The Kenyatta National Hospital board has taken over management of the Sh1 billion Othaya National Teaching and Referral Hospital in Nyeri county. Othaya MP Gichuki Mugambi while confirming the development said the move is aimed at ensuring the hospital is fully operational and source health expertise from KNH. The move …
Read More »Google health-data scandal spooks researchers
November 2019 nature; Google and one of the largest health-care networks in the United States are embroiled in a data-privacy controversy that researchers fear could jeopardize public trust in data-sharing practices and, potentially, academic studies. At issue is a project dubbed Nightingale that gives Google access to the health-care information, …
Read More »AstraZeneca succeeds in treating lupus in late-stage study
November 2019 YahooNews; AstraZeneca Plc said on Monday its experimental treatment significantly reduced disease activity in patients with autoimmune disorder lupus, in a late-stage study. The results pit the British drugmaker’s anifrolumab against rival GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Benlysta – the only new drug approved for lupus in the last 60 years. …
Read More »Rwanda bans 7 Kenyans peanut butter brands, Kebs under fire
November 2019 DailyNation; Rwanda has banned seven brands of peanut butter that were suspended in Kenya a week ago. On November 4, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) suspended brands including Truenutz by Truenutz Kenya, Fressy by Fressy Food Company Limited and Supa Meal by Supacosm Products Limited. The others …
Read More »Can’t Pay the Medical Bill? Your Hospital May Take You to Court
November 2019 YahooNews; When a judge hears civil cases at the courthouse in this southwest Virginia town two days a month, many of the lawsuits have a common plaintiff: the local hospital, Ballad Health, suing patients over unpaid medical bills. On a Thursday in August, 102 of the 160 cases …
Read More »KENYA: Kebs bans 5 maize flour brands over high aflatoxin levels
November 2019 DailyNation; The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) on Saturday banned five maize flour brands, saying their aflatoxin levels were higher than the maximum limit, going by Kenya’s standards. The five are Dola by Kitui Four Mills, Kifaru by Alpha Grain Limited, Starehe by Pan African Grain Millers, 210 …
Read More »Racial bias found in widely used health care algorithm
November 2019 NBCNews; A widely used health care algorithm that helps determine which patients need additional attention was found to have a significant racial bias, favoring white patients over blacks ones who were sicker and had more chronic health conditions, according to research published last week in the journalScience. The bias …
Read More »This Congolese Doctor Discovered Ebola But Never Got Credit For It — Until Now
November 2019 npr; Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe says his story starts in 1973. He had just gotten his Ph.D. at the Rega Institute in Belgium. He could have stayed in Europe, but he decided to return to Congo, or what was then known as Zaire, which had only recently attained independence …
Read More »KENYA: LeapFrog injects Sh309m into Goodlife Pharmacy expansion
November 2019 BusinessDaily; LeapFrog Investments is injecting $3 million (Sh309 million) into Goodlife Pharmacy to expand outlets of the regional beauty and drugstore firm. The private equity firm, which has a controlling stake in Goodlife wants the money used in opening new branches beyond the current 52 locations in Kenya …
Read More »AUSTRALIA: Another grim week leaves private health insurance on life support
November 2019 theguardian; In April this year, the health minister, Greg Hunt, introduced reforms the government said would make private health insurance easier to understand and more affordable. The changes, described by the federal government as the most significant reforms to the private health insurance system in a decade, included …
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