IGIHE

Category: Health

  • Rwanda Has Trained 47,000 Health Workers

    {{President Paul Kagame said on Thursday at the World Economic Forum that Rwanda’s ambitious efforts to provide health workers for the remotest villages across the country has been attained, but added that more work remains.}}

    Speaking at the launching the ‘One Million Community Health Workers’ for Africa campaign, the President said Rwanda has “trained 47,000 health workers and today the whole country is covered”.

    “We have also used information and technology infrastructure to improve efficiency of community health workers,” said Kagame, adding: “Community health workers are something we have had experience with and we have seen the very good results.”

    President Kagame and Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez joined Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs in announcing the campaign, which will be overseen by a steering committee at the Earth Institute and will be run through the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network as part of its Solutions Initiative.

    The campaign is also supported by the UN MDG Advocates and the UN Broadband Commission, both of which are co-chaired by President Kagame.

    “We are more than happy to be part of this not only because it serves us but it serves the people of Africa,” said the President.

    “As President of Rwanda and Co-chair of the Millennium Development Goals Advocates Group and the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Development, I wholeheartedly endorse the ‘One Million Community Health Worker Campaign’ to scale up community health workers throughout Africa.”

    Rwanda is divided into 5 Provinces, 30 Districts, 416 Sectors, 2.148 Cells and 14.837 villages. The trained health workers, who are trained to provide basic help before the patients are taken to hospitals, add up to more than three on average for every village in the country.

    President Kagame said: “We have seen in Rwanda the ability of community health workers to improve public health and believe that this initiative can serve the cause of public health throughout Africa.

    This campaign will support many ongoing public-private partnerships, United Nations initiatives, and African Union efforts to meet the health Millennium Development Goals.”

    At the event today January 24, 2013, Novartis CEO Jimenez announced that Novartis will donate $1 million to support the training and development of the cadre of new health workers.

  • Agarwal’s Eye Hospital Opens in Rwanda

    An Indian investor has opened an ophthalmology clinic -Agarwal’s Eye Hospital following the 2010 call by the Rwandan government to attract Indian investors.

    Since its establishment in 2012, the clinic has treated over 2000 patients and has more than 350 experts.

    According to some of Kigali residents the clinic will reduce on long journeys travelled by patients looking for eye treatments in Southern Province of Rwanda especially at Kabgayi Hospital.

    Common eye diseases include glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, macular degeneration and conjunctivitis.

  • Cuba Admits Cholera Outbreak

    {{Cuba’s Public Health Ministry on Tuesday acknowledged 51 new cases of cholera in the capital amid growing concerns about the illness’ spread and disappointment in the diplomatic community over the government’s lack of transparency.}}

    The ministry said nobody had died from the latest outbreak, which began Jan. 6, and stressed that preventive measures already taken had put the disease “on the way to extinction.”

    It said cholera was first detected in the capital’s Cerro neighborhood, and then spread elsewhere.

    No other areas of the capital were mentioned, but there have been unconfirmed reports of cases in the leafy Playa neighborhood that is home to many foreign embassies.

    The island has a well-organized civil defense system capable of rapidly mobilizing government agencies and citizens groups.

    Brigades of workers go door to door, noisily fumigating homes and admonishing residents to eliminate standing water where mosquitos bearing another tropical disease, dengue, could breed.

    ABC

  • Rwanda & Rhineland-Palatinate Strengthen Health Cooperation

    {{The Ministry of Health through Rwanda’s embassy in Germany has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health of the Government of Rhineland-Palatinate aimed at improving medical training and higher education of Rwandan doctors and specialists. }}

    This funding will last for five years.

    The signing function was attended by Rwanda’s Ambassador to Germany, Christine Nkulikiyinka, the Minister of Health of the Government of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer, the Minister of Science and Education, Doris Ahnen as well as the member of board and medical director of the University Medical Center Mainz, Prof. Norbert Pfeiffer.

    Other participants were the President of the Partnership Association and representatives of the Ministry of Interior.

    Doctors as well as medical students also participated in the event.

    Ambassador Nkulikiyinka stressed the importance of cooperation in the health sector.

    “Increasing capacity building of Rwandan doctors through medical training is our priority,”she said.

    Malu Dreyer and Prof. Pfeiffer commended the achievements of Rwanda in general and the health sector in particular.

    During a visit in Rwanda in October 2011 they met with Rwanda’s Minister of Health. They were impressed with health projects in Rwanda, especially the national medical insurance.

    According to the MoU, cooperation will consist of institutional exchanges from faculty and staff from medical institutions in Rhineland-Palatine to Rwanda.

    Under this arrangement, German doctors and specialists are expected to provide training in Rwandan institutions of higher education.

    Higher education institutions will exchange information regarding student development, strengthen bilateral exchanges and set up common research projects.

  • Insulin Breakthrough Could See End to Needles

    {{Breakthrough Australian research mapping how insulin works at a molecular level could open the door to novel new diabetes treatments, ending daily needle jabs for millions, scientists said Thursday.}}

    A Melbourne team have been able to lay out for the first time how the insulin hormone binds to the surface of cells, triggering the passage of glucose from the bloodstream to be stored as energy.

    Lead researcher Mike Lawrence said the discovery, more than 20 years in the making, would make new and more effective kinds of diabetes medication possible.

    “Until now we have not been able to see how these molecules interact with cells,” said Lawrence, from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.

    “We can now exploit this knowledge to design new insulin medications with improved properties, which is very exciting.”

    Lawrence said the team’s study, published in the latest edition of Nature, had revealed a “molecular handshake” between the insulin and its receptor on the surface of cells.

    “Both insulin and its receptor undergo rearrangement as they interact — a piece of insulin folds out and key pieces within the receptor move to engage the insulin hormone,” he said of the “unusual” binding method.

    Understanding how insulin attaches to cells was key to developing “novel” treatments of diabetes, a chronic condition in which the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the body cannot use it properly.

    “The generation of new types of insulin have been limited by our inability to see how insulin docks into its receptor in the body,” said Lawrence.

    “This discovery could conceivably lead to new types of insulin that could be given in ways other than injection, or an insulin that has improved properties or longer activity so that it doesn’t need to be taken as often.”

    Importantly, he said it could also have ramifications for the treatment of diabetes in developing nations, allowing for the creation of more stable insulins that do not need refrigeration.

    There are an estimated 347 million diabetes sufferers worldwide and diagnoses are increasing, particularly in developing countries, due to growing levels of obesity and physical inactivity.

    It is expected to be the seventh leading cause of death in the world by 2030, with the World Health Organisation projecting total deaths from diabetes will rise by more than 50% in the next 10 years.

    Complications of diabetes include blindness, limb amputation and kidney failure.

    AFP

  • Clarifications on Drug Stocks in Rwanda Hospitals

    {{Following some recent media reports alleging drug stock-outs in a few health facilities especially within Kigali City, the Ministry of Health would like to inform the general public that there’s no shortage of drugs in the country.}}

    Particularly, the Ministry of Health would like to make the following key clarifications:

    Since June 2012 the Ministry of Health has been monitoring on a weekly basis the stock levels of vital medicines and supplies in the 43 District Hospitals and 30 District Pharmacies across the country after an old procurement process had been stopped for health and safety reasons.

    This constant monitoring system has allowed reduction of drug stock-outs from 23% at the District Hospitals to 2% today and from 13% at the District Pharmacies to 4.9% as of 4th January 2013.

    In December 2012, this monitoring system was extended to National Referral Hospitals and the recent reports show a decreasing trend of stock-out in those hospitals from an average of 12% in December 2012 to 7 percent as of 4th January 2013.

    We are committed to reducing these figures even further to ensure availability of all key drugs within our health facilities.

    The problem of drug stock-out reported in Kibagabaga hospital during the festive season was a result of delays in payment of an outstanding bill that this hospital owed to the Gasabo district pharmacy.

    This too, was linked to the delay in footing the hospital bill by the district mutuelle pooling system. However, when the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Gasabo District intervened immediately, the problem was instantly solved as communicated through Media last Friday.

    The information issued by {The New Times} on the 08th January 2013 is an exaggeration of the situation and should not be considered as a general picture of availability of drugs and other health commodities in the country.

    There’s no shortage of essential drugs and only problem we identified in Kibagabaga district was a result of poor coordination between different entities at local level, which we immediately addressed.

    The Ministry of Health in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government are committed to be more vigilante in coordinating the and improving the management of stocks of medicines and other health commodities at district level to respond adequately to the expectation of our patients.

    {{Done in Kigali on the Jan 8th, 2013

    Dr. Agnes BINAGWAHO
    Minister of Health}}

  • Zim Artist Dismisses HIV Rumours

    Zimbabwe’s music icon Oliver Mtukudzi has dismissed rumours suggesting that he is HIV positive.

    Speaking in an interview aired by CNN on its African Voices programme, Tuku dismissed the reports as mere speculation.

    “I am not HIV positive myself, but I have dealt with a lot of programmes on HIV and Aids.

    “I have had a close encounter with Aids when I lost four of my band members, including a brother, to the pandemic in a space of two months.”

    Tuku, as Mtukudzi is affectionately known in music circles, made the revelations in reaction to growing speculation that he was HIV positive on account of his gaunt frame.

    “My brother Robert died of Aids, so I had all the reason to try and help and give awareness to the people and fight the stigma.

    “I am glad the stigma in Zimbabwe has fallen away, though not completely.

    “Stigma is just an attitude. And the fact that people now talk about HIV and Aids freely shows that it has fallen away. People no longer hide it.”

    Tuku said he was diabetic; hence his often sickly look, adding that rumour-mongers were basing their speculation on that condition.

    The 60-year-old music guru said he was the first Zimbabwean musician to be approached by the World Health Organisation in the 1980s to start Aids awareness programmes through song and dance.

    “I am one of the very first artistes in Zimbabwe to be approached about HIV by WHO in the year 1987.

    “Nobody knew about the disease in Zimbabwe, and I was lucky to get the material about the disease.

    “I had to learn and come up with a song, which saw me going to Switzerland where I actually saw people infected and affected, so I had a better understanding of the disease than my fellow artistes because they had not seen it and I had seen that,” he told Nkepile Mabuse of CNN’s African Voices.

    These experiences, Tuku said, had pushed him to embrace HIV as a key theme in his decades-long musical career hoping to fight stigma and raise awareness through his powerful lyrics.

    Tuku’s songs that address HIV and Aids-related issues include “Tapera”, “Todii” and “Stay with one Woman” among others.

    Last year, Mtukudzi won critical acclaim when he was appointed Unicef Goodwill Ambassador to raise Aids awareness in eastern and southern Africa.

    Unicef regional director Elhadj As Sy said Tuku had demonstrated a genuine commitment to communicating strong and clear messages about the importance of child and young people’s rights, including their right to live free from HIV and Aids on the occasion of the latter’s Unicef ambassadorial appointment.

    Herald

  • Blood Shortage Hits South Africa

    {{South Africa is facing a shortage of blood stocks as the national level dips to only a two-day supply, according to a media report on Saturday.}}

    Due to the low supply, blood will only be given in “absolute core emergencies” such as accidents, SA National Blood Service spokesperson Vanessa Raju told local press.

    Some planned surgeries and treatments requiring blood will be put off until stocks are restored.

    “It is not a good situation to be in but we have to make do…until the situation changes,” she said.

    Raju said national blood stocks should be at a five day supply but donations have fallen off due to the holiday.

    “People are on holiday and now some will be busy with getting their children ready for the new school year, so blood donation is not high on the list of things to do, resulting in low levels,” Raju told the paper.

    SAPA

  • Drugs Dispatched to Kibagabaga Hospital

    {{Yesterday IGIHE published two stories about the problem of insufficient drugs at Kibagabaga hospital and a patient Ntirenganya who had stayed at the hospital facility without recieiving any medication yet he had been involved in an accident.}}

    Ntirenganya needed an urgent operation but he had to stay for over 12 days because he lacked Health insurance cover. The Doctors only bandaged his left leg.

    However, the stories went viral and caused concerned authorities to immediately intervene.

    Ntirenganya later in the afternoon was granted an immediate operation.

    Another report indicates cartons of drugs have been dispatched to Kibagabaga hospital and other health centers lacking drugs.

    The Ministry of Health has allocated drugs to the Hospital.

    The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana told Journalists that since 3rd January, 2013 more drugs are being sent to Hospitals that were lacking drugs.

    Dr Uzziel pledged to follow up on drug shortages as soon as possible.

    He explained that the problem was due to failure of collaboration between Kibagabaga Hospital and Gasabo District which was not allocating some money to Hospital.

    Ndagijimana also said the number of patients going to Kibagabaga Hospital was increasingly going up since the beginning of 2012 and some District were not paying Health insurance fees which facilitate the treatment of the patients.

  • Mukama Sector Residents Want Gov’t Help

    {{Residents of Gishoro in Mukama sector located in Nyagatare have resorted to use of traditional stretchers to carry the sick to hospital.}}

    The residents sight the poor status of roads in the area which cars could not navigate.

    However,Hakuzweyezu Emmanuel a local leader in the area says there are efforts to find solutions to the prevailing poor roads in the area.

    The only nearby health center is at Cyondo in Kiyombe sector.

    Gashora residents say there is no development in their area noting that they single handedly established the only road linking them to Kiyombe Sector, however, there is need for building a bridge to cross over the river linking the two sectors.