Researchers recommend fighting Non-communicable Diseases with jogging, playing, relaxing in public parks Researchers who recently published a study on public parks in Kampala now want the city authorities to remove encroachers and create new spaces for residents to use for exercise, recreation, and relaxation. David Ouma Balikowa, who was the …
Read More »New ‘100% effective’ Ebola vaccine
Almost a year after the official end of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the final results from one of the only Ebola vaccine trials are now in – and they look very promising. This is the only data we have on a vaccine against a virus in the Ebolavirus …
Read More »Modern life, bad habits: Africa faces deadly new illnesses
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | When Rose Kariuki first felt a lump on her left breast, the spectre of cancer — a disease she had only heard of on television — was the last thing on her mind. “To me, cancer was nowhere near us. It was shocking, I feared …
Read More »Lack of funds threatens malaria progress
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Global progress on controlling malaria risks stalling due to an “urgent need” for more funding, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in its annual report on Tuesday. Overall, the number of new cases fell by 21 percent between 2010 and 2015, and mortality rates …
Read More »Fighting Non-Communicable Disease
COMMENT: By George Weisz Civil-society organisations create new alliance to tackle the challenge of NCDs in East African Global health organisations and initiatives – and, in particular, the World Health Organization – have traditionally focused on infectious diseases, from malaria (their great failure) to smallpox (their greatest success). But …
Read More »Almost half of HIV infections worldwide undetected
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that nearly half of all people with HIV around the globe do not know they are infected, and called for broader access to at-home testing kits. The UN health agency said that 40 percent of people with the …
Read More »WHO: Zika no longer a world public health emergency
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization on Friday announced in an online press conference that the Zika virus outbreak no longer poses a world public health emergency. “The Zika virus remains a highly significant and long term problem, but it is not any more a public heath …
Read More »Ethiopia’s Tedros, 5 other candidates in running for WHO top job
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Six candidates are in the running to take over the helm of the World Health Organization, including the Ethiopian foreign minister who is bidding to be the first African to hold the position, the UN agency said Friday. WHO’s 194 member states had until the …
Read More »WHO: Safe sex for 6 months after visting Zika-hit areas
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization on Tuesday toughened its advice on preventing the spread of Zika, saying anyone returning from areas hit by the virus should practise safe sex for six months afterwards. The updated guidelines mean the UN health body’s recommendations regarding sexual transmission are …
Read More »WHO: Zika will not spread or disrupt Olympics
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | There is a “very low risk” of the Zika virus spreading further internationally as a result of the Olympic Games in Brazil, the World Health Organization’s emergency committee on the disease said Tuesday. The statement came as worry mounted that the mosquito-borne virus, which has …
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