Health

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP |  Measles cases worldwide jumped more than 30 percent last year compared to 2016, with increases recorded in wealthy European countries like Germany where vaccination coverage has historically been high, the UN said Thursday. The World Health Organization said the worrying trend of resurgent measles cases …

Tampa, United States | AFP | Life expectancy in the United States dropped yet again as drug overdose deaths continued to climb — taking more than 70,000 lives in 2017 — and suicides rose, a US government report said Thursday. The drug overdose rate rose 9.6 percent compared to 2016, …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | World Health Organisation (WHO) standard tests done after a man who had symptoms similar to those of Ebola died in Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, are back, and they are negative. Blood samples were taken off the suspect on November 26 and sent to Uganda …

Hong Kong, China | AFP | The Chinese scientist who claims to have created the world’s first genetically-edited babies defended the highly controversial procedure Wednesday, but announced a halt to the trial following an international outcry. He Jiankui told a packed Hong Kong biomedical conference he was “proud” to have …

Kampala, Uganda | PHILIP CRILLY | As populations across the world grow older, more and more people are using a combination of drugs to treat multiple conditions. This can lead to interactions and side effects that we all need to be aware of. Not only can drugs interact with each …

Does antibiotic use in animals affect human health? Kampala, Uganda | ANA SANDOIU  | Antibiotic resistance is a global public health crisis and the use of antibiotics in animals and its consequences for human health, were recently discussed at the London Microbiome Meeting. According to the Centers for Disease Control …

Beijing, China | AFP | The Chinese hospital linked to a controversial experiment purporting to have created the world’s first genetically-edited babies denied its involvement Tuesday. Shenzhen Harmonicare Women and Children’s Hospital said in a statement that it suspected the signature on a document approving the experiment, specifically its adherence …

Hong Kong, China | AFP | A scientist in China claims to have created the world’s first genetically-edited babies, a move that would be a ground-breaking medical first but which has generated a barrage of criticism. Chinese university professor He Jiankui posted a video on YouTube saying that the twin …

New specialised women’s hospital sinks back to the old ways Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | On Oct.16, a week after President Yoweri Museveni officially opened the new Mulago Specialised Maternal and Neonatal Hospital in Kampala on Oct.09, The Independent visited the facility. The expectation was to see an efficiently run …

Activists target media in fight to repeal sections of prevention and control Act Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | Rosemary Namubiru, a nurse, was in 2014 sentenced to three years in jail for criminal negligence over what seemed a potential infection of a baby with HIV the virus that causes AIDS. …