Health

THIS WEEK: Less than 44% of facilities can manage post-partum complications, survey Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A report launched on Mar.07 shows health facilities across the country lack crucial medicines for mothers such as magnesium sulphate and dexamethasone for managing pre-term labor and preventing complications due to pre-eclampsia …

Miami, United States | AFP | The world’s leading brands of bottled water are contaminated with tiny plastic particles that are likely seeping in during the packaging process, according to a major study across nine countries published Wednesday. “Widespread contamination” with plastic was found in the study, led by microplastic …

Paris, France | AFP | Being overweight or obese does pose a risk of heart disease, despite claims to the contrary, a study of nearly 300,000 British adults suggested Friday. While it is generally accepted that being overweight increases a person’s disease risk, some researchers have recently suggested that carrying …

Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | The Parliamentary health committee has directed an immediate stop in Hepatitis B vaccination by private health facilities. This after it emerged that there were fake Hepatitis B vaccines on the market with the National Drug Authority (NDA) impounding the counterfeit vaccines from hospitals in Kampala and …

Windhoek, Namibia | AFP | Namibia on Tuesday reported its first case of listeriosis since an outbreak in neighbouring South Africa erupted at the beginning of last year, killing 183 people so far. A 41-year-old Namibian man was diagnosed with the disease on Monday and is being treated in a …

Irrua, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria is battling on two fronts against an unprecedented outbreak of Lassa fever, a cousin of Ebola, that has already killed 110 people this year. Even as doctors are grappling to contain the threat, health watchdogs are struggling to understand why the deadly virus has …

Miami, United States | AFP | Black barbershops are known as places to gather, socialize and get a haircut. But a study Monday said they can also help encourage men to get their high blood pressure under control. When a trained pharmacist met men regularly at their local Los Angeles barbershop, …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A Ministry of Health plan to destroy over 1,200 tons of drugs they say have expired, has met stiff resistance from Ugandan Civil Society. Without giving specifics what particular drugs are to be burnt, Permanent Secretary Diana Atwiine told journalists on Feb.12 that the drugs …

   Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Thousands of Gulu residents on Saturday attended an Umeme all-day free health camp, at which several were treated and others benefited from check-ups and advise on how to overcome ailments they had. Umeme Limited on reached out to thousands of residents residing in …

How Uganda is thinking outside the box Kampala, Uganda | HENRY ZAKUMUMPA |  Over the last 15 years, there’s been a rapid increase in the number of patients receiving HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa. This has largely depended on foreign aid, particularly from global aid organisations such as the U.S. President’s Emergency …