Miami, United States | AFP | For the first time in Africa, researchers said Wednesday they have detected a malaria parasite that is partially resistant to the top anti-malaria drug, artemisinin, raising concern about efforts to fight a disease that sickens hundreds of millions of people each year. The discovery …
Read More »VIDEO: Uganda losing HIV fight – UNAIDS
VIDEO: Uganda is on the verge of losing the fight against HIV/AIDS – according to the UNAIDS. The global body indicates that the country has backtracked on most of gains registered in the 1990s – necessitating new and radical approaches to fight the killer disease. This was highlighted at the …
Read More »Women’s life expectancy on track to hit 90 in some nations
Paris, France | AFP | By 2030 life expectancy for South Korean women could top nine decades, an average lifespan long thought to be out of reach, researchers said Wednesday. South Korea is not only the first country in the world where women may live past 90 on average, it …
Read More »Rethinking cancer diagnosis, treatment
WHO releases new guidelines; but how will Uganda drive more patients to the hospital? Every Friday morning at the Uganda Cancer Institute is free screening time. Being the biggest cancer facility in the country, coupled with ever increasing cases, one would expect to see some quite big numbers. But that …
Read More »Swedish town councillor proposes sex breaks on work time
Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Swedes should take a one-hour paid break from work to go home and have sex with their partners, a local councillor suggested in a proposal Tuesday aimed at improving people’s personal relationships. “There are studies that show sex is healthy,” Per-Erik Muskos, a 42-year-old city …
Read More »Smartphones are revolutionizing medicine
Boston, United States | AFP | Smartphones are revolutionizing the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses, thanks to add-ons and apps that make their ubiquitous small screens into medical devices, researchers say. “If you look at the camera, the flash, the microphone… they all are getting better and better,” said Shwetak …
Read More »Government gets new TB detecting machines
On Feb.10, the Ministry of Health received nine tuberculosis testing machines worth $153,000 as a donation from the US government. Dubbed GeneXpert machines, the equipment that can form an accurate diagnose of a TB patient in just two hours will enable health workers detect and monitor both tuberculosis and drug-resistant …
Read More »Bird-flu deaths rise in China, shutting poultry markets
Beijing, China | AFP | China is experiencing its deadliest outbreak of the H7N9 bird-flu strain since it first appeared in humans in 2013, killing 79 people in January alone and spurring several cities to suspend live poultry trade. The National Health and Family Planning Commission said on Wednesday that …
Read More »Enter the dragon: rural Chinese honour mythical beast
Liancheng, China | AFP | Dragons several hundred metres long snake their way down pastoral roads and through country hamlets, part of centuries-old Chinese folk celebrations for a mythical creature revered as a blessing. The visually striking festival is among a range of colourful traditional observances unique to eastern Fujian …
Read More »Melania Trump reopens White House for tours
Washington, United States | AFP | After pressure from lawmakers, First Lady Melania Trump announced Tuesday the White House will reopen to the public in early March, nearly seven weeks after her husband Donald became president. White House tours are highly popular with visitors to Washington, a perk arranged by …
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