IGIHE

Category: Health

  • Saudi Mers Death Toll Passes 100

    Saudi Mers Death Toll Passes 100

    {{Saudi Arabia says more than 100 patients infected with the Mers coronavirus have now died since the outbreak began in 2012.}}

    The health ministry said another eight deaths occurred on Sunday, taking the toll to 102.

    The acting health minister says three hospitals in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam have been designated specialist centres for treating Mers.

    Mers causes symptoms including fever, pneumonia and kidney failure.

    The rate of infections is increasing and the World Health Organization (WHO) has offered to help Saudi Arabia investigate infection patterns.

    The Saudi health ministry reported the latest deaths in a statement late on Sunday.

    Among the victims were a child in the capital, Riyadh, and three people in the western city of Jeddah.

    The ministry said it had detected a total of 16 new cases of Mers (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) over the past 24 hours.

    Acting health minister Adel Fakieh said the three hospitals designated as specialist centres for Mers treatment can accommodate 146 patients in intensive care.

    On Saturday, Egypt recorded its first case – a 27-year-old man who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia.

    Correspondents say many Saudis have voiced concerns on social media about government handling of the outbreak.

    Last Monday, Saudi health minister Abdullah al-Rabiah was sacked without explanation as the Mers death toll climbed.

    wirestory

  • Brazil Investigates Possible Mad Cow Case

    Brazil Investigates Possible Mad Cow Case

    {{Brazil is investigating a potential case of atypical mad cow disease, the agriculture ministry said on Thursday, just over a year after several countries banned Brazilian beef imports when a similar case of the disease was confirmed.}}

    A routine inspection at a slaughterhouse in Mato Grosso state found an animal that veterinarians suspect of having a neurological problems, a ministry spokesman said in an e-mail.

    Laboratory tests are under way and atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, has not yet been confirmed, the e-mail said.

    In late 2012 tests showed that a cow that died two years earlier in Parana state had developed the protein that causes mad cow disease, though the animal never developed the disease and died of natural causes.

    The case was considered “atypical” as the animal contracted the protein spontaneously, rather than through the feed supply. Classical cases of mad cow are caused when cattle are fed brain or spinal tissue of other ruminants, which is now forbidden in nearly all beef producing countries including Brazil.

    The World Animal Health Organization maintained Brazil’s status as a country with an insignificant risk of BSE after it confirmed the atypical Parana case in tests carried out in England in 2012.

    Even so, several countries including South Korea, China and Egypt banned some or all beef imports from Brazil, the world’s top exporter.

    Humans can develop what is known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease from consuming animals with mad cow, and more than 150 people have died from it. Mad cow was first discovered in Britain in 1986, but strict controls have tempered its spread.

    reuters

  • Experts Discuss Use of Nuclear Medicine to Diagnose Cancer

    Experts Discuss Use of Nuclear Medicine to Diagnose Cancer

    {{Health Experts from 15 African countries have met in Kampala,Uganda to discuss the use of nuclear medicine for faster diagnosis and treatment of cancer.}}

    The use of nuclear medicine is an intervention that seeks to help detect the spread of cancer in patients much faster.

    According to experts, nuclear medicine was unrivaled in terms of accuracy particularly when examining the extent the cancer has spread.

    “If a patient has thyroid cancer and you want to determine the extent the disease has spread, you can use nuclear medicine. You use particular radiopharmaceuticals. These are given to patients and they go to the blood. From what they show, you can tell the body parts the disease has spread to. It is a one body scan,” explains Dr. Zeridah Muyinda Uganda’s consultant radiologist.

  • Unwanted Pregnancy Avoidable

    Unwanted Pregnancy Avoidable

    {{Unwanted or unplanned pregnancies are in most cases associated with ignorance and drug abuse in particular in Rwanda.}}

    While such unplanned expectations are avoidable, it is likely to be an opposite case when one is under the influence of alcohol especially illicit brew and narcotics.

    Drunkenness and consumption of illicit brew and cannabis in most cases makes one, especially women to lose their senses hence easy to seduce and to lure into unprotected sex.

    This in the end leads to abortion, infanticide arguing that the person responsible for the pregnancy refused to take responsibility and that they are not able to give a child basic necessities.

    On April 21, a 23 year-old woman in Rukomo sector of Nyagatare district was arrested for allegedly terminating a five-month pregnancy.

    The suspect allegedly threw the fetus in a dustbin where it was recovered by area residents.

    The suspect, a bar attendant in Gahurura cell argued that the would-be father had denied responsibility of the pregnancy and that she lacked means to sustain the pregnancy and to take care of the child, once its born. These are vague excuses normally given by culprits.

    Abortion is illegal and punishable under article 162 of the penal code.
    Abortion is only allowed on four grounds include sexual assault, incest and on medical grounds and it has to be declared by a medical practitioner and approved by a legal court.

    It is therefore a wise decision for women to plan when to have children, have protected sex to avoid such unwanted pregnancies and abortions, which might also result into death.

    Most of these unsafe abortions are carried out by unqualified providers such as traditional healers, lay practitioners or pharmacists using dangerous methods, which are unhygienic and carry a high risk of complications, and may, at times, lead to death.

    About 47 per cent of pregnancies in Rwanda are said to be unintended, according to a study, the first of its kind, jointly conducted by the Ministry of Health, the National University of Rwanda’s School of Public Health and the U.S.-based Guttmacher Institute, released in 2012.

    RNP

  • Germany Supports Vaccination in EAC

    Germany Supports Vaccination in EAC

    {{Germany has signed an intergovernmental agreement with the East African Community (EAC) to support vaccinations in the region.}}

    According to the agreement, Germany will contribute €20 million to support an immunisation programme that will be implemented in collaboration with the GAVI Alliance.

    The EAC secretary general, Richard Sezibera, signed the agreement on behalf of the Community.

    According to a statement from the EAC secretariat, Sezibera expressed appreciation to German support towards saving lives.

    “This is a very important and critical programme, and I am sure with such commitment, it will grow. There is need for immediate support in the coordination of cold chain logistics,” said Sezibera.

    The secretary general also said that the five EAC partner states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are introducing antigens simultaneously, making cold chain logistics support vital.

    Hans Koeppel, the Chargé d´Affaires at the German embassy in Dar es Salaam said, “The new commitments underline that Germany continues to be a strong partner for the EAC, contributing to an integration process that puts the people in the centre.”

    The statement added that since 1998, the Germany development cooperation (GIZ) has contributed to the capacity development of the EAC Secretariat through various programmes and projects.

    Germany’s funding for Technical and Financial Cooperation with EAC amounts to approximately €125.9 million. Germany also provides substantial support for the health sector in selected EAC member states.

    nv

  • Zanzibar Hosts EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers of Health

    Zanzibar Hosts EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers of Health

    {{The 9th Ordinary Meeting of the EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers of Health is scheduled to take place 14 to 17 April 2014 at the Zanzibar Beach Resort Hotel in Zanzibar, Tanzania.}}

    The meeting will be held through the Session of Senior Officials from Monday 14 to Tuesday 15 April, Session of Principal Secretary/ Permanent Secretaries on Wednesday 16 April; and the Ministerial Session on Thursday 17 April 2014.

    The Honourable Minister of Health of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania is expected to officiate at the official opening of the Ministerial session.

    The meeting will be attended by delegates from the EAC Partner States’ National Ministries responsible for Health, Science and Technology and EAC Affairs as well as various National Statutory Regulatory and Services Authorities, Agencies, Boards and Councils and also National Health Research and Academic Institutions, among others.

    The meeting will consider, among others, matters under EAC regional cooperation on health systems, research and policy among the EAC Partner States; the EAC regional cooperation and integration on the Prevention and Control of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases;

    the EAC regional cooperation and integration on Medicines and Food Safety; the EAC regional cooperation and integration on the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).

    The meeting will also consider the EAC regional cooperation and integration on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH); and the convening of the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization Donor Roundtable Meeting in June 2014.

  • Sensors May Prevent Pain For Amputees

    Sensors May Prevent Pain For Amputees

    {{Researchers have developed a new type of pressure sensor – dubbed a “second skin” – which they say could prevent dangerous sores.}}

    The technology is being developed initially for amputees who suffer rubbing against their artificial limbs.

    If the Southampton University work is successful the sensors may also be used for others at risk, such as wheelchair-users and those confined to bed.

    The new technology could be available to NHS patients within three years.

    Pressure sensors are already used, but this Medical Research Council-backed project – in partnership with the prosthetics firm Blatchford – differs in that it is able to detect rubbing as well as downward pressure.

    This could make it better at detecting sores at an earlier stage.

    Richard Bradbury, 26, who is a technician at Blatchford and had an amputation below his right knee soon after he was born and then above the knee in his teens, has long experience of discomfort caused by pressure and rubbing against his prosthetic limb.

    {{“It can be very distressing.}}

    “When I was younger and getting bigger and growing more I had up to four or five legs a year. And because you’re getting bigger you’re not going into the socket as much. And it can rub, it can create sores, blisters.”

    It is thought there are about 50,000 lower limb amputees in the UK. A report in 2000 by the Audit Commission said nearly one in four did not use their prosthetic limbs as much as they would like – often because of pain and discomfort.

    Dr Andy Franklyn Miller, a sports medicine specialist who has worked extensively with military amputees, said it was still a serious problem.

    “A limb that doesn’t fit because of pain means a limb that can’t be worn. And often that then accompanies an increase in weight which means the socket that the body fits into, no longer fits. And so it’s a real catch-22.”

    The sensor is thin and flexible like a small golden postage stamp. It is taped to a liner – essentially a cushioned sock – which is then placed in the socket connecting the stump and the artificial limb.

    It sends that information to researchers and clinicians who can monitor the pressure peaks and troughs as the patient walks, and see if any adjustments are needed to prevent discomfort or pain.

    The researchers are planning to develop a system of traffic light alerts for smartphones, warning of potential problems. That may mean just putting on an extra sock for padding, because the stump can change shape during the course of the day. Or it may mean a visit to a clinic for further assessment.

    wirestory

  • Millions Wasted on Flu Drug, Claims Major Report

    Millions Wasted on Flu Drug, Claims Major Report

    Hundreds of millions of pounds may have been wasted on a drug for flu that works no better than paracetamol, a landmark analysis has said.

    The UK has spent £473m on Tamiflu, which is stockpiled by governments globally to prepare for flu pandemics.

    The Cochrane Collaboration claimed the drug did not prevent the spread of flu or reduce dangerous complications, and only slightly helped symptoms.

    The manufacturers Roche and other experts say the analysis is flawed.

    The antiviral drug Tamiflu was stockpiled from 2006 in the UK when some agencies were predicting that a pandemic of bird flu could kill up to 750,000 people in Britain. Similar decisions were made in other countries.

    Hidden data
    The drug was widely prescribed during the swine flu outbreak in 2009.

    Drug companies do not publish all their research data. This report is the result of a colossal fight for the previously hidden data into the effectiveness and side-effects of Tamiflu.

    It concluded that the drug reduced the persistence of flu symptoms from seven days to 6.3 days in adults and to 5.8 days in children. But the report’s authors said drugs such as paracetamol could have a similar impact.

    On claims that the drug prevented complications such as pneumonia developing, Cochrane suggested the trials were so poor there was “no visible effect”.

    BBC

  • WHO urges global push to treat hepatitis C

    WHO urges global push to treat hepatitis C

    {{The World Health Organization called Wednesday for a dramatic increase in screening and treatment of hepatitis C, saying higher demand would help drive down the cost of drugs for the disease.}}

    Most of the 185 million people chronically infected with the liver disease worldwide do not know they have it due to lack of screening, and many of those who do cannot access treatment due to the high cost, the UN agency said.

    Some 350,000 people die of hepatitis C-related liver diseases annually, and as many as four million people become infected each year, according to the WHO, which on Wednesday released its first-ever guidelines on fighting the disease.

    Hepatitis C is caused by a virus that can be transmitted through sharing needles, receiving contaminated blood transfusions or having sex with an infected person.

    No vaccine exists for the disease, but new antiviral treatments like Gilead Sciences’ Sofosbuvir, recently approved in the United States and the European Union, have been shown to cure more than 90 percent of those treated, up from 50 to 60 percent for the previous generation of drugs.

    But with a price tag of $84,000 (61,000 euros) for a 12-week treatment of Sofosbuvir in the United States — or about $1,000 a tablet — few can afford it, WHO expert Peter Beyer said.

    Producing that drug meanwhile costs only between $68 and $136 per treatment, Beyer said, insisting the market for the drugs needed to be vastly expanded to spur more competition and help shrink the prices.

    “We want to benefit from the experience we have with HIV,” he said, noting that the cost of drugs used to treat the virus that leads to AIDS had been pushed down from around $10,000 to $100 per person per year.

    – ‘Power of scaling up’ –

    However, hepatitis C has a much lower profile in most countries, making it difficult to convince governments to address the disease.

    Stefan Wiktor, head of the WHO’s Global Hepatitis Programme, pointed to Egypt as an example of how countries can use “the power of scaling up” to push down prices.

    Egypt has the world’s highest infection rate of hepatitis C at more than 10 percent of the population because syringes are routinely re-used, according to WHO.

    The country, which has prioritised tackling the disease and has treated more than 300,000 people, has negotiated a 12-week treatment price of just $900 from Gilead.

    WHO expects more new drugs to hit the market soon, which could help bring down prices and broaden access, Wiktor said.

    Doctors Without Borders (MSF) meanwhile expressed outrage at the high prices and said even steep discounts to countries like Thailand, which looks set to receive Sofosbuvir treatments for $5,000, were not enough.

    “When you’re starting from such an exorbitant price in the US, the price Gilead will offer middle-income countries … may seem like a good discount, but it will still be too expensive for many of these countries to scale up treatment,” said Rohit Malpani, of MSF’s Access Campaign.

    Securing a decent price is only part of the battle though.

    Most cases of hepatitis C, which shows no symptoms until a person develops liver damage or cancer, go undetected. In the European Union, only two to three percent of sufferers receive treatment.

    “Many people remain unaware, sometimes for decades, that they are infected with hepatitis C,” said WHO expert Andrew Ball, calling for anyone at risk of carrying the disease to be screened.

    Hepatitis C statistics are sketchy, but WHO says the disease in developing countries like Egypt, or Pakistan, where nearly five percent of the population is infected, is usually contracted in a healthcare setting.

    In Europe, the United States and other wealthy nations, intravenous drug use is usually the cause.

    Worldwide, 69 percent of drug injectors are infected with the liver disease, according to WHO.

    Yet current and former drug users are often denied treatment, Wiktor lamented, insisting on the benefit of treating everyone with chronic hepatitis C.

    AFP

  • Ebola Outbreak: Mali on Alert

    Ebola Outbreak: Mali on Alert

    {{Mali is on alert over the deadly Ebola virus after three suspected cases were reported near the border with Guinea, where 86 people have died.}}

    A BBC correspondent says there are tight controls on people entering the capital, Bamako, from the border area.

    He says thermal-imaging cameras are screening passengers at the airport in case they have a fever.

    The virus, which is spread by close contact and kills 25%- 90% of its victims, has already spread to Liberia.

    Six people have died in Liberia, out of 12 suspected cases, according to the local health authorities.

    Sierra Leone has also reported suspected cases, while Senegal has closed its normally busy border with Guinea.

    The BBC’s Alou Diawara in Bamako says the three people feared to have Ebola have been moved to isolation wards on the the edge of the city.

    Samples have been sent to the US for testing and the results are expected in a few days.

    Mali’s government has advised its national against all non-essential travel to areas affected by Ebola.

    The virus was first spotted in Guinea’s remote south-eastern region of Nzerekore, where most of the deaths have been recorded.

    But it was not confirmed as Ebola for six weeks.

    It has now spread to Guinea’s capital, Conakry, where five deaths have been recorded out of 12 suspected cases.

    Saudi Arabia suspended visas for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia on Tuesday, in a sign of the growing unease about the outbreak.

    This is the first known outbreak in Guinea – most recent cases have been thousands of miles away in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

    There is no known cure or vaccine for Ebola.

    The tropical virus leads to haemorrhagic fever, causing muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.

    {wirestory}