Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Only 19% of the population have the appropriate recommended pit latrines. This is according to the Ministry of Health. According to World Health Organisation- WHO, a safe toilet or latrine is that whose design, construction, management and use is arranged so that users are …
Read More »WHO emergency chief decries attacks on Ebola frontline staff
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Security measures for staff helping to fight health emergencies need to be stepped up urgently, a World Health Organisation Official has said, after a frontline Ebola epidemic community worker was reportedly stabbed to death at his home in northeast Democratic Republic of the …
Read More »Activists call for revitalizing of health unit management committees
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Health activists are calling for the effectiveness of health management units amidst mishandling of patients especially pregnant mothers by health workers. Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) released results of a study done in some four countries in Africa and Asia. According to …
Read More »WHO report offers leaders tips on tackling NCDs
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A new report by the World Health Organisation-WHO has offered tips to leaders on tackling accidents and Non Communicable Diseases-NCDs. The report, power of cities: tackling Non Communicable Diseases and road traffic injuries, notes that although cities face a lot of public health challenges from …
Read More »HEALTH: Measles and rubella
One disease or two? Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda has conducted a mass measles-rubella and polio vaccination campaign between Oct.16-22. Initially planned to be a five-day mass immunisation campaign but extended to seven days in selected areas, it used up to 20 million doses on the Measles-Rubella (MR) …
Read More »Vaccine-derived polio virus remains an emergency for Africa-WHO
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organisation has cautioned that a Vaccine Derived Polio Virus, remains an emergency for Africa where several children under 15 remain unvaccinated. Vaccine-derived polio spreads mostly where vaccine coverage is low and there is poor sanitation. In this case, a child who is …
Read More »Milestone: Another strain of polio eradicated worldwide
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | An independent commission of experts has announced that wild poliovirus type 3 has been eradicated across the world. The announcement made on World Polio Day today represents a historic achievement for humanity following the eradication of smallpox and wild poliovirus type 2. There are …
Read More »Countries urged to ban decorative lead-based paint
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Countries have been asked to put in place legally binding controls to limit the production, import and sale of lead paint. Lead compounds are often added to oil-based decorative and industrial paints and other coatings to enhance colour, increase durability, maintain a fresh appearance, …
Read More »Seven year old pins village chairman for criticizing measles-rubella vaccination
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A seven-year-old girl has pinned her father, a local council chairman in Kitgum district, for advising her not to be immunized, during the ongoing mass measles-rubella immunization campaign. The minor reportedly refused to undergo through measles and rubella immunization at her school on Thursday …
Read More »Ebola still an ‘urgent’ global health emergency: WHO
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The deadly Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains an “urgent” global health emergency, The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday at its Emergency Committee meeting. DRC’s latest Ebola epidemic, which began in August 2018, has killed 2,144 people, making it the second …
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