Ebola: African Countries Scale Up Cross-border Preparedness, Response By Tsim Mavisi With 54 cases of the Ebola virus being reported in Uganda, African countries are stepping up efforts to keep the disease at bay. In a high-level meeting held in Kampala, Uganda, health ministers and government representatives from nine African countries adopted several resolutions to increase cross-border […]

Governments Urged to Increase Investment in Mental Health By Joyce Ojanji With an increasing number of Africans having mental health conditions, World Health Organization (WHO) has called on governments to increase investment in the sector. Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa observed that  though African countries had made progress on mental health spending which had […]

Africa: Inclusion of Private Sector in Health Investment Critical By Mary Hearty Africa is increasingly recognizing health as a key aspect of human and economic development with countries increasing investment in actions and reforms to improve health outcomes. With regards to this, leaders across the region have emphasized the need to strengthen public-private partnerships in order […]

Scale Up Access to Insulin, Report Says By Sharon Atieno Though the number of people with diabetes worldwide is expected to reach 643 million by 2030, and 700 million by 2045 – rising mostly in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), access to insulin remains limited. This is according to a new report by the Access to Medicine […]

Social Media Campaign to Reverse Mental Health, Suicide in Africa By Joyce Ojanji With mental health problems accounting to 11% of the risk factors associated with suicide, the World Health Organization(WHO) has launched a social media campaign aimed to reach 10 million people across the region to prevent the high deaths by suicide in Africa. The […]

Trachoma Ends in Malawi By Joyce Ojanji Malawi becomes the first in southern Africa and the fifth in Africa to eliminate trachoma, a bacterial eye infection that can cause irreversible blindness if untreated. This follows the establishment of a national task force that implemented the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended SAFE strategy to control the disease which entailed training a […]

New Initiative for Improving Cervical, Breast Cancer Outcomes Underway By Mary Hearty In an effort to improve cervical and breast cancer outcomes for women and patients in resource-constrained countries, Roche and the John Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics have partnered to support the implementation of sustainable programs meant to meet their […]