HEALTH - The African Mirror

Jun

19

2024

By ABBA MALLUM, BEATRICE M’MBOGA AKALA, MAUREEN BILINGA TENDWA, RAKIYA SAIDU, STEPHEN AVERY, TWALIB NGOMA and WIL NGWA

What is cervical cancer and how can it be prevented? Answers to key questions

HEALTH

IN 2020 the World Health Organization rolled out a global strategy to eradicate cervical cancer by 2030. This is the fourth most common cancer among women, claiming an estimated 350,000 lives globally in 2022. More than 80,000 of these deaths were recorded in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, one woman dies every two minutes from this disease, which is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Cervical cancer is preventable. The global strategy has three pillars: getting 90% of girls vaccinated against HPV by age 15; ensuring 70% of women are screened by the age of 45; and having 90% of women with…

Jun

15

2024

By ALOYSIUS ODII and NNENNA MBA-ODUWUSI

Mental health services are scarce in Nigeria but there’s a huge need: what we learnt from callers to a hotline

HEALTH

EMERGENCY hotlines have a crucial role to play in improving access to mental health services, particularly in countries where these services are in short supply. This is the case in Nigeria, where in one study one in every four people reported one or more types of mental illness. In a country of 200 million people, there are fewer than 150 psychiatrists, and less than 10% of mentally ill Nigerians have access to the care they need. This treatment gap is a result of shortages of mental health professionals and neuropsychiatric hospitals. Nigeria has not actively pursued installing hotlines to support…

Jun

14

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa reports second mpox death this week

HEALTH

A second person has died in South Africa this week from the viral infection mpox, the health ministry said, less than 24 hours after it announced the first death. The second person who died was a 38-year-old man. He was admitted to a hospital in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province with extensive lesions, headache, fatigue, oral ulcers, muscle pain and a sore throat. He tested positive for mpox on Wednesday. "The patient has unfortunately demised in KZN the same day his test results came back positive," spokesperson for the national health department Foster Mohale said. The total number of laboratory-confirmed mpox cases stands…

Jun

13

2024

By TANNUR ANDERS

South Africa records first mpox death after five cases in past month

HEALTH

A 37-year-old man has died in South Africa from the viral infection mpox, becoming the first fatality in the country after five laboratory-confirmed cases were recorded over the past month, the health minister said. The man died in Tembisa Hospital on Monday, Health Minister Joe Phaahla told a news conference. "One death is too many, especially from a preventable and manageable disease like mpox," he said. Health Minister Joe Phaahla Mpox, which causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, spreads through close physical contact. Most cases are mild but it can kill. Unlike with COVID, "there must have been contact between…

Jun

11

2024

By JAMES WINTRUP

Foreign healthcare volunteers in Africa can harm local relationships – Zambian study

HEALTH

THOUSANDS of global health volunteers, most from the United States, travel to Africa every year. These volunteers come from diverse backgrounds and have varying levels of experience. They include surgeons, anaesthesiologists, nurses and medical students. They arrive with the ambition to improve health outcomes in Africa and learn about “global health”. In my research, I have studied the impact of these volunteers in Zambia. Between 2014 and 2016, I conducted research at a rural hospital where medical volunteers from the US provided various forms of medical care, including eye surgeries, caesarian sections, and treatments for malaria, tuberculosis and HIV. In…

Jun

07

2024

By JACK JENKINS, HANNAH BROWN, TOMMY MATTHEW HANSON and WAHAB LAWUNDEH

Sierra Leone’s bushmeat markets pose serious health hazards – we studied two for six months to find solutions

HEALTH

YOU are walking through the bustling centre of Bo, Sierra Leone’s third-largest city. Following the crowd, you turn off the main road onto a narrower thoroughfare and find yourself in an open-air market. Shelters constructed from timber and sheet-metal roofing line each side of the narrow, unpaved walkway. A foul smell hits your nose. The source? A young woman is raising an axe over the carcass of a duiker, a type of small antelope, laid out on a butcher’s block at the edge of the pathway. As you pass by, you are sprayed with the animal’s fluids. Others near you…

Jun

06

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa regulator finds no toxin in recalled cough syrup

HEALTH

AN investigation into two recalled batches of children's cough syrup made in South Africa by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) found no trace of a toxin, and no adverse events have been reported from consuming the syrup, the country's drug regulator said on Wednesday. The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority issued the recall in April, days after Nigeria's regulator recalled the medicine - a batch of Benylin Paediatric Syrup made in South Africa - over an unacceptably high level of a potentially deadly toxic substance, diethylene glycol. No adverse events have so far been reported in South Africa or other African countries relating to the syrup,…

May

21

2024

By The African Mirror

Chad hepatitis E outbreak: how the dangerous liver disease spreads and how it can be treated

HEALTH

THE World Health Organization recently announced an outbreak of hepatitis E in the eastern Ouaddai province of Chad. Between January and April 2024, 2,093 suspected hepatitis E cases were reported from two health districts. The Conversation Africa asked Kolawole Oluseyi Akande, a consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist, to explain the causes, symptoms, spread and treatment of hepatitis E. What is hepatitis and how many types are there? Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. It is the way the liver responds to various injuries or harmful agents. Hepatitis is caused by a variety of infectious viruses and noninfectious agents, leading to…

May

16

2024

By NQOBILE DLUDLA and NELLIE PEYTON

Radical “Ramaphosa Care” bill signed into law in SA

HEALTH

SOUTH Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill that aims to provide universal health coverage, hailing it as a major step towards a more just society two weeks before an election that is expected to be fiercely competitive. The National Health Insurance (NHI) Act takes aim at a two-tier health system, in which a publicly funded sector that serves 84% of the population is overburdened and run down while some people have access to better treatment through private insurance. Opponents have vowed to challenge it in court and described it is a ploy for votes - which the presidency denied…

May

14

2024

By TAMSIN BRADLEY

Female genital mutilation is on the rise in Africa: disturbing new trends are driving up the numbers

HEALTH

THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD Salamatu Jalloh had her whole future to look forward to. But in January 2023, her lifeless body was found wrapped in a pink and blue shroud on an earthen floor in a village in northwest Sierra Leone. Salamatu and two other girls bled to death after participating in a secret Bondo society initiation into womanhood. The ceremony, which lasted for several weeks, began with a sense of excitement and anticipation – a rare occasion in this rural community to celebrate girls. But at its core was a violent act: the cutting and removal of the girls’ external genitalia. Their…