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The changing face of global health: Yale and South African doctors partner to expand care
While working in South Africa several years ago, Dr. J. Zachary Porterfield came across a young child in a clinic in rural KwaZulu-Natal. During the examination, the doctor was surprised to find that the patient had drainage from her ears and loss of hearing. “It had progressed to the point that she was having difficulty in school,” said Porterfield. “When I asked her mother how long this had been going on, she said three years. Her ears had been draining, and she had been losing her hearing for three years.”
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- infectious diseases, research, youth
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How the genomics revolution could finally help Africa
It took a public-health disaster for the Zimbabwean government to recognize the power of precision medicine. In 2015, the country switched from a standard three-drug cocktail for HIV to a single-pill combination therapy that was cheaper and easier for people to take every day. The new drug followed a World Health Organization recommendation to incorporate the antiretroviral drug efavirenz as a first-line therapy for public-health programmes. But as tens of thousands of Zimbabweans were put onto the drug, reports soon followed about people quitting it in droves.
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- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- public health
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Follow the Money: The IT Hurdles of Microlending
When the crowdfunding non-profit Kiva.org launched a pilot in 2014 to streamline their transactions in Kenya, they met local shop owners like Esther, who was running a stall called “Facebook Cereals.” Kenya had suffered political unrest in recent years, and Esther had to restart her business in the Toi Market of Nairobi twice. But she kept her smile.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Microinsurance penetration set to increase in Tanzania
In March Jamii, a local start-up offering micro-health insurance services, announced ambitious plans to expand into East and Central Africa this year.
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- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Feature phones made a comeback in Africa as smartphone growth slowed last year
After a decade of strong growth, the expected crossover of smartphones finally overtaking feature phone usage in Africa did not happen last year. In fact, feature phones had a bit of a surge. Smartphone shipments to the continent grew by only 3.4% year on year—a sharp slump compared to double-digit growth rates recorded in recent years according to data from IDC, a technology research firm.
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- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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DRC: Running against time
Brazilian administrator Fabio Biolchini has just returned from a year with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)'s emergency team in Democratic Republic of Congo, responding to epidemics and other crises across the breadth of this vast country.
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- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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How poor vaccine supply systems put thousands of Kenyans at risk
Outdated vaccine supply and distribution systems are delaying and limiting the impact of vaccines, placing the health of millions of people at risk, according to new articles published in Vaccine journal. The researchers note that one in every three countries in the world experiences at least one stockout of at least one vaccine for at least one month, while 19 to 38 per cent of vaccines worldwide are accidentally exposed to freezing temperatures, potentially compromising the potency of those vaccines.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenyan mobile government bond sales cross 50% uptake
The Kenyan government's mobile phone-based bond, M-Akiba, has crossed the 50 percent subscription rate, raising optimism that it will hit the target ahead of time, reports Business Daily. By 14:30 hrs on 29 March, at least 61,000 people had registered on the platform, and bought KES 75.2 million worth of the bond through M-Pesa and Airtel Money.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa