September 2013  ANGOP;The WHO regional director for Africa, Luís Gomes Sambo, said on Wednesday in Brazzaville that health in Africa is facing various challenges and opportunities. Luis Gomes Sambo said so when addressing the African health ministers and members of the organisation, who are attending from Monday to Friday the …

September 2013 Health-e; The Department of Social Development recently introduced a Bill proposing a ban on alcohol advertising. A number of groups, including the SA Chamber of Commerce, are opposing the ban. “I used to think we could tinker with advertising, only allowing it [on television] after 9pm when children …

August 2013 CapitalFMNews; The government on Tuesday called for help from the private sector as they try to solve the problem of shortage of trained health workers.Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said this problem is caused by varied financial constraints facing students willing to pursue medical training. Kaimenyi said the …

August 2013 TheAfricaReport; Ethiopia has postponed the launch of its first ever universal health insurance (UHI) scheme, as the agency supposed to run it is understaffed and has not met legal deadlines. The UHI proclamation was issued in August 2010, making health insurance mandatory to government employees, pensioners and private …

August 2013 BMJ; As part of its efforts to come up with new development goals from 2015,1 the United Nations initiated what could turn out to be one of the largest international surveys ever.2 The “my world” survey aims to collect the views of people around the world on the …

August 2013 DailyNews; THE Health Plan initiated by Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU), which has so far enrolled 15,000 coffee farmers in Kilimanjaro Region since January last year, stands out among other successful community insurance schemes, it was revealed here last weekend. Opening a one-day dissemination meeting of the KNCU …

August 2013 ThinkAfricaPress; In 2012 there were just 250 cases of polio worldwide. In the past three months, there have already been over 100 new reported cases in Somalia. Despite having been eradicated in all but three countries of the world, there has been a worrying outbreak of polio in …

August 2013 SciDevNet; China plans to improve the health services it provides in Africa and expand its medical aid there, according to the International Cooperation unit at China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission.   “We will expand medical aid in Africa, although there are many challenges,” Ren Minghui, director …

August 2013 AIM; Several leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), speaking at the organisation’s weekend summit in Lilongwe, called on member states to adopt the principle of universal testing for HIV, rather than leaving it up to each citizen to decide whether to take an HIV test or …

August 2013 SACSIS; On 2 August 2013, SACSIS and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) co-hosted a panel discussion on the theme, “Making the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHI) Work for All South Africans – Can It Be Achieved?” Our government’s NHI scheme presents an important opportunity to develop a better …