July 2013 IRN; Twelve years after African governments pledged in the Abuja Declaration to allocate at least 15 percent of their annual budgets to healthcare by 2015, just six countries have met this goal. Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Togo and Zambia have met the target, and five other countries are …

July 2013 NPR; Sensing that recent delays in key portions of the Affordable Care Act have caught the Obama administration at a weak point in its rollout of the law, Republicans in Congress are doubling down on their efforts to cripple the measure, at least in the eyes of the …

July 2013 theguardian; Local communities in Sierra Leone are being encouraged to rate their clinics and demand more from their healthcare services in a bid to cut the country’s high maternal mortality rates.   The riskiest thing a woman can do in Sierra Leone is get pregnant; one in every …

July 2013 DailyNews; EXCESSIVE bleeding at the point of delivery increases chances of health risks among mothers and experts in obstetric and Gynaecology departments are calling for the introduction of a life-wrap suit, the ‘Sunday News’ can report. The life-wrap is a half-body suit that is strapped onto a woman’s …

July 2013 theEastAfrican; The Ministry of Health has come under fire over expired medicines stored in health facilities for years, at a time when the country is facing inadequate supply of drugs in some government referral hospitals, crippling health service delivery. Health experts say the expired drugs are a result …

July 2013 Heritage; President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has reportedly closed down the Birth Certificate Division at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. According to credible report obtained by the Heritage over the weekend, President Johnson-Sirleaf took the action on Friday, June 28, 2013 after she held a meeting with authorities …

July 2013 DailyObserver; The Ministries of Basic and Secondary Education, Health and Social Welfare and the United Nations World Health Organisation country office, have jointly won the African Development Bank (AfDB) ‘Health Award’ for 2012. A press release sent to the Daily Observer from the World Health Organisation Banjul office …

July 2013 WHOBulletin; New HIV treatment guidelines by WHO recommend offering antiretroviral therapy (ART) earlier. Recent evidence indicates that earlier ART will help people with HIV to live longer, healthier lives, and substantially reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to others. The move could avert an additional 3 million deaths …

June 2013 CapitalFM; The Transition Authority has downplayed concerns by doctors and nurses over their pay once health services are devolved to the Counties. Chairman Kinuthia Wamwangi has told Capital FM News that the national government had agreed to facilitate payment of health workers over the next six months to …

June 2013 DailyNation; Public health officers have threatened to go on strike if they have to be paid by county governments. The Association of Public Health Officers in Kenya (Aphok) on Sunday warned of “catastrophic implications” should the Transition Authority rush in devolving the responsibility of paying them to county …