Cheap antibiotic to avert 2 million deaths per year from Sepsis for women who have a Vaginal Birth in resource limited settings

A single dose of a low-cost, generic, oral antibiotic called azithromycin, could prevent life threatening sepsis during child birth in up to 2 Million women per year a study shows. In a randomized, placebo-controlled study published in the New global maternal health research on February 9th, 2023, researchers found that a single 2-g oral dose of azithromycin given…

Lira Hospital Gets First Microbiology Laboratory

Lira Regional Referral Hospital has received its first microbiology laboratory and equipment to support the investigation of bacterial infections particularly those that have shown resistance to common antibiotics. The hospital, which receives over 1,000 out patient attendances and 100 admissions on a daily basis has been referring its clients to Kampala for advanced tests because…

West Nile Gets Modern Laboratory to Fight Zoonotic Disease

Uganda’s West Nile region has received a refurbished modern laboratory to enable veterinary officers to handle zoonotic diseases and emerging infectious diseases in animals in the sub-region. The facility which is located along Arua-Lia road in Arua was refurbished and equipped with the support of the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) and funding valued at 413…

Pastor Kayanja’s Acaricide Adulterated with Banned Chemicals

An investigation by the National Drug Authority (NDA) has found Tickoff, an acaricide produced by Pastor Robert Kayanja of Miracle Center Cathedral and two colleagues to be adulterated with chemicals that have since been banned. According to Abiaz Rwamwiri, NDA’s Public Relations Officer, the product which has been distributed in districts of Kiruhura, Lyantonde, Sembabule,…

Kiruddu hospital starts research to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance

Kiruddu National Referral Hospital has started conducting operational research for every patient first conducting confirmatory tests to find out, which infection and sensitivity of the organ they have before prescribing a drug that specifically treats the kind of infection. While this should be basic practice for any health worker, Charles Kabugo, the Hospital Executive Director…

Vaginal Ring, Injection ARVs to be Included as PrEP Options in Uganda

The Ministry of Health will this year add the vaginal ring and injectable anti-retroviral therapy cabotegravir to the list of options for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV-negative individuals who are at high risk of infection. Dr. Joshua Musinguzi the AIDS Control Programme Manager at the Ministry of Health told URN in an interview that they are…