London, United Kingdom | AFP | United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said a new vaccine against the coronavirus had to be available to everyone across the world, as an international conference got under way to raise funds for new life-saving treatments. The virtual meeting, hosted by Britain, aims …
Read More »WHO teams arrive in Mbandaka as DRC battles fresh ebola outbreak
Mbandaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nearly 50 staff from the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners have arrived in Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to tackle yet another outbreak of Ebola in the country. The responders carried 3,500 doses of Ebola vaccine and 2,000 cartridges …
Read More »WHO to resume hydroxychloroquine coronavirus trials
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization announced Wednesday that clinical trials of the drug hydroxychloroquine will resume as it searches for potential coronavirus treatments. On May 25, the WHO announced it had temporarily suspended the trials to conduct a safety review, which has now concluded there is “no reason” to change the …
Read More »Hydroxychloroquine: a drug dividing the world
Paris, France | AFP | Banned in some countries, promoted in others — the drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for the new coronavirus is dividing opinion worldwide. Scientists looking to find licenced medicines that could be repurposed as a treatment for COVID-19 had started tests of hydroxychloroquine, normally used to …
Read More »COVER STORY: Covid is no joke
2500 Ugandans could die Kampala, Uganda | JOSEPH WERE | Uganda on May 26 took a bold step and eased a 60-day lockdown imposed in March when the first case of the Coronavirus disease COVID-19 was registered in the country. That same day, Uganda registered the highest number of recorded …
Read More »WHO urging countries to revamp awareness on dangers of tobacco consumption
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organization (WHO) lists flavours appealing to young people in smokeless tobacco, Shisha and e-cigrattes among the latest tobacco and related industry tactics to attract younger generations. They also list advertising and product placement on movies and social media platforms with paid influencers …
Read More »Backlash to Trump cutting WHO ties as virus grips Latin America
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | US President Donald Trump faced a broad backlash Saturday over his decision to sever ties with the UN’s health agency during a pandemic, as the coronavirus surged in Latin America and Europe further reopened from lockdown. The EU called on Washington to reconsider its decision to …
Read More »Now, Trump pulls US out of World Health Organisation
Trump says US ‘terminating’ relationship with WHO Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump said Friday he was severing US ties with the World Health Organization, which he says failed to do enough to combat the initial spread of the novel coronavirus. Trump first suspended funding to the …
Read More »Scientists raise concern over hydroxychloroquine study
Paris, France | AFP | Dozens of scientists have raised concerns over a large-scale study of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine published in the Lancet that led to the World Health Organization suspending clinical trials of the anti-viral drugs as a potential treatment for COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine, normally used to treat arthritis, has become …
Read More »Burundi First Lady hospitalised in Nairobi
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s first lady was in hospital in Nairobi on Friday, after being flown in on a late-night medical flight, according to sources at the airport and in the presidency. First lady Denise Bucumi was flown out of Burundi on a Pilatus plane by the AMREF air ambulance service, according to …
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