Sub-Saharan Africa offers significant opportunities for SA's pharmaceutical manufacturing companies‚ as a growing middle class and an increasing disease burden push up demand for medicines‚ according to research by Frost & Sullivan. Pharmaceutical sales in sub-Saharan Africa generated revenues of US$2.28bn in 2011 and were forecast to reach US$5.02bn in 2018‚ the research company said on Wednesday (16.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 13th August 2014

Africa's first medical tablet, sending results via a mobile-phone connection, won a 2014 Rolex Award for Enterprise. It was one of the two African awards from this year's five winners. The Royal Society, London's leading scientific institution, announced the winners on 24 June 2014. The five Young Laureates from Africa, India, Europe and the Middle East were chosen by an international jury of eight experts who reviewed a shortlist from among.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 13th August 2014

Ministry of Health said that it is working to eradicate tuberculosis (TB) from Ethiopia within 20 years, well ahead of the international target date set for 50 years. While visiting the renovated TB capture laboratory of the Saint Peter's Specialized Hospital on Friday, July 18, 2014, Minister of Health, Dr. Kesetebirhan Admasu, said Ethiopia plans to eradicate tuberculosis earlier than the internationally target date set by World Health.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 6th September 2014

 In a year's time, the 3-D printers at Yale's Center for Engineering Innovation and Design (CEID) have churned out countless parts, prototypes, and curiosity-driven experiments in plastic - rotorheads and racecar uprights, cardiac pump pieces and thermostats, snowmen, keychains, and fantastical geometric shapes. Radiology resident Dr Mark Michalski uses them to print organs - arteries and bones, a liver, a heart, a knee. "The.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 6th September 2014

 The National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NAPM) has proposed a zero Value Added Tax (VAT) rating on medicines in its submission to the Davis Tax Committee, tasked with assessing the country's tax policy framework and its role in supporting the objectives of inclusive growth, employment, development and fiscal sustainability in South Africa. Although the proposed Zero VAT rating requested consideration for all medicines,.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 6th September 2014

 The Human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cervical, anal and penile cancers, along with genital warts, has more than 130 strains, 40 of which affect the genital area. "While most people clear the virus naturally, others are not able to," says Dr Trudy Smith, Johannesburg-based gynecologist and obstetrician. "HPV is a particularly strong virus that can cause infections that lead to cancer in both men and women. There.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 12th August 2014

 Dr. Adamu Gamawa, new Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (PHCDA), said on Tuesday that efforts had been intensified to immunize against polio virus, children of internally displaced persons living in the state.   Gamawa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Tuesday that although he inherited an agency that had worked hard to ensure that the state was free of the wild polio virus, his.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 12th August 2014

COUNTY governments have signed an agreement with the Rotary Club to eradicate the spread of polio by 2018. The two are expected to roll out nationwide campaigns to increase the scope of vaccinations.   Dubbed 'This Close', the campaign is expected to boost government efforts of vaccinating children, while mopping out high risk counties. The initiative was launched at Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi, yesterday.   Rotary Club of Nairobi.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 12th August 2014

Shelter Afrique the Pan-African Housing Financier has advanced a US$8 million [KSH704M] loan to the Kenya Medical Association for the construction of 160 housing units in Mombasa for exclusive sale to members of the association. The loan which follows the approval by the Shelter Afrique board in March 2014 sees Shelter Afrique partner with the KMA yet again having already jointly financed two of the KMA’s housing projects. Signing the.... Read more »

Posted on : Friday , 8th August 2014

 All pregnant, HIV positive women will go onto lifelong antiretroviral treatment from January 2015, Kenya Health Minister. In addition, people with HIV will start treatment when their CD4 count, which measures immunity, drops to 500 not 350 as at present. Currently, pregnant HIV-positive women with a CD4 count over 350 only receive ARVs during pregnancy and breastfeeding to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. In September.... Read more »

Posted on : Friday , 8th August 2014

 Why the Mass Distribution of Nets in Uganda is a success story so far? The Ministry of Health in Uganda and its financing partners, have succeeded in distributing Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets to 98% of its districts. This is one of the most costly, most ambitious and most cost effective moves in Health Care and as regards Malaria prevention. Its goal is to achieve what is termed as Universal Coverage to curb the mortality and morbidity.... Read more »

Posted on : Friday , 8th August 2014

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) (http://www.aslm.org) have joined with global partners to launch the Diagnostics Access Initiative which calls for improving laboratory capacity to ensure that all people living with HIV can be linked to effective, high-quality HIV treatment services.Partners in the initiative include UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO), the.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 6th September 2014