Society catergory

COMMENT: By Joy Asasira When religion and morality dictate reproductive health policy in Uganda, who suffers? Over the past few months, much as been said by politicians and the media about reproductive rights issues, from comprehensive sexuality education, legalisation or decriminalisation of abortion and even access to essential HIV prevention …

Tokyo, Japan | AFP |  A fifth of the Japanese workforce faces the risk of death from overwork, according to a new government survey into the country’s notoriously strenuous working culture. Hundreds of deaths related to overwork — from strokes, heart attacks and suicide — are reported every year in …

A leading Ugandan health expert has warned that the country still faces unprecedented deaths related to HIV/AIDS mainly among the pediatric and adolescent age group. HIV is the second leading cause of deaths among adolescents in Uganda, reported to be at 11%, according to statistics at the ministry of health. According to Dr. Sabrina …

Le Cap, South Africa | AFP | South African retired Anglican archbishop and anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu celebrated his 85th birthday on Friday saying he would like to be allowed the option of dignified assisted death. “Today, I myself am even closer to the departures hall than arrivals, so to …

Berlin, Germany | AFP |  A medical charity scored a small victory Wednesday in its bid to break a US pharma giant’s hold on an eye-wateringly expensive Hepatitis C drug when a European body partially revoked the firm’s patent. Patient groups around the world have accused Gilead Sciences of charging …

A visit to the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) is for the hard-hearted since a row broke out between its management and those of the National Medical Stores (NMS) and drugs stopped being delivered. Patients who are in need of drugs now lie around without help. One of such patients is …

Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | It’s serendipity: from America to Viagra, history is full of great discoveries helped along by chance, as more than a century of Nobel prizes can attest. Among the chance discoveries that have been honoured with the prestigious prize are X-rays (physics, 1901), penicillin (medicine, 1945), …

The High Court in Kampala has issued an interim order  staying the implementation of new Health Ministry policy guidelines regarding internship centres and remuneration of medical interns across the country. This means that the  current group of prospective medical doctors, dental surgeons, pharmacists and nurses should immediately be posted to their respective training …

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP |  At least 10 people have died in an outbreak of monkeypox in western Central African Republic, a country already hit by cholera, the health ministry announced Wednesday. “We have logged 10 deaths out of 19 patients,” in the southern province of Basse-Kotto, said …

Carhaix-Plouguer, France | AFP |  China’s third largest baby formula producer on Wednesday opened a vast plant in France’s Brittany region, whose prized dairy cows are set to contribute 100,000 tons of powdered milk a year to a growing Chinese market that mistrusts domestic production. Synutra’s 170 million euro ($190 …