Rapid, sustained declines in tuberculosis deaths in many countries during the past 50 years provide compelling evidence that ending the pandemic is feasible, a report by the Lancet Commission released ahead of World TB Day discloses. At the heart of the report is a recognition that TB preventive therapy can be an effective intervention to…
thyssenkrupp wins major order for fertiliser plant in Egypt
thyssenkrupp’s plant engineering business has won a major order from the Egyptian chemical and fertiliser manufacturer NCIC (El Nasr Company for Intermediate Chemicals). thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions is a leading partner for the engineering, construction and service of industrial plants and systems. “We have a particularly successful partnership with Egypt stretching back more than 160 years…
New regulation could impact SA’s medical device market
As South Africa moves towards universal healthcare with a National Health Insurance System (NHIS), this, combined with the Competition Commission’s market inquiry and further changing legislation will effect radical change to the purchasing and provision of private and public healthcare in South Africa. Along with Egypt, South Africa accounts for 40% of the medical devices…
Turning a ‘tragic plastic’ problem into a nation building solution
Don Thompson, the CEO of The Center of Regenerative Design and Collaboration (CRDC) plans to turn all South Africa’s unrecycled plastic waste, at 1 100 000 million tons per year, into jobs, clean our environment and help build houses, hospitals, schools and roads. He is the inventor of a process that can turn any plastic…
Ghanaian female scientist receives international award for research
Dr Priscilla Mante from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana has been named one of the 15 International Rising Talents and the only African award recipient in 2019’s ‘Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Rising Talent Award, becoming the first recipient of the award from her institution. Dr. Priscilla Kolibea Mante is researching…
Pneumoccocal Vaccine Price Drops
Pfizer on Thursday announced that it has reduced the price of its pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) for 73 developing countries by five cents to US$ 2.90 per dose. The price drop, a result of negotiations between Pfizer and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is Pfizer’s third for its PCV vaccine since January 2017 and is expected…
Scale-up of TB prevention among people living with HIV possible, reveals new study
In an important moment for tuberculosis (TB) control, a new study finds that a shorter regimen to prevent TB can be safely co-administered with dolutegravir (DTG)—the first-line drug to treat HIV in many high-burden TB countries. Presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), the study found that weekly administration of rifapentine and…
Smartphones to diagnose Infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa
A new Imperial-led review has outlined how health workers could use existing phones to predict and curb the spread of infectious diseases. The review, published in Nature, outlines how healthcare workers in low-income countries, like those in sub-Saharan Africa, could use existing smartphones to diagnose, track and control infectious diseases in low-income countries. There are…