries in high-risk areas, even if not hit by Ebola, had been …
Read More »DR Congo ex-minister in charge of Ebola accused of embezzling $4.3 million
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Detained former DR Congo health minister Oly Ilunga has been accused of embezzling $4.3 million of public funds raised to tackle the Ebola epidemic, his defence counsel said Sunday while insisting on his innocence. “Police accuse him of having siphoned off a total of …
Read More »Scientists a step closer to a cure for Ebola
Two Ebola drugs found to increase survival rates: health officials Washington, United States | AFP | Scientists were a step closer to a cure for Ebola on Monday after two of four drugs in a clinical trial were found to significantly increase survival rates, the US health authority co-funding the …
Read More »Ebola-hit DR Congo fears 1,500 dead from measles epidemic
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have declared an epidemic of measles which may have killed 1,500 people, according to statistical analysis. “We have been seeing an increase in the number of suspected cases of measles since the start of the year, …
Read More »‘We’ve been forgotten’: Brazil’s Zika generation
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | When doctors told her that the six-month-old fetus she was carrying had severe brain damage caused by the Zika virus, Thamires Ferreira da Silva tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a bus in Rio de Janeiro. “I just wanted to …
Read More »Death toll tops 200 in DR Congo Ebola outbreak
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to more than 200, the health ministry said on Saturday. The ministry said it had recorded 201 deaths from the virus and that 291 cases have been confirmed since …
Read More »Ebola prevention measures ‘positive impact’ in DR Congo
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | New measures taken to combat an Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have had a “positive impact”, but the virus remains dangerous and unpredictable, the World Health Organization and United Nations said Thursday. Since the outbreak began in August, 191 people …
Read More »Nigeria struggles to contain dramatic spread of deadly Lassa fever
Irrua, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria is battling on two fronts against an unprecedented outbreak of Lassa fever, a cousin of Ebola, that has already killed 110 people this year. Even as doctors are grappling to contain the threat, health watchdogs are struggling to understand why the deadly virus has …
Read More »Global Fund collects $13 bln to end AIDS, malaria, TB by 2030
Montreal, Canada | AFP | An international donor conference in Montreal reached its goal of raising $13 billion for the fight to eradicate AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by 2030, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday. “Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great Honour to announce that for the fifth …
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