An exhilarating, at times enraging new book For ten years, Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah has run an extraordinary platform for conversations about sex that centre the pleasure of African women – the blog ‘Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women’, which she co-founded. Now, the Ghanaian feminist has published a new …
Read More »Lab technicians, Health Ministry official clash over promotions
Kisoro, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Medical laboratory professionals in government health facilities have clashed with Patrick Mpiima Kibirango, the Registrar of Allied Health Professionals in the Ministry of Health, over their welfare and failure to secure promotions. The matters came up during a scientific conference held at Ikoro Hotel …
Read More »Umbilical cord blood cure for HIV
Woman seemingly cured of HIV shows umbilical cord transplant good alternative to bone marrow transplants | THE INDEPENDENT | A woman in the New York City area appears to be the third person and the first woman ever to be cured of an HIV infection following a new stem cell …
Read More »Treating epilepsy
Shortage of drugs worrying | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | The shortage of medication for the treatment of epilepsy in Uganda is a cause of concern within the Ministry of Health and organisations that cater for patients with the disease. This was revealed by Charles Ayoo Akiya, the commissioner of non-communicable diseases …
Read More »Vaccine manufacture in Africa
How drug industry is undermining WHO plans | TIMOTHY HUZAR | Since June 2021, the WHO has been coordinating a messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa. The hub is important because it will increase the availability of mRNA vaccines, including those for COVID-19, in Africa, …
Read More »Makerere agrees to admit bio-medics
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Makerere University Admissions Committee has enrolled 26 out of the 33 students from Biomedical Sciences who appealed for consideration. For about five years, applicants for this course have been struggling to get enrolled. The 26 appealed to the admissions committee to effect a 2018 …
Read More »COVID: Chinese researchers develop 4-minute PCR test
Researchers at Fudan University in Shanghai say they have developed a technology combining the speed of the rapid antigen test with the accuracy of PCR testing. | THE INDEPENDENT | Chinese scientists say they have developed a COVID-19 test that can process results as accurately as the polymerase chain reaction …
Read More »Ending Female Genital Mutilation
How COVID-19 undermines cross border efforts to curb the vice Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | As countries introduce more comprehensive anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) laws and policies, cross-border FGM has emerged as a new trend among practising communities to evade prosecution. And it has been escalated by the COVID-19 …
Read More »Health Minister: Uganda’s COVID-19 third wave over
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda is past the third wave of COVID-19, Health Minister, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has announced. She revealed this during a press briefing at the health ministry headquarters in Kampala, Tuesday. “While the country is out of the 3rd COVID-19 wave, registering a low …
Read More »Up to 15% of women in Uganda cannot access contraceptives
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Fifteen percent of the women in Uganda can’t access contraceptives. In the survey which was conducted jointly by the Ministry of Health, Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), and Makerere University School of Public Health, researchers say sexually active respondents were asked whether they intended …
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