Doctors have warned of an increase in resistance to common antifungal drugs used for the treatment of infections like candidiasis. Drug-resistant tuberculosis is also a growing phenomenon, while malaria parasites also are becoming resistant to once-effective first-line anti-malarial treatments. The World Health Organisation has already warned that over four million Africans a year could die as…
Uganda registered an increase in Female Genital Mutilation cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to reports from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development. FGM is the deliberate cutting or injuring of genitals to change their appearance often for religious or cultural purposes. In Uganda, FGM is practiced in the districts of Bukwo, Kapchorwa,…
Uganda is to get its first Human Milk Bank also commonly referred to as ‘liquid gold.’ The facility to be hosted at Nsambya Hospital will also be the second in East Africa with one in Kenya. The 3.5 Billion Shillings innovation is being mooted as a solution to challenges faced by mothers of premature babies…
Study includes more than 2,700 healthcare workers in Delhi, India, who were symptomatic and underwent RT-PCR testing for COVID-19. Findings suggest 50% vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses of BBV152. This vaccine effectiveness is lower than the vaccine efficacy suggested by Bharat Biotech’s phase 3 randomised control trial results. The authors note several…
First global estimates of impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in 2020 suggests additional 53 million cases of major depressive disorder and 76 million cases of anxiety disorders were due to the pandemic. Women and younger people were the most affected by major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders in 2020. Countries hit hardest…
The fluvoxamine arm of the TOGETHER trial, a randomised adaptive platform trial investigating the efficacy of repurposed treatments for COVID-19 among high-risk Brazilian adult outpatients, is the largest trial of the SSRI fluvoxamine as a COVID-19 treatment to date. Of the 741 participants who were treated in an emergency setting for COVID-19 after receiving fluvoxamine,…
Study of 621 people in the UK with mild COVID-19 infections found that people who received two vaccine doses could still pass the infection on to vaccinated and unvaccinated household members. The analysis found that 25% of vaccinated household contacts tested positive for COVID-19 compared with 38% of unvaccinated household contacts. The infectiousness of vaccinated…
The Embassy of Sweden and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have signed an agreement of UGX 67 Billion Shillings to boost the Covid-19 vaccination in Uganda. Maria Håkansson, the Ambassador of Sweden to Uganda and the UNICEF Representative in Uganda, Dr Munir Safieldin signed the agreement on Thursday at the UNICEF offices in Kampala. According…
Health workers who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will be denied access to hospitals. This comes at a time when health workers are hesitant to get vaccinated. According to the health ministry’s plan, by now at least 150,000 health workers should have been fully vaccinated but data from the Ministry of Health shows less…
Doctors under the Uganda Medical Association (UMA) announced a strike on November 22, 2021. Now, hours after the strike began, some doctors seem to have disregarded the strike by showing up for work but others are stuck to the decision by UMA. At many health facilities around Kampala, doctors dressed in their white coats are…