Society catergory

BOOKS: Insights into Uganda – It’s the funniest, frankest, saddest commentary ever written about Uganda I like reading because it packs rest, entertainment, learning and more in one activity. Most times though, I am very clear about why I am reading a particular item. So I was at a loss …

Muhanga, Rwanda | AFP |  “Three, two, one, launch!” And with that, catapulted from a ramp, the small fixed-wing drone buzzes into the air towards its pre-programmed destination, the Kabgayi hospital two kilometres away. On Friday Rwanda inaugurated a drone operation that its backers hope will kickstart a revolution in …

Questions as Health ministry proposes stringent guidelines on enrollment The mood at Nakasero Primary School in Kampala on Oct.01 was similar to a movie shooting scene gone wrong – bitter exchanges and mean stares were flying about. The unpleasant body language of medical interns to-be as Dr. Jacinto Amandua, the …

COMMENT: By Joy Asasira When religion and morality dictate reproductive health policy in Uganda, who suffers? Over the past few months, much as been said by politicians and the media about reproductive rights issues, from comprehensive sexuality education, legalisation or decriminalisation of abortion and even access to essential HIV prevention …

Tokyo, Japan | AFP |  A fifth of the Japanese workforce faces the risk of death from overwork, according to a new government survey into the country’s notoriously strenuous working culture. Hundreds of deaths related to overwork — from strokes, heart attacks and suicide — are reported every year in …

A leading Ugandan health expert has warned that the country still faces unprecedented deaths related to HIV/AIDS mainly among the pediatric and adolescent age group. HIV is the second leading cause of deaths among adolescents in Uganda, reported to be at 11%, according to statistics at the ministry of health. According to Dr. Sabrina …

Le Cap, South Africa | AFP | South African retired Anglican archbishop and anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu celebrated his 85th birthday on Friday saying he would like to be allowed the option of dignified assisted death. “Today, I myself am even closer to the departures hall than arrivals, so to …

Berlin, Germany | AFP |  A medical charity scored a small victory Wednesday in its bid to break a US pharma giant’s hold on an eye-wateringly expensive Hepatitis C drug when a European body partially revoked the firm’s patent. Patient groups around the world have accused Gilead Sciences of charging …

A visit to the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) is for the hard-hearted since a row broke out between its management and those of the National Medical Stores (NMS) and drugs stopped being delivered. Patients who are in need of drugs now lie around without help. One of such patients is …

Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | It’s serendipity: from America to Viagra, history is full of great discoveries helped along by chance, as more than a century of Nobel prizes can attest. Among the chance discoveries that have been honoured with the prestigious prize are X-rays (physics, 1901), penicillin (medicine, 1945), …