HEALTH - The African Mirror

Dec

17

2020

Nigeria expects to get its first COVID-19 vaccine doses in January

COVID-19

FELIX ONUAH NIGERIA expects to receive its first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in January, the country's health minister has announced, but officials do not yet know which one they will get. Africa's most populous nation has not been as hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic as others on the continent such as South Africa, but it warned last week of a second wave of COVID-19 infections. Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said that Nigeria has a working group in place to handle vaccines, and is working with the COVAX programme backed by the World Health Organization. "We have 200 million citizens.…

Dec

17

2020

By The African Mirror

Top coach Pitso Mosimane tests positive for COVID-19

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER EGYPTIAN giants Al-Ahly’s multi-trophy winning coach Pitso Mosimane has tested positive for COVID-19 and has gone into self-isolation. Mosimane, the former coach of South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns, won the elusive treble with Al-Ahly. He won the CAF Champions League, the Egyptian Premier League title and the Egyptian Cup with Al-Ahly. In a statement, the club said: “Mosimane will follow the ministry of health’s protocol for Covid-19 and will be self-isolated at home.” Mosimane is set to miss his team’s match against Ghazi El Mahalla on Friday. Yesterday, Al Ahly’s first team players underwent a rapid COVID-19 test…

Dec

16

2020

By The African Mirror

Childhood sex education reduces risky sexual behaviour: a Nigerian case study

HEALTH

THE World Health Organisation has marked significant improvements in some aspects of adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Young people are having their first sexual encounters at a later age and are more likely to use condoms. But HIV infections in this age group are not decreasing and sexually transmitted infections remain high. ALOYSIUS ODII, Ph.D. candidate in Demography and population studies, University of Nigeria NKECHI G. ONYENEHO, Researcher, University of Nigeria The World Health Organisation defines an adolescent as a person between the ages of 10 and 19. Adolescents make up 22.3% of Nigeria’s population. The country is home to…

Dec

16

2020

By The African Mirror

New kinds of loans and bonds could fill $28 bln COVID funding gap: WHO

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and EMMA FARGE THE World Health Organization is looking at new financial instruments to help to fill a $28 billion funding shortfall for tools to fight COVID-19, a senior official said on Tuesday. The WHO and GAVI vaccine alliance aim to provide poor and middle-income countries with diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines through a fund known as the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, set up last April. Bruce Aylward, a senior WHO adviser and its ACT coordinator, said that new financing mechanisms - including concessional loans and catastrophe bonds - were discussed at a meeting of the…

Dec

15

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19: How to reduce risk in the holiday season

HEALTH

DOYIN ODUBANJO, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Academy of Science DURING the festive season, travel and gatherings are sometimes unavoidable, even in a global pandemic. Dr Doyin Odubanjo, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Academy of Science and a past chairman of the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria, shares five tips for a safe Christmas during COVID-19. In this video interview, the public health physician explains the “3 Cs” people should avoid in order to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. They are: crowds, close contact and confined spaces. - The Conversation https://www.youtube.com/embed/lHG_b-g5RgM Keeping safe during Christmas to prevent COVID-19.

Dec

15

2020

By The African Mirror

Nurse gets New York’s first COVID-19 vaccine as U.S. rollout begins

COVID-19

JONATHAN ALLEN and GABRIELLA BORTER NEW YORK has inoculated its first healthcare worker, an intensive care unit nurse in Queens, with the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, marking a pivotal turn in the U.S. effort to control the deadly virus. Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse, was given the vaccine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, an early epicentre of the country's COVID-19 outbreak, receiving applause on a live stream with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. "It didn't feel any different from taking any other vaccine," Lindsay said. "I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming.…

Dec

15

2020

By The African Mirror

How COVID-19 upended informal workers worldwide

COVID-19

JOHN SURICO ABOUT half of the wage earners in Colombia found themselves in the informal economy last year—working unregulated jobs with flexibility, but also, minimal social protection. Yet although rates have steadily declined, informality has remained a weakness. “Before the pandemic, we were in a fragile situation, economically,” says Mauricio Quiñones Domínguez, a Medellín-based economist. Then COVID-19 hit. The hard-hit country, previously strapped with one of the highest unemployment rates in Latin America, has seen joblessness soar to an unprecedented 21.2% (It now hovers around 16%, although ‘real’ unemployment could be higher.) Informality is expected to follow, reversing years’ worth…

Dec

14

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa bans super-spreader events, closes beaches in response to spike in COVID-19 second wave infections

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER SOUTH Africa has announced extraordinary festive season restrictions, banning “super-spreader” events, closing beaches in the Eastern Cape and restricting alcohol sales in response to a big spike in the second wave of COVID-19 infections. President Cyril Ramaphosa. SA president Cyril Ramaphosa announced the new tougher measures in a special address to the nation. Ramaphosa said two new areas - the Sarah Baartman and the Garden Route - have been designated as COVID-19 hotspots, because of the sharp spike in infections. The Nelson Mandela Bay was declared a hotspot on December 3. He said the new restrictions include: …

Dec

14

2020

By The African Mirror

African Union chair pays tribute to the Prime Minister of eSwatini

COVID-19

CYRIL Ramaphosa, the Chair of the African Union and President of South Africa, has paid a warm tribute to Ambrose Dlamini, the Prime Minister of eSwatini who has become the first sitting head of state or government to succumb to COVID-19. Ramaphosa expressed his deep condolences to the government and people of the Kingdom of eSwatini. Dlamini (52) passed away on Sunday, during treatment for COVID-19 in a South African hospital.. Ramaphosa said: “Today, all South Africans and compatriots across our continent bow our heads in sadness at the passing of a leader who took pride in leading and representing…

Dec

14

2020

By The African Mirror

Where COVID-19 has left Nigeria’s health system

HEALTH

OVER nine months into COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria, there are concerns about how well the country has managed the pandemic. Adejuwon Soyinka, from The Conversation Africa, asked Dr Doyin Odubanjo, executive secretary of the Nigerian Academy of Science, to assess the situation and how it might affect the country’s ability to manage other equally important diseases. DOYIN ODUBANJO, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Academy of Science Where does Nigeria stand as far as COVID-19 is concerned at the moment? I would say we are in the wilderness. Basically we don’t know where we are. I think the only thing that everybody agrees…