Trending
- Abu Dhabi radiates optimism as over 300 startups join AIM Congress 2024
- TLcom Capital Raises $154 million in Funding to Boost Its African Growth
- Africa’s $824Bn debt, resource-backed opaque loans slowing growth — AfDB
- LB Investment brings $1.2 trillion portfolio display to AIM Congress spotlight
- AmCham Summit kicks off, setting course for robust future of US-East Africa trade ties
- Why the UN is raising the red flag on the UK-Rwanda asylum treaty
- Portugal’s Galp Energia projects 10 billion barrels in Namibia’s new oil find
- Wärtsilä Energy offers tips on how Africa can navigate energy transition and grid reliability
Health
As Africa’s role in the global economy continues to garner prominence, it’s imperative for the continent to seal the gaping hole in its power supply.
Lack of universal power access remains a major roadblock that has retrogressed industrialization and socio-economic development. Statistics from the World Bank indicate that Africa remains the least electrified region in the world, with 568 million people lacking access to electricity.
The Bretton Woods institution, further notes that the Sub-Saharan Africa’s share of the global population without electricity, jumped to 77 per cent in 2020 from 71 per cent in 2018, whilst most regions saw declines in their share of access deficits. It has become a Hobson’s choice for African governments to prioritize the power sector, which is the epicenter of industrialization, working towards Goal 7 of the UN SDGs; which advocates for universal access to affordable, reliable and modern electricity services.
Currently, Africa’s power is …
Even though the EU delegates admitted that; “We recognised, everybody, does, that there is an unbearable vaccination gap that has to be closed … between Africa and Europe,” the diplomats still said no vaccine patent waiver for Africa.
Also, despite scientists warning of the possibility of new Covid variants developing in Africa and the fact that just 5 per cent of Africa has been inoculated, the EU still said no to easing vaccine access to Africa.
The African Union (AU) had expected some sought of EU backing for targeted and time-limited Trips Waiver on vaccines. Trips stand for: Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual-Property Rights and a waiver would have made it affordable for Africa to produce the vaccines in Africa.…
According to SOS Children’s Villages, 3.2 million children under the age of five die every year because of hunger and drought in Africa. In other words, more than half the children who die of hunger-related causes come from the continent.
In the same breath, he said that there has also been inconsistency in the flow of funds to UNICEF to support humanitarian response.
UNICEF said more than 255,000 children received treatment for severe wasting in Somalia last year. On Tuesday, January 2022, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the widespread drought in the Horn of Africa has severely affected the country the most, forcing the government to declare a state of emergency in November.…
Delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to selected health facilities has kicked off in Ghana.
The exercise which began on Tuesday, March 2, is being conducted by Zipline, using drones.
Ghana is now the first country in the world to deploy drones on a national scale to deliver COVID-19 vaccines, which were shipped into the country on February 23, by the Covax facility.
Ghana received 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, from the Serum Institute of India (SII).
The arrival in Accra is the first batch delivered anywhere in the world by the COVAX Facility as part of an unprecedented effort to deliver at least 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2021.
How COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed
With about 12 million people in Ghana living outside cities, the country’s government will use Zipline’s network to deliver its COVID-19 vaccines to ensure rapid, …
Debt service is putting tremendous pressure on East African governments because of limited foreign exchange earnings; therefore the Covid-19 vaccination program for East Africa will give investors confidence in most sectors especially agriculture and tourism which are major foreign exchange earners for the region.
The foreign exchange gains will lead to a positive trickle-down effect to the different businesses and general population.…
The African continent has recorded a total of 3,682,261 confirmed cases of Covid-19, 95,591 deaths and 3,212,077 recoveries since the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak.
By early January 2021, COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), had resulted in more than 83 million confirmed cases and more than 1·8 million deaths.
The clinical spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 infection is wide, encompassing asymptomatic infection, fever, fatigue, myalgias, mild upper respiratory tract illness, severe life-threatening viral pneumonia requiring admission to hospital, and death.
At the moment, 34.4 million Covid-19 tests have been conducted in Africa.
As much as we celebrate the high number of recoveries that continue to be recorded daily from various countries, there is a need to take care of those who have recovered from the virus.
Did you know that post-COVID-19 complications could be dire and fatal?
Well, the acting Director of the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre (GIDC), …
First herbal medicine for a clinical trial on COVID-19 treatment by Researchers from the School of Public Health at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has been approved.
The medicine dubbed Cryptolepis Sanguinolenta, locally known as Nibima was approved by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) on Monday, February 1, 2021.
Mrs Delese A.A. Darko, the Chief Executive Officer of the FDA confirmed the approval in a statement issued in Accra.
The researchers had earlier submitted a clinical application in search of the Covid-19 treatment.
The application was to assess the safety and efficacy of Cryptolepois Sanguinolenta as a potential treatment of COVID-19.
This follows results from lab studies conducted by the KNUST Research team, which points in the direction of possible clinical benefits.
This is, however, not the first time the medicine is being used.
Also Read: Pandemic, AfCFTA wakeup call for Africa’s pharmaceuticals
The roots of …
A South African health-tech company Udok has sealed $613 000 (ZAR 10 million) in Venture Capital funding from FinX capital.
The money raised will be used to spearhead expansion. The Capetown-based startup has partnered with Clicks Stores to provide consultations in Click’s pharmacy clinics. With Clicks being one of the largest pharmacy retailers in South Africa, this will give the firm access to a large clientele base.
The company also plans to roll out laboratory testing using the Clicks network to provide lower-cost testing services for patients. Currently, the costs of laboratory testing are above the reach of many.
Founded in 2018, Udok enables individuals to access healthcare services via a digital platform. This includes virtual consultations with doctors, receiving prescriptions, and getting access to remote admissions.
The company uses smart technology for examinations during the consultation and allows users to access their health records from anywhere. Leveraging a digital …
By Ms. Carole Agengo, Dr. Ademola Olajide and Dr. Mohamed A. Sheikh
The writers are the Africa Regional Director for HelpAge International; UNFPA Representative, Kenya; and Director General for National Council for Population and Development (NCPD)
Africa is often referred to as the ‘world’s youngest continent.’ This is certainly true when one compares the median age of Africans, currently 19 years, while Europe’s median age is 43 years and Asia’s 32. This reflects the relatively small proportion of older adults – those aged 60 years and above, in the total population. Africa occupies the unique position of being, concurrently, the demographically youngest continent and the world region with the most rapidly growing number of older people.
The onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic with its disproportionate impact on older persons, has heightened the urgency of social protection for the population of older persons.
In Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Ministry …
