Tag: DRC

Africa’s Cholera Crisis Demands Continental Action

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Africa is currently battling five major infectious disease outbreaks: Mpox, Measles, Dengue, Lassa Fever, and Cholera. Among these, Cholera has emerged as the deadliest, quietly eclipsing the rest in scale and lethality. Yet, despite its heavy toll, it remains under-prioritized. In 2024, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared Mpox a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS), a bold step triggered by its rapid transmission across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sierra Leone, and Uganda. That response was swift and strategic,…

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Rampant Sexual Networks Hinder Mpox Response in Africa

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Efforts to curb the spread of Mpox among African Union member states remain a challenge due to widespread and interconnected sexual networks, HealthTimes has learned. Uganda currently leads in new Mpox cases, accounting for 50% of all recorded infections in Africa over the past six weeks. The majority of cases in Uganda stem from the Clade 1B strain, which is sexually transmitted. Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have collectively recorded 94% of confirmed cases since the beginning of the year. Speaking during the…

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#JUSTIN: Zimbabwe Ready To Respond To Mpox

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Following detection of a deadly Mpox variant in several countries in the African region, Zimbabwe has enhanced its diseases surveillance systems at all entry points in a bid to effectively respond to the disease, Public Health Advisor to the President, Dr Agnes Mahomva has said. Even though Zimbabwe is yet to record an Mpox case, the virus has been detected in more than 10 African countries namley the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda,  Burundi, Cameroon, CAR, Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and South Africa. Sequencing of…

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DRC Battling Deadliest Measles Outbreak

Michael Gwarisa

THE Democratic Republic Of Congo (DRC) is fighting what could described as the deadliest measles outbreak, the worst since the 2011/2012 outbreak. By Michael Gwarisa The outbreak comes in the midst of an equally deadly health crisis in the form of Ebola which has claimed hundreds of lives since last year. Karel Janssens, Head of Mission of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the DRC said there was need to scale up assistance efforts in affected regions. While a rapid and adapted response is critical to limiting the impact of measles…

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Zim Prepared To Deal With Ebola- Gvt

Michael Gwarisa

ZIMBABWE just like any other country in the region, is not safe from the Ebola outbreak which has already been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a top government official has said. By Michael Gwarisa In an interview, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), Dr Agnes Mahomva said Zimbabwe takes the WHO Ebola warning seriously. We stand very much guided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) we know they are a strong technical arm of the world…

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Of Rape and HIV Infection, The Plight Of Refugees In Transit

Healthtimes

HAD it not been for the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eunice, (not her real name) could  have been completing  her university  studies this year. By Melody Chikono Fate has somehow found her stuck deep in  Tongogara refugee camp in Chipinge  where she  has not been able to continue with her studies and bright future aspirations are fading by the day. The war has left untold spiritual and physical wounds which can physically be felt  as she narrates her ordeal. The difficulties she experienced on her journey…

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Five lessons From Latest Ebola Outbreak In DRC-MSF

Healthtimes

Four people died in the most recent Ebola outbreak that occurred in a remote, forested area of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This small outbreak (five laboratory-confirmed and three probable cases) was quickly curtailed. The international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) shares lessons learned from this first occurrence of the deadly virus since the end of the large-scale Ebola outbreak that devastated West Africa in 2014-2015. 1. Train frontline health teams The scale of this outbreak was minimised, thanks in no small part to a nurse named Dieumerci.…

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DRC Ebola outbreak declared over

Healthtimes

SOUREC: 3-mob The small outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic of Congo is over, according to the World Health Organisation. Four people died and four survived after infection in what was the first outbreak since the 2014-2016 West African one that claimed 11,000 lives. It has been 42 days since the last known case. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “With the end of this epidemic, DRC has once again proved to the world that we can control the very deadly Ebola virus if we respond early in a coordinated and…

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