Paris, France | AFP | People aged 50 and older comprise a growing percentage of HIV patients in Europe, accounting for one in six new cases in 2015, researchers said Wednesday. The older cohort was more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stages of HIV and AIDS compared to 15-49 year …
Read More »HEALTH: 12 strategies for health
Lancet report shows the path to healthier lives for Africans is within reach By Alex Ezeh, Nelson Sewankambo & Peter Piot There is huge diversity within and across the 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The challenges these countries face in achieving health outcomes that are at par with low and …
Read More »Lab attendant jailed for stealing HIV test kits
Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | A Laboratory Technician attached to Toroma Health Centre III in Katakwi District was Monday charged and remanded to Luzira Prison for stealing 302 HIV test kits worth sh63.7million. Paul Aule was produced before the Anti-Corruption Court’s Grade One Magistrate Patricia Amoko and denied embezzling the said items, …
Read More »Two more US Senators signal opposition to Obamacare overhaul
Washington, United States | AFP | Two Republican senators signalled strong opposition Sunday to their party’s latest bid to overhaul Obamacare, dealing a potentially fatal blow to one President Donald Trump’s top legislative goals. Senator Susan Collins of Maine said she cannot “envision a scenario” in which she would back the …
Read More »Museveni, UNAIDS call for quick pace of action to end AIDS
Museveni, world leaders come together to renew the urgency around ending AIDS as part of the Sustainable Development Goals New York, US | UNAIDS | The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, in collaboration with UNAIDS, brought together six heads of state or government to accelerate action and get countries on …
Read More »Conjoined twins set for university in Tanzania
Iringa, Tanzania | AFP | A pair of conjoined sisters are settling into campus life at a Tanzanian university, a first in a country where disabled people are often marginalised or abandoned at birth. Maria and Consolata Mwakikuti, 20, who are joined at the abdomen, have become minor celebrities in the …
Read More »Over 50 people have died in Chad cholera outbreak
N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | The Chadian government said Thursday that more than 50 people have died of cholera in Chad where authorities have since declared an outbreak. “We count 312 cases, including 52 deaths,” said health ministry secretary-general Hamid Djabar. Authorities declared a cholera outbreak on Monday, which put in …
Read More »Genome editing reveals key gene for human embryo growth
Paris, France | AFP | British scientists have used genome “editing” technology to reveal the role of a key gene in the early development of human embryos, a potential boost for fertility treatment. They used genome “scissors” called CRISPR-Cas9 to snip out a gene called OCT4 from fertilised eggs. OCT4 is …
Read More »MUSEVENI: Menstruation does not mean early marriage for girl child
Kampala, Uganda | PPU | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has called for the economic empowerment of young girls if child marriages are to end. The President who was accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet Kataaha Museveni was today speaking at a high level side event …
Read More »Madagascar health minister separates siamese twins
Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | In most countries health ministers are seen as bureaucrats more interested in paperwork than medical miracles. Not in Madagascar, where Mamy Lalatiana Andriamanarivo recently picked up a scalpel and separated conjoined siamese twins in a medical first for the Indian Ocean island nation. “Surgery was performed …
Read More »