Category: Health Care

Seychelles' Cabinet of Ministers has given its approval for the island nation to host the 19th annual Indian Ocean colloquium on HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis and Addictology from 13-15 November.

The statement was made by Vice President Ahmed Afif in a press briefing on the Cabinet decisions on Thursday.

"It is a group that Seychelles is part of and every year one of the countries hosts it. In 2019, we made a commitment that we will host it in 2023. Around 200 delegates will attend and we will have the opportunity to learn from the professionals.

The groups consist of Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, Reunion and Comoros.

Island nation's health situation 'alarming'

Afif said that the Cabinet was also briefed on the nation's health and health services through professional presentations.

He said the situation is alarming as in many instances things have become worse and the principal factors are cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug use, eating habits and behaviour.

"The situation is quite alarming in the sense that they looked at the principal symptoms our people are suffering from. Many of them have to do with heart diseases, diabetes, cancer and lung diseases. These are principally non-communicable illnesses which means they are either hereditary or related to people's lifestyles. They compared our lifestyle from 1989 to around 2013," said Afif.

He said the areas where there are improvements in the number of people who used to smoke. In 1989, it amounted to 30 percent of Seychelles' population and now it is 17 percent. People with high blood pressure have gone down from 38 percent to 30 percent and cholesterol from 45 percent to 36 percent.

Things have worsened in the percentage of people who are obese or overweight. In 1989, it was 40 percent and now it is 64 percent. Furthermore, among the girls up to Secondary 4 (15-16 years) - 35 percent are overweight and among the boys in the same age group it is 30 percent. Diabetes was found in only 6 percent of the population and has almost doubled to 11 percent.

In Seychelles, healthcare is free and, therefore, changes in illness factors have a direct impact on the government's budget.

"We believe that it is alarming because these are the factors that tomorrow will put a cost on services offered by the Ministry of Health. The report shows that one of the illnesses caused by these factors is kidney disease which means dialysis and today we are spending around SCR 80 million [$6.25 million] for 200 patients. There are other diseases that come with a heavy cost like overseas treatment for around 200 cancer patients at SCR 50 million [$3.9 million] every year. This comes to a total of SCR 130 million [$10.2 million], which represents 10 percent of the health ministry's budget for the 400 patients," he said.

He said this is alarming for the Cabinet because if the number of patients doubled it will mean that less than 1 percent of Seychelles' population is using 20 percent of the health budget.

He gave other treatment costs per patient per month.

"Many people talk about the cost of the methadone treatment but in fact, there are other illnesses costing us more. The medical cost of methadone is SCR150 [$12] each month for one patient. A person on the anti-retroviral treatment for HIV is SCR 1,600 [$125] per month, tuberculosis is SCR 350 [$27] per month, or hepatitis SCR 4,000 [$312] per month, dialysis SCR 33,000 [$2600] per month, for overseas treatment on average is 21,000 [$1600] per month," said Afif.

He said that this is why the Ministry of Health needs a budget of SCR1.3 billion [$78 million ] per year while many of the constraints it is facing are coming from outside the Ministry.

"So, we must at all cost look for ways to control those illnesses that we can because some like cancer is often hereditary and beyond our control. What we can control is the way we eat, encourage our people to do more exercises, consume less cigarettes, alcohol and drugs," he added.

Afif reminded people that "our health is our responsibility."

He said that "in the short term, the government must take note of the current situation and we must accept if are at fault and correct them. In the presentation, the professionals also recommended what we must do to improve the situation."

Source: Seychelles News Agency

Zambia will continue to assist Seychelles with human resources for the education and health sectors, said the newly accredited High Commissioner ?f Zambia to Seychelles on Tuesday.

Joyce Kasosa made the statement after she presented her credentials to Seychelles' President Wavel Ramkalawan at State House.

"Many of our discussions today were about human resources, where Zambia will continue to help in the education sectors with teachers, while 25 Zambian doctors from different fields are also being recruited to work in Seychelles," said Kasosa.

She added that Zambia will also look into assisting with human resources in other areas such as architecture, engineering, the legal field and others.

"We also discussed trade between the two countries, where we emphasised that as African countries, we need to support each other," added Kasosa.

With no direct flight connecting between Zambia and Seychelles, Kasosa said that this was also an area of discussion. She said that having a direct connection between the two nations will help strengthen the relationship and enable Zambians to visit Seychelles and vice-versa.

Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, established diplomatic relations with Zambia on March 11, 1998.

During her stay in Seychelles, the high commissioner, who will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, will also call on other top officials and dignitaries.

Kasosa succeeds High Commissioner Brenda Muntemba.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

The shocking rise of sexual abuse of young girls in northern Uganda was revealed when it was reported that in the wake of the pandemic there was a more than four-fold increase in those aged 10-14 becoming pregnant. BBC Africa Eye has been looking at why perpetrators are getting away with the crime.

The heavily pregnant girl - no more than 12 years old - looks down at her hands as the local council chairman asks about her latest visit to the doctor.

It is the sort of question a family member should be asking, but this is no normal pregnancy.

The girl lives on her own in a small home, in Kitgum district, and is expected to give birth any day.

Her parents' cassava business failed, so they returned to their village to find money for the family.

"She was left here because here is a little bit nearer to the schools," chairman Obita David Livingstone says.

"But the unfortunate part, the next room here is where people drink. That alone has exposed her to a lot of challenges."

No-one knows who the father is, or what happened.

'Three cases a week'

BBC Africa Eye is only allowed to film this girl, who we are not naming, because Mr Livingstone said he wanted to raise awareness of the sexual violence happening in the community.

"In a week, we always have like three cases of defilement. Sometimes when we get the perpetrator, we have to tie them with ropes and take them, escort them to the police. But they don't bother to follow it up."

He is fed up with such levels of impunity.

"There is nobody who can really support the person who has been raped. To me I look at this justice as a weak justice," the local chairman says.

Defilement means unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 18.

According to Uganda's Health Management Information System, pregnancies among girls between the ages of 10 and 14 increased by 366% during the country's first Covid lockdown (March-June 2020).

At the regional general hospital in Gulu nearly a quarter of all pregnancies in the last financial year were girls under 18, the age of consent in Uganda.

Dr Baifa Arwinyo, the head of obstetrics and gynaecology, said: "If I am talking of teenage mothers, all of them are defiled. They are teenagers, they are not supposed to be pregnant.

"You will find that young mothers are the highest proportion of those dying of obstructed labour. The younger the mother, the more the complication."

'Sexual abuse was a war strategy'

The high levels of sexual violence are thought to be a legacy of the two-decade conflict in northern Uganda, which was infamous for its brutality.

The war was started by Joseph Kony, head of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that wanted to overthrow the government.

His fighters were known for their inhumane treatment of those they abducted: maiming, cutting off lips and limbs, and forcing people into submission through fear.

It is estimated 40,000 children were abducted, forced to become soldiers or sex slaves, and 1.7 million people lived in internally displaced camps.

The rebels moved on from Uganda in 2008, but the after-effects of their atrocities are still present today, according to gender rights activist Pamela Angwech, director of Gulu Women Economic and Globalisation, a grassroots non-governmental organisation (NGO).

"Living within a toxic, minefield environment had long-term effects on the community. People are used to seeing dead bodies, people are used to seeing death. Sexual abuse was used as a military strategy by the LRA team.

"I describe it as the war was fought in the body of the woman and the woman became the battlefield."

Few people ever saw justice for the heinous crimes committed during the war.

One LRA commander, Dominic Ongwen, was tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and found guilty of 61 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in February 2021.

Kony is also wanted by the ICC but his whereabouts remain unknown.

According to lawyer Eunice Lakaraber Latim, who works for NGO Caritas, that legacy of a lack of accountability thrives in northern Uganda to this day.

"Growing up from Gulu, I saw so many children getting defiled, and most of those parents did not have the resources to pursue the justice that their children deserved."

'My child lives in pain'

Ms Latim took Africa Eye to the family of a three-year-old girl who was raped by a relative.

The mother only found out after she noticed the child's style of walking changed. When the police came to arrest her relative, she says they asked her for money to "transport him".

"I was then expected to feed the prisoner," says Ms Latim.

"You have to literally pay your way to get justice. You have to pay money for fuel to have the suspect apprehended.

"You're supposed to provide feeding for them while they're still at the police station."

The suspect was held for six months, but because some of the correct legal procedures were not followed, he was released on bail. The mother simply did not have the means to keep pursuing the case.

Police and medical reports confirm that the three-year-old had been infected with a sexually transmitted disease.

"My child is still in pain, even now. The infection has never healed," her mother said.

"He should face a prison sentence. I didn't want it to end this way."

Ms Latim says it is not unusual for the justice system to fail victims, saying they have had a number of cases that have fallen apart.

"There is a lot of corruption. People don't fear committing crimes here, because they say, if you have money, you will get out. That is what is happening."

Nachula Damalie, the regional police commander of Aswa, acknowledges the problems with how some cases are handled, but she denied corruption is rife.

"We are not supposed to ask a victim to pay for our services. But sometimes I should accept that we can run out of fuel. Yes.

"Now with the corruption, it has been a general perception that police officers are corrupt, but not all are corrupt, just like any other institution would be. We have good ones and bad ones."

The Minister of State for Northern Uganda, Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny, also admits there are problems.

"I can't deny corruption. Corruption is there. It's at all levels, even at ministries' level," she says.

"We have laws on defilement, we have laws on incest, but somehow again, people just go behind the law and bribe police and then police say, 'OK, go and settle it at home.' There are cases which have been prosecuted, but the number is not high."

None of the suspects in any of the cases BBC Africa Eye investigated were prosecuted.

Source: BBC

Angolan head of State João Lourenço signed on April 14 a decree updating the rules for administrative management in the country of the Covid-19 pandemic, taking into account the relative increase in the number of positive cases in recent times , whose measures come into force at midnight on Saturday (April 15).

According to a Press Release from the Presidential Palace, reached ANGOP, the update comes in order to prevent the spread of the disease and the return to previous crisis scenarios.

As for health control at borders, the diploma determines that departures from national territory are dependent on the presentation of a vaccination certificate confirming the complete immunization, without prejudice to additional formalities required by the country of destination.

The document also determines that entries into the national territory are dependent on the presentation of a vaccination certificate confirming the complete immunization or, alternatively, the presentation of a test for the SARS-COV 2 virus, of the RT-PCR type, with a negative result, carried out within 48 hours previous to the trip.

Minors up to 12 years old are exempt from the measures, being exempt from presenting a vaccination certificate or test when entering and leaving the country.

The decree signed Friday by President João Lourenço establishes, as a measure of health containment, the mandatory use of a face mask in health units and in pharmacies or similar services, its use being optional in other places of public access.

The document also states that as long as the pandemic situation and the risk of mass contagion persist, competence is delegated to the ministerial departments to establish rules and administrative measures for surveillance and health control that prove to be useful and proportionate to the mitigation of the risk, under the terms of the International Health Regulations and the National Health Regulations.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

The Medical Center with Surgical Antenna (CMA) of Solenzo, has started to offer care to the populations again, after a long closure caused by insecurity. However, some difficulties remain.

The Solenzo CMA reopened on March 26, 2023 after an assessment of material damage.

The work has started in several departments, according to the Chief Medical Officer of the Solenzo Health District.

Patients admitted to hospital wards are receiving care, the AIB noted on April 7, 2023.

A patient sitting on his hospital bed arrived by reference to the CMA since Wednesday April 5 following a crisis of malaria, testifies.

“Since I came, things have been really good because the nurses take good care of me and today I can even stand up and sit down,” he explains.

Another patient, who requested anonymity, adds:

“The opening of the CMA saved us because before we were told to go to Dandé. Which is not easy. Today what is a problem are the drugs because you can't have everything at the CMA and if you go out to pay, it's too expensive, ”he says.

Pediatrics, emergencies, the MEG depot and maternity are hard at work but with the minimum of materials for the happiness of the population.

According to the head of the maternity ward, pregnant women in childbirth difficulties have been saved.

“It should be noted that without electricity, it is very difficult because two units are still closed. Maternity was the most affected by the damage. Which makes it a bit difficult. I think that if the equipment is complete, everything can go back to normal, ”concludes the maternity manager.

Despite some difficulties and the lack of materials, the staff is doing its best to bring smiles to the population.

According to the MCD, the nursing staff responded present and in most services, the work is well done for the happiness of the patients.

But “what currently poses a problem for us at the CMA is two things, namely electricity and fuel”.

“The laboratory and the operating theater depend on electricity and without it it is very difficult for these services to open.

Also the lack of fuel prevents evacuations and the movement of agents for care is difficult, ”he explained.

Nevertheless, the staff remains confident that things will be back to normal.

Source: Burkina Information Agency

Angolan minister of Health Silvia Lutucuta urged Friday in Luanda the health professionals to actively participate in the identification and resolution of problems that negatively impact the health of the population.

In her message, ahead of World Health Day and the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 7, the minister said that this involvement entails the implementation of health promotion actions.

She said that the aim is to protecting this good from an individual and collective point of view, taking into account the Sustainable Development Goals.

The minister took the opportunity to pay homage to health agents from all over the world, in particular Angolans, who work daily to promote the health and well-being of the population in favour of equity, prosperity and sustainability, for all without leaving anyone behind.

According to the official, Angola joins the world movement to congratulate the WHO on the results achieved in international health security, health promotion and disease prevention, so that everyone reaches the highest level of health and well-being.

To the minister, the 75th anniversary of the WHO is also an occasion to remember the public health successes in Angola and the world, aimed at improving people's quality of life in the last seven decades.

Lutucuta also considered it opportune to demonstrate the promotion of multisectoral actions and community participation in order not to leave anyone behind and mitigate the inequality of social asymmetries

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

The African Development Bank Group and the Islamic Development Bank signed, on February 16, 2023, a Joint Partnership Action Plan for the development of the pharmaceutical industry in their African member countries. The plan offers a new framework for strengthened cooperation and mutual development priorities, with a strong emphasis on boosting the continent’s health defense systems.

“The plan covers lending to public and private sector projects and pharmaceutical development projects using a regional approach”

“The Joint Action Plan enables both institutions to grow a shared pipeline of bankable projects around key complementary themes to which each institution would bring their comparative advantage. The plan covers lending to public and private sector projects and pharmaceutical development projects using a regional approach,” AfDB said in a statement.

The African Development Bank Group and the Islamic Development Bank will also cooperate on the organization of a global Pharmaceutical Business Forum in May 2023 at the General Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank. The event will bring together key pharmaceutical sector industry captains, including big pharma companies, continental, regional and governmental regulatory agencies, and technology transfer entities. The gathering will deliberate on business opportunities, vaccine off-take agreements, pharmaceutical technology transfer agreements and project preparation resources, among other topics.

“Although some African countries such as Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia and Morocco produce medicines and cover between 70% and 80% of their needs, more than 80% of pharmaceutical and medical products are imported into the continent”

It should be noted that Africa currently produces only 3% of the world’s pharmaceuticals (375 manufacturers in 37 African countries, compared with 5,000 in China, for example), according to the consultancy firm Morgan Philips. “Yet 25% of the world’s patients, all diseases combined, are African. The Zika pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of the African pharmaceutical industry. According to the United Nations, “Africa’s capacity to produce and supply the essential drugs and personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to contain the pandemic is inadequate”. Although some African countries, such as Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia and Morocco, produce medicines and cover between 70% and 80% of their needs, more than 80% of the continent’s pharmaceutical and medical products are imported, mainly from China or India, making it difficult to develop and establish local production.

Hence the need to invest in the sector. Access to affordable, quality medicines and, above all, the establishment of appropriate public policies and public-private partnerships are all necessary factors for developing the sector’s growth potential in Africa.

In 2007, the African Union Development Agency – AUDA-NEPAD – addressed this issue by launching a comprehensive “Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa”, supported by African Union countries. But it was not until 2012 that the plan was accompanied by measures and “technical solutions”.

“Public institutions and private companies need to work together, especially on regulations, which are poorly overseen, leading to the development of illegal submarkets”

With Africa’s population exploding and projected to grow over the next twenty years, private sector involvement once again appears to be the alternative to existing gaps. In a market that is largely made up of “small, fragmented markets” and “weak regulatory frameworks”, Morgan Philipps notes that no single company could produce, supply and export drugs and other medical products today. “This is why public institutions and private companies need to work together, especially on regulations, which are poorly overseen, leading to the development of illegal sub-markets. 60% of the medicines consumed in Africa are counterfeit or diverted from legitimate supplies.

In this respect, the African Continental Free Trade Area also appears to be an opportunity for the development of an African pharmaceutical industry and access to healthcare for all. “Africa should focus on integrated markets and implement policies to facilitate intra-African trade, some of which have already been implemented thanks to the AfCFTA, the firm recommends. The right policies, increased investment and harmonization of regulatory systems could enable Africa to produce and manufacture its own medicines in the future.”

Meanwhile, such initiatives as the establishment of the African Medicines Agency in Rwanda in 2021 should be replicated.

Source: Africa News Agency

The Burkinabè army neutralized this Sunday, in the Oursi area (Oudalan, North), around forty terrorists in strikes, we learned.

The Burkinabè army surprised about fifty terrorist executives who were meeting in the Oursi area on Sunday.

The first strikes killed about forty of them, according to our interlocutors who specify that the hunt continues against the survivors.

On Sunday evening, Burkina national television also reported the information, stating that the terrorists have no choice but to lay down their arms.

It is recalled that the Burkinabè army recently acquired state-of-the-art air vectors and that large-scale air-land operations are underway on several fronts.

Mali also announced in mid-March its willingness to share its new acquisitions with Burkina.

Source: Burkina Information Agency

KAMPALA - Uganda has been hailed for its efforts in successfully containing the Ebola virus following the outbreak from September 20, 2022, until January 2023.

Nine districts, Bunyangabu, Jinja, Kagadi, Kampala, Kassanda, Kyegegwa, Masaka, Mubende and Wakiso, were affected with over 160 infections and 77 fatalities.

During a session themed Unlocking the Power of Public Health Data in Africa: Learning for Action, participants commended Uganda for being able to control the spread of the virus in a relatively short time and preventing the spread to neighbouring countries.

Dr Justin Maeda from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) attributed the success to the power of data being used.

“You try to allow the general public to continue their livelihood and economic activities while the experts are working on the ground using the data to make sure that you control the spread of diseases without interfering with livelihood and any other social activity that is happening in the community,” Maeda said.

Steve Kisakye, the director and global head of Dalberg Implement in Tanzania, said “the Ebola response that Uganda took is something that makes them proud in the East African region as well as the African continent”.

The senior science officer at Africa CDC, Shingai Machingaidze, said their support also contributed to the containment of the Ebola virus in a record time.

“Africa CDC was able to help the Government of Uganda convene a high ministerial panel that allowed ministers of health from Uganda and all areas surrounding to meet, align and decide how they were going to work together. There was no immediate border closure, there wasn’t confusion about what was happening because the leaders came and met and there was a clear understanding of how everyone was going to work together,” Machingaidze said.

She explained that the Africa Ebola coordination task force which was set up, combined expertise from Africa CDC, Uganda’s ministry of health as well as many regional partners, adding that they collaborated and coordinated efforts, allowing everyone to work together which minimised duplication and allowed people to contribute in different areas, but in a coordinated way.

Vaccine trials

Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing 5th edition of the African Health Agenda International Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, Dr Henry Kyobe, the national Ebola virus disease incident commander at the Ministry of Health, disclosed that Ebola vaccine trials will target health workers and special categories once the vaccines are approved.

Last year, Uganda received over 5,000 doses of Ebola trial vaccines for use in a trial against an outbreak of the Sudan strain of the virus.

He said that after failing to proceed with the earlier design of the “ring strategy” during the outbreak, they are now thinking of modifying the protocol to vaccinate using another approach.

A ring strategy is where all people who have come into contact with someone with a confirmed case of Ebola are given the vaccine.

Kyobe said that previously, they had planned to look at contacts from confirmed cases and would recruit and vaccinate them within 21 days of follow-up, and another category which is a control group to be vaccinated after 21 days.

The biennial conference is jointly convened by Amref Health Africa, Rwanda’s health ministry, the African Union and Africa CDC. It was convened under the theme Resilient Health Systems for Africa; Re-envisioning the Future Now.

Dr Richard Kabanda, the commissioner in charge of the health promotion, education, and communication department at the Ministry of Health, while presenting a paper, noted that Mubende which was the epicentre of the fifth outbreak of the Ebola Sudan virus in Uganda has more traditional healers than the number of health facilities in the district.

This, he said, indicates that people utilise herbalists as a source of healing beyond hospitals.

Kabanda said there is a need to orient herbalists on conditions that are beyond their scope so that they can advise people to seek medical care.

Source: New Vision