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Health
- Madagascar man freed from 5KG tumor after the four-hour surgery, his family, including his wife, daughter, and sister, were all waiting for him outside
- By age 53, Fidisoa struggled to do the high level of manual labor required from his livelihood
- He said that the benign tumor, a soft lobular fibroma which weighed 5 kilograms, was now gone for good
A father of three can sleep comfortably on his back for the first time in 15 years after having a massive tumor – weighing 11lbs (5kgs) – removed by surgical charity Mercy Ships.
Malagasy builder and rice farmer Fidisoa was 38 when what appeared to be a tiny pimple on his back started to grow, first into a lump and then into the size of a fist. It continued to grow until Fidisoa looked as if he carried a backpack underneath his shirt.
By age 53, Fidisoa struggled to …
- Dr. Patil VijaySinh, an interventional cardiologist at The Nairobi West Hospital, led the team in performing the Renal Artery Denervation procedure.
- Hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, is a major global health concern, contributing to an estimated 8.5 million deaths in 2015 alone.
- Innovative healthcare techniques like Renal Artery Denervation offer new hope for patients with resistant hypertension.
The Nairobi West Hospital has successfully conducted the first Renal Artery Denervation procedure for resistant hypertension in Kenya and East Africa.
This pioneering procedure marks a significant step forward in the region’s battle against hypertension, a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, is a major global health concern, contributing to an estimated 8.5 million deaths in 2015 alone.
Despite the availability of various antihypertensive medications, only 18-23 per cent of patients achieve optimal blood pressure control.
In Kenya, prevalence of hypertension is …
- Estimates show that family planning in Kenya prevented 2.4 million pregnancies in 2023.
- The 2023 report shows significant achievements in family planning across the globe, even in the face of stagnant funding.
- The contraceptives were procured by UNFPA with more than KES57 Million (£348,000) funding from the UK.
Efforts to make family planning more accessible to women in Kenya received a boost with the handover of 450,000 doses of Subcutaneous Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (DMPA-SC), a self-injectable contraceptive that simplifies and enhances the accessibility of family planning.
The contraceptives were procured by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with more than $378,151 (KES57 Million) funding from the UK Government, and will be distributed by the Ministry of Health to health facilities across the country.
DMPA-SC is a user-friendly injectable contraceptive that can be administered by trained individuals, including community health workers and women themselves, thereby expanding access to family planning …
- The Foundation has announced a commitment of up to $120 million to accelerate access to the investigational antiviral drug molnupiravir
- The Foundation said the funding will be allocated based on consultations with partners
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a commitment of up to $120 million to accelerate access to the investigational antiviral drug molnupiravir for lower-income countries as part of its COVID-19 response effort.
In a statement, the Foundation said the funding will be allocated based on consultations with partners, and will support the range of activities required to develop and manufacture generic versions of the drug, which is being developed by Merck & Co in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
The commitment builds on the foundation’s ongoing efforts, including $1.9 billion in funding, since the start of the pandemic to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and tests by supporting R&D, regulatory work, at-risk manufacturing, and product …
Africa’s healthcare sector is on the verge of digital transformation.
This is according to a policy paper that indicates that while governments are accelerating formal digital health strategies, 41 out of 54 African countries have a digital health strategy in place.
Vodacom’s e-health policy paper also finds that consumers are dramatically increasing their engagement with digital health services via their smartphones. Official data forecasts that by 2025, smartphone reach in sub-Saharan Africa will increase by almost 70 percent.
The policy paper indicates that as a result of increased smartphone reach, informal use of digital healthcare solutions has increased, with 41 percent of internet users across Africa regularly using their mobile phones to search for health information.
Overall, the policy paper notes that there has been an exponential rise in the number of people engaging with digital health services through their smartphones, creating vast potential for countries to deliver access to …
Kenya’s Ministry of Devolution together with the Food and Agriculture Organization say the country requires at least US$87 million to ensure food security in all the 23 Arid and Semi-Arid Lands Counties, between August and December 2021.
In a statement, FAO says several interventions need to be done, at a time when the East African nation has been facing a myriad of challenges in the recent past including two desert locust invasions, the COVID-19 pandemic and poor rains that have resulted in food scarcity.
If sourced, the funding will be used for several interventions and cover various areas, among them provision of feed and supplements and livestock off-take and animal health services.
Additionally, FAO plans to provide drought-resistant seeds to farmers in the counties, as well as milling of staple commodities.
Other interventions include water trucking, rehabilitation and maintenance of water facilities, fuel subsidies for motorized boreholes and water …
The British High Commission has announced a new programme that will allow unemployed Kenyan nurses to work in the United Kingdom, as part of a new scheme requested by the Government of Kenya and launched by President Kenyatta on July 29 during his visit to London.
The British High Commission says Kenyan health professionals and health managers who are out of work are eligible of working in the UK, before returning to work in Kenya’s health sector.
According to the Commission, the special arrangement for Kenyan nurses to work the UK was part of a request by Kenya to capitalize in those qualified but unemployed health workers in Kenya.
The exact numbers of those who will go to the UK – and the process for visas – will however be confirmed in the next three months, according to the Commission.
Kenya embracing new ways of doing business
UK Health Secretary, …
Kenya has received a coronavirus vaccine donation from the United kingdom, following the meeting between President Uhuru Kenyatta and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this week.
The East African nation received 410, 000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine Saturday, as part of the 817, 000 doses that Kenyatta secured during his three-day visit of London earlier this week.
The remaining doses which were donated through the COVAX facility is expected to arrive in the country in the coming days ahead.
The arrival of the vaccines come days after President Uhuru Kenyatta urged the global community to heighten efforts in promoting equity in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
Speaking to Sky News in London, President Kenyatta underscored that the world can only be save if everybody gets to be vaccinated against the virus.
He noted that Kenya is ready to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccines but regretted that the only …
The EAC bloc should urgently work to attract international investors and embark on joint regional investments in the vaccine manufacturing industry for quick economic recovery.
This is according to East African Business Council Chairman Nicholas Nesbitt who is calling for a coordinated approach on COVID-19 measures to spur EAC economic recovery and growth.
Nesbitt noted that joint EAC investment offers a larger pool of capital resources, expertise and market.
At the same time, EAC’s board has directed the EABC Secretariat to champion advocacy on the adoption of open skies and one network area to reduce the cost of doing business in the region.
The board said that open skies attract regional tourism and improve consolidation of EAC exports to overseas markets such as horticulture.
According to the board, open skies are also critical in supporting the resilience and recovery of tourism, hospitality and transport sectors, which were highly impacted by …
