Healthcare costs

Interview: Ben Schernick Urges Government to Implement Universal Basic Income Grant

By: Leonard Witbeen The Director of the Nutrition Alliance of Namibia, Ben Schernick, has called on the government to reconsider its approach to social protection, arguing that targeted grants are inefficient and fragmented. His remarks come in response to Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi’s commitment to increasing social protection investments. Schernick highlighted that Namibia’s current social grant system requires significant administrative effort and is prone to corruption. He advocates for a […]

February 17, 2025 41

Africa

Kenya protests: Ruto pulling the finance bill is unlikely to satisfy angry young protesters – here’s why

By Kathleen Klaus, Uppsala University In a move that shocked observers, Kenya’s President William Ruto announced on 26 June he was withdrawing his government’s highly controversial finance bill. This followed two days in which tens of thousands of mostly young protesters took to the streets in nationwide rallies against the proposals contained in the country’s 2024 budget. Kathleen Klaus, who has studied […]

June 27, 2024 116

Africa

Hospital infection cost Africa nearly $ 8.4 billion

Treating infections acquired in hospitals and clinics is costing sub-Saharan Africa as much as $8.4 billion a year and hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths. According to research by WaterAid and the World Bank, at least half of these could be averted by improved handwashing facilities, clean water, and decent toilets. Bloomberg reports that the highest rates of contamination were found in intensive care units, neonatal wards, and pediatric departments.

April 9, 2024 24

Health / Medical

GoFundMe Has Become a Health Care Utility

In its early years, GoFundMe funded honeymoon trips, graduation gifts, and church missions to overseas hospitals in need. Now it has become a go-to platform for patients trying to escape medical billing nightmares. (ERIC HARKLEROAD/KFF HEALTH NEWS) By Elisabeth Rosenthal via KFF Health News GoFundMe started as a crowdfunding site for underwriting “ideas and dreams,” and, as GoFundMe’s co-founders, Andrew Ballester and Brad Damphousse, once put it, “for life’s important moments.” […]

February 13, 2024 22