The increasing number of people undergoing unnecessary Computed Tomography (CT) scans as the service becomes more available, especially in privately-run health facilities in the country, has raised concern among experts. Speaking during a regional meeting on the optimization of radiation protection of patients in Computed Tomography organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on…
Kenya’s Ministry of Health announced that, starting on March 7, 2023, more children in the country will benefit from the added protection of the world’s first malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01 (or RTS,S). The malaria vaccine expansion follows the Kenya National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (KENITAG) recommendation for expansion within Kenya’s lake-endemic region and the 2021 World…
Jessica Avol 19, counts herself lucky among teenage mothers to be back at school, thanks to talk therapy sessions that saw her fighting depression and stigma. In 2019, Avol who was 17 years dropped out of school while in senior two at Kitgum Standard Secondary in Kitgum Municipality school due to school fees challenges. The…
The Ministry of Health has launched a new HIV blood self-testing kit, which has been piloted and found effective for use among university students. The Health Minister, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, says that the test kit dubbed “Check Now” was developed by global medical device company Abbott and tested for effectiveness by the Uganda Virus Research…
By Nakisanze Segawa, Global Press Journal Uganda. This story was originally published by Global Press Journal. LWENGO, UGANDA — Ahmed was certain the test result was wrong. It was 2003, and he and his five months-pregnant wife were at a health facility where she was getting a checkup. As staff did for all expectant…
Repealing discriminatory laws against people living with HIV/AIDS saves lives and helps advance the end of the pandemic, says Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS. Byanyima observes that criminalizing laws chase people away from life-saving treatment and need to be removed. This was part of her message as the world marks Zero Discrimination Day,…
There are mixed feelings amongst scientists over complaints from some doctors about the duration of training heart disease specialists, saying that it is too long and pushing away many from specializing in cardiology. Speaking at a meeting attended by experts in heart disease from a number of countries across the world, Dr. Johnson Kansiime, the…
Delays in recommendation of remdesivir for patients with COVID-19 adversely shaped antimicrobial policy in hospitals around the world, preventing patients from receiving timely remdesivir says The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, at the 30th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). Remdesivir is a viral RNA polymerase inhibitor. An individual patient data meta-analysis has added relevant scientific evidence…
Researchers at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) are embarking on a study that could bring to life Uganda’s first vaccine against schistosomiasis, or bilharzia. Dr. Moses Egesa a researcher based in the MRC/UVRI research unit said in an interview on Monday that they will be infecting healthy volunteers with the bilharzia-causing worm to develop…
The Ministry of Health has called for domestic funding for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) as prevention and treatment programs that are entirely being funded by donors are nearly ending. Speaking at a meeting held on Wednesday to mark the World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, which is marked globally in January, Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth…