As USAID programmes funding vital treatments for HIV/AIDS, malaria, maternal and child health, and other critical needs were imploding across Africa last year, a for-profit social enterprise startup geared up for its first real test. Using medicines procurement as its lever, the Swiss-based startup Axmed called for a radical reboot of national systems — to […] Continue reading ->
KAMPALA, Uganda – After five years of focusing on malaria prevention through Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) in the Karamoja region in northeastern Uganda for children under the age of five, Uganda’s Health Ministry has decided to extend the intervention to children up to the age of 10. SMC is the intermittent administration of a curative […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has pushed back against speculation that a critical review of the US measles elimination status was delayed until November for political reasons. Rather, the WHO said that there were strong technical reasons for postponing the review from April until November so that more data could be collected. This came as […] Continue reading ->
For decades, residents of Kakola-Ombaka village in Western Kenya lived through cycles of seasonal heatwaves and droughts on the shores of Lake Victoria without significant harm. That changed in 2019, when heavy rainfall of unprecedented intensity struck the area. The entire village and surrounding communities were inundated. The lake swelled, water levels rose steadily, banks […] Continue reading ->
The US-Israeli war with Iran, which has paralyzed air travel across the Middle East, has also frozen deliveries of vital medical supplies from the world’s largest humanitarian supply hub in Dubai to conflict-wracked countries from Afghanistan to Lebanon, said the World Health Organization on Thursday. “Operations at WHO’s logistics hub for global health emergencies in […] Continue reading ->
India launched the most extensive free Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination initiative in history to systematically combat the rising toll of cervical cancer. This ambitious 90-day campaign aims to inoculate nearly 12 million 14-year-old girls before the preventative shot is permanently integrated into the country’s universal immunization schedule. “India has joined the community of 160 countries […] Continue reading ->
Two regional research hubs that aim to develop climate adaptation strategies that reduce health impacts are to be established in Ghana and South Africa under the terms of a new £40 million climate-health initiative led by African universities and the Wellcome Trust, announced on Thursday. Along with the two hubs in South Africa and Ghana, […] Continue reading ->
WORLD OBESITY DAY – Most people living with obesity are now in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), according to the World Obesity Federation (WOF) – yet people living in these countries are least likely to have access to the Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) medicine that is transforming treatment outcomes in wealthier countries. Around one billion people […] Continue reading ->
The first vaccines to reach Sudan’s South Kordofan state in nearly three years were delivered this week, according to Save the Children. South Kordofan has not received any vaccines since July 2023 due to a siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF),which has blocked medical and humanitarian supplies. “This left thousands of children without protection […] Continue reading ->
The Parliaments of both Ghana and Senegal are considering harsher penalties for same-sex relationships. Last month, Ghana’s Parliament had its first reading of an anti-LGBTQ Bill, which is now being considered by its Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. Meanwhile, Senegal’s Cabinet approved a Bill for its Parliament last month that will double the […] Continue reading ->