Browsing: Health

• Over a decade since gaining independence, South Sudan continues to be affected by fragility, economic stagnation, and instability.
• South Sudan’s economy is clouded by production bottlenecks in the oil sector, with production dwindling in the face of limited new investment.
• The susceptibility of South Sudan to climate change and natural calamities exacerbates the nation’s economic challenges, threatening the progress of growth and development initiatives.

The Republic of South Sudan emerged as the world’s newest sovereign state and the 54^th country in Africa on July 9, 2011. However, the progress of development post-independence was significantly hampered by civil war outbreaks in 2013 and 2016, which also aggravated the humanitarian crisis.

Over a decade since gaining independence, South Sudan continues to be affected by fragility, economic stagnation, and instability. Pervasive poverty is further intensified by ongoing conflict, displacement, and external shocks.

Crisis facing the oil and energy sector

Oil production is …

The market growth is extensively attributed to the rising health and fitness awareness, growing penetration of the internet & smartphones, and increased consumer disposable income levels.

The rising adoption has led to an increase in device development & innovation as more market players race in to deliver the growing demand and capture a higher market share.

According to Kewalramani, to set itself apart from competitors, Fitbit has evolved from being a pure fitness tracking device company to bringing more functionality and innovation around stress and sleep management to help users gain control of their health goals.…

• The centre was built through a partnership between the locally-owned GE Healthcare’s entity and Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral & Research Hospital (KUTRRH)
• In Kenya, cancer is the third leading cause of death, after infectious and cardiovascular diseases

In a major milestone for the fight against cancer in Kenya, the President of the Republic of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, has inaugurated the first publicly-owned comprehensive Integrated Molecular Imaging Centre for the diagnosis and treatment of Cancer in Sub Saharan Africa.

The centre was built through a partnership between the locally-owned GE Healthcare’s entity and Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral & Research Hospital (KUTRRH). The Center will provide lifesaving equipment along the cancer care pathway – from screening and diagnosis to staging, to determining the correct treatments.

This will support the improvement of cancer survival rates and serve patients across Kenya. Critically, it will also enable more cancer research to be carried out, offering …

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa CDC, has issued a statement on the recent international travel rules in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Specialised Technical Institution of the African Union, noted in a statement that the planned changes to international travel rules are discrminative.

The rules  were communicated by the Government of the United Kingdom (U.K), which will be enforced starting at 4:00 am on Monday 4th October 2021.

Also Read: Public, private sector investment needed for vaccine manufacturing: EAC

“With a full course of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Formulations of the 4 listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, qualify as …

Johnson & Johnson has recalled five of its aerosol sunscreen products.

The firm announced on Wednesday that it would like to voluntarily recall all lots of five EUTROGENA^® and AVEENO^® aerosol sunscreen product lines to the consumer level.

“Internal testing identified low levels of benzene in some samples of the products. Consumers should stop using the affected products and follow the instructions set forth below.” The healthcare giant said in a statement.

What Benzene really is

According to an information kit from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), benzene is a chemical that is a colourless or light yellow liquid at room temperature. It has a sweet odour and is highly flammable.

CDC says that direct exposure of the eyes, skin, or lungs to benzene could cause tissue injury and irritation however, presenting with these signs and symptoms does not necessarily mean that a person has …

Kenya’s Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has recently signed a new cooperation agreement with Cuban Minister of Public Health, Dr. Jose Angel Portal Miranda. The agreement is expected to ensure that 101 Cuban specialists travel to Kenya as part of a medical exchange programme.

Kenya’s healthcare system was devolved into the county governments from the national one after the promulgation of the new constitution in August 2010. The country is now divided into 47 counties under 47 governors.

The process of devolution is one of the main pillars of this constitution, which partly means that the public decision-making process and a significant part of implementation fall under regional leadership. So when it comes to healthcare, the county governors are essentially responsible for decision-making as well as controlling resources within their county jurisdictions with regard to the health sector.

What’s ailing Kenya’s healthcare system?

A report by Africa Health Business shows …

KENYA’s obstructive stance on innovative tobacco-free oral nicotine products (ONDS) is denying thousands of smokers desperate to quit cigarettes an extraordinary opportunity to have informed choices and save lives. That’s according to international medical experts who addressed the Africa Tobacco Harm Reduction Forum hosted by the Campaign for Safer Alternatives (CASA). “By lagging behind the rest of the world in its stance on tobacco harm reduction (THR), the Kenyan government is blocking the escape from tobacco-related disease and death for 30,000 smokers a year, with no chance of reprieve,” CASA Chairman Joseph Magero told the webinar. “Kenya’s ongoing ‘quit or die’ tobacco control policy ignores the reality that too many smokers find it impossible to quit, even when they want to. Reduced harm products such as e-cigarettes and oral nicotine pouches give them a much safer alternative, a route away from cigarettes and a better chance of a smoke-free future.”…

The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) (www.KFAS.org) announced the appointment of Dr. Khaled Ali Al-Fadhel as the new Director General of the Foundation in March. In this capacity, he will also serve on the Board of Trustees for the Al-Sumait Prize for African Development (www.AlSumaitPrize.org). Dr. Al-Fadhel succeeds Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin, who retired earlier this year, and had served as Director General of KFAS since 2011, as well as a member of AlSumait Prize Board of Trustees since 2015.

When asked about his vision for Al-Sumait Prize for African Development, he stated: “It is our goal to elevate the impact and standing of Al-Sumait Prize. One of the most certain ways to ensure that humanitarian efforts and initiatives continue their momentum, and their perceptible success, is to establish awards such as Al-Sumait Prize that aim to recognize the accomplishments of organizations and researchers dedicated to the creation …

Following the recent calamity of poisoned fish in Lake Nakuru and Lake Victoria, Greenpeace Africa has now moved to call on National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to commit to stopping pollution in Lake Nakuru and Lake Victoria.

Piles of dead Nile perch have been washing up on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda and Kenya, threatening the livelihoods of the surrounding communities. There have also been several incidents of fish dying in Lake Nakuru, prompting the government to issue several warnings on consumption of fish from Lake Nakuru.

However according to a statement from Greenpeace, despite the warning on Lake Nakuru fish poisoning, the massive death of fish in Lake Victoria and the increased level of Lake pollution in Kenya, there is no commitment from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) which is mandated  to oversee and implement all policies relating to the environment protection.

“Pollution is leading to …

Continent-wide, over 640 million Africans have no access to energy which corresponds to an electricity access rate for African countries at just over 40 per cent. …