Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT School closures implemented to protect students from COVID-19 are hurting them in other ways, while the long-term impact of this disruption to education could create a lost generation in Africa, two UN agencies have said. The World Health Organization (WHO) and (UNICEF) urged governments on the …
Read More »WHO urges safe reopening of schools in Africa amid COVID-19 risks
Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday urged African countries to put solid COVID-19 prevention measures in place before embarking on reopening of learning institutions. WHO said in a statement released in Nairobi that reopening of schools in the Sub-Saharan African region should be accompanied by …
Read More »Six months of COVID-19 in Africa
The virus has since moved from high density urban areas to the congested slums Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Aug. 14 marked six months since COVID-19 was first detected on the continent. While the virus has accelerated in many other regions of the world, the pandemic’s evolution on the …
Read More »Entebbe Airport gears up for re-opening
Tough new COVID-19 measures for travellers Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Going through Entebbe International Airport has always been a rough experience for the average traveller but COVID-19 prevention protocols could make your check-in and check-out even more cumbersome. Before the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc around the world and …
Read More »WHO chief warns against vaccine nationalism
Geneva, Switzerland | XINHUA | The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday that the world needs to prevent vaccine nationalism so as to guarantee the equitable access and fair allocation of COVID-19 vaccines. Speaking at a virtual press briefing from Geneva, the WHO head said that …
Read More »TB, HIV spreads in bars
Study finds high rates in Bwaise, Kamwokya Kampala, Uganda | MUBATSI ASINJA HABATI | A new study by medical researchers from Makerere University and Mulago Hospital has found that the prevalence of HIV and TB in Kampala slum bars was 11.4% which is twice and four times the national averages …
Read More »WHO in conversation with Russia for more vaccine information: expert
Geneva, Switzerland | XINHUA | A senior expert of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that it is currently in conversation with Russia to get additional information about the COVID-19 vaccine that Russia will start production soon. Dr. Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to WHO’s director-general, told a press conference …
Read More »WHO intensely focused on global COVID-19 vaccine trials
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that six months after first sounding the international alarm over COVID-19, it is now intensely focused on shepherding global vaccine candidates through the necessary trials. Among them, the Access to COVID19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, launched in April, has …
Read More »If African governments won’t act, the people will
With frustration rising over haphazard responses to the coronavirus, community networks are filling the void across the continent | ANDREW GREEN | On April 14, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced he was adding three weeks to the country’s initial two-week lockdown. The restrictions were among the strictest on the continent—dusk-to-dawn …
Read More »Air pollution reduces global health expectancy by 2 years: study
Chicago, US | XINHUA | An analysis of data from the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) conducted by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) finds that particulate pollution cuts global life expectancy by nearly two years, relative to what it would be if air quality met the …
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