Fate of 1.2 million newborns threatened as prices rise in private clinics Kampala, Uganda |FLAVIA NASSAKA| It is now official. Uganda is experiencing a shortage of polio and TB vaccines. And Dr. Bernard Opar, the Commissioner Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunization (UNEPI) at the Ministry of Health who is …
Read More »Egypt punishes train disaster ‘selfie medics’
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt’s health ministry has punished six medics who took selfies in front of a deadly train wreck by transferring them to a remote part of the country, it said Saturday, following an online uproar. Two trains collided Friday near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, killing …
Read More »Dutch organic farmers feel duped in tainted eggs scandal
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | Dutch farmers producing organic eggs, supposedly free from insecticides, joined a chorus of outrage Friday over the growing tainted-egg scandal, claiming they were duped by the suppliers of a reputedly natural pesticide. “Organic breeders are very depressed and feel they were fooled by the Chickfriend …
Read More »What we know about Europe’s contaminated eggs scare
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Europe faces a growing scandal over the contamination of millions of eggs with the insecticide fipronil, which can be potentially harmful to humans. Here is what we know about a scare which has seen eggs pulled from supermarket shelves in eight countries and involves multiple criminal …
Read More »Six Red Cross workers killed in Central African Republic
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Six Red Cross workers were killed last week amid violent clashes in southern Central African Republic, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Wednesday in an updated toll. The bloodshed occurred last Thursday at a health centre in Gambo, 70 kilometres (45 miles) …
Read More »Lassa fever kills two in Lagos, 100 others on watch: hospital
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Two people in Lagos have died and a hundred medical workers have been placed under observation after a flare-up of Lassa fever, a cousin of the deadly Ebola virus, officials said Wednesday. Lagos University Teaching Hospital said the two died this week after being admitted for …
Read More »HEALTH: Getting innovative with ARVs
Barbara Kemigisa uses he own story to get youth to test and treat Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | Barbara Kemigisa was sexually molested when she was just six years old. At 17 years, she discovered she was HIV positive. She is now 31 years old and has two children; …
Read More »Sudan cancer doctors eye US sanctions relief for patients
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Resting on a hospital bed after a session of chemotherapy, Sudanese banker Mohamed Hasan vividly recalls the day when doctors told him he had blood cancer. It is a shock in any country but in Sudan, where access to drugs and treatment is impaired by 20-year-old …
Read More »Dutch egg probe widens to chicken meat tests
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | Dutch authorities on Tuesday said they had started testing chicken meat stemming from poultry farms affected by a tainted egg scandal to determine whether it, too, was contaminated. Scientists are looking for the presence of fipronil, a substance potentially dangerous to humans, after supermarkets in …
Read More »Measles outbreak confirmed in Kampala and Wakiso
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s Ministry of Health has confirmed there is an active outbreak of Measles in Kampala and Wakiso Districts. All the five divisions of Kampala, as well as several suburbs in Wakiso District are affected. According to a statement released Tuesday, the Ministry of Health surveillance …
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