The head of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that a clinical trial of vaccines against the Sudan strain of Ebola could begin within weeks in Uganda as the disease reaches the capital Kampala, causing concern. The East African country declared an Ebola outbreak on …
Read More »India halts syrup production linked to Gambia deaths
The authorities in India have ordered a pharmaceutical company to stop producing cough syrups after reports that they may be linked to the deaths of dozens of children in The Gambia. The health minister in Haryana state, Anil Vij, said inspections at a factory of Maiden Pharmaceuticals found several violations …
Read More »WHO calls for vigilance on toxic syrups for children
The World Health Organization is calling on people to be extremely vigilant after 66 children in Gambia died of kidney failure last July after consuming cough and cold syrups. Toxic substances were found after an analysis of samples of these pharmaceutical products manufactured in India. The adverse effects could range …
Read More »Indonesia in talks with African countries to export COVID shot
Indonesia is in talks with several African countries, including Nigeria, to export and donate its homemade COVID-19 vaccine, its developer said on Friday. Indonesia is becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to approve a domestically developed COVID shot. Its approval for the shot, the detailed trial data of which …
Read More »Ethiopia: childhood diseases rise in Tigray – officials
Childhood diseases such as measles, tetanus and polio are on the rise in Ethiopia’s Tigray region after vaccination rates declined amid the ongoing war in the region, according to regional health officials. Data from the Tigray Health Bureau shows that the percentage of children in the region receiving routine vaccines …
Read More »Uganda declares Ebola virus outbreak
Ugandan health authorities and the World Health Organization declared an outbreak of Ebola in the country on Tuesday after a case of the relatively rare Sudanese strain was confirmed. A 24-year-old man in Uganda’s central Mubende district showed symptoms and later died. “We want to inform the country that we …
Read More »New vaccine to reduce malaria deaths by 70% soon available
The medical journal The Lancet published the results of a second malaria vaccine on Thursday, a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended a first vaccine. According to figures published in The Lancet, the R21 Matrix-M vaccine developed by scientists at Oxford University is between 70% and 80% effective …
Read More »Democratic Republic of Congo: Cholera kills 48 people – report
At least 48 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s central province of Sankuru, following a cholera outbreak in the region, the privately-owned news website Actualites CD reported. According to local health officials, 401 cases of the disease were recorded between 15 and 21 August. To contain the …
Read More »WHO deplores attacks against primates in Brazil over monkeypox fear
The World Health Organization (WHO) assured on Tuesday that the monkeypox epidemic raging around the world is not linked to primates, deploring attacks on these animals in Brazil. The WHO, questioned about reports of attacks on monkeys in Brazil said the monkeypox epidemic is not linked to monkeys. “People need …
Read More »South Africa reports first death causally linked to COVID vaccine
Health authorities in South Africa reported on Thursday a causal link between the death of an individual and Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, the first time such a direct link has been made in the country, Reuters reported. The person presented with rare neurological disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome soon after …
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