WHO turns to primary care amidst funding crisis Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | The World Health Organisation (WHO) wants tuberculosis TB and lung health services to be integrated into primary healthcare systems as a sustainable solution to maintain essential services. This is as the global fight against TB faces major …
Read More »Inside a life-saving birthcare model
Tanzania develops winning model against maternal and newborn deaths Tanzania | MELODY CHIRONDA | A groundbreaking study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that an innovative health program in Tanzania – centered on regular, on-the-job training for healthcare workers – reduced maternal deaths by 75% and early newborn …
Read More »African women are living longer and healthier lives – here is why
African women are forging a healthier future, blending innovation, agency, and tradition to reshape healthcare and reclaim their well-being. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | When Seliyian Lokerra, 28, went into sudden labour late in her third pregnancy last year, she braced for the worst. In her rural Kenyan …
Read More »Inside the economics of vaccine manufacturing
Why not all African countries should venture into vaccine business ANALYSIS | The African Union has embarked on one of its most audacious health security missions: Ensuring that the continent manufactures 60% of its own vaccines by 2040. Africa currently manufactures a lowly 1% of the vaccines. However, since April 2021, …
Read More »Sarah Naluyima’s response to the Ebola
She is dedicated to changing community behaviour HEALTH | AGENCIES | Sarah Naluyima is a dedicated community health worker at the forefront of Uganda’s Ebola outbreak response. For 15 years, Sarah has worked in her community, raising awareness about various health issues. Today, her focus is on preventing the spread of …
Read More »Mpox vaccines roll out
Sex workers have been twice victimised, first by the virus and then by the stigma, but advocates hope the government will prioritise their safety Kampala, Uganda | ESTHER NAKKAZI | When Brian Lubega, a 30-year old resident of Kawempe in Kampala, heard a radio announcement about mpox vaccine distribution in his …
Read More »Africa’s bumpy road to vaccine independence
How continent is navigating decades-old obstacles to build robust vaccine industry ANALYSIS | The African Union has embarked on one of its most audacious health security missions: Ensuring that the continent manufacture 60% of its own vaccines by 2040. It currently manufactures a lowly 1% of the vaccines. However, since April …
Read More »More than 47 million people sign call for clean air for better health
GENEVA | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 47 million health professionals, patients, advocates, representatives from civil society organizations, and individuals worldwide have signed a resounding call for urgent action to reduce air pollution and to protect people’s health from its devastating impacts. Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental …
Read More »New HIV prevention drug for babies
A dissolvable oral dispersible film of dolutegravir could transform treatment ANALYSIS | MELODY CHIRONDA | In the fight against HIV, one of the most vulnerable populations – newborn babies – is often overlooked. It is estimated that 120,000 new HIV infections occur in children aged 14 years and younger every year, …
Read More »PATRICK OYULU: I stepped on a ‘landmine’
COMMENT | PATRICK OYULU | In Uganda, when someone wakes up with swollen legs or mysterious pain, explanations abound. In Buganda, they’d say, “Yalinye Etalo,” meaning they stepped on something supernatural. Among the Alur, it’s “Enyonu Tho,” an ominous declaration that someone has “stepped on an illness.” But in urban …
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