BroadReach Group health experts want vaccinations sites to be multipurpose on a variety of illnesses | THE INDEPENDENT | As Africa works to get back on track to meet its UNAIDS HIV prevention and care targets, healthcare organisations like the BroadReach Group are partnering with governments and donors to find …
Read More »New dangerous COVID-19 variant
Heavily mutated coronavirus variant puts scientists on alert | THE INDEPENDENT | Researchers in South Africa are racing to track the concerning rise of a new variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The variant harbours a large number of mutations found in other variants, including Delta, and it seems …
Read More »Law coming on surrogacy
Movers cite increasing rate of infertility among men and reproductive complications among women | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | Uganda is witnessing an increasing rate of infertility among men and complications that render women incapable of carrying a pregnancy, according to MPs pushing for a Surrogacy and Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill. Tororo …
Read More »Health ministry launches National Emergency Medical Services Policy
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health has launched the National Emergency Medical Services Policy. The policy supposed to streamline emergency response services in the country, aims at reducing avoidable mortality, morbidity and disability, by ensuring all people in need of emergency care access it. The policy will …
Read More »ARTS: Leilah Babirye
Artist reclaims her sexuality | THE INDEPENDENT | New York-based Ugandan artist Leilah Babirye’s hand-carved wood and ceramic sculptures—many of them figures and faces inspired by African masks that seek to expore the diversity of LGBTQI identities—have captured the attention of the international art world. The 36-year old went abroad …
Read More »Herbal skin treatments
Makerere University scientists give traditionalists a boost | THE INDEPENDENT | An organic research group at Makerere University Kampala has embarked on testing the safety, quality and efficacy of herbal remedies in a bid to ensure that only those found safe and effective are used. The group from the university’s …
Read More »WHO: Insulin still out of reach for many a century after discovery
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A century after it was discovered, insulin still remains out of reach for many people living with diabetes, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report published Friday to commemorate the milestone anniversary. Diabetes is characterized by elevated levels of blood sugar which over time, can cause …
Read More »WHO warns of measles outbreaks as countries fail to reach elimination target
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | No new countries have achieved measles elimination target, just a month to the end of the year. This is according to the World Health Organization-WHO. By the end of 2020, 81 countries had succeeded in sustaining their measles elimination status despite the pandemic. WHO reports …
Read More »Shortage of raltegravir worries patients on third line HIV treatment
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | HIV activists have made an outcry about shortages of an expensive HIV drug, raltegravir, which is recommended for decreasing the amount of HIV in the blood. Raltegravir is used by people living with HIV that are on third-line treatment. It is administered as a tablet, …
Read More »Arua city health officials resort to homecare camps as chicken pox cases rise
Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Health officials in Arua city have embarked on homecare camps to manage the outbreak of chicken pox in Ayiforo, Dadamu and Tanganyika cells in Ayivu division, Arua city. The contagious disease was first observed in Ayiforo cell, three weeks ago after a teenage girl developed …
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