Health Archives - Page 3 of 5

20/09/2022

Ugandan Ministry of Health declares Ebola Virus Disease outbreak

The Ugandan Ministry of Health has declared an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic following the confirmation of a Sudan ebolavirus case in Mubende district in central Uganda.

Doctor Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, said during a news conference, “We want to notify the people that we have an epidemic of Ebola which we verified yesterday.

The patient who had the verified case, according to Doctor Atwine, had a high temperature, diarrhoea, stomach discomfort, and vomiting blood. Initially, he had been given malaria medication.

This comes after a National Rapid Response team investigation into six mysterious deaths that have happened in the district this month. Eight suspected cases are now being treated at a medical facility.

“Uganda is no stranger to effective Ebola control. Thanks to its expertise, action has been taken to quickly to detect the virus and we can bank on this knowledge to halt the spread of infections,” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Africa’s regional director, said.

The WHO said there had been seven previous outbreaks of the Ebola Sudan strain, four in Uganda and three in Sudan.

It said Uganda last reported an outbreak of Ebola Sudan strain ten years ago in 2012 and an outbreak of the Ebola Zaire strain in 2019.

In recent outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere, the WHO reported that ring vaccination of high-risk individuals with the Ervebo vaccine had been extremely effective in controlling the spread of Ebola. However, this vaccine had only been approved to protect against the Zaire strain.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Africa, stated, “We are collaborating closely with the national health authorities to look into the origin of this epidemic and assist the efforts to swiftly implement appropriate control measures.

Humans and other primates can contract the severe, frequently deadly disease known as Ebola. Three of its six species—Bundibugyo, Sudan, and Zaire—have historically been responsible for major epidemics. In previous epidemics, the Sudan virus’ case fatality rate ranged from 41% to 100%. Early commencement of supportive care has been found to drastically lower Ebola-related fatalities.

13/09/202226/09/2022

New Measles-Rubella Dose for Children Is Introduced by the Health Ministry

As part of the routine immunization schedule, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has added a second dose of the measles-rubella vaccine for children older than one and a half years.

Dr Alfred Driwale, the manager of Uganda’s National Expanded Immunization Program (UNEPI), reassured the public that the global goal is to eradicate measles, and Uganda has chosen to start administering the vaccine in two doses since the current one only gives 85% protection.

A measles-rubella vaccination is administered to a kid at nine months of age, according to the current national schedule. The newly introduced second dosage, which will begin in March, will be given to infants aged one and a half years.

According to the Ministry of Health, all children between the ages of one and four will need to receive a second dose of the measles-rubella vaccine by October 2022; at that point, all children will need to have had doses of the vaccine in order to be deemed completely immunized.

While at the launch conference, countries discussed experiences on the introduction of vaccinations after the first year of life of children but also what Uganda may learn from abroad, which also included other immunization specialists from elsewhere in Africa.

According to Dr Simon Antara, Executive Director of the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), Ghana has been an excellent example of a country that is performing well after one year of heavy coverage of recently launched vaccinations.

He stated that societies must be prepared to absorb new vaccinations when they become available, as immunization programs will evolve in response to the illness load that countries now experience.

Uganda, on the other hand, has plans to provide several new vaccinations for infants above the age of one year, including those against meningitis and yellow fever, initially in endemic regions. Dr Driwale notes that thus far, for children over a year old, they only have HPV for ten-year-old females and Tetanus for teenage girls.

As the COVID-19 pandemic reached its peak, the World Health Organization has been reporting that countries experienced significant disruptions in the uptake of routine vaccines. However, according to Dr Driwale, these disruptions only occurred early on in Uganda’s experience, and the nation quickly developed stability in its healthcare system that allowed it to connect with people with routine services.

02/09/2022

Ethiopian National Influenza Laboratory has joined the World Health Organization’s worldwide influenza surveillance network.

The Ethiopian Public Health Institute’s (EPHI) National Influenza Laboratory has been designated as a World Health Organization (WHO) National Influenza Centre (NIC), and the Ethiopian laboratory has joined the WHO global influenza monitoring network, according to the WHO website.

The WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) now recognizes the Ethiopian Public Health Institute’s National Influenza Laboratory as a full member following an on-site examination by a team of WHO specialists.

According to WHO, the panel suggested that Ethiopia continue to participate to regional and global influenza monitoring, namely by increasing shipment of influenza-positive specimens to a WHO cooperating Centre for candidate influenza vaccine selection four times per year.

The evaluation team also advised Ethiopia to continue providing frequent influenza surveillance data to WHO and to continue participating in the yearly WHO GISRS external quality assurance program.

WHO emphasizes that the on-site evaluation was carried out by a WHO team comprised of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System Lead, a technical specialist from the WHO Regional Office for Africa, and a laboratory coordinator from the WHO Ethiopia Country Office.

Using a standardized assessment instrument, the assessment mission assessed the condition of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute’s National Influenza Laboratory against the WHO NIC Terms of Reference.

By identifying, prioritizing, and carrying out capacity development initiatives including training, the assessment’s recommendations will assist Ethiopia in further strengthening the recently established National Influenza Centre.

The 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR) and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework are two more initiatives that the Ethiopian National Influenza Laboratory is projected to support.

WHO and the WHO Collaborating Centres for Influenza will continue to provide the National Influenza Center with technical advice, assistance, influenza reagents, and training.

The Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, established in 1952, is a global network designed to defend people from the threat of influenza by efficient collaboration and sharing of viruses, data, and advantages based on Member States’ dedication to a global public health paradigm.

The World Health Organization has recognized the National Influenza Center of Ethiopia as a member of the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, which includes 155 institutions in 125 nations.

05/08/202205/08/2022

UNAIDS, UNICEF, and WHO launch a global alliance to end AIDS in children by 2030

MONTREAL, CANADA – The 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal, Canada, saw the launch of a new Global Alliance for Ending AIDS in Children by 2030, which was declared by key figures.

05/08/2022

Kenya launch five year reproductive health research agenda

KENYA – The Kenyan Ministry of Health has created a five-year priority research and learning agenda for reproductive health in order to enhance the coordination of reproductive health research and programmatic efforts.

03/08/2022

UNICEF and WHO urge governments to allocate more resources for breastfeeding promotion policies

AFRICA – In honour of World Breastfeeding Week 2022, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) have encouraged African governments, donors, civil society, and the private sector to dedicate more resources to safeguard, enhance, and support breastfeeding policies and programmes.

01/08/202203/08/2022

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania launch Behavioural Change Campaign to Combat COVID-19

EAST AFRICA – In response to an upsurge in COVID-19 infections in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, Amref Health Africa, Unilever, and the National Business Compact on Coronavirus (NBCC), with assistance from relevant partners, have launched a new behavioural change campaign in the three nations.

29/07/202217/08/2022

Indian hospital chains change medical tourism model by going global

INDIA – According to a report in the Economic Times, Indian hospital chains are working to change the way that people travel to other countries for medical care by accelerating direct entry into regions like the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the rest of South Asia, which are the main sources of patients for various diseases in India.

28/07/202228/07/2022

AstraZeneca supplies Kenya with non-mydriatic digital technologies to boost NCD screening

KENYA – AstraZeneca, a global pharmaceutical corporation, has supplied Kenya’s Ministry of Health with digital non-mydriatic research equipment that employs retinal cameras to assess a patient’s risk of already having or developing diabetes and hypertension through a single retinal screening.

27/07/202227/07/2022

Special health report demonstrates COVID-19 resistance in South Africa through hybrid immunity.

ESWATINI – In a recent study, Vaccines and Infectious Analytics Research (VIDA) at the University of Witwatersrand identified potential advantages of hybrid immunity, which results from past COVID-19 infection and immunisation against coronavirus variants and subvariants.