Health

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Head teachers who admit unimmunized children in their schools risk being punished, according to Ronald Gyagenda Ssegawa, the Health Ministry Secretary. He notes that although the Health Ministry has introduced school registers to track the immunization record of learners, many school heads are taking it …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Twenty doses of Ebola drugs have been imported into the country. The doses are being kept at standby treatment centre at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital to cover the western part of the country in case of an outbreak and other doses are being …

3-D mammograms are popular, but are they better than 2-D?  In recent years, women getting a mammogram have had a new decision to make: 2-D or 3-D? Some breast-care centers have touted the newer 3-D mammography technology as more accurate. But while initial research suggests that it may be a …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Henry Kamugisha operates a pork joint in Kikoni Makerere, a Kampala suburb. Kamugisha joint sells fried and roasted pork. He reuses the oil generated from the pork for a month and only keeps reducing it as it increases. According to Kamugisha, because the oil …

New urine test might show whether you need it | THE INDEPENDENT | A man who learns he has prostate cancer faces a difficult choice: whether to immediately treat the cancer despite potential side effects or wait and see if it’s a slow-growing tumor that never needs treatment. Men may …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ministry of Health has declared Kasese district Ebola free and stopped following up on Ebola contacts there. No new Ebola case has been registered in the district since last month’s outbreak. Three people who had traveled to DRC to bury a relative entered Uganda …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Leukaemia Patients at the Uganda Cancer Institute are endangered as the facility starts rationing blood, in disregard of transfusion standards recommended for treatment of the cancer. People with leukaemia, need periodic blood transfusions to ensure that the disease does not interfere with the normal production …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Fourteen laboratories have so far been internationally accredited to offer viral load and Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) testing for HIV. Viral load which is a test that determines the amount of the virus in the blood of an HIV positive person is one of …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A new plan aimed at preventing Tuberculosis among Persons Living with HIV has been launched in Kampala. The plan will see Persons Living with HIV introduced to Isoniazid Preventive Treatment-IPT, to purposely stop the development of TB or treat any undiagnosed TB in their …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | It is a common practice for patients in different parts of the country to move around with cannulas on their wrists or arms. However, medical experts warn that this exposes patients to further infection. Ibrahim Mugerwa, a Senior Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Officer under the …