Public Health
Misinformation making coronavirus fight 'even harder’ — WHO head
February 12th, 2020 World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says that misinformation is "making the work of our heroic workers even harder". "I would also like to speak briefly about the importance of facts, not fear," Tedros is...
Surgical masks, airport screenings and 'involuntary quarantine' - what works and what doesn't
February 5th, 2020 Public use of surgical masks, airport screenings, and so-called "involuntary quarantine” — forced isolation — are all being used to try to contain the coronavirus outbreak, writes MedicalBrief. But do they work or just give us a false sense...
Africa becomes WHO priority in fight against fast-spreading coronavirus
February 5th, 2020 The likelihood of a coronavirus outbreak in Africa was “very, very high”, the World Health Organisation warns, as cases of the respiratory illness soar past the 20,000 mark, writes Medicalbrief. South Africa along with 12 other African...
Anti-FGM movement gains ground in Sierra Leone, where 9/10 women are 'cut'
January 29th, 2020 About 700 traditional ‘cutters’ in Sierra Leone have pledged to abandon and advocate against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which is still not illegal in the country. According to the UN, Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of FGM in...
WHO 'between a rock and a hard place' over coronavirus
January 29th, 2020 Before the World Health Organisation dares declare a the coronavirus a global emergency, it must weigh scientific imperatives against China's political sensitivities, writes MedicalBrief. Most of the WHO criteria for declaring a global emergency...
Warning on sustained transmission of 2019-nCoV outbreak – WHO
January 22nd, 2020 The World Health Organisation warns of 'possible evidence' of the novel coronavirus outbreak in China spreading, writes MedicalBrief. UK scientists say that official totals of 321 people infected with the deadly and little-understood new virus...
The 8 issues that will define SA healthcare in 2020
January 15th, 2020 2020 will be a critically important year for healthcare in South Africa, writes Spotlight. It has formulated eight questions to set out what is at stake. How, if at all, will the design of National Health Insurance (NHI) change in 2020? One...Vaping may increase risk of chronic respiratory disease
A recent outbreak of deadly lung illnesses linked to vaping has put the practice in health professionals’ and regulators’ crosshairs, says a Scientific American report. Now the first longitudinal population-based study of e-cigarette use in a...Vitamin E acetate closely associated with product use-associated lung injury (EVALI)
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and other clinical and public health partners are investigating a national outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping,...
Worldwide surge in measles deaths a 'preventable outrage’ — WHO
December 11th, 2019 Worldwide more than 140,000 people died from a resurgence in measles in 2018, according to new estimates from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC). The WHO's director general, Tedros...
Desperate times in Zimbabwe mean home childbirth services rampant
December 4th, 2019 Zimbabwe's worsening health crisis is forcing desperate women to seek out traditional birth attendants, who often deliver babies using their bare hands with no sterilisation or post-natal care, reports API. When her contractions became...
Taxi drivers storm hospital over baby's body held in unpaid bills dispute
November 27th, 2019 The storming of an Indonesian hospital to retrieve the body of a baby claimed to have been held hostage over an unpaid bill, has sparked a renewed debate about the treatment of parents who can't afford to pay their medical bills. A motorcyclist...
New international approaches to drug use needed – Lancet series
November 24th, 2019 A new international approaches to drug use is needed, according to a landmark series of papers led by researchers from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at University of New South Wales in Australia and published in The...
Up in smoke – Are we wrong about the dangers of vaping?
November 24th, 2019 Since vaping became a popular alternative to smoking, the big tobacco companies have been moving into the market. But do we know enough about the risks? Simon Usborne of The Guardian explores the science, history, on-the-ground realities...
Rising problematic use in US states where marijuana is legal
November 24th, 2019 Problematic use of marijuana among adolescents and adults increased after legalisation of recreational marijuana use, according to a study from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine and Columbia University Mailman...