Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump’s embattled health secretary was forced out of the US administration Friday amid a scandal over his use of costly private jets for government travel. Tom Price was the latest top official to join in a stream of steady and embarrassing exits …
Read More »Bed bugs are trying to get into your dirty laundry
Paris, France | AFP | Like a pining lover, bed bugs will seek out your smell and snuggle up to your worn clothes when you are not around, researchers said Thursday. This explains how these tiny, flightless, reclusive creatures have managed their meteoric spread around the world — by catching a …
Read More »Zika virus mutated around 2013, leading to birth defects: study
Miami, United States | AFP | Zika has been around for decades but only recently began to cause birth defects due to a single mutation the mosquito-borne virus likely acquired in 2013, researchers said Thursday. The report in the US journal Science explains for the first time how this once relatively …
Read More »A sixth of new HIV patients in Europe 50 or older: study
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 …
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