Global Health |

Shortened DR TB Treatment Offers Ray Of Hope For TB Patients

February 11, 2020 Michael Gwarisa

A Study by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) shows long-term effectiveness for shortened DR-TB treatment regimen up to 24 months after treatment completion Results from a Union-led observational study (1) published in The Lancet’s EClinicalMedicine, show that a nine-month shortened treatment regimen for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) delivered to patients under programmatic conditions maintains a good level of effectiveness up to 24 months after completion. Until now there has been limited data on the long-term effectiveness of this treatment regimen after completion. The study reports on…

Too Early For Zim To Issue Coronavirus Travel Warning Says WHO

January 25, 2020January 25, 2020 Michael Gwarisa

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is too early and unwarranted to issue any restriction on travel or trade for people infected with the novel Coronavirus. By Michael Gwarisa Addressing a combined interagency coordination committee on health and the national taskforce on epidemic prone diseases meeting on Friday, World Health Organisation Zimbabwe Disease Prevention and Control Officer Dr Anderson Chimosoro said WHO does not recommend restriction on travels or trade for people infected with novel coronavirus. At this stage there are no indications that there should be restrictions. It…

Top Global Pharmaceutical Firms Pledge Quality Healthcare For 1.7 Million Africans

January 16, 2020 Michael Gwarisa

JOHNSON &JOHNSON together with other major global pharmaceutical players have joined hands with Last Mile Health and Living Goods to increase access to healthcare to community based primary healthcare for nearly 1.7 million people in not less than six African countries. HealthTimes Repoter The other firms include Lilly, Novartis (Novartis.com), Pfizer (Pfizer.com), GSK (GSK.com) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (GatesFoundation.org) and the pledge is part of their shared commitment to accelerate universal health coverage. The Health Worker Training Initiative is a three-year investment, generously matched by The Audacious…

One In Every Four Children Not Registered- UNICEF

January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 Michael Gwarisa

DATA released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicate that one in four children under the age 5 (166 million), on average, are not registered in the world today. By Michael Gwarisa According to a publication by UNICEF called “Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030: Are we on track?” children under five fail to get registration owing to a plethora of barriers which range from poverty, long distance to health facilities among others. And even when they are, they may not have proof of registration. The reasons are…

2020: The International Year of the Nurse and Midwife

January 7, 2020 Healthtimes

THE World Health Organization has declared that 2020, the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth, will be the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. The year represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to celebrate and thank nurses and midwives for all that they do, and to make clear the critical contribution that our professions can make in achieving universal health coverage. It is urgent that we make the most of 2020. By Barbara Stilwell, PhD, RN, FRCN, executive director, Nursing Now, a three-year global campaign seeking to raise the profile of…

Extreme Mulnutrition Stalks Low &Middle Income Countries

December 16, 2019 Michael Gwarisa

A four year-paper report published in The Lancet reveals that there is increasing undernutrition and obesity in low and middle income countries owing to rapid changes in countries’ food systems. According to the report, more than a third of such countries had overlapping forms of malnutrition (45 of 123 countries in the 1990s, and 48 of 126 countries in the 2010s), particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and east Asia and the Pacific. Undernutrition and obesity can lead to effects across generations as both maternal undernutrition and obesity are associated…

Fake Malaria Drugs Kill 158,000 Yearly In Africa

December 10, 2019December 10, 2019 Michael Gwarisa

A recent study indicates that at least 158,000 people die as a result of fake malaria drugs in Sub-Saharan Africa every year owing to lack of a response mechanisms seen in other parts of the world, including supply chain regulation, track-and-trace technology and enforcement regimes. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 42% of detected cases of substandard or falsified pharmaceuticals occurred in Africa. Research findings from a study by the European Union-funded ENACT project on the threat of counterfeight drugs in Africa indicate that Globalisation has made it harder…

TB Activists Disrupt Global TB Conference Over Exorbitant Prices

October 30, 2019 Michael Gwarisa

DOCTORS Without Borders (MSF) joined tuberculosis (TB) activists to disrupt the opening ceremony of the 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Hyderabad today, urging pharmaceutical corporations to make improved drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) treatment affordable and available for hundreds of thousands of people around the world who desperately need it. For the first time in over half a century, there are three new DR-TB drugs – bedaquiline, delamanid and, most recently, pretomanid – that can offer people a better chance to be cured, but barriers to access including high…

Global tuberculosis epidemic cannot be ended unless it is eliminated in India

October 30, 2019October 30, 2019 Michael Gwarisa

THE 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health taking place in Hyderabad, India, has opened with a call to end the emergency of the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic, now responsible for killing some 1.5 million people each year. “Ending the TB emergency starts right here in India,” said José Luis Castro, Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), convenor of the Union World Conference, which is being held for the first time in India in half a century. The Indian government led by Prime…

Scientists Move Closer To Unleashing TB Vaccine

October 29, 2019 Michael Gwarisa

THE Union against Tuberculosis (TB) and Lung Disease Scientific Director, Dr Paula Fujiwara said scientists were a step closer to releasing a vaccine for the deadly disease which has claimed millions of lives globally. By Michael Gwarisa He said this during the 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health being held in Hyderabad, India We are one more cautious, but exciting, step closer to a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB). A vaccine is the ultimate prevention tool and the announcement today is welcome news, but as researchers discuss how to move…