IGIHE

Category: Health

  • UN Says Polio outbreak in Somalia Worse

    Aid workers in war-torn Somalia are struggling to contain a dangerous outbreak of the crippling polio virus, with rampant insecurity hampering efforts, the United Nations said Friday.

    Six years after the Horn of Africa nation was declared free of the virus, at least 105 cases have been confirmed in Somalia, the “worst outbreak in the world in a non-endemic country,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

    “The polio outbreak plaguing Somalia has spread despite significant efforts to curb the disease,” OCHA added.

    While some four million people have been vaccinated, getting drugs to more than 600,000 children in southern and central Somalia — areas partly under control of the Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab, who block vaccination efforts — is “extremely challenging”, it added.

    “The inability to fully access these areas constitute a major threat to the control of the outbreak,” the statement read, warning that “Somalia remains one of the most difficult and dangerous environments in the world for aid workers.”

    While over 100 cases of children have been recorded, “the fact that this number of children show symptoms of paralysis means that there are probably thousands more with the virus, who do not have symptoms, but are capable of spreading it,” OCHA added.

    Around 10 cases have also been reported in northeastern Kenya, which hosts almost half a million Somali refugees in sprawling camps.

    In Somalia, while the bulk of cases are in the southern and central regions, the outbreak has also spread to self-declared independent Somaliland in the northwest.

    Polio is spread by person-to-person contact, exacerbated by poor sanitation and a lack of clean water.

    Multiple armies are fighting for control of southern Somalia, including rival warlords, Islamist extremists and a rag-tag national army backed by a 17,700-strong African Union force.

    Aid workers report growing attacks on their staff.

    Nation

  • Women above 30 more Likely to Have Babies with Heart Defects

    A woman who gives giving birth at older age, above 35 years, has higher chances of her having babies with heart problems.

    This is because there are increased health risks associated with later-age pregnancies, according to Dr. Twalib Aliku, a paediatric cardiologist at the Uganda Heart Institute,

    “Taking of excessive amounts of alcohol, or having chronic medical diseases like diabetes can result in congenital heart problems,” he adds.

    According to Dr. Sulaiman Lubega, a paediatric cardiologist, the major cause of heart defects among children is unknown. Even mothers who are very cautious during pregnancy, for instance by staying away from alcohol and smoking, can still have a child with a heart defect.

    Aliku says some heart conditions may not be noticed during pregnancy and can cause death of the baby a few days after birth. A heart condition can also result from an infection such as streptococcus. “But some infections can be avoided,” Lubega adds.

    Aliku says premature birth also affects the growth of a baby’s organs like the heart; the blood vessels may not have developed fully resulting in a congenital heart disease called patent ductus arteriosus. A mother having infections like HIV, rubella, syphilis or even malaria can cause pre-term birth, predisposing the babies to heart disease.

    “When a pregnant woman takes strong medication like epilepsy drugs, it may damage the heart of the unborn baby,” he adds.

    Newvision

  • Tanzania in Sickle Cell Dilema

    The world has celebrated the Sickle Cell Day in a bid to bring public awareness on the disease and ensure people take precautions against it.

    Tanzania was named as the fourth country (worldwide) for having many sickle cell patients after Nigeria, India and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the highest number of sickle cell disease cases per year (of up to 11,000).

    According to the sickle cell clinical coordinator at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), Dr Deogratius Soka, apart from the increasing number of patients, there is little awareness being created on the problem.

    “We started with 800 patients back in 2004, but currently we have about 4,000 of them who attend our clinic. This has brought more challenges in terms of finance, human resources and space,” said Dr Soka.

    NMG

  • Severe Measles Epidemic in CAR

    A severe measles epidemic has affected the whole territory of the Central African Republic, which lacks any strong health infrastructure, Health Minister Aguid Sounouk has said.

    “I call on the national transitional government and all partners in health care to mobilise for urgent measures … to minimise the impact of this epidemic,” Sounouk said in a radio broadcast on Tuesday.

    The minister blamed the spread of the disease on “outbreaks of measles in several administrative districts of the country where no action was organised to contain the epidemic” since December 2012.

    At the time, the landlocked nation was undergoing an insurgency that led to the overthrow of president Francois Bozize in March and placed power in the hands of a rebel coalition, which has since joined with other forces to form an interim government.

    ‘Highly contagious’

    Doctors without Borders, a humanitarian-aid non-governmental organisation, warned in early July that the country was on the verge of a public-health catastrophe, since widespread unrest and the coming to power of the rebels had been accompanied by the systematic plundering of health facilities.

    The Geneva based NGO said that this situation would likely lead to an “increase in the mortality rate in coming months”, including from “common and curable” diseases such as measles, which can kill people in developing countries if they develop complications without adequate care.

    Sounouk warned of the risk for very young people, because of “the highly contagious nature of measles” and since “the affected children have for the most part not been vaccinated against this disease”.

    A vaccination campaign took place in the capital Bangui in May this year and reached 122,000 children, but nothing has been done for about 1.5 million children who live in other parts of the country.

    Source: AFP

  • Fonterra apologises for tainted milk scare

    Fonterra, the New Zealand based company at the centre of a contaminated milk scare, has apologised to its customers, saying it is doing everything it can to rectify the situation.

    The world’s biggest dairy exporter said on Monday that it had found bacteria in some products that could cause botulism.

    China, company’s largest customer, has banned imports of milk powder from New Zealand over fears of botulism.

    The company said contaminated whey protein concentrate had been exported to China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Saudi Arabia and used in products including infant milk powder and sports drinks.

    At a media briefing in Beijing Fonterra’s chief executive, Theo Spierings, said food safety was the company’s top priority.

    “We really regret the distress and anxiety which this issue could have caused,” he said.

    “We totally understand there is concern by parents and other consumers around the world. Parents have the right to know that infant nutrition and other dairy products are harmless and safe.”

    Aljazeera

  • “Freedom from Pain is Human Right”

    The need for worldwide palliative care coverage has never been greater. As the incidence of non-communicable diseases like cancer is rising in resource-limited settings, the need for palliative care alongside curative treatment is also growing.

    Basic symptom control and holistic support are not expensive and do not require highly specialized personnel, but are often lacking even where health structures and home based care programs are in place.

    Inadequate drug supplies are partly to blame, but equally important area lack of basic understanding of palliative care amongst healthcare workers at all levels, a lack of confidence in communication skills and a lack of knowledge of symptom control techniques. All of these may compound the inadequate procurement of the needed palliative care drugs.

    For these reasons communities and health workers can be overwhelmed by palliative care needs that they do not feel equipped to meet. Despite these challenges, it is not acceptable that we have to suffer and die without dignity solely because of the place we are born and live.

    In Rwanda, we consider comprehensive health care as basic human right, and thus have decided to address these challenges by implementing a coordinated Palliative Care program.

    While this will certainly be a great undertaking, we will take it step by step. As a well-known Indian Proverb says “When you want to eat an elephant you need to decide where to start and then just eat a little bit at a time”.

    Since the National Policy of Palliative Care was adopted by Rwanda Ministry of Health in March 2011, Rwanda has devoted a great deal of time and energy toward improving the quality of life ofpatients with life-threatening illnesses.

    A center of excellence for Palliative Care (PC) has been set up at Kibagabaga Hospital with a success stories of task shifting in the community, all working hand in hand with Palliative care Association of Rwanda which made that dream possible.

    Two hospitals have already started to integrate PC as a routine activity using Kibagabaga hospital’s experience, Teaching Hospital (CHUK) and Rwamagana Hospital.

    The national plan has several parts, including training health professional to be more comfortable to manage patients in the Palliative Care program. This is included both clinical teaching and supply chain management.

    From 27th-28th June, 2013, the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Rwanda Palliative care association organized a two day workshop to develop a national framework for the estimation, procurement and use of opioids in Rwanda.

    A group of Experts from Rwanda led by Dr. Muhimpundu Marie-Aimee, head of NCD Division, MOH Rwanda with Rose Gahire (Executive Director of PCAR), Grace Mukankuranga (Executive Secretary of PCAR), Dr. Christian Ntizimira (Kibagabaga Hospital), Dr. Jean Luc Nkurikiyimfura (Head of HIV/AIDS Clinic, Teaching Hospital CHUK), PhmTayari (Director of marketing and sales/ MPPD/ RBC), Phn Theogene (Pharmacy Desk/MOH), Dr. EvaristeNtaganda (RBC/ NCD/ Director of CVD Unit), Dr. Kayonde Leonard (RBC/NCD/Director of Cancer Unit), Dr. Jean Baptiste Nkuranga (Director of Rwamagana Hospital) and Diane Mukasahaha Expert in Palliative care, participated in the workshop.

    A team from Uganda Ministry of Health and palliative care association was invited to share the experiences, challenges and opportunities that would help the Rwanda team to develop their own plan.

    The team was led by Dr. Mhoira Leng (Mulago Hospital), Dr. Henry Luzze (Division of NCDs MOH, Uganda), Rose Kiwanuka (Executive Director of Palliative Association of Uganda) and Dr. Dan Knights Medical Student fellow from UK.

    Dr. Muhimpundu said that the aim of the workshop was to estimate the needs of the opioids and to define procurement, request, and monitoring channels and develop a national framework that will guide the MOH in the management of opioid use in Rwanda.

    Kibagabaga Hospital has developed a specialized palliative care service and has become a Centre of excellence in the field. In a 12 month period, Kibagabaga hospital, which sees 55,000 patients per year (inpatients & outpatients), is using 0.12kg of oral morphine.

    By using that experience we estimated the opioid needs for one year based in our administrative health sector and our decentralization, an approximate projection of realistic usage in the following eight facilities was made, taking in account expected numbers of patients per year.

    The following are the main hospitals and their estimation: CHUK (0,3 KG), Rwanda Military Hospital (0,2KG), King Faysal (0,2 KG), Butaro ( 0,2KG), CHUB (0,12KG), Rwamagana (0,12 KG), Rwinkwavu(0,12 KG), Kibagabaga (0,12 KG) accounting for 1.38 KG.

    In our decentralized health system, the level below referral hospitals is the District Hospitals. Rwanda has 42 District hospitals, all of which have a Multidisciplinary Team including physicians. At district level in its phase one of the Implementation plan, 10 hospitals and their catchment area will use the same amount of opioids as Kibagabaga Hospital and at the same time the 30 remains hospitals will use half of that amount: 0,6kg.This accounts to a morphine quantity estimated at 3.12 Kgs.

    Finally, with a buffer stock that accounts to 10% (0, 5 KG), the total morphine that is required during the period 2013-2014 for our National PC program is estimated to 5 Kgs.

    Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, Minister of Health of Rwanda, said that after having almost reached Millennium Development Goals 4&5 and doubling the life expectancy of our population, it is time to focus on improving the quality of life of Rwandans, and thus needing all health professionals to contribute to better management of chronic diseases and development of palliative care.

    Author is a practicing doctor at Kibagabaga Hospital

  • Litmus test for Ebola to be Developed

    A project in Uganda that aims to develop a paper-strip test for the deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses is among 102 initiatives across the world to be funded by the government of Canada through its Grand Challenges Canada project.

    The paper strip test would, if developed, help test for the virus in a cheap and quick manner within the community just like it is done for malaria. The project has been boosted with $100,000.

    The Uganda project leader, Dr Misaki Wayengera of Makerere University College of Health Sciences said that the highly infectious nature of both Ebola and Marburg, coupled with poor epidemiological data on their origins make it hard for them to be easily detected in the early days of an outbreak.

    “Amidst the inappropriateness of existing diagnostic technologies towards usability in bio-terror and point-of-care settings, development of rapid, easy to use, cheap, and reliable biomarkers for either filo viruses is a global health priority,” Dr Misaki explained.

    “Ebola and Marburg outbreaks are often initially silent, much as the clinical picture should raise suspicion. As a result, health workers are exposed and die of viral haemorrhagic fever.”

    NMG

  • US Warns one brand of Vitamin B Supplement Contains Dangerous Steroids

    Federal regulators warned consumers to avoid one brand of vitamin B dietary supplement because it contains potentially harmful anabolic steroids.

    Preliminary lab tests showed the product, Healthy Life Chemistry By Purity First B-50, contains methasterone, a controlled substance, and dimethazine, the Food and Drug Administration said.

    “Products marketed as a vitamin but which contain undisclosed steroids pose a real danger to consumers and are illegal,” said Howard Sklamberg, director of the FDA’s compliance office.

    Regulators received 29 complaints associated with the product, including fatigue, muscle pain and cramps, and liver and thyroid problems, the FDA said.

    Women also reported unusual hair growth and missed menstruation, and men reported impotence and low testosterone.

    Some patients were hospitalized, the FDA said in a statement, but no deaths were reported.

    Anyone who used the product and has symptoms should seek medical care and report the case to the FDA, regulators said.

    The product manufactured by New-York based Mira Health Products Ltd is sold online and in stores. The company has not issued a response to the warning.

    agencies

  • Many Pregnant Women not Seeking Antenatal Services

    The State Minister in-charge of Public Health and Primary Healthcare has said a few expectant mothers seek antenatal services from health care facilities.

    Dr Anita Asiimwe made the observation Thursday during a scientific conference organised by the Rwanda Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists.

    She said, “Although a lot has been achieved in Rwanda with regard to maternal health, we are still not content with the current maternal mortality rate; it remains very high.”

    Dr. Asiimwe noted that about 67% of child mortality happen during the neonatal period, according to the minister.

    The minister said that although traditional medicine had done a great job, there was still need to educate women and have them receive better services from proper health facilities.

    She urged obstetrics and gynaecologists in the country to carry out outreaches in areas without health providers.

    Dr Eugene Ngoga, the president of the Rwanda Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists, said that there are only 30 specialists in Rwanda which constitutes a huge challenge.

    eeeew.jpg

    Dr. Anita Asiimwe/Newtimes Photo

  • Kenya Denies Plans to Criminalise Jigger Infestation

    Sources from Kenya claim the government intends to criminalise Jigger Infestation , however, the countrys Ministry of Health has condemned such plans by any county government.

    Chief Public Health Officer, Dr Kepha Ombacho also said the ministry would carry out a base line survey in the country to determine the cause of jiggers in areas previously not affected.

    He said poverty was the major cause of jigger infestation, but added personal hygiene was a sure way of fighting the vermin.

    Murang’a County Deputy Governor Gakure Monyo came under attack after he said dire actions would be taken against those found with jiggers once a law is in place.

    While disputing that jiggers were as a result of a curse or poverty in the county, Mr Monyo said the major cause of the vermin was lack of sanitation.

    “We will ensure that laws against jiggers are put in place and passed in the County Assembly soon and anybody found with jiggers will be forced to remove them,” he said.
    Dr Ombacho said currently, about 12,000 people had been ravaged by the vermin in the country.

    Over 200 school children were given shoes during an anti-jigger campaign .

    “We are in the process of conducting the second scientific household survey to document the new and alarming transmission to areas not previously considered jigger endemic areas like Busia and Nyanza counties,” said Dr Ombacho.