HEALTH - The African Mirror

Feb

11

2021

Food systems need to change to promote healthy choices and combat obesity

HEALTH

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on people with obesity and noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes. The pandemic has underlined the importance of the food environment and healthy food intake. It has shown the urgent need for effective policies to make sure that everyone can get enough nutritious food – and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. RINA SWART, Professor, University of the Western Cape MAKOMA BOPAPE, Lecturer in Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetic, University of Limpopo TAMRYN FRANK, Researcher, University of the Western Cape In Africa, nearly 70% of diabetes cases are undiagnosed. Of these, 90% are type 2 diabetes…

Aug

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Should I get the COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant or breastfeeding? Experts explain the safety, evidence and clinical trials

HEALTH

TERRA MANCA, Postdoctoral Fellow, Canadian Center for Vaccinology (IWK Health Centre); Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University KARINA A TOP, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University SINCE the COVID-19 pandemic began, public health communications put a special focus on helping high-risk populations, such as seniors, stay safe. Yet, information for pregnant or breastfeeding individuals has been inconsistent and hard to find. Though most pregnant people who become ill with COVID-19 have mild symptoms, pregnancy does increase the risk of being admitted to hospital and intensive care, as well as the risk of preterm birth and dangerously high blood pressure. Click…

Feb

10

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 shuts Ghana’s parliament

COVID-19

GHANA's parliament has suspended most of its activities for three weeks after at least 17 MPs and 151 staff members were infected with the coronavirus, the speaker said yesterday. President Nana Akufo-Addo warned last month that infection rates were skyrocketing and threatened to overwhelm Ghana's health system, part of a second wave of the virus across Africa that has been far more serious than the first. "Having regard to the upsurge in coronavirus cases in the House ... I have, in consultation with leadership, decided that the sitting of the House be suspended for three weeks," Speaker Alban Bagbin told…

Feb

10

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa faces widespread scepticism over safety

COVID-19

TIM COCKS AS a nurse in a country battling deadly diseases, Rich Sicina sometimes vaccinates other South Africans, but he says there is no way he will take a COVID-19 shot - he doesn't believe it will be safe or effective. South Africa's decision on Sunday to suspend plans to roll out AstraZeneca's vaccine, after data showed it may not offer sufficient protection against the country's dominant coronavirus variant, has only added to Sicina's concerns. "We do not trust these politicians," he said. Many South Africans agree. The Indaba nurses union, to which Sicina belongs, has advised its 17,000 members…

Feb

10

2021

By The African Mirror

eSwatini will not use AstraZeneca vaccine

COVID-19

LUNGA MASUKU eSWATINI will no longer use AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, its health minister said yesterday, after a trial showed it gave minimal protection against mild-to-moderate COVID-19 caused by the dominant variant in South Africa. eSwatini, a tiny kingdom formerly known as Swaziland that borders South Africa, was due to receive AstraZeneca doses from COVAX, the global vaccine distribution scheme co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO). South Africa on Sunday put on hold the rollout of AstraZeneca's vaccine after researchers published preliminary data showing it had significantly reduced efficacy against the more contagious 501Y.V2 variant identified late last year. The…

Feb

10

2021

By The African Mirror

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

COVID-19

HEALTH officials around the world gave their backing to the AstraZeneca vaccine, after a study showing it had little effect against mild disease caused by the variant now spreading quickly in South Africa rang global alarm. The prospect that new variants could evolve the ability to elude vaccines is one of the main risks hanging over the global strategy to emerge from the pandemic. South Africa, where a new variant now accounts for the vast majority of cases, initially announced a pause in its rollout of a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. But it said on Monday it could…

Feb

10

2021

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia secures 9 million doses of vaccines

COVID-19

ETHIOPIA has secured nine million doses of COVID-19 vaccines up until April and hopes to inoculate at least a fifth of its 110 million people by the end of the year, the health minister said yesterday. "For now up to April we have been allocated close to nine million doses," Lia Tadesse said. "Within this year we want to make sure we get at least 20% of the population," she told Reuters. Ethiopia was open to possible donations of vaccines, Lia added, and said the country was not doing any procurement of doses independently but only through the COVAX facility.…

Feb

21

2021

By The African Mirror

How I survived COVID-19 – Swazi King

COVID-19

eSWATINI’S King Mswati III said he had recovered from COVID-19 after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen sent antiviral medication to help him. The small southern African country, an absolute monarchy formerly known as Swaziland, is Taiwan's only remaining diplomatic ally on the continent, and Taipei has provided large amounts of economic and other aid. In a speech, the king said while the country awaited the arrival of vaccines, there was an antiviral drug that could be used to treat the illness, which he did not name. He said he had tested positive "for a couple of days" in the first week…

Feb

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana approves Russia’s vaccine

COVID-19

Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund has announced that Ghana had granted emergency authorisation for the use of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, becoming the 31st country to do so, and the fifth African state. The Russian vaccine was approved by the West African country's health ministry, the Russian Direct Investment Fund said in a statement.

Feb

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Why do antibodies fade after a COVID-19 infection, and will the same thing happen with vaccines?

COVID-19

THE goal of the COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out worldwide is to stimulate our immune systems into creating a protective response against the coronavirus, particularly by generating antibodies. These antibodies then circulate in our blood until needed in the future, attacking and removing the coronavirus quickly from our bodies if we become infected. STEVEN SMITH, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences, Brunel University London The speed with which the scientific and medical communities have developed and tested these new vaccines has been extraordinary. However, this short timescale leaves us with some outstanding questions. Key among these is how long the protection…