Health

The African Union has announced that it intends to purchase up to 110m doses of the Moderna ARN vaccines in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic on the continent. Moderna is prepared to deliver the first 15 million doses to Africa later this year as part of …

The mayor of Moscow has decided that unvaccinated residents over the age of 60 stay at home from this Monday and for the next 120 days as the country is hit hard by a new wave of Covid-19 – Sunday. The mayor of the Russian capital has decreed the re-confinement …

The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 100,000 health workers have died since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and that millions are still unvaccinated. WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the situation an indictment of the countries and companies that controlled global supply, and said members of the …

Lawmakers in Benin have passed a law to legalize abortion in the country, expanding on the restricted circumstances where the practice was already permitted. Abortion, which was legally permitted only in limited situations such as rape or incest, or if the mother’s life was threatened, will now be possible for …

Military leaders in Guinea have eased Covid-19 restrictions, including ending a night curfew and suspending a requirement for prior authorisation to transport bodies outside the capital, Conakry. The military junta, the National Rally and Development Committee (CNRD), on Twitter posted : “The curfew is lifted; advance requests for authorisation to …

British parliamentarians have tabled amendments to a bill on health, currently under consideration, with the aim of combating smoking. Among them, writing “Smoking kills” directly on cigarettes, inside packages, reports The Guardian. “Smoking is the leading cause of premature death in England, killing 74,600 people in 2019,” wrote on Twitter …

Armed robbers on Tuesday evening raided an electronic shop in Rukungiri municipality, Rukungiri District and shot a teen dead before injuring an unarmed guard as they fled with Shs50 million and unspecified number of mobile phones, Ugandan DailyMonitor reports. The police spokesman for Kigezi region, Mr Elly Maate said the raid …

Ugandan health ministry officials who have not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have been prevented from accessing the ministry’s premises, authorities said. In a statement dated October 18, the Director General of Health Services, Dr Henry Mwebesa, said the decision was taken at a special meeting with the aim of …

South Africa’s health products regulator, Sahpra, has withheld approval for Russia’s Sputnik V Covid vaccine over concerns that it could increase the risk of HIV infection among men. The decision was based on two earlier studies that tested the safety of a modified form of adenovirus contained in the Russian …

Government in Egypt has announced that it will bar unvaccinated public service workers from entering its buildings from mid next month. A cabinet notice on Sunday said workers would have to be vaccinated or take a weekly Covid test to be allowed into government buildings from 15 November. Egypt has …