Africa
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...Efforts to curb DRC's Ebola outbreak are failing — MSF
The international president of Medécins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) has issued a scathing analysis of the efforts to control the 7-month-old Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, saying the community hostility...Tunisia's health minister resigns over new-born baby deaths
Tunisia's Health Minister Abderraouf Cherif has resigned following the deaths of 11 new-born babies at a hospital in the capital, Tunis. BBC News reports that all of the babies died of septic shock at the Rabta Maternity Hospital between 7-8...Poorer African nations rank high in disease-fighting league table, but SA languishes
African countries with modest national incomes are outperforming some richer nations on the continent in the fight against diseases of poverty known as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), according to a new league table ranking. NTDs such as...Zimbabwean doctors's strike collapses
Zimbabwean doctors have ended a 40-day strike for better pay and conditions that crippled public hospitals without a deal on salary increases, their union said, but warned that members may not report for work daily due to acute fuel shortages. The...Zimbabwe fires 550 doctors and radiographers over 'unlawful' strike
A month-long impasse between government and doctors over pay and conditions has left Zimbabwe’s health care system in a critical state, after the government suspended more than 500 medical staff. The Guardian reports that the government refuses to...Zimbabwe doctors strike, demanding pay in hard currency
Doctors in Zimbabwe have gone on strike in protest over poor working conditions and have also demanded that the government pay their salaries in foreign currency. The Times reports that the strike is the second in as many months by junior doctors,...Kenya bans Marie Stopes from offering abortion services
Kenya has banned the international charity Marie Stopes from offering abortion services to women and girls after complaints it was promoting the termination of unwanted pregnancies, the government and charity officials are quoted in an IoL report as...