COMMENT: By Moses Mulumba Beyond private sector driven health systems and commoditising the provision of healthcare Experts met this week for the Fourth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research in the beautiful Canadian city of Vancouver. This particular symposium theme was built around resilient and responsive health systems for a …
Read More »Uganda marks World Diabetes Day
Uganda has joined the rest of the world to mark the World Diabetes Day. Speaking to journalists, Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng said 80% of Ugandans are suffering from diabetes yet unaware. The country is estimated to have more than 500,000 people living with the disease. This makes them …
Read More »Mustard gas: a legacy of WWI
Paris, France | AFP | Mustard gas, which a watchdog on Friday said the so-called Islamic State group may have manufactured and used in Syria and Iraq, first terrorised battlefields during World War I. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons also said IS was behind a mustard gas …
Read More »British girl’s body frozen after death in UK legal first
London, United Kingdom | AFP | A British girl who died after a terminal illness won the right to have her body frozen in an unprecedented ruling, the High Court said on Friday. The 14-year-old girl from London had written to a judge explaining she wanted a chance to “live …
Read More »WHO: Zika no longer a world public health emergency
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization on Friday announced in an online press conference that the Zika virus outbreak no longer poses a world public health emergency. “The Zika virus remains a highly significant and long term problem, but it is not any more a public heath …
Read More »Butabika state-of-the-art Health lab to lead TB, AIDS fight
The Uganda National Laboratories Services (UNLS) and National Tuberculosis (TB) reference Laboratory in Butabika commissioned on Thursday will provide the country with modern tools in the fight against several infectious diseases. According to officials, the Butabika laboratory has new world class infrastructure and will support health practitioners to provide more accurate and faster …
Read More »Progress toward long-acting malaria pill
Miami, United States | AFP | Scientists have made progress toward a pill that lingers in the stomach and releases its contents over a span of two weeks, an advance that could boost the fight against malaria and other diseases, a study said Wednesday. The research, funded by the Bill …
Read More »Film on Kaguri’s Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project premieres Dec 1
Documentary film about the inspiring story of AIDS orphans schools built by one of CNN’s 2012 heroes Jackon Twesigye Kaguri, to premiere in Kampala At 8.00 am on a Friday morning, dozens of pupils line up to receive their breakfast prepared by a team of cooks. Some are orphaned. All …
Read More »Seeking halal contraception in Kenya’s Muslim northeast
Wajir, Kenya | AFP | Swaddled in colourful hijabs the women exchange puzzled looks and suppress embarrassed giggles. “You’re sure it’s halal?” asks one, peering at a collection of birth control pills, condoms and IUDs. Such everyday forms of contraception are little known and rarely seen in Kenya’s arid and …
Read More »West Nile virus can kill years after infection
Miami, United States | AFP | West Nile virus may be three times more deadly than previously thought, because many deaths associated with the mosquito-borne virus occur years after the initial infection, researchers said Monday. The findings were based on a study of 4,144 people in Texas, and were presented …
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