Category: Health

{The number of women giving birth after 40 is on the rise due to more women concentrating on their career and starting families later. But is this modern trend really advisable?}

A study conducted at the University of Minnesota found that women who delay starting a family are more likely to have a stroke or heart attack later in life.

The researchers who looked at data from 72,221 women who were tracked for 12 years found that women who give birth after the age of 40 are two-thirds more likely to die of cardiovascular disease when compared to those who become mothers earlier.

According to a Daily Mail report, Lead researcher Professor Adnan Qureshi said:

“We already knew older women were more likely than younger women to experience health problems during their pregnancy.

“Now we know the consequences of that later pregnancy stretch years into the future.”

The researchers also noted that most of the increased risk was because older women are more likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol when they become pregnant which increases the risk of problems down the line.

Women are encouraged to start families earlier as the risk of complications during pregnancy increases with later motherhood and babies born to older women have a higher chance of birth defects.

The research was presented at the American Stroke Association Meeting in Los Angeles.

{If you love your life and want a good health, eating this fruit is all you need to know today.
}
According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology, swapping solid fats for avocado boosts your health.

According to scientists from the Hass Avocado Board in California who analysed 229 people, eating avocado reduces a person’s risk of heart disease.

The researchers also found that consuming one to one-and-a-half avocados daily significantly reduces your total cholesterol.

Having high levels of bad cholesterol according to the researchers, is known to be a major risk factor for heart diseases and consuming avocados limited the ‘bad’ low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides.

Cardiovascular disease is responsible for one out of every four deaths. Heart disease is also one of the leading causes of disability.

So why don’t you add avocado to your diet today?

{The Official Gazette n° 04 of 25 January, 2016 came out with the law granting the status, usage and management of medical insurance in Rwanda.}

The 3rd article of this law indicates that it is an obligation to have a medical insurance. It also reads that everyone living in Rwandan including foreigners, is obliged to have medical insurance.

The law indicates that foreigners coming to Rwanda have time delimitation in which they must get medical insurance.

The law reads that whoever comes to Rwanda without other medical insurance must have got the insurance not later than 30 days in an insurance company of his choice.

Article 4 of the law indicates that every employer; government, civil society and private—is obliged to play a role in the payment of medical insurance of his employees in an accepted insurance company. Every employer must provide evidence of payment for the medical insurance for his employees.

This medical insurance is divided into categories including nonprofit medical insurance and medical insurance provided by profit motivated companies.

Categories of non-profit insurance include medical insurance provided by government institutions, Mituelle de Santé and insurance provided by cooperatives of health insurance.

Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) as an institution which oversees management of contributions of Mituelle de Santé says that the new law will boost accessing medical insurance services for the working and retired Rwandans.

Today, Rwanda has 14 insurance institutions with one, Mituelle de santé, reserved for only Rwandans.

{If you don’t want an obese child, then you should take this research really serious.}

According to researchers from the University of Crete in Greece, children are more likely to be obese if their mother ate a lot of fish while she was pregnant.

According to the researchers, high consumption of fish during pregnancy raised the chance of a child being overweight by 22 per cent.

The researchers believe this is because fish has low levels of pollutants especially mercury which may alter the hormones of mother and child.

The researchers made this amazing discovery after compiling data from 26,000 pregnant women in Europe and the US, tracking their children until the age of six.

According to the researchers, women who ate fish more than three times a week were 14 percent more likely to have an overweight child at the age of four and 22 percent more likely at the age of six.

“Contamination by environmental pollutants in fish could provide an explanation for the observed association between high fish intake in pregnancy and increased childhood adiposity,” study author, Dr Leda Chatzi said.

The effect of fish consumption during pregnancy resulting in obese children was greater among girls than in boys.

The study was published in the journal JAMA Paediatrics.

{The Ministry of Health advised members of the public to take only those drugs prescribed by doctors to avoid dire medical complications that may arise from such practices. }

In an interview with IGIHE, Dr. Théophile Dushime, Director General of Clinical Services in the Ministry of Health said it is better to go for medical care at health centers or hospitals in case one falls sick, than rushing to buy drugs any diagnosis.

“It is better to always take drugs prescribed by the doctor since he is the only person to provide dos and don’ts, helping to address consequences that may arise,” he said.
He said that medicines mismatching with the disease puts to risk the health of the consumer.

Research conducted by Agence Européene du Medicament indicates that overdose of Ibuprofène causes destruction of the vessels that transport blood to the upper parts of the body, including the head.

“If the nurse recommended you to consume a medicine type three times or twice per day, it is better to respect such conditions. It helps the doctor to make more medical tests when previous drugs do not work,” he said.

He however said that some medicaments can be taken without necessarily consulting the doctor. These include Paracetamol and Aspirin, pain killers, drugs of influenza and others that reduce vomiting.

{Patents that access health care at Nyamirama health center, Ngera sector in Nyaruguru district have expressed frustrations over the part time delivery of services since it’s closed during nights and over the weekends and have requested for concerned parties to intervene.}

This health center receives patients from Gisagara district in Kigembe and Nyanza sectors as well as Mukura sector in Nyanza district.

They requested ministry of health to recruit an adequate number of nurses so that medical services can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “When a person falls sick during the night, we have nowhere to go for treatment since nurses do not work night shifts. We have to wait until morning,” said Mukamana, a resident of Nyamirama sector.

“We wish at least one or two nurses would take nigh duties at the health center. This can help in case an expecting mother gets labour pains during night or other patients. We’re calling upon authorities to enable us access health care services all the time,” said Uwera.

The executive secretary of Ngera sector, Simon Ndayiragije says that they have been receiving citizens’ complaints for long. However, he said, operations of health centers, as per guidelines from the Ministry of Health, indicate that such centers work under the similar conditions as Nyamirama. He promised to do more advocacy to the concerned parties.

“Really, the health center needs to be upgraded since it receives many patients,” he said. Residents also decry poor services at the health center which they say are too slow provided by only two nurses.

{In line with Rwanda National Police (RNP) human security activities, the force has taken its anti-malaria campaign to residents of Ngoma and Ngororero districts reaching out to over 2000 people and educating them how to prevent themselves from the disease.}

The separate campaigns held concurrently on February 10, comes after RNP added the anti-malaria campaign on its package of series of different anti-crime awareness campaigns and human security programmes it conducts frequently in communities

In Ngoma, the District Community Liaison Officer, Inspector of Police (IP) Jean Pierre Ndayisaba urged about 500 residents of Sake Sector to sleep in treated mosquito nets as means to prevent the infectious mosquitoes.

“There are cases of people who use mosquito nets as bedcovers thinking that the mosquitoes won’t get anywhere closer to them but his is wrong, this is not how a mosquito net is used. It should be hanged over the bed and tagged on all corners of the bed for appropriate cover,” IP Ndayisaba told the residents.

There are also reports of people who use the mosquito nets as door and window curtains to prevent mosquitoes from entering the house, an imaginary and wrong tendency he advised them to do away with.

The DCLO took time to demonstrate to residents how a mosquito net is used and also urged them to always use those that are treated.

“Besides using mosquito nets, you should as well ensure that there are no stagnant water pools in your neighbourhoods and also cut bushes around your homes. You can as well spray your houses with insecticide.”

IP Ndayisaba went on to inform residents that there can never be effective development when people are affected with diseases like malaria, urging them to always rush for medical check-up whenever they develop fever.

“Our mandate as Rwanda National Police is to ensure public safety which include their health – an unhealthy population is an insecure one that’s why, in our quest for safety we address such issues,” said Ndayisaba.

In Ngororero, the DCLO Inspector of Police (IP) Alexandre Minani echoed the same message to about 1600 residents of Muhororo Sector.

IP Minani was joined by local and opinion leaders including the Executive Secretary of Muhororo, Adrien Harerimana, who thanked RNP for the initiative and asked residents to put more attention on sanitation as part of avoiding malaria.

{Mituelle de Sante program’s failure to pay a staggering Rwf 400 million to Gahini Hospital, is throttling its operations and the capacity of delivering medical services to members of the public. By extension, families of medical workers at the hospital are feeling the pinch since there’s lack of adequate finances for timely payment of their salaries. At times the hospital fails to meet water and energy bills. And at times the hospital runs out drugs. }

Despite the fact that the matter has been taken to various levels of Kayonza district authority, all has been in vain.

The director of Gahini Hospital, Dr Muvunyi Alphonse, says that the debt accumulated is having serious negative repercussions to the hospital and the public.

“In the past thirteen months, we have received payments for only 4 months. We are incapacitated. We need to pay employees, pay water and electricity bills among other operations. The debt we are referring to was accumulated before Rwanda Social Security Board took its management, “he says.

“The problems we have are beyond our capacity. Despite the inadequate number of nurses at the hospital, there is also a problem of retaining them on the job. This is a big challenge. Specialists hired from abroad do not last long live since the hospital cannot maintain them,” Dr Muvunyi explains.

“We only nurses with one to three years of experience working at the hospital. These nurses are young graduates who don’t stay for long at this hospital since it is in rural location, so they opt to look for other jobs in cities and towns with better salaries or leave for further studies,” he belabors.

“We have 10 permanent nurses but they are not enough compared to the number of patients coming to this hospital. Only one instead of three nurses stays overnight,” adds Dr Muvunyi.

During the handing over ceremony of the management of mituelle de santé to RSSB, the permanent secretary in MINISANTE, Dr Solange Hakiba promised that they were to seek solution and find a way of paying off the debt.

“We are seeking all ways of getting funds to settle the debt of Rwf 13 billion. We don’t wish to inherit debts to RSSB,” she said. The research conducted by the Ministry of Local Government across the country indicated that mituelle de santé owes over Rwf13 billion to hospitals.