Namibia marks World Immunisation Week

Namibia marks World Immunisation Week

This week is World Immunisation Week, with this year celebrating 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation. The World Health Organisation director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says they are calling on world leaders to advocate, support, and fund vaccines and immunisation programmes. The week is marked under the theme of ‘Humanly Possible’. Here is the Minister of Health and Social Services Dr. Kalumbi Shangula for his message. Vaccines Save […]

April 29, 2024 47

Health / Medical

Namibia celebrates World Malaria Day

World Malaria Day is being celebrated today under the theme, “Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world”. Despite significant progress in reducing the global burden of malaria between 2000 and 2015, progress has slowed in recent years, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. We contacted Dr Richard Kamwi, the Africa CDC Champion and Ambassador of the Elimination 8 Initiative to find out how Namibia is faring.

April 25, 2024 66

Africa

Sugar in baby food: why Nestlé needs to be held to account in Africa

By Susan Goldstein, University of the Witwatersrand Nestlé has been criticised for adding sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products sold in many poorer countries. The Swiss food giant controls 20% of the baby-food market, valued at nearly US$70 billion. Nadine Dreyer asked public health academic Susan Goldstein why extra sugar is particularly bad for babies and how multinationals targeting low-income countries with sweeter products […]

April 25, 2024 46

Africa

Two new malaria vaccines are being rolled out across Africa: how they work and what they promise

By Jaishree Raman, National Institute for Communicable Diseases Malaria incidents are on the rise. There were 249 million cases of this parasitic disease in 2022, five million more than in 2021. Africa suffers more than any other region from malaria, with 94% of cases and 95% of deaths worldwide. This year two revolutionary malaria vaccines are being rolled out across the continent. Nadine Dreyer asks Jaishree Raman […]

April 23, 2024 43

Africa

WHO approves new oral simplified cholera vaccine

World Health Organization's has approved a new oral vaccine for cholera. The oral vaccine for cholera received prequalification by the WHO on 12 April 2024. The inactivated oral vaccine Euvichol-S has a similar efficacy to existing vaccines but a simplified formulation, allowing opportunities to rapidly increase production capacity. There were 473 000 cholera cases reported to WHO in 2022 -- double the number from 2021. Further increase of cases by 700 […]

April 22, 2024 144

Africa

How to get vaccines to remote areas? In Sierra Leone they’re delivered by foot, boat or motorbike

By Niccolo Francesco Meriggi, University of Oxford In Sierra Leone almost 59% of the population live in remote, rural areas. Roads may be non-existent or in bad condition, making it very difficult for rural dwellers to access healthcare. This is one of the key reasons why COVID-19 vaccination rates in the country are low. During an innovative vaccine programme mobile vaccine clinics were dispatched to the furthest […]

April 19, 2024 25

Africa

Researchers urgently call for action against the DRC’s new Mpox strain

Scientists have identified a new strain of the mpox virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo that spreads rapidly among humans. The researchers are calling for swift action to avert another global mpox outbreak. The disease previously known as monkeypox was reported in several countries in Europe and North America in 2022. Chris Ocamringa has more from Kinshasa.

April 18, 2024 82

South Africa

Social media for sex education: South African teens explain how it would help them

Social media platforms can provide safe, accurate and confidential information about sex to teens. Nattrass/Getty Images By Ayobami Precious Adekola, University of South Africa Most teenagers dread talking about sex with their parents. Their parents feel the same way. In some societies it’s considered taboo to even broach the subject. And, even where sexuality education is taught at schools, research has shown that effective communication between young […]

April 18, 2024 52