The World Food Program (WFP) has stopped distributing a fortified food project used in its humanitarian aid programs after more than 200 people became sick, three of them dying, according to a Uganda International Red Cross & Red Crescent spokeswoman. The cases of people with suspected food poisoning were reported…
Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general for World Health Organization, said Thursday that the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been contained in 11 of the 28 communities where cases are recorded. Yet the struggle continues, amid ongoing security challenges in the North Kivu and Ituri…
Social media giant Facebook has announced a new policy on how it will handle posts and pages that spread misinformation about vaccines and vaccinations. It is a growing problem particularly in the West, where parents are choosing to avoid once-routine vaccinations for their children because of fears stoked by unreliable…
The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has reached a new milestone, with the number of cases reported Wednesday by the country’s Ministry of Health now more than 900. The new total of 907 Ebola cases includes 841 confirmed cases and 66 probable. Another 223 suspected cases are under investigation in…
Global organizations leading the fight against HIV/AIDS welcomed the news that a man in London appears to be the second person ever to become HIV-free following a rare treatment – one that shows promise in helping researchers to one day find a cure. The man was treated by specialists at…
At least 150 people in the Indian tea-planting region of Assam have died following a mass poisoning linked to the consumption of illicit alcohol. The tragedy unfolded just two weeks after more than 100 people in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand lost their lives in the same way, leading to renewed…
Monica is a freelance journalist based in Kenya
For the second time in a week, an Ebola treatment facility in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was attacked – this time by armed men who overran a center in Butembo jointly operated by the Ministry of Health and Doctors Without Borders (MSF). There were 40 patients in the facility…
Authorities on the island of Mayotte are dealing with more than economic troubles and the ongoing earthquake swarm these days. There are now 63 confirmed cases of Rift Valley Fever (RFV) on the island, all but five of them since the beginning of the year. The outbreak began in November…
The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has now claimed 531 lives, according to Thursday’s report from the Ministry of Health, with the overall number of cases set at 853. The new total includes 788 confirmed cases and 65 probable. Another 177 suspected cases are under investigation in what…
Authorities say there’s a condom shortage in parts of Tanzania, and that’s leading to concern over the spread of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. Dr. Faustine Ndugulile, the country’s deputy minister of public health, confirmed the shortage on Tuesday during a visit to Tanzania’s national orphanage in Kurasini, where about…
A team of medical researchers are calling attention to the links between liver disease in sub-Saharan Africa and the role of chewing khat, the plant commonly known as miraa in East African nations. In a letter to The Lancet medical journal, the researchers from Norway, the UK and Ethiopia praise…
The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, now in its seventh month, has spread to another health zone, making it 19 locations in all with this new case reported in Bunia in the conflict-prone Ituri province. “The case of Bunia is the 6-month-old baby of a woman from Katwa…
The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has reached a new milestone, with the number of cases reported Friday by the country’s Ministry of Health rising to 800. The new total includes 739 confirmed cases and 61 probable. Another 178 suspected cases are under investigation in what is now the second-largest…
The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has now claimed 468 lives, with the number of cases reported Friday by the country’s Ministry of Health rising to 759. The new total includes 705 confirmed cases and 54 probable. Another 178 suspected cases are under investigation in what is now the second-largest…
There’s a direct link between climate change and public health in Lesotho, according to the findings of an intriguing study from ICAP at Columbia University in the United States and its partners. The authors led by Dr. Andrea J. Low, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Columbia Mailman School…