Africa > Health

Health in Africa

  • Discover #YellowSunday, the campaign to support, train and empower women in Democratic Republic of the Congo

    CONGO KINSHASA, 2017/05/18 #YellowSunday, a Congolese–led initiative, is hoping to raise funds to enable 1,000 women living in conflict and post-conflict zones in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to train as nurses. The Department of Economic and Social Affairs at the United Nations, which labelled the DRC as the worse place to be a woman, in 2015 found that additional than 60% of Congolese women aged 15-49 had experienced violence. Several million women and girls have been subjected to rape, which is used as a weapon of war. In a country that is the size of Western Europe, there are only 28,789 nurses for an estimated people of 77 million – one of the lowest ratios in the world.
  • Malaria drug could cut women’s risk of other infections

    NIGERIA, 2017/04/30 A drug used to combat malaria in pregnant women could as well treat sexually transmitted infections (STIs), a study shows. Results of the study by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, a medicine recommended during antenatal care visit for intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp) of malaria in pregnant women in malaria-endemic areas could cut the risk of getting STIs such as gonorrhoea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, and bacterial vaginosis.
  • Johnson & Johnson Launches New East Africa Regional Operations in Kenya

    KENYA, 2017/03/12 Working with local healthcare providers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Johnson & Johnson strengthens its operations to continue addressing the health issues that matter most to the people of Kenya Following the opening of its West Africa office in Ghana before this week, Johnson & Johnson today announced the further expansion of its operations in Africa with the launch of a new office in Nairobi, Kenya. The company’s new presence will bring together multiple teams representing Johnson & Johnson consumer, medical device, pharmaceutical, world public health (GPH) and world community impact (GCI) organizations to deliver an integrated approach to improving health outcomes in the region.
  • Johnson & Johnson Launches New East Africa Regional Operations in Kenya

    KENYA, 2017/03/12 Working with local healthcare providers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Johnson & Johnson strengthens its operations to continue addressing the health issues that matter most to the people of Kenya Following the opening of its West Africa office in Ghana before this week, Johnson & Johnson today announced the further expansion of its operations in Africa with the launch of a new office in Nairobi, Kenya. The company’s new presence will bring together multiple teams representing Johnson & Johnson consumer, medical device, pharmaceutical, world public health (GPH) and world community impact (GCI) organizations to deliver an integrated approach to improving health outcomes in the region.
  • Flu season: Ways for travelers to protect themselves from springtime bugs

    WORLD, 2017/03/05 Compared to recent years, the 2016-2017 flu season, presently at its peak, is shaping up to be relatively severe. In the US, the flu hospitalization rate was 29.4 per 100,000 people the week of Feb. 10, compared to a rate of 5.1 per 100,000 people during a comparable week in 2016, and pneumonia and mortality rates have presently passed epidemic thresholds. For those taking chance of off-season deals and Spring Break vacations to travel in March, this trend may be particularly alarming – next all, experts say crowded spaces, new germs, recirculated air, and jet lag can make travelers additional vulnerable to the flu.
  • Cameroonian doctor uses online platform to educate people on health matters

    CAMEROON, 2017/01/09 Dr. Sea gives health advice online, as a way to counter infrastructure bottlenecks in the country where access to doctors and remains a challenge. Dr. Sea specialises in internal medicine and cardiology and uses short videos to offer data and advice on how people can prevent and manage diseases inclunding receive treatment. The doctor who practices in Germany posts her videos on YouTube to enable ordinary people use the platform to follow her talks on computers and cell phones.Dr Suzan Enjema Aweh popularly known as Dr Sea gives health advice on YouTube and other online platforms, mostly in Pidgin English, reaching a large population of people without access to affordable healthcare in Cameroon and across the region.
  • Côte d’Ivoire invests to revamp health care system

    CôTE D'IVOIRE, 2016/12/26 Ivoirian authorities are preparing to roll out universal health coverage (couverture maladie universelle, CMU) to improve lower-gain citizens’ access to care. Passed by the National Assembly in 2014, the CMU aims to cover all residents through a dual-pronged approach, with a basic general scheme (régime général de base, RGB) and a non-contributory medical assistance scheme (régime d’assistance médicale, RAM). A pilot programme with students is scheduled to begin in January 2017, two years next the programme’s planned roll-out, with it slated to be fully operational by 2018, local media reported before this year. Enrolment is by presently under way, with some 600,000 individuals currently in the database.
  • Commemorating World AIDS Day in West and Central Africa with new push for innovative prevention efforts

    SENEGAL, 2016/11/28 This year, West and Central Africa will be commemorating World AIDS Day in the context of a powerful commitment to the new HIV Emergency Plan for the region. The focus is on HIV prevention under the theme Hands up for #HIVprevention. “We are happy to commemorate this year’s World AIDS Day in the full knowledge that regional leaders have committed to a new plan that will multiply by three the number of people on HIV treatment,” says the UNAIDS Director of the Regional Support Team for West and Central Africa, Dr Djibril Diallo.
  • Benin accepts TRIPS amendment to ease poor countries’ access to affordable medicines

    BENIN, 2016/11/24 The protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement, which was agreed in 2005, is intended to formalize a decision to relieve poorer WTO members’ access to affordable medicines. The protocol allows exporting nations to grant compulsory licences (i.e. licences granted without the patent holder’s consent) to their generic suppliers to manufacture and export medicines to nations that cannot manufacture the needed medicines themselves. These licences were originally limited to predominantly supplying the domestic market.
  • Zimbabwe’s prominent HIV/AIDS activist

    ZIMBABWE, 2016/10/01 Martha Tholanah, is passionate about working with minority communities with high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. The 51-year old tested positive for the virus in 2003. This marked the beginning of her fight against HIV/AIDS discrimination. "It was like a death sentence," she recalls. In Zimbabwe, sex workers and members of LGBTI community are often marginalized in sexual and reproductive health programs. But Tholanah says the fight against HIV and AIDS cannot be won if minorities are left out. "We talk of leaving no one behind, we have all these slogans, but we won't reach the targets set by the slogans if some sectors of the people are left behind because of their identity," explained the family therapy counselor. Tholanah established and headed health programs at Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) and the Network of Zimbabwean Positive Women (NZPW+).