Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Health Ministry has dispatched 171,400 doses of the oral cholera vaccine to Nebbi District for a mass vaccination campaign targeting six high risk sub counties. Dr. Jakor Oryema, the Nebbi District Health Officer, says Nebbi district is a hot spot for cholera outbreaks …
Read More »Kenyan hospital opens human milk bank
Kenya’s first human milk bank has opened at Pumwani Maternity Hospital. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, spoke to the team spearheading APHRC’s research efforts in the establishment of Kenya’s first milk bank. How long has it taken to open? What were the biggest obstacles? The process of establishment of …
Read More »Ugandan health workers fatigued-Ebola simulation report
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Health workers on Ugandan borders are tired of the endless state of Ebola preparedness, an Ebola Simulation exercise carried out early this month has revealed. The results were disseminated during an international Ebola Virus Disease meeting that begun in Kampala on Monday. The Simulation exercise …
Read More »WHO won’t declare DR Congo Ebola an international health emergency
Threat remains of spread to Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan A meeting of an emergency World Health Organisation Committee (WHO) committee has said the current outbreak of the deadly Ebola hemorrhagic fever in the DR Congo does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) even if it has …
Read More »Health Ministry closes in on cause of nodding syndrome
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health says years of intensive medical research is closing in on the exact cause of mysterious Nodding Syndrome disease amongst children in Northern Uganda. The government health agency says new clues strongly associating the disease with a group of parasitic nematodes, Filarial …
Read More »Cholera cases rise to 139 as Mozambique prepares mass vaccinations
Beira, Mozambique | AFP | The number of confirmed cholera cases in cyclone-ravaged Mozambique climbed sharply to 139 Thursday as authorities prepared to roll out a mass vaccination campaign to stem the spread of the deadly disease. “The total number of cholera cases is now 139,” government health officer Ussein Isse …
Read More »DRC ebola centre attacks worrying – UN health chief
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Attacks on Ebola treatment centres in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), risk reversing the gains made during the current outbreak in the north-east of the country, the head of the UN health agency Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said. Dr Tedros resounded …
Read More »Ebola response in DR Congo ‘failing’ to contain outbreak: MSF
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Efforts to curb the Democratic Republic of Congo’s worst Ebola outbreak are stumbling, medical charity MSF warned Thursday, blaming the role of the security forces in the response and their “toxic” relations with local communities. Seven months into the outbreak, “the Ebola response is failing to …
Read More »Ebola treatment centre in eastern DR Congo reopens after attack
Beni, DR Congo | AFP | An Ebola treatment centre in eastern DR Congo has reopened after an attack by gunmen last Wednesday forced its closure, the health ministry announced. The centre, located in Butembo in the troubled province of North Kivu, reopened on Saturday, the health ministry said in a bulletin. Repairs were also …
Read More »Poverty not an obstacle to excellent healthcare in Africa: Gates
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said Sunday that excellent basic healthcare that would prevent easily treatable but deadly conditions was achievable even in Africa’s poorest nations. “The good news about health is that by spending modest amounts on the prioritised areas, you can get phenomenal benefits,” …
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