Health

50% of failed conceiving is due to a male factor but treatments target women Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | Male infertility is the new social crisis, according to Carolyn Nakakande who heads a group of about 500 women trying but failing to conceive. They have formed a group called Blessed …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Victims of the world’s worst listeriosis outbreak in South Africa will be invited to sue the owner of the factory named as the source, a human rights lawyer said Sunday. Attorney Richard Spoor confirmed that his firm would file a class action suit against Tiger …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & AFP | The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has ordered super markets that import South African meat products to remove them from their shelves after a listeria outbreak that has killed at least 180 people. In a statement, UNBS said they have started carrying out …

Paris, France | AFP | The Spanish flu outbreak 100 years ago is the modern world’s deadliest epidemic, its toll of more than 50 million surpassing that of World War I. Here is some background. – Why ‘Spanish flu’? – Countries caught up in the 1914-1918 war censored information about …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | Africa and other developing regions are becoming increasingly significant battlegrounds in the effort to combat the spread of smoking, an anti-smoking campaign group warned on Thursday. But most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have inadequate monitoring of tobacco use, according to the authors of …

Luanda, Angola | AFP | Heavy rains, filthy conditions, medicine shortages and endemic corruption have combined to make a lethal malarial cocktail for Angola. Since the start of the year more than 300,000 cases of the disease have been reported across the country, leading to at least a thousand deaths. …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s health ministry on Tuesday announced a ban on the import and sale of certain South African processed meat products after a listeria outbreak that has killed at least 180 people. Kenya is the first nation in east Africa to ban ready-to-eat meat products from …

Lagos, Nigeria| AFP | has claimed 110 lives in Nigeria since the beginning of the year, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said Tuesday, in one of the worst outbreaks since 2016. The World Heath Organisation last week said the epidemic had reached record highs with 317 laboratory confirmed cases and …

Sydney, Australia | AFP | Three Australians have died after consuming melon contaminated with listeria amid an outbreak that has prompted health authorities to warn those at risk to throw out pre-cut melons. Listeria is a commonly found bacteria and for most people who consume foods that contain it does …

NMS innovates as critics call for improved forecasting drug needs Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | A Feb.12 Ministry of Health announcement that expired drugs to the tune of 1500 tons in stores at 6619 health facilities across the country would be incinerated has incensed many. Critics wonder how such a …