HEALTH - The African Mirror

Jun

12

2021

SA officially enters third wave

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa has entered its third wave of COVID-19 infections, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NCID) has disclosed, as the continent's worst-hit country registered 9,149 new cases. The NCID said South Africa had exceeded the national 7-day moving average incidence of 5,959 cases as defined by the ministerial advisory committee (MAC). The MAC advisory reported the latest wave of cases had a 7-day moving average threshold that was 30% of the peak incidence of the previous wave, which reached around 10,000 infections driven by a new variant. "South Africa technically entered the third wave today," the NCID said in…

Jun

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Ending HIV in children is way off target: where to focus action now

HEALTH

WORLD leaders have recently, under the auspices of the United Nations, renewed their commitment to ending AIDS. The new phase offers much-needed hope for the future, provided the commitments made are fulfilled. KAYMARLIN GOVENDER, Research Director at The Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal LINDA-GAIL BEKKER, Professor of medicine and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town The adopted political declaration and its recommendations offer strategies for ending mother-to-child transmission of HIV and paediatric AIDS. They also address inequalities faced…

Jun

11

2021

By The African Mirror

9 in 10 countries to miss vaccination goal

COVID-19

ABOUT 90% of African countries will miss a September target to vaccinate at least 10% of their populations against COVID-19 as a third wave of the pandemic looms on the continent, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said yesterday. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said the continent required an extra 225 million doses to be able to vaccinate a tenth of its people by September this year. Africa has hit 5 million COVID-19 cases, with the southern Africa region the worst affected, accounting for 37% of total cases, according to a Reuters tally. South Africa is the worst…

Jun

11

2021

By The African Mirror

France, SA to increase vaccines access

COVID-19

FRANCE has decided to work with South Africa to help African countries to get access to vaccines, French President Emmanuel Macron told a news conference on Thursday ahead of a G7 summit. Macron also said that having access to vaccines should not be blocked by disputes over intellectual property rights.

Apr

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Five vaccine stories from Kenya, London to Mumbai

COVID-19

DRAW the dose up into a syringe, expose the upper arm, administer the jab: it takes a few seconds to give someone a COVID-19 vaccination. But securing a dose in the first place, and getting in front of a nurse with a needle and a freezer full of vaccines, varies widely depending on where you live and what you do for a living. In Britain, a global frontrunner in the vaccination race, registering online for the jab has been no more complicated than booking a dentist appointment, while in India, where COVID-19 cases are surging, some people have roamed city hospitals…

Jun

11

2021

By The African Mirror

Biden to donate 500 million Pfizer doses

COVID-19

STEVE HOLLAND and ANDREA SHALAL U.S. President Joe Biden plans to buy and donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to more than 90 countries, while calling on the world's democracies to do their part to help end the deadly pandemic, the White House said. The announcement of the vaccine donation - the largest ever by a single country - comes before Biden meets leaders of the other Group of Seven advanced economies in England. "The goal of today's donation is to save lives and end the pandemic and will provide the foundation for additional actions to be…

Apr

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Egypt sends backup to province

COVID-19

EGYPT’S health ministry has sent reinforcements and equipment to a province south of Cairo over the past week, after medical staff complained of a shortage of resources to cope with a surge in coronavirus cases. The reported rise of infections in Sohag province, nearly 400 km (250 miles) from the capital, has raised concern about a third wave of COVID-19 infections in Egypt, where most restrictions on movement and other precautions were lifted after a first wave last summer. Deployments to Sohag include teams to conduct home visits and supplies of oxygen and ventilators, while hospitals have expanded admission capacities,…

Apr

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccine co-creator defends its safety

COVID-19

KATE KELLAND ONE of the Oxford scientists who co-developed AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine defended its safety on Friday and said he was not worried that some countries had opted to restrict its use amid concerns about a possible link to very rare side effects. Adrian Hill, director of the Oxford University's Jenner Institute, said teams around the world were working to pin down any potential mechanism for what might be causing the blood clots, using real world data now so many shots have been administered. He agreed with medicines regulators in Britain, and Europe, and with World Health Organization experts, that…

Apr

24

2021

By The African Mirror

S.A. calls for vaccine technology transfer

COVID-19

SOUTH's President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on pharmaceutical companies to transfer mRNA vaccine technology to low and middle-income countries "free of intellectual property barriers". Speaking at a virtual World Health Organization (WHO) briefing, Ramaphosa added that vaccine nationalism was seriously threatening the world's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and deepening inequality. "Let us together challenge vaccine nationalism and ensure that protecting intellectual property rights does not come at the expense of human lives," he added.

Apr

24

2021

By The African Mirror

What Nigeria must do to eliminate malaria: three researchers offer insights

HEALTH

Nigeria accounts for nearly a quarter of deaths from malaria in the world – in 2018 the numbers stood at 95,000. Three of the country’s top malaria researchers reflect on why the numbers remain so high. WALE FATADE, Commissioning Editor: Nigeria, The Conversation What does Nigeria need to do to eliminate malaria? Olukemi K. Amodu: research and innovate Malaria remains an important public health hazard globally. It is responsible for high disease and death rates especially among children under five and pregnant women. The malaria burden in Nigeria is high – 25% of cases globally. The causes include the climate,…