Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Measles cases worldwide jumped more than 30 percent last year compared to 2016, with increases recorded in wealthy European countries like Germany where vaccination coverage has historically been high, the UN said Thursday. The World Health Organization said the worrying trend of resurgent measles cases …
Read More »US life expectancy drops again as overdoses climb
Tampa, United States | AFP | Life expectancy in the United States dropped yet again as drug overdose deaths continued to climb — taking more than 70,000 lives in 2017 — and suicides rose, a US government report said Thursday. The drug overdose rate rose 9.6 percent compared to 2016, …
Read More »In eastern DR Congo, 19 die of Ebola in five days
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The deadly Ebola outbreak which has ravaged eastern DR Congo for nearly four months has claimed another 19 lives in just five days, the health ministry has said. The outbreak, which began on August 1, has now killed 241 people, the ministry said in …
Read More »Six surprising drug interactions you should know about
Kampala, Uganda | PHILIP CRILLY | As populations across the world grow older, more and more people are using a combination of drugs to treat multiple conditions. This can lead to interactions and side effects that we all need to be aware of. Not only can drugs interact with each …
Read More »Drug resistance
Does antibiotic use in animals affect human health? Kampala, Uganda | ANA SANDOIU | Antibiotic resistance is a global public health crisis and the use of antibiotics in animals and its consequences for human health, were recently discussed at the London Microbiome Meeting. According to the Centers for Disease Control …
Read More »Mulago’s referral system failure
New specialised women’s hospital sinks back to the old ways Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | On Oct.16, a week after President Yoweri Museveni officially opened the new Mulago Specialised Maternal and Neonatal Hospital in Kampala on Oct.09, The Independent visited the facility. The expectation was to see an efficiently run …
Read More »New effort against HIV/AIDS law
Activists target media in fight to repeal sections of prevention and control Act Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | Rosemary Namubiru, a nurse, was in 2014 sentenced to three years in jail for criminal negligence over what seemed a potential infection of a baby with HIV the virus that causes AIDS. …
Read More »Global fight against malaria has stalled, WHO warns
Maputo, Mozambique | AFP | The World Health Organisation on Monday said global efforts to fight malaria have hit a plateau as it reported there were more cases of the killer disease in 2017 than the previous year. The latest WHO report showed that the number of malaria cases climbed …
Read More »WHO worried as malaria cases rise in Uganda
Global fight against malaria has stalled, WHO warns Maputo, Mozambique | AFP | The World Health Organisation on Monday said global efforts to fight malaria have hit a plateau as it reported there were more cases of the killer disease in 2017 than the previous year. The latest WHO report …
Read More »Breast cancer screening
How does it truly impact survival? Kampala, Uganda | MARIA COHUT | In the medical world, there is an ongoing debate about the extent to which regularly screening for breast cancer actually improves a person’s chances of survival if cancer is detected. New research tries to settle that debate. Breast cancer …
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