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Health & HIV/AIDS
RSS FeedGlobal: Treat pneumonia and diarrhoea and save infants, says Unicef
2012-06-11, Issue 588
According to a report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), pneumonia and diarrhoea are the leading killers of children under five years despite the fact that there are a number of cost effective interventions to curb these illnesses. Far fewer children are dying today than 20 years ago – In 1990, 12-million child deaths were recorded, compared to 7.6-million in 2010.
Uganda: Rising ARV resistance threatens HIV fight
2012-05-29, Issue 587
The prevalence of drug-resistant HIV strains in Uganda has risen from 8.6 per cent to 12 per cent in the last five years, one of the highest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a recent study. The PharmAccess African Studies to Evaluate Resistance (PASER) monitoring cohort study report for 2008-2012 found that the prevalence of transmitted drug resistance among people who have never taken life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) medication was substantially higher in Uganda.
Kenya: Babies miss out on TB immunization
2012-05-29, Issue 587
Thousands of infants born in remote northern parts of Kenya in the past six weeks risk contracting tuberculosis (TB) due to a vaccine shortage, with medics warning that the effects could be severe in areas where there is already little access to maternity and vaccination services. In the north-central Isiolo region, for example, stocks of the TB Bacillus Camille Guérin (BCG) vaccine ran out at the main Isiolo District Hospital in early April, leaving hundreds of babies unimmunized.
South Africa: Tenofovir shortages continue
2012-05-31, Issue 587
The continued stock out of the antiretroviral tenofovir and the failure to advise health workers on how to deal with it is a looming disaster, HIV Clinicians and activists are warning. Reports of stock outs go as far back as October last year with the explanation given that the drug suppliers Aspen and Sonke were not able to meet the demand once they were awarded the tender. Dr Francesca Conradie, President of the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society said they had submitted the clinical guidelines for health workers on how to swop out medications in February, but that it has not been ratified by the health department meaning it is not being used.
Africa: A new 'gate-way' for India's Africa diplomacy
2012-06-03, Issue 587
India has found a new gateway to project its Africa diplomacy as it explores a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is engaged in a range of activities in the emerging continent. This possibility of collaborating in Africa emerged from talks between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. With Africa suffering a host of debilitating health problems like malaria and HIV/AIDS, health has been identified as a focus area for prospective cooperation.
Kenya: Migrant sex workers off the HIV prevention radar
2012-06-04, Issue 587
When Redempta*, 22, fled the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) two years ago and came to Kenya, she quickly had to find a source of income to feed and house herself and her two younger siblings. But as an illegal immigrant with no knowledge of local languages, her options were very limited. 'I met some women from my country [DRC] and they introduced me to sex work because I needed to pay for the house and buy food for my siblings. I couldn't get any [other] work,' she told IRIN/PlusNews. As an illegal immigrant she is especially vulnerable because she can't report violent clients to the police, and is too afraid to seek medical help for her injuries.
Madagascar: Low HIV prevalence has its own challenges
2012-05-22, Issue 586
Madagascar has a low level of HIV prevalence, and managing its AIDS programme should present no major difficulties. But the apparent advantage of a low infection rate, combined with the ongoing political crisis, has brought its own challenges. Madagascar, and the neighbouring islands states of Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles, are anomalies in the context of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Prevalence is very low - around 0.37 per cent, or 24,000 confirmed cases - and restricted to a few sections of the population. Recent research has revealed that the groups most infected are men having sex with men (14 per cent), intravenous drug users (7 per cent) and prison populations. HIV prevalence among female commercial sex workers is relatively low.
Uganda: Cholera kills 100, more hospitalised
2012-05-23, Issue 586
About 100 people have died of cholera, although the Ministry of Health put the death toll at 73, while thousands are being hospitalised in different health centres. The number of people affected has increased to 3,111 from 2,200 in March in 13 districts of northern, eastern and western Uganda.
Uganda: Judiciary apologises over delayed maternal health ruling
2012-05-23, Issue 586
The Judiciary has apologised to health activists and advocates for the delay to pronounce itself on a case in which government was sued over high preventable maternal deaths, citing administrative issues, among others. The apology followed a peaceful demonstration by health activists. The activists marched from Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb to the Constitutional Court under police guidance, to express their concern over the seven-month delay.
Madagascar: A decaying health sector
2012-05-28, Issue 586
The Basic Health Centre or Centre de Santé de Base (CSB) II in Anjalajala, near Antsohihy, the capital of Madagascar's northern Sofia Region, is housed in a recently renovated building and its status as a CSB II promises the availability of a trained doctor. But the doctor left for Antananarivo, the capital, in 2002 and has not been replaced, and whenever the remaining nurse is absent, services stop. The situation at this clinic is not unique in Madagascar, where an already weak healthcare system has been in a state of decline since 2009 when the international community branded Andry Rajoelina's ousting of President Marc Ravalomanana a coup, and donors halted all but emergency aid.
Africa: New treatment could reduce sub-Saharan Africa newborn deaths
2012-05-16, Issue 585
Clinical trials are underway to test a new treatment for pregnant women, which could tackle some of the leading preventable causes of death for babies in sub-Saharan Africa, researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) said. A large number of pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with both malaria and sexually transmitted - reproductive tract infections (STIs - RTIs), according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Global: Global Fund has more money
2012-05-16, Issue 585
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) estimates that that more than U$1.6-billion in additional funding will be available over the next two years. A statement released in Geneva said the new forecast was a result of 'strategic decisions made by the Board, freeing up funds that can be invested in countries where there is the most pressing demand'. It added that the Board had adopted a plan to transform the Global Fund, leading to improved financial supervision and overall efficiency.
Global: WHO warning on non-communicable disease
2012-05-17, Issue 585
New data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) titled, 'World Health Statistics 2012 Report' has focused on the growing problem of the non-communicable diseases burden. According to the report, one in three adults worldwide has raised blood pressure, a condition that causes around half of all deaths from stroke and heart disease; while one in 10 adults has diabetes. WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, said: 'This report is further evidence of the dramatic increase in the conditions that trigger heart disease and other chronic illnesses, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. In some African countries, as much as half the adult population has high blood pressure.' And although no new case of the Wild Polio Virus (WPV) was reported in the last two weeks in Nigeria, the country accounts for 56 per cent of global cases recorded in 2012.
South Sudan: Losing the war against kala-azar
2012-05-08, Issue 584
In the dusty courtyard of a crowded clinic in Old Fangak, in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, throngs of people, some of them under mosquito nets strung between trees, wait to get tested for kala-azar, amid the worst continuous outbreak in three decades. Last year, this clinic – which lacks electricity or running water - handled around half the 11,000 total recorded cases of the parasitical disease, also known as visceral leishmaniasis. Spread by the bite of the sand-fly, it can cause fever, weight loss, enlarged spleen, rash, anaemeia, diarrhoea, fatigue and, left untreated, death.
Nigeria: Doctors' mass strike hits patients
2012-05-09, Issue 584
A two-week-long mass strike by doctors, who demanded a pay rise from hospitals in the Nigerian state of Lagos, has taken a deadly toll on a significant number of patients in need of urgent medical care. Hospital staff say many patients have either died or continue to suffer as the strike by about 1,000 doctors paralysed the medical institutions.
Global: HIV/AIDS and health as a human right
2012-05-09, Issue 584
Website Africa Focus has a feature on HIV/AIDS and health as a human right. 'In the last 15 years, AIDS activists and medical professionals, in Africa and around the world, have won the recognition that the fight against AIDS, which disproportionately affects the African continent, is a shared global responsibility. Millions of lives have been saved. But the fight against AIDS and the wider commitment to health as a universal human right is now threatened by AIDS fatigue and austerity politics.'
Global: HIV, drug use and the global fund
2012-05-09, Issue 584
This report examines the impact of the cancellation of Global Fund Round 11 funding and subsequent changes in Global Fund policies and practices relating to HIV and drug use programmes. It focuses on how future HIV and harm reduction programming will be affected by the Global Fund’s current funding crisis given the very low existing levels of funding for such programming.
Ghana: Cholera kills 21
2012-05-09, Issue 584
Ghana’s health authorities officially declared a cholera outbreak in the country April. According to the country’s health service, as of 24 April 2012, over 1,570 cases and 21 deaths have been recorded in the Greater Accra and Eastern regions. This outbreak is linked to poor sanitation conditions and migration from affected regions to other regions.
Rwanda: Substantial HIV funding has not hurt other patient care
2012-05-10, Issue 584
The large amount of donor funding that has gone into Rwanda's fight against HIV has not affected efforts to prevent and treat unrelated diseases, such as malaria and measles, and may in fact have improved overall healthcare, a six-year study has found. Researchers at Brandeis University in the US compared the performance of health clinics providing HIV services with those that did not by collecting data on the number of vaccines administered, visits to register child growth, and non-HIV/AIDS hospitalizations to monitor the attention given to non-HIV health issues.
Nigeria: Aid group slams Nigeria for lead poisoning
2012-05-14, Issue 584
A deadly lead poisoning outbreak that began two years ago in northern Nigeria continues to claim young victims even today, an aid agency official has said. Ivan Gayton of Doctors Without Borders criticised the government of oil-rich Nigeria on Thursday for not taking the threat seriously, despite 4,000 children already being sickened by the outbreak linked to gold mining.
Zimbabwe: An ailing health service
2012-05-14, Issue 584
With an average of 100 children under five dying each day, it may be hard to believe that Zimbabawe was once the country of choice for medical treatment in Africa. In this video report, Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, in Harare, explains why the healthcare system there has not been able to regain its title.
Uganda: Civil society demands more funding for health, education
2012-05-06, Issue 583
A consortium of civil society organisations are pushing for government reforms in the health and education sectors. Among others they want the percentage of government allocation to the health sector increased to meet the Abuja Declaration target of 15 per cent.
East Africa: Regional HIV Bill passed without criminalization clause
2012-05-07, Issue 583
East Africa's Legislative Assembly has passed a regional HIV/AIDS Bill that seeks to protect the rights of people living with HIV and harmonize regional legislation and policy on the prevention and treatment of HIV. Activists have welcomed the passing of the Bill, which, unlike some of the laws in the region's individual member states, does not criminalize the deliberate transmission of HIV.
Nigeria: Worrisome upward polio trend in Nigeria
2012-04-25, Issue 582
This brief update from the United Nations Fund (UNICEF) reports on recent developments in polio-endemic Nigeria. As of 13th of April 2012, 20 new cases of wild poliovirus (WPV) have been reported in eight states, compared to nine cases for the same time period in four states in 2011. The polio eradication programme is addressing challenges in campaign quality while dealing with a deteriorating security situation. In key infected states (Borno, Kano, Sokoto, Yobe), more than one in three children has received less than four doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV).
Global: New HIV testing guidelines
2012-04-25, Issue 582
New international HIV testing guidelines are encouraging couples to test together and for immediate initiation on antiretrovirals for the one testing positive. The World Health Organisation issued the guidelines recommending that a person living with HIV who has an HIV-negative partner (a 'sero-discordant' partnership) be offered HIV treatment regardless of their CD4 cell count level (measure of their immunity).
Global: New strategy to cut measles death announced
2012-04-25, Issue 582
The partners leading the efforts to control measles have announced a new global strategy aimed at reducing measles deaths and congenital rubella syndrome to zero. According to a joint statement made available to PANA, the announcement comes with the publication of new data using a state-of-the-art methodology showing that accelerated efforts to reduce measles deaths have resulted in a 74 per cent reduction in global measles mortality, from an estimated 535,300 deaths in 2000 to 139,300 in 2010.
DRC: Malaria cases surge
2012-04-26, Issue 582
Malaria cases have increased dramatically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, leaving clinics and treatment centres unable to cope, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned. The number of people treated for malaria in MSF projects has soared by 250 per cent since 2009 in six provinces – half of the vast African country – and accelerated even more sharply in recent months. The reasons for the trend are not clear, although it is thought renewed fighting by militia groups has made it increasingly difficult for people to access prevention and treatment for the mosquito-borne disease.
South Africa: Sexual violence and HIV in South Africa's prisons
2012-04-26, Issue 582
Sonke Gender Justice has launched a new publication, 'Mapping the Legal Framework to Prevent Sexual Violence & HIV in South Africa’s Correctional Facilities.' Sexual violence and HIV and AIDS are key areas of concern for Sonke, as inmates experience both at heightened proportions. HIV and sexual violence are inherently linked, particularly in South Africa’s prisons where external estimates for HIV range between 40-60 per cent.
Ghana: New child vaccines for pneumonia, diarrhoea
2012-04-30, Issue 582
Ghana has become the first country in Africa to start protecting children against two of the continent's deadliest infant diseases with simultaneous vaccinations. The diseases targeted are rotavirus, which causes diarrhoea, and pneumococcal, both of which kill more than 2.7 million children worldwide each year. The project is backed by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.
Nigeria: Bone marrow register an 'important milestone'
2012-04-30, Issue 582
Only a fraction of the millions of people worldwide with blood and autoimmune disorders survive - especially those in poorer countries - partly due to the lack of bone marrow stem cell transplants. A recently established Nigerian bone marrow registry hopes to boost matches between donors and patients, and survival chances. Some 200,000 babies are born annually in sub-Saharan Africa with sickle cell disease, a blood disorder in which mutated red blood cells can clump and block blood vessels, causing pain, infection and organ damage. Nigeria has up to two million sickle cell patients, many of whom can benefit from stem cell transplants.
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