Presidential candidates, security agencies need to sign a peace pact Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA AND RONALD MUSOKE | Going into the Jan.14 general election, Perry Aritua, the executive director of Women’s Democracy Uganda, an NGO, has one great fear; the loss of more human life. “An election should simply …
Read More »China’s daring mission to grab Moon rocks
Chang’e-5 will be the first Chinese craft to bring back lunar material to Earth | THE INDEPENDENT | On Tuesday Nov.24, the Chinese spacecraft Chang’e-5 launched off the coast of Hainan Island in southern China at 4.30 a.m. local time (11.30 p.m. Ugandan time). Chang’e-5 blasted off from Wenchang Satellite …
Read More »COVID-19 vaccine trials in Africa
What’s promising and what’s problematic | BENJAMIN KAGINA | Senior Research Officer, Vaccines For Africa Initiative, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town Scientists are working around the clock to develop and test vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Experts agree that widespread use of safe and …
Read More »Fighting HIV/AIDs
Discrimination and stigma still a challenge Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | Every year on December 1, the world marks World AIDs Day. In Uganda, it has happened for close to the 37 years, but HIV remains of one the country’sheaviest burden among infectious diseases causing both death and long-term …
Read More »Treating HIV/AIDS in Uganda
Why shifting task from doctors to nurses without a policy should end Kampala, Uganda | HENRY ZAKUMUMPA | In the years after the “slim disease” or HIV was first recognised in southwestern Uganda in 1982, access to treatment was for a privileged few. At the time, only a handful of …
Read More »COVID-19 complicates education
Pandemic widens education gap as it impacts rural and disadvantaged children further Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | The scene looks like a typical telephone call centre. Women and men sit before computers, headsets pinned to their ears, mouth-pieces ready and light projectors dangling from the ceiling. But this is …
Read More »Where is Ochola, Sabiiti as police unleash terror?
Uganda’s Police bosses can hide but cannot escape, say human rights watchers Kampala, Uganda | MUBATSI ASINJA HABATI | Human rights lawyers and activists want the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to take interest in the recent acts of violence by agents of security forces, especially the police. Isaac Semakadde, …
Read More »US to withdraw main force from Somalia by early 2021
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & XINHUA | Commanders of The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) face an anxious next 30 days with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s eyes on an election at home while US President Donald Trump is ordering a reduction of troops from the region. The US …
Read More »How small clinical trial sample sizes can offer important findings
Scientists have been racing to develop COVID-19 vaccines that could reach millions, yet many of the studies have surprisingly small sample sizes drawn from the clinical trials. Does that matter? ANALAYSIS | COVID-19 VACCINE | GAVI.COM | Before a vaccine or drug is made available to the public it normally …
Read More »Free period products
Scotland becomes first country to have them. Will other countries follow? | THE INDEPENDENT | Scotland has become the first country in the world to introduce free universal access to period products after a new law was passed on Nov.24, though the MP behind the legislation has said it …
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