HEALTH - The African Mirror

Feb

21

2021

Alcohol use is worryingly high among Nigerian students: here’s who is most at risk

HEALTH

MANY young people drink alcohol – whether it’s out of curiosity, ignorance, peer pressure or other reasons. It’s a major public health concern. SAMSON FEMI AGBEROTIMI, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, North-West University The consequences of drinking can be physical, social and academic. Young people may put themselves at risk of injuries, accidents, health problems, relationship problems and poor school performance. Using alcohol also increases the risk of using other substances and developing related disorders. For young people, it’s linked to mental health disorders in later and old age. In most parts of Nigeria, there’s very little control over the sale and…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Insecurity, suspicion, vaccine rollout in Africa war zones

COVID-19

NITA BHALLA and MOHAMMED OMER SOMALI cattle herder Omar Hussein isn't joining the global scramble for a COVID-19 vaccine - he's not sure the jab will even reach his besieged town in southwestern Somalia. The 28-year-old, who has spent much of his life living in a volatile region infiltrated by al Qaeda-linked Islamist insurgents, has bigger problems on his mind. "I know COVID-19 is a killer, everyone knows that. It killed many in Western countries, but not here thanks to God," the father of three told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from his home in Bulo Fulay town in…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa COVID-19 deaths surpass 100 000

COVID-19

AFRICA's reported COVID-19 death toll surpassed 100,000, a fraction of those reported on other continents but rising fast as a second wave of infections overwhelms hospitals. The continent's reported deaths, at 100,354, compare favourably with North America, which has registered more than half a million, and Europe, which is approaching 900,000, a Reuters tally shows. But deaths are rising sharply across Africa, driven by its southern region, especially economic powerhouse South Africa, which accounts for nearly half. South Africa was ravaged by a second wave caused by a more contagious variant that has jammed up casualty wards. "The increased number…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Russia offers 300 million doses

COVID-19

ALEXANDER WINNING and JOE BAVIER THE African Union's (AU) vaccine task team has disclosed that Russia had offered it 300 million doses of its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine along with a financing package for countries wanting to secure the shots. The Russian vaccine will be available for a period of 12 months starting May 2021, it said in a statement. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, said some deliveries could start in May but most would be from June. The 55-member AU hopes to see 60% of the continent's 1.3 billion people…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana expects 350,000 vaccine shots

COVID-19

GHANA is expecting a first delivery of just over 350,000 AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine shots by the end of next week, a plan presented by health officials on Friday showed. The country will spend around $3 for every two shots of vaccine and inoculate around 20 million people against the virus, according to the plan. Developing countries, such as Ghana, are competing with richer nations for supplies as they scramble to source vaccines and launch inoculation campaigns. "On the estimated cost, we are looking at...for every person getting two shots, that would cost nearly $3 per person fully vaccinated for the…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa backs Pfizer vaccine

COVID-19

ALEXANDER WINNING TWO of the South African government's top advisers on COVID-19 backed Pfizer's vaccine on Friday, despite a study earlier this week showing that the dominant local coronavirus variant may reduce protective antibodies it triggers. The country is counting on the Pfizer shot, developed with German partner BioNTech, to step up its vaccination programme after administering its first Johnson & Johnson doses on Wednesday. Professor Barry Schoub AstraZeneca vaccinations are on hold after a small local trial found the shot offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness from the 501Y.V2 variant first identified late last year. The laboratory…

Feb

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Ebola strikes West Africa again: key questions and lessons from the past

HEALTH

NEWS of a new outbreak of Ebola in Guinea is indeed distressing. The last in West Africa occurred between 2014 and 2015 and affected Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. It was the world’s deadliest Ebola outbreak, which began in Guinea and in which more than 11,300 people died. Among these were over 500 health workers. MOSOKA FALLAH, Part-time lecturer at the Global Health & Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Lecturer at the School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Liberia But countries in the West African region are in a very different position seven years on.…

Jul

31

2021

By The African Mirror

The lawyer using sculptures to fight COVID-19

COVID-19

FAFADZWA UFUMELI NOT so long ago, 40-year-old David Ngwerume was running his law firm ‘Ngwerume Attorney and Law’ and defending clients fearlessly in the courts of Harare. But then COVID-19 struck. Now he uses his free time and a childhood hobby to chisel away in the fight against COVID. In what feels like a different universe - those days before the arrival of COVID-19 - David Ngwerume would be found on most weekdays neatly clad in a dark suit, white shirt and tie, working long hours at his law firm. The restrictions on movement due to lockdowns meant that the…

Jul

31

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya suspends in-person meetings

COVID-19

GEORGE OBULUTSA KENYA’S health minister said on Friday the government had suspended all in-person meetings and public gatherings to try to contain COVID-19, whose spread in the country he now attributes to the more infectious Delta variant. Mutahi Kagwe said in a televised address that the government had asked public and private-sector employers to allow their workers to work from home, unless they were classified as essential services. "All public gatherings and in-person meetings of whatever nature are suspended countrywide. In this regard, all government, including intergovernmental meetings and conferences, should henceforth be converted to either virtual or postponed in…

Jul

31

2021

By The African Mirror

Germany drops S.A from ‘virus variant’ list

COVID-19

GERMANY no longer considers South Africa and eight other African countries as so-called 'virus variant' areas, the Health Ministry said on Friday, in a move that will ease strict travel restrictions. The change, which takes effect on Sunday, comes after the Delta strain of COVID-19 became dominant in both Germany and South Africa, displacing the Beta strain originally found in the southern African nation. Only German nationals and those with permanent residency are currently able to travel to the country from virus variant areas, subject to quarantine. The reclassification will make it possible for others to travel to Germany, subject…