Health

Kasese, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A cholera outbreak has hit Kasese district in the past week and has so far killed three people in Nyakiyumba subcounty. The Ministry of Health has confirmed that up to 73 suspected cases have been handled so far by local health officials, with 53 of …

  Executive Director Kusemererwa’s troubles raise questions about why NDA’s top job has always been controversial Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | “I talk to you as who?” asked Donna Asiimwe Kusemererwa before denying the Independent an interview appointment.  The Executive Director at National Drug Authority was probably still getting …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | The World Health Organisation said Sunday it was boosting its response to a plague outbreak in Madagascar that has killed 24 people, as the government banned public meetings to reduce infections. In a televised address Saturday, Prime Minister Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana said no public meetings or …

Paris, France | AFP | Flamboyant fashion designer Vivienne Westwood revealed the secret of her eternal youth Saturday — only taking a bath once a week. The 76-year-old queen of punk fashion let it slip after watching her husband Andreas Kronthaler’s spectacularly idiosyncratic show at Paris Fashion Week. Asked by reporters …

Dublin, Ireland | AFP | Thousands of demonstrators marched in Dublin on Saturday in favour of liberalising Ireland’s tight abortion laws ahead of a planned referendum on the fiercely-debated issue. Protesters chanted, “My body, my choice” and waved placards reading “Not the church, not the state, women should decide their fate” …

Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh | AFP | Rashida Begum steers clear of the water pump near the reeking latrine shared by more than 100 families in a grim corner of Bangladesh that has grown into one of the world’s largest refugee settlements in just weeks. “The pump works, but the water stinks, …

Washington, United States | AFP |  President Donald Trump’s embattled health secretary was forced out of the US administration Friday amid a scandal over his use of costly private jets for government travel. Tom Price was the latest top official to join in a stream of steady and embarrassing exits …

Paris, France | AFP | Like a pining lover, bed bugs will seek out your smell and snuggle up to your worn clothes when you are not around, researchers said Thursday. This explains how these tiny, flightless, reclusive creatures have managed their meteoric spread around the world — by catching a …

Miami, United States | AFP | Zika has been around for decades but only recently began to cause birth defects due to a single mutation the mosquito-borne virus likely acquired in 2013, researchers said Thursday. The report in the US journal Science explains for the first time how this once relatively …

Paris, France | AFP | People aged 50 and older comprise a growing percentage of HIV patients in Europe, accounting for one in six new cases in 2015, researchers said Wednesday. The older cohort was more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stages of HIV and AIDS compared to 15-49 year …