Category: Global Health

We also look at whats happneing across the world

Bill & Melinda Gates Pledges US$1.6 billion To Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, To Protect The Next Generation With Vaccines

Healthtimes

THE Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a five-year, US$1.6 billion commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to deliver lifesaving vaccines to the world’s poorest countries. The commitment was announced at the Global Vaccine Summit 2020, hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom. Funding secured today for Gavi’s next strategic period will help the Alliance reach an additional 300 million children in the world’s most vulnerable communities and save up to eight million lives, bringing the total number of children immunized with Gavi support to more…

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28 Million Surgeries Could Be Cancelled worldwide: The Collateral Damage To Other Medical Services

Healthtimes

THE current COVID-19 pandemic is the defining crisis of our time and has seized the collective attention of the world. However, the potential collateral damage threatens to add to the effects of COVID-19 for years after the post-pandemic period. 28.4 million surgical procedures will be postponed or cancelled according to a new study published in the British Journal of Surgery. The research was performed by a global group of researchers known as the ‘COVIDSurg Collaborative’ that rapidly set up the project in record time and formed one of the largest…

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Rasha Kelej creates a song by singers from 11 African countries to support medical workers during Coronavirus battle

Michael Gwarisa

Rasha Kelej: I have directed and produced for the first time, a song by singers from 11 African countries for the first time together in three languages; English, French and Arabic to show our support for medical workers around the world. This is my personal contribution towards the response to Coronavirus pandemic. In what has now become a global way of showing support and appreciation for medical workers around the world, during Coronavirus battle, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and One of 100 Most Influential Africans started her…

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WHO Releases New Guidance For Outdoor Events And Mass Gatherings Amid Pandemic

Healthtimes

As leading countries move towards establishing normalcy, World Health Organization (WHO) issued guidelines on mass gathering amid the pandemic. SOURCE: THE REPUBLICWORLD.COM As leading countries move towards establishing normalcy, World Health Organization (WHO) issued guidelines on mass gathering amid the pandemic. The new guidelines, which include suggestions such as holding gathering outside, inviting only healthy people etc, recommend changes to large events and encourage people to do a ‘risk assessment’ before organizing events. This comes as the coronavirus pandemic has infected a total of 6,063,588 and killed 369244 people across…

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COVID-19 To Cause 1.4 Million TB Deaths

Michael Gwarisa

KNCV Tuberculosis (TB) Foundation (KNCV) has  warned of a spike TB deaths over the next five years due to failure to diagnose and treat new cases during the prevailing lockdwons being observed at a global level. By Michael Gwarisa Agnes Gebhard, technical director of KNCV said an estimated 20 percent more TB patients are expected to die between now and 2025 especially in low and middle income countries. Millions of TB patients worldwide are fighting for their lives and now have to cope with COVID-19 as well. Extra support for these…

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COVID-19 and clinical distancing

Michael Gwarisa

THE International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) has today described the development of two novel devices, a negative pressure procedural tent and a portable helmet device, as having the potential to protect healthcare workers and transform the care of COVID-19 patients across the globe. The devices were developed by a team of engineering and medical staff at the University of Michigan. Both devices create a negative pressure environment for the wearer, which is essential for severely ill COVID-19 patients as a negative pressure environment prevents the infected…

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Too Much Focus On COVID-19 Pandemic Could Derail HIV Response Gains

Healthtimes

A UNAIDS and World Health Organisation modelling group warns that slackening the HIV Health Service delivery over the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) response could cost about half a million lives in Sub-saharan Africa in the next two years. By HealthTimes Reporter Since 2010, new HIV infections among children in sub-Saharan Africa have declined by 43percent, from 250 000 in 2010 to 140 000 in 2018, owing to the high coverage of HIV services for mothers and their children in the region. Curtailment of these services by COVID-19 for six months could…

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De-funding WHO Will Be Catastrophic- The Union Warns

Michael Gwarisa

THE International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) expressed its indignation at the decision by US President Trump to announce the suspension of its funding of the World Health Organization (WHO). The Union President,Professor Guy Marks said,“Undermining the WHO at a time when it is courageously leading the global coordination of the COVID-19 response is appalling public health policy. Infectious respiratory diseases know no borders and now is not the time to hinder global collaboration. The main game at present is to save lives, not to put them…

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Trump Suspends Funding WHO For Mishandling COVID-19

Healthtimes

UNITED States President Donald Trump announced Tuesday a suspension of US funding to the World Health Organization because he said it had covered up the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak in China before it spread around the world. Trump told a press conference that  he was instructing his administration to halt funding while “a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.” According to Trump, the WHO prevented transparency over the outbreak and the United States —…

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WhatsApp Limits Mass Message-forwarding To Curb Fake News During COVID-19 Pandemic

Healthtimes

ENCRYPTED  messaging service WhatsApp is restricting how often messages can be forwarded in a bid to stop misinformation from ballooning on its platform. SOURCE: BUSINESS INSIDER WhatsApp announced on Tuesday that “frequently forwarded” messages, which it defines as messages that have already been forwarded on five times, will be limited so users can only forward them to one chat at a time. The aim is to stop rumors from spreading exponentially on the messaging service. With the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, WhatsApp’s parent company Facebook has been faced with…

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