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 »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 …
Read More »NIGERIA: 50 Dead, Dozens in Hospital As Yellow Fever Hits Katsina
October 2019 ThisDay; A strange disease suspected to be yellow fever, has reportedly killed no fewer than 50 people in Matazu Local Government Area of Katsina State within 21 days. The disease broke out in Kogware and Ungwan Sarka communities when five victims suddenly lost consciousness before they were rushed …
Read More »SOUTH AFRICA: NHI Roll-Out to Cost an Additional R33 Billion
October 2019 SANews; The rollout of the much-anticipated National Health Insurance (NHI) will require an addition R33 billion annually from the 2025/26 financial year. This was revealed in the National Treasury’s adjusted estimates of the national expenditure document released at the tabling of the 2019 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement …
Read More »WHO expert panel on digital health meets for first time
October 2019 WHO news; WHO is convening global experts to help shape the Organization’s roadmap to advance the digital health ecosystem. The WHO Digital Health Technical Advisory Group met for the first time this week to discuss topics ranging from data governance, to ethical and equitable use of digital technologies, …
Read More »USA: STDs at all-time-high: How did we get here?
October 2019 Yahoo360; The combined number of cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 2.4 million cases of the three sexually transmitted diseases were reported last year, an increase of more than …
Read More »USA:STD rates in Hawaii are the highest in 30 years, and officials blame dating apps
October 2019 YahooNews; In Hawaii, instances of the sexually transmitted infections chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are the highest they’ve been in 30 years, according to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, a trend that’s in line with national and global STI rates. A June 6 report from the World Health Organization found STIs — bacterial, viral, …
Read More »How to Start a Fast Food Revolution to Save Our Health – and the Planet’s
October 2019 Reuters; Transforming diets around the world is key to unlocking better human health and limiting the impact of climate change in tandem, but time is running out. With a rapidly increasing global population, and extreme weather threatening food production around the world, the question is not whether a food revolution needs to …
Read More »MSF demands Johnson & Johnson reduce price of lifesaving TB drug
October 2019 MSF; Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has launched a global campaign calling on pharmaceutical corporation Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to lower the price of its anti-tuberculosis medicine bedaquiline to no more than US$1 per day for people everywhere who need it, in order to allow scale-up of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) treatment …
Read More »USA: One Medical, the health clinic chain backed by Alphabet, has hired banks ahead of an IPO
October 2019 CNBC; One Medical, a chain of primary care clinics that’s backed by Google’s parent company Alphabet and tries to bring a modern feel to the typical doctor’s office, has hired banks including J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley for its IPO, according to people familiar with the matter. The company, which was valued at …
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