Weekly Health News Highlights
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02/12/2024
Most countries are not vaccinating children against Covid-19; this is why they should
The debate regarding whether or not to vaccinate children against Covid-19 is seen through three lenses: immunogenicity, safety, and effectiveness.
Kemri TB vaccine likely to get WHO nod after trials
If adopted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), it will be the first vaccine to prevent active tuberculosis in adults and adolescents produced in Kenya.
https://nation.africa/kenya/news/kemri-tb-vaccine-likely-to-get-who-nod-after-trials-4171848
WHO steps up the Director-General’s flagship initiative to combat tuberculosis
Tuberculosis remains one of the world’s top infectious killers, causing 1.6 million deaths each year and affecting millions more, with enormous impacts on families and communities
Never again: After ‘vaccine apartheid’, Africa fights back
Nothing was a bigger jolt to African policymakers on the need for self-reliance than what came to be known as “vaccine apartheid”.
https://nation.africa/kenya/health/never-again-after-vaccine-apartheid-africa-fights-back–4170980
Marion Biotech: India cancels license of drug maker linked to child deaths in Uzbekistan
India has canceled the manufacturing license of a firm whose cough syrups have been linked to 18 child deaths in Uzbekistan
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65027557
Obesity cases are on the rise globally
According to the Global Nutrition Report of 2022, the prevalence of overweight children under five years of age is 2.9 percent and Uganda is ‘on course’ to prevent the figure from increasing.
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/healthy-living/obesity-cases-on-the-rise-globally-4164586
Health activists seek to contain commercial sex, unsafe abortions at landing sites
As HIV/AIDs continues to ravage different parts of the world, health activists have called for special attention to landing sites in Uganda which they say are breeding hubs for the virus and related unsafe sexual activities.
Our lifetime opportunity to enable water, sanitation, and hygiene for all
The numbers are staggering – around the world, 2 billion people lack safe drinking water, and 3.6 billion people – almost half the world’s population – use sanitation services that leave human waste untreated.
Global health security starts locally, building universal coverage
This is particularly concerning because the risks from emerging public health threats increase with climate change and are primarily felt in low-resource regions and countries.
The cholera emergency is avoidable
While the situation is unprecedented, the lesson to draw is not new: safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene are the only long-term and sustainable solutions to ending this cholera emergency and preventing future ones.
https://www.who.int/news/item/22-03-2023-the-cholera-emergency-is-avoidable
Experts call for action on the commercial determinants of health and health equity
The private sector has a significant influence on health through its products and practices. Commercial actors influence health in varied and complex ways.
Ebola-like Marburg virus kills five people in Tanzania
High fever is a common symptom of the deadly Ebola-like virus, often followed by bleeding and organ failure.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65037537
Candida auris fungal infections spreading in US at ‘alarming’ rate, says CDC
A deadly fungal infection that is hard to treat is spreading rapidly at an “alarming” rate, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65027557
Wamani went to the hospital to correct sight, left with none
He was diagnosed with glaucoma. The ophthalmologist told him he would need some operations to correct the condition. He instead lost sight completely
