Valentines’s Day in the Ebola heartlands
February 14, 2015 One of the hardest things about Ebola is that showing love can make things worse. You cannot wash the body of a loved one who has died from Ebola. You cannot touch a sick relative showing symptoms. You must abstain from sex if you have the virus and use condoms for three months
Sierra Leone quarantines 700 homes after Ebola case
February 13, 2015 Freetown (AFP) – Sierra Leone placed hundreds of homes in the capital under Ebola quarantine Friday, in a huge blow for its recovery less than a month after it lifted all restrictions on movement. The government said 700 properties had been locked down in Aberdeen, a fishing and tourist district of Freetown,
Intellectual Ventures teams up with GE to fight malaria
February 12, 2015 Intellectual Ventures’s Global Good division has teamed up with General Electric to create a new test for malaria that’s designed to spot even the parasites that cause the disease, even in cases that would otherwise be missed by traditional testing. It’s important work, since someone can be a host to malaria-causing parasites
New Ebola cases show rise for second week in row
February 12, 2015 The number of new cases of Ebola has risen in all of West Africa’s worst-hit countries for the second week in a row, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. This is the second weekly increase in confirmed cases in 2015, ending a series of encouraging declines. The WHO said on Wednesday that
US to withdraw troops from Ebola mission in West Africa
February 11, 2015 Washington (AFP) – The US military plans to pull out most troops from West Africa that were deployed to help stem the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, the Pentagon said, ending a five-month mission. A force that at one point reached 2,800 has been scaled back to about 1,300 troops and
Why is organ donation taboo for many Africans?
February 11, 2015 Organ donation – especially in death – is a difficult subject for indigenous Africans. At the Lions Eye Hospital in Nairobi, the eye bank has never been full since its was set up four years ago. Dr Jyotee Trivedy, a senior ophthalmologist at the hospital, says the problem lies in the lack
Teenager ‘posed for Snapchat selfie with classmate’s dead body after shooting him in face’
February 10, 2015 A teenager who allegedly shot a fellow school pupil in the face before posing with his body in a Snapchat selfie has been charged with murder in the US. The 16-year-old boy is accused of murdering Ryan Mangan, 16, at his home in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. He was arrested after police
Ebola survivor beat disease only to be left by husband and ostracised because of stigma
February 8, 2015 An Ebola survivor has told of the devastating impact the disease had on her life, with stigma in the community seeing her husband abandoning her and leaving their children homeless. Siannie Beyan contracted the deadly virus at the peak of the outbreak in Liberia in August. She fought for her life for
Nigeria’s Health Union Ends Strike
February 5, 2015 The Joint Health Sector Union has called off its two-month-old strike, following a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan. Abuja, Katsina, Kaduna, Calabar — A meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan prompted Joint Health Sector Unions to suspend a strike they started last November to push government to implement agreements reached by both sides
Genetics: Changing the Face of Chemotherapy and Cancer Treatment
February 4, 2015 Genetic testing is changing the face of cancer treatment completely but if it is provided to a patient it is usually done incorrectly if at all, according to Dr. Dino Prato founder of Unipathic Medicine and CEO of Envita Medical Centers (a leader in integrative medicine for cancer treatment). Time Magazine has