HEALTH - The African Mirror

May

29

2021

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,…

Jun

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Carrot or stick? How countries are tackling COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

COVID-19

SONIA ELKS GET a COVID-19 jab in California and you could walk away with a lot more than a sore arm - a $1.5 million lottery jackpot is up for grabs for residents of the state who get vaccinated. From dollars to donuts, a dizzying array of incentives are being offered by authorities and companies around the world in a bid to win around the vaccine hesitant as they seek to turn a page on the pandemic. But as countries strive to reach 'herd immunity' - where enough people are protected against a disease that it becomes difficult for infections…

Jun

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Chile midfielder Vidal recovering from COVID-19 in hospital

COVID-19

CHILE and Inter Milan midfielder Arturo Vidal is recovering in hospital after contracting COVID-19, the Chilean national team has announced. A statement said that the 34-year-old tested positive for the virus after initially being hospitalised with severe tonsilitis. "The medical team of the Chilean national team emphasises that at the request of the player Arturo Vidal, it is announced that he has been diagnosed positive for Covid," a statement on the Chile national team website said. "Arturo has been hospitalised and isolated from the group for more than 72 hours in a preventive measure indicated by the medical team, due…

Jun

01

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Time has come’ for pandemic treaty as part of bold reforms – WHO’s Tedros

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY THE head of the World Health Organization (WHO) called on Monday for launching negotiations this year on an international treaty to boost pandemic preparedness, as part of sweeping reforms envisioned by member states. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, told its annual ministerial assembly that the U.N. agency faced a "serious challenge" to maintain its COVID-19 response at the current level and required sustainable and flexible funding. Earlier in the day - the last of the week-long assembly - health ministers agreed to study recommendations for ambitious reforms made by independent experts to strengthen the capacity of both the…

May

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Zambian bans campaign rallies

COVID-19

ZAMBIAN President Edgar Lungu has banned campaign rallies ahead of elections scheduled for August 12, saying large gatherings risked spreading the COVID-19 virus. Lungu, a lawyer, is pitted against economist Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND), whom he narrowly beat in the 2016 elections. Zambia, Africa's No.2 copper producer, is in the grips of an economic crisis after it failed to make payment of a coupon on one of its dollar bonds in November, dragging it into sovereign default. Opposition parties have pilloried Lungu's handling of the crisis. Last year, police shot dead two people after…

Jun

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Is it all Greek to you? Variants get new names

COVID-19

EMMA FARGE CORONAVIRUS variants with clunky, alphanumeric names have now been assigned the letters of the Greek Alphabet in a bid to simplify discussion and pronunciation while avoiding stigma. The World Health Organization revealed the new names on Monday amid criticism that those given by scientists such as the so-called South African variant which goes by multiple names including B.1.351, 501Y.V2 and 20H/501Y.V2 were too complicated. As such, the four coronavirus variants considered of concern by the U.N. agency and known generally by the public as the UK, South Africa, Brazil and India variants have now been given the letters…