Colombo, Sri Lanka | AFP | Sri Lanka Saturday slashed a tax on sugary drinks in a controversial reversal of an anti-diabetes policy that attracted immediate criticism. The finance ministry ordered an immediate 40 percent reduction in the levy as part of a package of tax cuts launched by the …
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Niamey, Niger | AFP | The number of new AIDS infections in Niger dropped by more than two thirds between 2012 and 2016, the health ministry said Saturday, in a statement marking World AIDS day. Health Minister Idi Illiassou said new infections in the four-year period under review fell from …
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Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Gabon’s President Ali Bongo arrived in Morocco on Thursday to convalesce after a month’s treatment at a Saudi hospital for an illness that has not been officially revealed. The 59-year-old leader of the oil-rich West African state had been in hospital in Saudi Arabia since …
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Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Measles cases worldwide jumped more than 30 percent last year compared to 2016, with increases recorded in wealthy European countries like Germany where vaccination coverage has historically been high, the UN said Thursday. The World Health Organization said the worrying trend of resurgent measles cases …
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Tampa, United States | AFP | Life expectancy in the United States dropped yet again as drug overdose deaths continued to climb — taking more than 70,000 lives in 2017 — and suicides rose, a US government report said Thursday. The drug overdose rate rose 9.6 percent compared to 2016, …
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Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The deadly Ebola outbreak which has ravaged eastern DR Congo for nearly four months has claimed another 19 lives in just five days, the health ministry has said. The outbreak, which began on August 1, has now killed 241 people, the ministry said in …
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Kampala, Uganda | PHILIP CRILLY | As populations across the world grow older, more and more people are using a combination of drugs to treat multiple conditions. This can lead to interactions and side effects that we all need to be aware of. Not only can drugs interact with each …
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Does antibiotic use in animals affect human health? Kampala, Uganda | ANA SANDOIU | Antibiotic resistance is a global public health crisis and the use of antibiotics in animals and its consequences for human health, were recently discussed at the London Microbiome Meeting. According to the Centers for Disease Control …
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New specialised women’s hospital sinks back to the old ways Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | On Oct.16, a week after President Yoweri Museveni officially opened the new Mulago Specialised Maternal and Neonatal Hospital in Kampala on Oct.09, The Independent visited the facility. The expectation was to see an efficiently run …
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Activists target media in fight to repeal sections of prevention and control Act Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | Rosemary Namubiru, a nurse, was in 2014 sentenced to three years in jail for criminal negligence over what seemed a potential infection of a baby with HIV the virus that causes AIDS. …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price