By Own Correspondents – The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare recently introduced the “SMS for Health” project with both national and international partners geared towards improving the health delivery system in The Gambia. “SMS for Health” provides real-time information which is then analysed on a weekly basis using mobile phone technology. It provides web-based reports on key drug stock levels across the supply chain including health clinics throughout the Gambia. SMS for Health tracks medication supplies and monitors expiry data of pre-specified medicines, incidence data on pre-specified diseases and the types of treatment provided across 50 health clinics. The... Continue Reading
NAIROBI, 21 October 2010 (PlusNews) – Shunned by mainstream society, sex workers with HIV-related illnesses in Nairobi are unlikely to receive help from concerned neighbours. Instead, some of them are being cared for by fellow sex workers. A group of 25 sex workers who call themselves ‘Knight Nurses’, have been active for a little over a year in the slum of Huruma. They regularly visit fellow members of the group and their family members who are HIV-positive and bedridden to cook for them, wash them and tidy their homes. They also organize hospital visits and ensure they are taking their... Continue Reading
By Own Correspondent – A total of 1,161 intending pilgrims from The Gambia will this year take part in the pilgrimage to Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to the Gambia International Airlines, GIA. Speaking at a briefing held yesterday at the Paradise Suites Hotel for pilgrims, ahead of their departure to Mecca, Bakary Nyassi, GIA Director General, said the issue of issuing visas has already been completed, while the practical mock is slated for today at the July 22nd Square. According to him, Ethiopian Airlines will airlift pilgrims to Saudi Arabia in two runs, and each run will carry... Continue Reading
By Olusegun Ogundeji – According to a survey by Sierra Leone’s HIV/AIDS monitoring body, the National AIDS Secretariat NAS, an estimated 4,600 children under the age of 15 are living with HIV in the country. The disclosure was made at the second 3-day national consultative conference on children and AIDS which ended today. The previous edition was held in 2007. The survey says nearly 1,900 of the total child infection is through mother to child transmission. Children from various chiefdoms took part in the conference which has the theme: ‘invest in children, invest in the future’.
By Elias Mhegera – Our correspondent speaks to the people who have been hunted for reasons beyond their control as victims of superstition to find out what they think about the watershed moment of 2010 in Tanzanian politics. There is a saying in politics that there is no black and white. But some sections of our unequal society are forever lost in the shadows of the grey areas in politics. The albinos caught in their physical difference in a persecuting society need clearer support. Give us our rights in black and white, The Express was told. The secretary general of... Continue Reading
