August 2020 DailyNation; Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has transferred 60 officials from Afya House as he attempts to clean up the beleaguered ministry that is on the spot over misuse of coronavirus funds. Of these, 21 have been redeployed within the Health ministry while the remaining 39 have been …

August 2020 TheStar ; Agriculture Principal Secretary Hamadi Boga, who is also a senior microbiologist, has written an open letter to Kenyans about his successful battle against Covid-19. “Dear Family, Friends, Neighbors, fellow Kenyans. Here I am. Still alive. I am doing okay, largely. I have finished self-isolating at home …

August 2020 TheStar ;Doctors working in Nairobi County have issued a seven-day notice for a strike to begin on August 21.  In the notice to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services, Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union lists five grievances.  They are demanding comprehensive National Hospital Insurance Fund covers, saying their …

August 2020 CapitalFm; The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) board on Friday suspended three top officials including the agency’s Chief Executive Officer Jonah Manjari to pave way for a probe on COVID-19 supplies procurement. Manjari, Eliud Muriithi (Commercial Director) and Charles Juma (Procurement Director) are facing an investigation by the …

August 2020 BusinessDaily ; Rural private hospital operators want the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to release Sh5.7 billion in accumulated claims which they say have crippled operations. Rural Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (Rupha) said it had submitted the claims through the national insurer’s online system over a year …

August 2020 Bloomberg ; South Africa’s coronavirus outbreak appears to be slowing, with the latest data showing fewer new infections and a drop in natural excess deaths. Confirmed cases in all of the country’s nine provinces have fallen in recent days, most markedly in Gauteng, the most populous and economically …

August 2020 CNN; You may love smoking weed, but it does not love your heart, according to the American Heart Association’s new scientific statement on marijuana.”The American Heart Association recommends that people not smoke or vape any substance, including cannabis products, because of the potential harm to the heart, lungs …

August 2020 Xinhua; Ethiopia’s confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 20,336 after 459 new COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed on Wednesday, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health said. The Ethiopian Ministry of Health in a statement issued on Wednesday revealed that from a total of 7,319 medical tests that were conducted within the …

August 2020 W&M; William & Mary led a collaboration with universities throughout Virginia to develop a virtual tool to support the health and wellness of students, faculty and staff this fall. W&M’s tool, called the Daily Health Check, will be part of its Healthy Together module available via the university’s mobile application …

August 2020 Fiercebiotech; Telehealth giant Teladoc has moved to absorb the digital disease management company Livongo through a deal worth as much as $18.5 billion, reflecting the growing importance of virtual healthcare platforms as the world is caught in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The massive medtech acquisition takes …