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Antibiotic resistance causes more deaths than malaria and HIV/Aids combined. What Africa is doing to fight this silent epidemic

Antibiotic resistance causes more deaths than malaria and HIV/Aids combined. What Africa is doing to fight this silent epidemic

EACH year antimicrobial resistance – the ability of microbes to survive agents designed to kill them – claims more lives than malaria and HIV/Aids combined. Africa bears the brunt of this development, which thrives on inequality and poverty. Nadine Dreyer asked Tom Nyirenda, a research scientist with over 27 years’ experience in infectious diseases, what health organisations on the continent are doing to fight this threat to medical progress. TOM NYIRENDA, Extraordinary Senior Lecture in the Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University What is antimicrobial resistance? Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no…
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COVID-19 took toll on AIDS fight, UNAIDS chief says

COVID-19 took toll on AIDS fight, UNAIDS chief says

JULIE STEENHUYSEN NEW infections and deaths from HIV/AIDS may increase as the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted prevention measures, said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima in an interview airing on Wednesday at the Reuters Next conference. Byanyima, who is also United Nations under-secretary-general, said that during the first pandemic phase in particular, fewer people opted to be tested and some dropped out of treatment because of long lines at clinics or other public safety measures that impeded access to prevention measures. "We do expect that in the coming years, we might see more deaths, we might see more new infections as…
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Diabetes targets would cost more but the impact would be worth it: here’s how

Diabetes targets would cost more but the impact would be worth it: here’s how

SETTING global health targets, which is often done by multinational organisations, such as the United Nations or World Health Organisation (WHO), is commonly used to improve health outcomes. For example, the United Nations target to improve access to treatment for HIV has resulted in many more people receiving the treatment that they need, which has saved lives. JUSTINE INA DAVIES, Professor of Global Health, Institute for Applied Research, University of Birmingham DAVID FLOOD, Research Fellow, University of Michigan JENNIFER MANNE-GOEHLER, Research Fellow in Medicine, Harvard University SANJAY BASU, Director of Research, Center for Primary Care, Harvard Medical School Now, the…
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Ghana LGBT+ bill would threaten fight on HIV/AIDS, says UNAIDS

Ghana LGBT+ bill would threaten fight on HIV/AIDS, says UNAIDS

NITA BHALLA A proposal to criminalise LGBT+ people in Ghana is "a gross violation" of human rights and could set back a decade of progress fighting HIV/AIDS in the West African nation, according to the United Nations. The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021, received a first reading in parliament on Monday. It will now be reviewed by a committee before going back to lawmakers for a second reading. "This proposed legislation is a gross violation of the human rights of Ghana's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, who already face high levels of…
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African scientists on the rise

African scientists on the rise

SETH ONYANGO AFRICAN scientists are staking a claim at the world’s scientific high table, generating cutting-edge breakthroughs in the fight against malaria, HIV/AIDS, maternal health and TB and boosting agricultural productivity. Despite little global spotlight − at home where it matters, as well as overseas – African scientists are creating home-grown solutions to some of the world’s biggest maladies. The World Bank has released a report indicating that despite an increase, Africa’s contributions to the world’s research remains at a measly 1.1 per cent. But there are caveats. One is that the research that IS created is extremely wide-reaching, showing…
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How COVID-19 measures have affected food safety in East Africa

How COVID-19 measures have affected food safety in East Africa

FOODBORNE diseases are thought to impose a health burden on society comparable to the “big three”: malaria, HIV/AIDs and tuberculosis. FLORENCE MUTUA, Scientist, International Livestock Research Institute DELIA GRACE, Professor Food Safety Systems at the Natural Resources Institute (UK) and contributing scientist ILRI, International Livestock Research Institute ERASTUS KANG'ETHE, Professor, University of Nairobi Common foodborne diseases affect tens of millions of people every year. They include salmonellosis, which causes stomach upsets, norovirus, which can cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea, and listeriosis, which can cause severe infections of the bloodstream and brain. Children and people with weak immune systems are affected…
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Ending HIV in children is way off target: where to focus action now

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

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…
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HIV 40 years on: four action points to end AIDS as a health threat

HIV 40 years on: four action points to end AIDS as a health threat

ON 5 June 1981 a short report of five cases of pneumocystis pneumonia in young homosexual men in Los Angeles marked the discovery of AIDS, the first pandemic of the 20th century caused by a completely new virus, HIV. GILLES VAN CUTSEM, Honorary Research Associate, Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research, University of Cape Town Since then HIV has killed 33 million and infected 76 million people. Of the 38 million people living with HIV 27 million are now on life-saving treatment. This is a three-fold increase since 2010. But it still falls short of the global target of…
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Forty years on, AIDS is not over

Forty years on, AIDS is not over

ASH KOTAK FOURTY years ago, on June 5, 1981, the first cases of what became known as AIDS were reported in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), the U.S. national public health agency, reported, “Five cases of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) among previously healthy young men in Los Angeles,” in their Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). All were “homosexuals”. Two had died. The cases suggested, “a disease acquired through sexual contact”. Now at the midpoint of the almost forgotten HIV/AIDS pandemic, 77.5 million people have caught HIV, according to UNAIDS. Of those, 34.7 million…
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People with HIV are still dying from a treatable, but neglected, disease: all it needs is a plan

People with HIV are still dying from a treatable, but neglected, disease: all it needs is a plan

THEMBI Ngubane was a young woman who became famous through the American National Public Radio show Thembi’s AIDS Diary: A Year in the Life of a South African Teenager. She was vibrant, punchy, full of life. She recorded the consultation when, as a doctor, I started her on antiretroviral therapy in 2005. Jo Menell’s documentary film, Thembi, gives a sensitive and nuanced account of her fast rise to fame, culminating in meeting Barack Obama and addressing the US Congress, and then equally rapid fall into oblivion, loss from care, and death. GILLES VAN CUTSEM, Honorary Research Associate, Centre for Infectious…
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