Windhoek, Namibia | AFP | The number of HIV-infected people taking anti-retroviral medicine has doubled in just five years, the UN said Monday, while highlighting high infection rates among young African women. A new report by UNAIDS said it was on course to hit a target of 30 million people …
Read More »COMMENT: Responsive health systems
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 »Malawi man convicted over ‘cleansing’ sex ritual
Nsanje, Mozambique | AFP | A Malawian man accused of sleeping with more than 100 girls and women in a series of traditional cleansing rituals was on Friday convicted by a court of “engaging in harmful practices”. Eric Aniva — who has said he is infected with the HIV virus …
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 »New Uganda UNAIDS boss to focus on children, domestic funding
The new United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Uganda Country Representative Sande Amakobe has said she will focus on tackling infections in children, adolescent girls and boosting domestic funding during her four year tenure. Amakobe said that though Uganda is one of the countries that had initially made major strides …
Read More »NMS, CIPLA-QC in court over ‘imported’ Aids and Malaria drugs
The High Court in Kampala on Wednesday summoned the Attorney General of Government and National Medical Stores (NMS) to respond to claims that it has continuously withdrawn money from the consolidated fund to purchase imported anti-retroviral and anti-malarial drugs from a local manufacturer disguised as locally made. Documents presented to …
Read More »US’ Patient Zero and the origins of the AIDS epidemic
Paris, France | AFP | A labelling error and reckless media hype in the 1980s led to unjustly branding a gay airline employee as “Patient Zero” in the US AIDS epidemic, scientific and historical sleuthing detailed Wednesday. The deadly virus, which has claimed more than 650,000 lives in the United …
Read More »NMS, Cipla bickering over expensive HIV/AIDS drugs
NMS, Cipla: Fight over pricing could lead to higher costs for patients and the government “NO ARVs means death.” That shocking but true fact was stated by Joshua Wamboga, the head of the Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organisations (UNASO) in January when Uganda was reeling from a major stock-out …
Read More »Nabimanya talks HIV prevention
INTERVIEW: Humphrey Nabimanya calls himself a social entrepreneur. Apart from hosting a youth show on one of the local TV stations, Nabimanya is a HIV/AIDS activist and a counselor. “My personal experience and what I witnessed in society created a yearning in me to cause change,” he says. He says …
Read More »Health expert warns about high HIV/AID deaths among adolescents
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 …
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