Health file

The lack of education and political will, poverty, out-moded traditional beliefs, to mention but a few, have been widely blamed for causing severe and sometimes unwarranted health catastrophies of genocidal proportions on the African continent. Child killer diseases, malaria, tuberculosis, water borne diseases, HIV/AIDS, among other preventable ailments have killed millions in their wake. As rightly said by the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, on May 13, 2000 “More people (…) died of Aids in the past year (1999-2000, ndlr) in Africa than in all the wars on the continent”.

Avian flu back in Egypt and Asian countries

Avian flu back in Egypt and Asian countries

The World Health Organisation – the WHO – has reported the death of a young woman in Egypt due to the avian flu...
Botswana moves to tackle complex HIV situation

Botswana moves to tackle complex HIV situation

Botswana government has approved to reduce the age through which individuals would be deemed capable of giving informed consent for HIV testing as part of a...
Zimbabwe: Man in court with own intestines in bag

Zimbabwe: Man in court with own intestines in bag

Shortfalls in Zimbabwe's health sector was highlighted last Wednesday, when a man awaiting trial for stealing motor cycles turned up in court holding his...
HIV/AIDS: UN report show decline in Africa, increase in Europe and Asia

HIV/AIDS: UN report show decline in Africa, increase in Europe and Asia

United Nation's programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS has announced that HIV-AIDS infections have reduced in Africa, but are increasing in Eastern Europe and central Asia....
U.S. to continue aid to Uganda health sector despite economic constraints

U.S. to continue aid to Uganda health sector despite economic constraints

USA ambassador to Uganda, Jerry Lanier has said in a statement issued today that the dramatic growth in the delivery of health care services...
Cameroon establishes its own generic drug production unit

Cameroon establishes its own generic drug production unit

At a time when over seventy per cent of Africans still lack access to treatments against HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, among other diseases, Cameroon...
More Television, shorter lives

More Television, shorter lives

According to an Australian study, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease increases by around 20% for each hour per day we spend in...
Dow Jones joins forces with the Global Fund against HIV/AIDS

Dow Jones joins forces with the Global Fund against HIV/AIDS

The Dow Jones Indexes and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, announced their partnership through the creation of a new index;...
South Sudan launches Sudan Household Health Survey

South Sudan launches Sudan Household Health Survey

The Federal and South Sudan Ministries of Health, have jointly launched Sudan Household Health Survey. The survey which is to start...
Uganda to host first African HIV/AIDS vaccine research centre

Uganda to host first African HIV/AIDS vaccine research centre

Uganda has been voted to host the secretariat of Africa’s first HIV/AIDS vaccine research center at the ongoing 5th forum of the African AIDS...
Uganda declared guinea worm free zone by WHO

Uganda declared guinea worm free zone by WHO

Investigations carried out by an international committee throughout Uganda have revealed that there has not been a single reported case of guinea worm infection...
Vaccinations before sex

Vaccinations before sex

Genital herpes, syphilis, chlamydia are all part of the “sexually-transmissible infections/diseases” (or STIs/STD) category, but cannot at all be compared with HIV/AIDS, which is...
Black Women prone to deadlier breast cancer than White counterparts

Black Women prone to deadlier breast cancer than White counterparts

African women and women of African descent are likely to die younger from breast cancer than any other ethnic group, investigations have revealed. Researchers...
Ghana: Beware! National Health Insurance Reforms

Ghana: Beware! National Health Insurance Reforms

There is much that can be done to put the fundamental notion of universal access to health through better risk management on a surer...
Zimbabwe records sharp drops in HIV cases but rate remains “high”

Zimbabwe records sharp drops in HIV cases but rate remains “high”

Zimbabwe's economy could be in bad shape but one notable improvement is on its fight against HIV/AIDS. On Thursday, the health ministry announced that infection...
AIDS Vaccine: Thailand tests yield positive results ahead of South African test results

AIDS Vaccine: Thailand tests yield positive results ahead of South African test results

For the first time a vaccine project is underway to reduce the risk of infection. The relative success of a test in Thailand has...
Ethiopia: Strange disease causing several deaths in Addis not unexpected

Ethiopia: Strange disease causing several deaths in Addis not unexpected

The outbreak of a disease termed as Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) has hit the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa. Over 200 persons have...
Zimbabwe: Swine flu hits amid fears of renewed cholera infections as doctors strike

Zimbabwe: Swine flu hits amid fears of renewed cholera infections as doctors strike

The deadly swine flue has hit Zimbabwe amid fears the epidemic could wreck havoc in the troubled country where public doctors have been on...
Sudan-Uganda: Nodding disease not linked to epilepsy?

Sudan-Uganda: Nodding disease not linked to epilepsy?

Hundreds of children in northern Uganda have been affected by a rare and unexplained "nodding disease" that causes seizures, physical and mental stunting and...
Ethiopia: Swine flu/A-H1N1 testing in Kenya questioned

Ethiopia: Swine flu/A-H1N1 testing in Kenya questioned

Ethiopia has not been spared by the rise of swine flu or A/H1N1 pandemic that has caused several deaths in every region of the...
Swine flu – A/H1N1 influenza: Symptoms and treatment

Swine flu – A/H1N1 influenza: Symptoms and treatment

Six new cases of the A (H1N1) influenza also known as the Swine flu were confirmed Monday in Morocco, bringing the recorded number of...
Homosexuals and AIDS: Confronting a dangerous African taboo

Homosexuals and AIDS: Confronting a dangerous African taboo

The internationally acclaimed medical journal The Lancet Monday published the first scientific study showing that male homosexuals are more often than not infected with...
HIV/AIDS: First South African vaccine being tested in Cape Town and Soweto

HIV/AIDS: First South African vaccine being tested in Cape Town and Soweto

The scientific community won’t be bogged down after the initial failure of an experimental HIV vaccine developed by the U.S. laboratory Merck & Co....
Diabetes: Arab world, North Africa, African-Americans hit by diabetic scourge

Diabetes: Arab world, North Africa, African-Americans hit by diabetic scourge

It is thought that the number of diabetics across the world will increase by no less than 130% in the next 25 years! This...
Ethiopia: Concerns over health preparedness grows as Swine flu (A/H1N1) cases rise

Ethiopia: Concerns over health preparedness grows as Swine flu (A/H1N1) cases rise

Residents of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, have been gripped by fear as increasing numbers of people are confirmed by the health ministry as...
Lessons on Malaria control from The Gambia

Lessons on Malaria control from The Gambia

When it comes to fighting malaria, Gambia is leading the way. Engaged in a relentless battle against this disease since the beginning of this...
Polio making a troubling comeback in Nigeria

Polio making a troubling comeback in Nigeria

The world has not seen the last of this disease. Almost eradicated in 2000, polio has returned with a vengeance after the local authorities...
Tuberculosis affecting millions as cases double

Tuberculosis affecting millions as cases double

In a recently released WHO report, more than 9 million new cases of tuberculosis were recorded worldwide in 2007. The 9,270,000 cases recorded 30,000...
Rabies introduced to Africa by Europeans 200 years ago?

Rabies introduced to Africa by Europeans 200 years ago?

With 24,000 deaths each year, Africa is the second in line when it comes to continents affected by rabies, the first being Asia. A...
Does swine flu spread to 74 countries make it pandemic?

Does swine flu spread to 74 countries make it pandemic?

In the space of three months, the world has watched what seemed to be a localized flu outbreak in Mexico spread to 74 countries...