Africa
Congo doctors arrested for murder of WHO medic
Three Congolese doctors have been arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the killing of a World Health Organisation (WHO) medic, BBC News reports a military prosecutor has said. Cameroonian doctor Richard Mouzoko was shot dead in April at...More Ebola cases in eastern DRC 'cross-roads' city
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are racing to contain an Ebola epidemic, after a gold miner with a large family contaminated several people in the east’s main city of Goma before dying of the haemorrhagic fever. The DRC government...
Concern over contraceptive solutions for women at high risk of HIV
August 7th, 2019 Over the past three days, the World Health Organisation guideline development group has been meeting to discuss its recommendations for the use of contraceptive methods by women at high risk of contracting HIV. A Daily Maverick report says that in...Lesotho opens 'lowest cost in world' cannabis processing plant
Lesotho, long home to an illicit cannabis farming industry, is poised to become one of the world's biggest producers of medicinal cannabis oil with the opening of a British-owned processing plant, reports The Daily Telegraph. The company's...DRC Ebola epidemic declared a global emergency – at last
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been declared a global emergency, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) calling for international support to stop its spread, according to a New Scientist report. It says this...Death toll in the DRC Ebola outbreak passes 1,500
More than 1,500 people have died in a nearly 10-month-old outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the DRC Health Ministry is quoted in The Citizen as saying. As of Sunday, 1,506 people have died out of 2,239 recorded cases, it...Bafflement as WHO says DRC Ebola crisis 'not an international health emergency'
Controversially, the World Health Organisation has decided that while the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo - with new cases this week in Uganda - does not meet the criteria for 'an international health emergency'. The...85 health workers killed or injured in DRC as epidemic pass 2,000
A mob killed an Ebola health worker and looted a clinic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, underscoring a breakdown in public trust that is hampering efforts to contain the deadly virus. Attacks on treatment centres by armed groups and mistrust...WHO issues new Ebola vaccine recommendations
The World Health Organisation’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) has issued new recommendations to address vaccination challenges in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The recommendations include...Madagascar's devastating measles epidemic takes 1,200 lives
As Madagascar faces its largest measles outbreak in history and cases soar well beyond 115,000, an IoL report says that resistance to vaccinating children is not the driving force. Just 58% of people on Madagascar's main island have been vaccinated...Hospital reports a jump in cholera cases in Kenyan capital
The Kenyan capital of Nairobi has experienced a jump in cholera cases, one of the city's top hospitals has announced, adding that eight of its own staff had been infected by the disease. "There is an upsurge of cholera cases in the county of...Merck Foundation to train specialist Zimbabwean doctors in India
Merck Foundation has announced that it will train medical personnel from Zimbabwe in various specialities in India starting this year, says an African Daily Voice report. This follows a meeting conducted between Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Auxillia...Disease costs continent almost $2.4trn a year — WHO
Disease is causing an “astounding” drain on Africa’s economy, costing the continent almost $2.4trn each year. The Daily Telegraph reports that this is according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) which said the continent’s economy will...DRC Ebola outbreak spreading at its fastest rate yet
Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak is spreading at its fastest rate yet, eight months after it was first detected, The Times reports the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced. Each of the past two weeks has registered a record...Zim doctors protest over shortages upping mortality risk
Picketing doctors say that patients in Zimbabwe's biggest state hospital are dying due to a lack of medicines and basic supplies, brought on by a cash crunch that has crippled the economy. The Times reports that in a rare protest by senior medical...