Category: AFRICAN NEWS

Zambia works in close collaboration with WHO to ensure successful rollout of cholera vaccines

Frank

ZAMBIA – Although Cholera is a preventable disease, it remains a significant public health problem globally. Each year, there are 1.3 to 4.0 million cases of cholera, and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths worldwide. Zambia has experienced cholera outbreaks since 1977 and the country’s last major outbreak lasted from October 2017 to June 2018 with a total of 5,935 reported cases and 114 deaths. The risk factors mainly include inadequate access to clean and safe water, poor sanitation facilities, poor solid waste management and consumption of contaminated food. In 2019 the…

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E-commerce continues to fuel the ever-blooming healthcare logistics market in Africa

Frank

AFRICA – African e-commerce marketplaces are venturing into the delivery of health care products as part of a strategy to broaden their value to customers. These platforms are part of a broader crop of innovators at an interesting intersection of healthcare and logistics on the continent. Going by recent data, this sub-sector has grown over two years. At least 61 companies are using tech for health distribution across sub-Saharan Africa, a growth of over 100% in the number of active players (28) captured in 2018. That’s according to a report…

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Kenya has five weeks to use over 350,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Denmark

Frank

KENYA – The government of Kenya will need to expedite the deployment of 358,700 doses of the Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine donated by Denmark, which are to expire on July 31. The jabs arrived in Kenya on Monday night and were taken to the national vaccines store in Athi River for distribution. Head of vaccines deployment task force, Willis Akhwale, said despite the short expiry period, Kenya has one of the most efficient rollout plans. “So with these ones, and the capacity to even vaccinate 50,000 people per day, we believe…

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Merck Foundation calls for action together with African First Ladies and Ministers to Build Healthcare Capacity

Frank

ZAMBIA – Merck foundation “More than a Mother” Ambassadors, African First Ladies of Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Namibia actively participated in the 8th edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary which was co-chaired by Zambia First Lady, H.E. Esther Lungu and Merck Foundation CEO, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej. Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KgaA, conducted the 8th Edition of “Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary” 2021, through an online video conference. During the Luminary,…

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Delta COVID-19 strain detected in Ghana but community spread is yet to be detected

Frank

GHANA – The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says the Delta Coronavirus strain, originating from India, has been detected in Ghana through testing at the port health but there is currently no evidence of community spread. The service has said the strain was found through a generic analysis of samples collected form passengers who arrived at the Kotoka International Airport about a week ago. The number of delta strains detected in the country so far is however not known. Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health, GHS, said that the Delta…

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Africa’s COVID-19 cases edge closer to the 5.3 million mark punctuated by a daily spike in infections

Frank

AFRICA – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 5,234,387, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reported. The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic stood at 138,154 while 4,643,802 patients across the continent had recovered from the disease. South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Egypt are the countries with the most cases in the continent, according to the Africa CDC. South Africa has 1,832,479 cases and 58,795 deaths. The country has received…

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Ash Cell donates PPE to three hospitals in Kumasi to bolster fight against COVID-19

Frank

GHANA – Ash Cell Limited, Distributors for MTN Ghana in the Ashanti Region, has donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to three hospitals in Kumasi as part of activities marking the company’s 10th anniversary. The beneficiary hospitals which included the KNUST Hospital, Suntreso Government Hospital and Apostolic Hospital received boxes of face masks and hand gloves to aid them in the fight against COVID-19. The donation was the second in a series of philanthropic activities lined up by the company to mark 10 years of excellent service delivery, having donated some…

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Efforts to reduce tobacco harm in Africa up appear futile due to inadequate policies

Frank

AFRICA – Lack of support, inadequate policies and misinformation have been identified as some of the obstacles standing in the way of the reduction of tobacco harm in Africa as discussed during the Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) held in Liverpool, England last week. During the summit, it was established that the continent has about 77 million smokers with at least 250, 000 of them dying from smoking-related diseases every year Joseph Magero, chairman of, Campaign for Safer Alternatives Africa, a regional organization that advocates for the adoption of tobacco…

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Africa’s Digital Health Summit set to take place in July with a vison to expand the scope of health care services

Frank

AFRICA – BII World Limited, a company with a history of organizing International Patient Experience Symposiums and multiple editions of Patient Experience Excellence Congress, will be hosting the Digital Health Africa Summit, which promises to explore opportunities and brainstorm strategies to make the African health sector updated and future ready. Digital Health Africa Summit, will gather eminent healthcare leaders, policy makers, and technology experts to discuss the importance of technologies and digital transformation in order to revolutionize the region’s healthcare sector. Africa has emanated a as prime breeding ground for…

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African countries feature prominently in WHO’s new global lists of high-burden countries for TB

Frank

AFRICA – African countries have been cited in the new WHO lists of high burden countries for tuberculosis (TB), HIV-associated TB and multidrug/rifampicin-resistant TB. Zimbabwe transitioned out of the list of the 30 high TB burden countries while Gabon and Uganda joined the list. Angola, Chad, Ghana and Papua New Guinea have transitioned out of the 30 high TB/HIV burden countries whilst Gabon and Guinea have joined the list. The 30 high MDR/RR-TB burden countries list saw Ethiopia and Kenya transition out while Zambia joined. WHO officially communicated with the…

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