On Monday August 31, 2015, Sophia Koetsier arrives at Entebbe airport in Uganda. She is 21 years old, bright and ambitious, with a great zest for life, about to embark on a new adventure in a faraway country, on a continent she has never been to. That summer she had acquired …
Read More »How illegal substances are smuggled into Butabika Hospital
INVESTIGATION | URN | Butabika National Mental Referral Hospital admits more than 100 people to their Drug and Alcohol Unit On an annual basis. The patients are in most cases battling substance addiction. As part of their treatment, they are kept away from substances that triggered their obsession for a …
Read More »Sh300 million MTN generator rots away at Kamukira Health Centre IV
Kabale, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A generator worth 300 million shillings is wasting away at Kamukira Health Centre IV in Kabale Municipality because of lack of funds to install it. The generator was purchased for the facility in February by Mobile Telecommunication Network-MTN. However, since then, the generator has …
Read More »Vaccine-derived polio virus remains an emergency for Africa-WHO
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organisation has cautioned that a Vaccine Derived Polio Virus, remains an emergency for Africa where several children under 15 remain unvaccinated. Vaccine-derived polio spreads mostly where vaccine coverage is low and there is poor sanitation. In this case, a child who is …
Read More »Uganda tasked to remain vigilant to eradicate polio
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Health experts have said Uganda should remain vigilant to interrupt polio transmission. The experts say that no country is safe until the disease is totally eradicated in the world. On Thursday, an independent commission of experts announced that wild polio virus type 3 has been …
Read More »Ministry of health surpasses measles-rubella immunization target
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More children were vaccinated in the concluded Measles-Rubella mass immunization campaign. While the ministry had planned to vaccinate 18 million children,the number surpassed to 20 million. The mismatch between the planned and actual number of children vaccinated has led to a disagreement between the ministry …
Read More »Milestone: Another strain of polio eradicated worldwide
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | An independent commission of experts has announced that wild poliovirus type 3 has been eradicated across the world. The announcement made on World Polio Day today represents a historic achievement for humanity following the eradication of smallpox and wild poliovirus type 2. There are …
Read More »Uganda becoming global hub for health research – Experts
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda is preparing to hold a conference on antimicrobial resistance next week, a week later they will also hold the annual scientific conference. The two come after big international health conferences on Universal health coverage and Oone health happening in the country a month …
Read More »Gov’t to sanction schools for sabotaging measles-rubella
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Education Ministry has said that it’s planning to deal with all teachers who sabotages the just concluded immunization campaign against, Measles, Rubella and Polio. The campaign that began on October 16, was supposed to give learners aged 15 and below a booster dose of …
Read More »Luweero district abandons solar powered mini water schemes
Luweero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Luweero district has stopped the construction of solar-powered mini-water schemes citing high cost and low coverage. The schemes were introduced in 2016 to address water shortages in the district, and to replace shallow wells and deep boreholes, which were initially, the main water technologies used …
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