Jay Levy, who co-discovered the AIDS virus 35 years ago has said that Malawi, which has one of the highest rates of the deadly HIV and AIDS infections, is on course to eradicate the virus. Most of the AIDS cases globally are in poorer countries, where access to testing, prevention and treatment is limited. UN AIDS agency (UNAIDS) said no fewer than one million people in Malawi have the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. However, according to official figures, Malawi’s national HIV and AIDS prevalence dropped to 8.8 per cent in 2016 from 30 per cent in 1985 when the first HIV and…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Tanzanian Minister for Health, Ummy Mwalimu said on Thursday that they had stepped up measures to fight malaria, including distributing 236,420 liters of biological anti-mosquito pesticides across the country. Addressing parliament in the capital Dodoma, she said that while the anti-malaria pesticides were specifically being used to destroy mosquito larvae, measures adopted to fight the disease included the distribution of the anti-malaria pesticides, affeorts that had dropped the malaria prevalence rate by 7.3 per cent in 2017 from 14.8 per cent in 2016. She said the achievements were made following strengthened national health systems, the level of investment in malaria…
The Leader of the Mechanisation task team of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Josef Kienzle has warned that lack of modern farming techniques was threatening Africa’s food security. He said that unless the governments adopt new technologies of farming, the continent would continue to rely on food aid. “There is need for a paradigm shift on intensive crop production since the current methods applied cannot meet the challenges of the new millennium,” Kienzle said during the second conservation agriculture conference in Nairobi. The FAO official said the use of rudimentary hand tools and little access to mechanization and…
Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates on Wednesday backed technologies in the fight to end malaria. Speaking at the Malaria Forum conference in London, Gates said that gene editing raises “legitimate questions”. He said that it should not jeopardise exploration of tools such as CRISPR gene editing and so-called “gene drive” technologies. “I’m very energised about the potential of gene drive. (It’s) the kind of breakthrough we need to support,” Gates said. It may prove critical here,” he stressed. Gene drive technologies alter DNA and drive self-sustaining genetic changes through multiple generations by overriding normal biological processes. CRISPR technology enables scientists to find…
The Director, Global Cassava Partnership (GCP21) of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Mr Claude Fauguet on Tuesday called on policymakers on agriculture in Africa to consider cassava as a cash crop. He made the call in Lagos at a news conference to announce the 4th International Cassava Conference scheduled to hold in June, tagged: “Transforming Cassava in Africa”. Fauguet told newsmen that cassava was a resilient crop that could survive under any climate and therefore needed science and technology to grow and develop it. According to him, “Policy makers in Africa really need to begin to see cassava…
The Director, Global Cassava Partnership (GCP21) of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Claude Fauguet on Tuesday said Africa needed 30 tonnes per hectare of cassava by 2050 from the current nine tonnes per hectare. Speaking at a news conference in Lagos to announce the 4th International Cassava Conference, the Director said comparatively that Africa currently produced about 10 tonnes per hectare of cassava, while Latin America and Asia currently produced 12 tonnes and 22 tonnes per hectare respectively. According to Fauguet, Africa needed more science in the cultivation of cassava because its population and Nigeria, especially will double…
Kenya is likely to achieve the UN target of total malaria eradication by 2030 as the government and bilateral partners roll out robust interventions to contain the disease, officials said on Wednesday. Sicily Kariuki, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, said Kenya has the potential to achieve the vision of malaria free status subject to robust investments in diagnostic kits, case management and public education. “Kenya has made notable progress in combating malaria as prevalence rate drops due to a combination of policy, funding and biomedical interventions. Our goal to achieve malaria free status is within reach,” said Kariuki, ahead of World Malaria Day to be observed…
The Carter Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Programme for Plateau and Nasarawa has called for an effective policy of prohibiting open defecation toward eradicating schistosomiasis. The Director of the centre, Dr Abel Eigege said on Wednesday in Jos that schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzias is an infectious disease caused by parasitic worms, adding that the worms could cause acute and chronic infections, with symptoms like fever, blood in urine or stools and abdominal discomfort. According to him, schistosomiasis had been effectively eradicated in Plateau and Nasarawa states, adding that it might easily reemerge if people continued to defecate and urinate in the…
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) is targeting 1,200 indigent Ogonis in its free medical outreach in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers. The Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Dr Marvin Dekil while flagging-off the second phase of the exercise on Monday in Taabaa community, said the exercise was to prevent, detect and treat victims of hydrocarbon pollution in Ogoniland in line with the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report. “The health outreach is the first step toward the implementation of the initial stage of the Health Impact Study as recommended in the UNEP Report on Ogoniland. The…
The Ministry of Health in Adamawa state on Monday in Yola reported the death of one person from Lassa fever outbreak in the state. The Information Officer of the ministry, Mr Abubakar Muhammed disclosed that 81 other people had been quarantined following the development. He said that 45 members of the deceased’s families and other 36 persons including some health workers who had direct contact with the deceased, had also been quarantined. Muhammed explained that the state government, World Health Organisation and other collaborative agencies had established an emergency centre in Yola to receive information and quick response. He said…