Category: Medical

Angola has called for the implementation of a quick response and high quality campaigns to deal with the circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) outbreaks.

Angola’s stance was expressed Thursday by the general director of the National Institute for Health Research (INIS), Joana Morais, in her speech delivered at the plenary of the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

The new oral vaccine against type 2 poliomyelitis is the preferred option to control outbreaks of poliovirus derived from of the vaccine.

Joana Morais, who expressed concern about the persistence of outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus, suggested integrating polio vaccination into all health interventions.

The official also suggested other development sectors covering high-risk areas, while the polio be incorporated into the General State Budget (OGE), supplemented with resources mobilised from partners.

The INIS director pointed out four priorities to boost the 2018-2023 polio transition plan.

They are the sustainable reinforcement of routine immunisation, the consolidation of gains in areas of endemic transmission of the Wild Poliovirus, the prevention or immediate response to outbreaks in non-endemic areas and early identification of vaccine-derived poliovirus and ensure an immediate quality response.

Joana Morais also pointed the priority areas, which include strengthening national capacities in the field of immunisation, surveillance and outbreak response, monitoring and evaluation, operational investigations to improve performance, strengthening reference laboratories, efficient sample management, assistance WHO technique for outbreak response activities and surveillance.

The 76th World Health Assembly, which runs until the 30th of the current month, focuses on global architecture of preparedness and response to public health emergencies, construction of the proposal for an instrument on pandemics and non-communicable diseases.

The assembly seeks to find ways to prevent and control NCDs such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancers, promoting approaches on ways to improve access to healthy food, physical activity and essential medicines.

The agenda also includes the theme of universal health coverage (UHC).

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

The corpse of a woman, Mme Kuissu Wouaffo Clarisse disputed for over two years by her son and a certain Eric Nodou she was married to for over 16 years has finally been removed from the Aluchem hospital mortuary on Thursday, May 25, 2023, and laid to rest.

A bill of about FCFA 6 Million was settled before the removal.

According to the deceased’s son, the delayed burial was due to Eric Nodou’s refusal to let her corpse be buried on his piece of land.

“The main issue is that he wants to absolutely bury his mother on my land, which is impossible. Again his mother tricked me to pay her bride price to another man she lied to and presented as her father. The man I paid the bride price to was instead her mother’s boyfriend (lover). She also lied to me about her age and so many things. I had no idea and only learned of these afterward. I had to file for annulment of the marriage but she died in the process.” Explained Eric Nodou, the deceased’s husband.

Son of the deceased insisted that his mother was the one who ensured the construction of the house she was living in with her husband for 16 years, with little contribution from the man.

“He claims, the money used to construct the house was his, presenting documents of expenses. It was my mother’s money in his possession. He only had access to those documents. It is my mother’s house he can’t dispute that. My mother must be buried in the bedroom of this house,” he said.

It was after the intervention of the Police and Gendarmes that Mme Clarisse was finally laid to rest in the bedroom of the said house in Logbessou, Douala V. sub-division.

Eric Nodou in question has no child with his late wife.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Some health workers of the Yaounde Emergency Unit took to the streets on May 22nd, 2023 to protest against poor working conditions amongst other issues they face.

The health workers demand an increase salaries as well as increase in medical resources. They stated that they are fed up with the “contractualization of all temporary public health training, which is 27,000 staff representing 60% of the workforce who are working without wages and affiliation to CNPS,”.

Carrying messages on placards stating “A nurse in distress is more dangerous than a soldier at the war front,” they also express their dissatisfaction due to the limited resources allocated which can not meet the needs of patients.

“ we are not able to work properly due to limited equipments. Some times we have critical emergency cases but we can’t handle them,” a nurse stated.

The Nurses demand an increase in salaries of staff from the 1st to the 6th category to be put at 75000F and 95,000 for those from the 7th to the 12th category.

They also denounce the nonpayment of CNPS benefits to staff and say they have gone for over 5 years without those benefits.

After their strike action ,Some health workers reportedly stormed the Ministry of Public Health office to lay their complaints.

They stated that the strike action will last for 5 hours everyday (from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) till a solution is provided to their 17 complaints listed.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The 76th World Health Assembly is taking place in Switzerland between May 21-30, with delegations from WHO member states including Cameroon, meeting in Geneva to brainstorm on major health concerns the world is currently faced with.

Participants will deliberate on ways to “create a future where every person has access to the health services they need” World Health Organization (WHO) Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding that “it means strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness, response and resilience, and supporting countries on the road to universal health coverage.”

Minister Manaouda Malachie, representing Cameroonian at the event, also remarked that “universal health coverage, so dear to the Head of State, H.E. Paul Biya, is one of the key topics.”

The activities which started on Sunday under the theme: “WHO at 75: Saving lives, driving health for all”, will feature discussions on current and future priorities for public health issues of global importance.

It will also focus on strategies and global action on areas such as women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health rehabilitation, traditional medicine, infection prevention and control, health of refugees and migrants, mental health, nutrition and disabilities.

This year’s edition will equally mark the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organization.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The 13th Regional Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in the Commonwealth of Africa held in Seychelles enabled its participants to discuss problems specific to each country, allowing the identification of common points of concern.

At the conference, which ended on Friday, May de Silva, the commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles, was confirmed as the new chairperson of the Association of the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa.

De Silva said in her statement at the closing ceremony, that “a problem Seychelles faces is the fact that we are isolated at times from mainland Africa and the Commonwealth Africa.”

She said that “However, our problem is similar when it comes to our fight against corruption. There is the same problem with funding, and getting financial forensic specialists We have seen that there are some differences as well when it comes to political will.”

The three-day conference, which kicked off on Monday at the Savoy Resort, was attended by representatives from Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.

A series of priority areas were identified to be worked on.

“In our communique, we guarantee that we will face these challenges and we will reinforce the services that we offer. We will also bring this fight to another level. We will ensure that we share with each other the programmes that we see are innovative and have worked in other African Commonwealth countries and that we will also be able to use these models that they have and support each other,” said de Silva.

Anti-corruption agencies of Commonwealth Africa are seeking to increase youth education and public awareness of the impact, harm and cost of corruption as well as promote integrity and accountability in public office in the Seychelles Communique.

The communique also seeks to promote leadership, honesty, selflessness, and innovation, and to prove the quality of outgoing mutual legal assistance (MLA).

Member governments are also being asked to enact and implement effective legislation, open and transparent procedures on the declaration of assets of senior public officials supported by honest wealth provisions and civil assessment recovery for future measures.

The members agreed to engage international communities to strengthen collaboration in the fight against corruption, develop information-sharing and further engage citizens on corruption issues at local national, regional, and international levels.

The next regional conference of heads of anti-corruption agencies in Commonwealth Africa, in 2024, will take place in Ghana in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

Angola has 264 family doctors only for around 30 million inhabitants, according to data from the College of General and Family Medicine.

Nasser Calumbuana, a family medicine doctor, on Friday told ANGOP that this number includes nationals and expatriates and it is still far from satisfying the needs of the country.

Nasser Calimbuana said that a family doctor is a professional who serves people of all ages and genders, providing comprehensive and continuous assistance to communities.

In this regard, “there is a need for the country to train more specialists in this medical field which is extremely important for disease prevention”, he said while talking about the Family Doctor Day celebrated on May 19 worldwide.

Nasser Calimbuana explained that the family doctor builds a lasting relationship with his patients, marked by trust and proximity, and by focusing more on the prevention than in treatment.

“We are still dealing with a curative method instead of betting on preventing the diseases”, he stressed, having advised the reinforcement for health education in order to prevent diseases that can be avoided with routine medical visits.

Family and Community Medicine (FCM) is a clinical specialty that develops health promotion, protection and recovery practices aimed at people, families and communities.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)