The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing its first-ever guidelines on managing chronic low back pain (LBP) in primary and community care settings, listing interventions for health workers to use and also to not use during routine care. Low back pain is the leading cause of disability globally. In 2020, approximately 1 in 13 people, […]
Tag: Health and Medicine
The repositioning of Nigeria’s health sector is benefiting from the highest levels of political engagement. The involvement of critical stakeholders with the power and influence to bring about the desired changes, to accelerate the country’s attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has provided the health sector with a much-needed boost. The Ministry for Health and […]
According to UNICEF, vaccination coverage dropped sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says some 67 million children globally missed out entirely or partially on routine immunisation from 2019 to 2021 due to COVID-19. The organisation said this in its “State of the World’s Children 2023′ report. According to the Fund, vaccination […]
“Do not fish in these waters.” “Contains high levels of mercury.” These warnings are shown at thousands of lakes and rivers globally, as well as on numerous fish products. But eating mercury-laden fish is not the only source of mercury exposure. Even more dangerous is the inhalation of mercury vapours, which are released as mercury […]
Lake Katwe, Uganda — The unlicensed workers use what they have to combat health fears in Uganda’s top salt-producing lake. A new law is supposed to offer protections. So far, little is on the way. At first glance, the branches scratching the surface of Lake Katwe look like a gripping artwork for the way they […]
Improving Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities in Nigeria and ensuring that they are better positioned to meet 80-90% of the health needs of the citizens will require a collaborative effort of government and individual stakeholders. In Ako community, just a few kilometres from Abuja City Gate, Favor Onoje is now a happy mother. In 2023, […]
Johannesburg — Before COVID-19 came along, the two most lethal infectious diseases were HIV and tuberculosis (TB). Even though HIV still lingers, with 1.5 million people contracting the infection every year, epidemiologists point to the availability of many HIV prevention options as a primary reason for the decreasing caseload. According to the World Health Organization […]
Bangkok, Thailand — A hot debate on electronic smoking devices is expected to engage governments, scheduled to meet in Panama from 5-10 February for the tenth session of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). The WHO FCTC, the first health treaty, was developed to address the […]
By the time the current conflict in Sudan broke out in mid-April, its Darfur region had already been facing war and ethnic violence for over two decades. Today’s fighting has rekindled fault lines in communities throughout Darfur, particularly the city of El Geneina. Intense fighting, intercommunal violence, and large-scale attacks against civilians have driven hundreds […]
Tobacco continues to affect the entire planet. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of smokers is estimated at 1.1 billion smokers in 2025 if recent trends continue. The WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), during its tenth Conference of the Parties (COP 10), is currently examining in Panama the implementation of […]
Over the last few days, Catherine Wambua-Soi, Al Jazeera’s producer in the region, has enjoyed unfettered access to government-controlled areas in eastern DR Congo, notably the town of Sake, North Kivu Province’s capital, Goma, as well as the zone right next to the Congolese border with Rwanda. She’s interviewed internally displaced people in the camps […]
Football is more than just a game; it has the power to unite people across cultures, languages, and borders. But beyond that, it also has the power to bridge the gender equality gap. When Grace Iliya visited the Bakin-Kogi community in 2019 there was no public school or health-care facility. The community is located on […]
Every two minutes, a woman dies from cervical cancer, despite the existence of effective tools, like vaccinating against the major cause of HPV to prevent the majority of cases and eventually eliminate this disease. However, the adoption of a one-dose HPV vaccine schedule, recommended by the WHO, pushes progress, with 37 countries already adopting or intending to adopt […]
Non-communicable diseases are killing more and more people in South Africa yet the government missed out on raising a total of more than R15 billion for prevention efforts, argues Dr Evelyn Thsehla. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes, cancers, heart diseases, and chronic lower respiratory diseases, have surpassed HIV and tuberculosis in terms of annual […]
Two years of violent fighting between the M23 armed group and the Congolese army (FARDC) and its allies in North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) intensified in late January. Fighting has now reached the border with South Kivu province, causing new mass displacement. More than 1.6 million people have already been […]
Perhaps to some, Tallulah Dorer-Perrin looks neurotypical (individuals with typical neurological development functioning). But that’s if you judge people at face value. Dorer-Perrin has autism – an “invisible disability” that makes every aspect of her life, including walking into a brightly lit lecture theatre alongside groups of loud students, doubly challenging. However, things changed since […]
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — In a momentous gathering at the WomenLift Health Conference, a powerful synergy emerged as two prominent figures in global politics came together to champion gender equality. Former Tanzanian President Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, whose decade in office significantly impacted his nation, and New Zealand’s trailblazing former Prime Minister Helen Clark, […]
In a historic move, Nigeria has become the first country in the world to roll out a new vaccine (called Men5CV) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which protects people against five strains of the meningococcus bacteria. The vaccine and emergency vaccination activities are funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which funds the global […]