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…
Body slums FAO’s agricultural model over biodiversity loss
The current industrial model of agriculture underpinning the global food system is destroying itself, and us with it: This is the conclusion that we can draw from the report released by the FAO State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture. The report provides some alarming details of the irreversible and catastrophic damage being…
Typhoid outbreak: Thousands in Zimbabwe begin receiving jabs
A major typhoid vaccination campaign that uses a new Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) begins today in Harare to tackle a drug-resistant outbreak of the disease. The campaign will be the first in Africa to use the TCV and targets 325,000 people in nine suburbs of Zimbabwe’s capital “While typhoid vaccines have existed for over a…
Nigerian biotech body approves commercial release of genetically modified cowpea
The Nigerian Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has approved the commercial release of genetically modified, pest-resistant cowpea to farmers in Nigeria. The action is a culmination of more than two decades of research, field trials, and risk assessment by multiple organizations. This places the country on the path to becoming the first country ever to cultivate…
Project ECHO to Tackle Africa’s Health Challenges spreads
A new collaborative learning and practice platform dedicated to improving health care delivery in Africa is mobilizing powerful new multi-country partnerships and equipping frontline health workers to better combat devastating diseases like HIV, tuberculosis, cancer, cholera, and Ebola. On February 18-19, Project ECHO will conduct an immersion workshop training in Johannesburg, South Africa, for around…