HEALTH - The African Mirror

Jun

04

2021

Moderna to supply vaccines to Botswana

COVID-19

MODERNA Inc has entered a supply agreement with the Botswana government for its COVID-19 vaccine. The Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BMRA) has issued an emergency use authorization for the vaccine, Moderna said. The latest agreement is separate from the 500 million vaccine doses, which Moderna has agreed to supply to the GAVI-led COVAX vaccine sharing scheme, the company said.

Jun

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Summit secures $2.4 bln for COVID shots for poor countries

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and JOHN MILLER DOZENS of countries have pledged nearly $2.4 billion to the COVAX vaccine-sharing plan to widen the availability of COVID-19 shots to people in poorer nations who have so far come up short. The announcements, ranging from $2,500 from island nation Mauritius to millions of dollars and doses from larger, wealthier countries, came during a video summit hosted by Japan and the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which leads the COVAX facility alongside the World Health Organization. "We have taken a big step towards 'one world protected'," said Jose Manuel Barroso, GAVI vaccine alliance chairman. The fresh funds…

May

29

2021

By The African Mirror

Algerian medics fear new infections

COVID-19

LAMINE CHIKHI ALGERIAN medics fear next week's reopening of national borders will trigger a new surge in COVID-19 cases despite health measures, as people living abroad rush home to see family. The borders have been mostly closed since the global pandemic struck in early 2020, marooning thousands of Algerians working overseas and separating families with dual nationality but helping to protect against a more serious infection rate. "I am afraid of a likely increase in cases after the opening. Risks are high because of the variants," said Wafa, a doctor working at a private clinic in Algiers who asked not…

May

28

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 widens learning gap for girls

COVID-19

JAMILA AKWELEY OKERTCHIRI Seventeen-year-old Muniratu Adams, a form two student of the Jeyiri D/A Junior High School at Funsi in the Wa East District of the Upper West Region of Ghana, is fortunate to have returned to school this January after the long COVID-19 shutdown. Ghana’s education sector was one of the hardest affected by the pandemic and for many girls, particularly those in rural areas, the consequences of school closures means many will never return to their schooling. “It was difficult for me to come back to school,” she tells IPS. “When I was home, I did not think…

Jun

04

2021

By The African Mirror

Time is running out, says UN, as HIV/AIDS targets missed

HEALTH

RACHEL SAVAGE THE world has missed ambitious goals to stem the spread of HIV and widen access to treatment, jeopardising a target to end the AIDS pandemic by 2030 unless global efforts are stepped up, the United Nations has warned. Last year, 84% of HIV-positive people knew they had the virus, with 87% of them taking antiretroviral drugs. Of those on medication, 90% had levels of the virus suppressed to a level so low it cannot be passed on, UNAIDS said in a report. Targets of 90% by 2020 were set for each of the three goals five years ago,…

May

29

2021

By The African Mirror

Ebola survivors: their health struggles and how best to support them

HEALTH

WEST Africa’s Ebola outbreak between 2013 and 2016 was the most widespread in the history of the disease. By the end of the outbreak, more than 28,000 people were infected and 11,000 succumbed to the disease. Peter B James, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Southern Cross University Abdulai Jawo Bah, PhD candidate at Queen Margaret University and Lecturer at , University of Sierra Leone Amie Steel, Senior Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney Jon Adams, Distinguished Professor of Public Health, University of Technology Sydney Jon Wardle, Professor of Public Health, Southern Cross University Despite the high number of deaths, the outbreak also…

Jun

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Egypt aims to vaccinate 40% of population

COVID-19

EGYPT aims to vaccinate 40% of its population against coronavirus by the end of 2021, the prime minister said in a televised address yesterday. By the end of Wednesday, 2.5 million people will have been vaccinated from a total of 6 million people who signed up on the government's registration platform, Mostafa Madbouly said. The first batch of locally-made vaccines will be ready in July, he added.

Jun

02

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO approves Sinovac COVID shot in second Chinese milestone

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY THE World Health Organization (WHO) has approved a COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech for emergency use listing, paving the way for a second Chinese shot to be used in poor countries. A WHO emergency listing is a signal to national regulators of a product's safety and efficacy and will allow the Sinovac shot to be included in COVAX, the global programme providing vaccines mainly for poor countries, which faces major supply problems due to curbs on Indian exports. The WHO's independent panel of experts said in a statement it recommended Sinovac's vaccine for adults over 18. There…

May

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Tracking the pandemic, vaccine rollouts

COVID-19

THE coronavirus pandemic continues to test humanitarian responses, while the world faces questions about how to ensure equal access to vaccines. Many countries are rolling out coronavirus vaccination plans, but it’s unclear when – and in some cases, how – these vaccines will reach people caught in crisis zones. The COVID-19 pandemic is driving record-breaking humanitarian needs: Global aid response plans total more than $35 billion this year. Below you’ll find data exploring coronavirus trends and vaccine issues in key crisis areas, a table showing the worldwide picture, and a global map with select stories. Data on this page is updated once a…

May

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Pushed out of school, into domestic work

COVID-19

JORDAN MAYENIKINI EVERY Sunday, Rachel is allowed a few hours off work to go to church - her only moment of respite in a week she spends cooking, sweeping and washing clothes and dishes for a family of seven in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital. But when the 16-year-old's employer failed to pay her salary, she sacrificed one morning's prayers to learn about her rights at a training organised by Together For the Rule of Law, a local charity that supports domestic workers. "I have learned ... that it is not good for us minors to work," Rachel,…