March 2022 theStar ;The Ministry of Health is concerned about the growing burden of obesity among women of reproductive age in urban areas. It emerged that 33 per cent of women in the country are overweight and obese with the rate of obesity among urban women standing at 43 per cent …
Read More »KENYA :Drugs, condoms, more billions vanish at Kemsa
March 2022 Businessdaily ;The UN-backed Global Fund has revealed fresh rot at Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) after it found out that 908,000 mosquito nets, 1.1 million condoms and tuberculosis drugs worth Sh10 million had disappeared from its warehouse. Global Fund, which finances the fight against HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria, …
Read More »Kenya lifts longstanding mandatory wearing of masks
March 2022 theStar :The mandatory wearing of masks has now been lifted, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has announced. “However, people should maintain social distancing to ensure risk of spread is limited,” he said. He however encouraged the wearing of masks during indoor functions to curb the spread of Covid-19 disease. …
Read More »KENYA :Cancer groups fight NHIF new regulations ending private hospitals cover
Cancer organisations have rejected the new proposed regulations by the National Health Insurance Fund that will compel cancer patients to seek medication only in public health facilities. The Kenya Network of Cancer Organisations (KENCO) and Non-communicable Diseases Alliance Kenya (NCDAK) which brings together patient groups say faith-based health facilities should …
Read More »KENYA:Uhuru backs teachers ouster from NHIF board
President Uhuru Kenyatta has backed the ouster of teachers and NGO representatives from the board of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) in late changes made to the law, tightening the government’s grip on the cash-rich insurer. The President signed the NHIF (Amendment) Bill, 2022 into law, denying the Kenya …
Read More »Intravaginal washing causing fertility problems, say KNH medics
January 2022 theStar; A large number of women who practise douching, an unnecessary process that involves intravaginal washing, are struggling to conceive, medics at the Kenyatta National Hospital report. The medics include gynaecologists and obstetricians who have been attending to clients at the hospital. They studied 458 women who were …
Read More »EMA lists rare spinal condition as side effect of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shot
January 2022 YahooNews;A safety panel of the European drug regulator on Friday recommended adding a rare spinal inflammation called transverse myelitis as a side effect of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) safety committee also recommended a similar warning be included for Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine in …
Read More »KENYA:Senate approves Bill to end Kemsa monopoly
January 2022 Business Daily ;Senators have backed a Bill that seeks to end the monopoly of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) in the delivery of drugs and equipment to county hospitals. The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Amendment) Bill 2021 seeks to change the law and give counties a free …
Read More »Man gets genetically-modified pig heart in world-first transplant
January 2022 BBC: A US man has become the first person in the world to get a heart transplant from a genetically-modified pig. David Bennett, 57, is doing well three days after the experimental seven-hour procedure in Baltimore, doctors say. The transplant was considered the last hope of saving Mr …
Read More »First person dies from Omicron variant in United Kingdom
December 2021 theStar ;At least one person has died in the United Kingdom after contracting the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday, warning that the variant now accounted for 40% of infections in the British capital. Since the first Omicron cases were detected on November 27 in the United …
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