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Jul
02
2023
By JENNIFER RIGBY and RICHA NAIDU
Sweetener cancer fears

Sweetener cancer fears

NEWS
ONE of the world's most common artificial sweeteners is set to be declared a possible carcinogen next month by a leading global health body, according to two sources with knowledge of the process, pitting it against the food industry and regulators. Aspartame, used in products from Coca-Cola diet sodas to Mars' Extra chewing gum and some Snapple drinks, will be listed in July as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" for the first time by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization's (WHO) cancer research arm, the sources told Reuters. The IARC ruling, finalised earlier this month…
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Feb
10
2023
By The African Mirror
Malawi cholera death toll crosses 1,300: health official

Malawi cholera death toll crosses 1,300: health official

HEALTH
THE death toll from a cholera outbreak in Malawi has crossed 1,300, a senior Malawian health official said, as the southern African country battles its deadliest outbreak yet. As of Wednesday, Malawi had recorded 40,284 cholera cases and 1,316 deaths in an outbreak that started in March 2022, with the country averaging over 500 new cases every day, Charles Mwansambo told a briefing organised by the World Health Organisation's Africa office. Cholera outbreaks happen regularly in Malawi, usually in the rainy season from November to March, but they only average an annual death toll of about 100. The WHO said…
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Nov
04
2022
By The African Mirror
Uganda: Ebola outbreak death toll rises to 48

Uganda: Ebola outbreak death toll rises to 48

NEWS
THE death toll from an Ebola outbreak in Uganda has risen to 48, with 131 confirmed cases, a health official involved in managing the outbreak said. Last week Uganda's health minister put the death toll at 30, with 109 confirmed cases. "Confirmed cases by today 131 and 48 deaths," Henry Kyobe Bosa, Ebola incident commander at Uganda's health ministry, told a briefing organised by the World Health Organization's Africa office. "On the spread and when we are likely to have the outbreak ending I see no experts on this panel can actually predict when it will end," he said, adding authorities…
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Oct
21
2022
By The African Mirror
WHO’s Tedros says narrow window to ‘prevent genocide’ in Ethiopia

WHO’s Tedros says narrow window to ‘prevent genocide’ in Ethiopia

NEWS
WORLD Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there was a "very narrow window now to prevent genocide" in his home region of Tigray in northern Ethiopia. Tedros, who previously served as Ethiopia's health minister and foreign affairs minister, has been sharply critical of Ethiopian authorities throughout the two-year war. The government has, in turn, accused him of trying to procure arms and diplomatic backing for rebel forces - charges he has denied. In his sharpest comments on the war yet, Tedros told reporters in Geneva that food and healthcare were being used as weapons of war in Tigray, which…
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Jul
08
2022
By The African Mirror
Monkeypox on course to be new global health emergency

Monkeypox on course to be new global health emergency

HEALTH
MORE than 6,000 cases of monkeypox have now been reported from 58 countries in the current outbreak, the World Health Organization said. The U.N. agency will reconvene a meeting of the committee that will advise on declaring the outbreak a global health emergency, the WHO's highest level of alert, in the week beginning July 18 or sooner, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news conference from Geneva. At its previous meeting on June 27, the committee decided that the outbreak, which has seen cases rising both in the African countries where it usually spreads and globally, was not yet…
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Jun
08
2022
By The African Mirror
No COVID-19 apocalypse in Africa, as WHO expects a steep drop in fatalities

No COVID-19 apocalypse in Africa, as WHO expects a steep drop in fatalities

COVID-19
SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY TALES of the coronavirus apocalypse in Africa will not be told after all, with the WHO now predicting a dramatic drop in fatalities, from an average of 970 fatalities each day last year, to around 60 a day by the end of 2022. This is in sharp contrast to the grim predictions about COVID-19 in Africa. Comments from health organisations and aid agencies were at the time criticised for pandering to stereotypes about Africa. Some, including philanthropist Melinda Gates, warned that dead bodies from COVID-19 would litter the continent. "My first thought was Africa. How…
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May
14
2022
By The African Mirror
WHO’s warning to Africa: Omicron sub-variants drive Covid-19 surge

WHO’s warning to Africa: Omicron sub-variants drive Covid-19 surge

COVID-19
SUB-VARIANTS of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and relaxation of public health measures are driving a current surge in infections in southern Africa, a senior official from the World Health Organization (WHO) said. "This uptick in cases is an early warning sign which we are closely monitoring. Now is the time for countries to step up preparedness and ensure that they can mount an effective response in the event of a fresh pandemic wave," said Dr Abdou Salam Gueye, Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response at the WHO Regional Office for Africa.
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May
06
2022
By The African Mirror
COVID led to 15 million deaths globally, not the 5 million reported – WHO

COVID led to 15 million deaths globally, not the 5 million reported – WHO

COVID-19
JENNIFER RIGBY ALMOST three times as many people have died as a result of COVID-19 as official data show, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report, the most comprehensive look at the true global toll of the pandemic so far. There were 14.9 million excess deaths associated with COVID-19 by the end of 2021, the U.N. body said on Thursday. The official count of deaths directly attributable to COVID-19 and reported to WHO in that period, from January 2020 to the end of December 2021, is slightly more than 5.4 million. The WHO's excess mortality figures reflect people…
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Mar
18
2022
By The African Mirror
WHO says global rise in COVID cases is ‘tip of the iceberg’

WHO says global rise in COVID cases is ‘tip of the iceberg’

COVID-19
JENNIFER RIGBY and MANAS MISHRA FIGURES showing a global rise in COVID-19 cases could herald a much bigger problem as some countries also report a drop in testing rates, the WHO said, warning nations to remain vigilant against the virus. After more than a month of decline, COVID cases started to increase around the world last week, the WHO said, with lockdowns in Asia and China's Jilin province battling to contain an outbreak. A combination of factors was causing the increases, including the highly transmissible Omicron variant and its BA.2 sublineage, and the lifting of public health and social measures,…
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Mar
15
2022
By The African Mirror
Wins, missteps and lessons: African experts reflect on two years of COVID response

Wins, missteps and lessons: African experts reflect on two years of COVID response

COVID-19
ON 11 March 2020, just months after the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was first identified in China, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a public health emergency of international concern. Over the next two years, COVID-19 would go on to infect nearly half a billion people, killing over 6 million around the world. Governments introduced strict lockdowns with stay-at-home orders that shut down the global economy. Now, most of the world is opening up. The Conversation Africa spoke to public health experts based in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa to get their take on the biggest lessons so far. The…
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