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Access to medical attention by patients in critical condition has turned into a nightmare for Adjumani residents as a shortage of doctors continues to haunt the district hospital in Northern Uganda. go →

Uganda: Arua Regional Referral Hospital and police headquarters face closure over poor hygiene due to filled up pit-latrines. go →

The proportion of trained health workers across the country has stagnated at 56 per cent for the last two years, a situation that has affected the efficiency of the sector, the health minister has said. go →

Civil Society activists from Nakaseke, Luweero and Kampala have petitioned government to address the problem of preventable maternal deaths this financial year, less than a week since a 2011 survey report indicated that the country needs more than 2,000 midwives to ensure safe child birth. go →

Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, the biggest health facility in the region, which is in the north of Uganda, is grappling with acute shortage of space for patients admitted to different wards as the number of people seeking treatment at the facility has sharply risen in the last two years. go →

In bid to save the lives of pregnant women in hospitals, the government will next year start giving out free maternal health kits used to enable women give birth safely and hygienically. go →

The newly-commissioned Rapha Hospital in Bussi Island, in the ugandan Wakiso district, is registering an average of one birth per day, the hospital officials have said. go →

The ministry of health is to hire 2000 midwives this financial year in a bid to curb maternal mortality in the country. The recruitment was announced over the weekend by Dr. Christine Ondoa, the Health Minister. go →

Researchers at the Austrian Society for Gastroenterology and Hepatology say men tend to develop colon cancer at an earlier age than their female counterparts. go →

When his teenage wife went into labour, John Emegu wedged her on a bicycle between himself and his grandmother and pedalled furiously for 11 miles. But on reaching the nearest hospital, his relief quickly turned to despair. go →

As one enters the congested medical wards, there is a sense of distress especially at night where patients and nurses have to fidget with candles and lamps that provide insufficient light. There is a shortage of medical personnel at the hospital. go →

OVER 8.4 million women in Uganda are anaemic, a condition where one lacks enough blood, the health ministry has disclosed. go →

Scientists have used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) and computational models to reconstruct moving images from brain scans of people watching movie clips. go →

Ugandan’s Supreme Court on Monday (26 September 2011) dismissed Teddy Sseezi Cheeye’s appeal in which he challenged his conviction and the sentence of 10 year’s imprisonment for embezzlement of sh120m of Global Fund monies. go →

Women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day are less likely to get depressed, research suggests. It is not clear why it might have this effect, but the authors believe caffeine in coffee may alter the brain’s chemistry. go →

New findings have questioned previous studies suggesting that a class of proteins called sirtuins can slow natural ageing process and increase lifespan. Two new researches have raised further doubts that stimulating a gene called Sir2, which controls sirtuins production may lead to longevity. go →

Doctors at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital gave prostate cancer patients a powerful alpha radiation drug and found that they lived longer, and experienced less pain and side effects. The medics then stopped the trial of 922 people, saying it was unethical not to offer all of them the treatment. go →

The The US government has announced withdrawal of financial support for malaria and HIV/Aids treatment in Uganda. The US mission in Kampala made the announcement during unveiling of a multi-million TASO office complex named ‘House of Hope’ in Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb, on Friday. go →

Indeed AIDS is a killer disease. But unlike Hepatitis B virus, which attacks the liver, one of the vital organs in the body, there has been relatively widespread sensitisation about the ways through which AIDS is spread and how to avoid getting infected. go →

Mulago doctors and cleaners were yesterday arrested for stealing government drugs after the hospital management was alerted by one of the patients. go →

Most of the 220,000 people who undergo weight loss surgery every year are not aware of the follow-up procedures they could have to remove any loose skin they may have, according to a new study by plastic surgeons. go →

More thorough donor screening and more advanced organ testing to help protect transplant patients from infectious diseases are recommended in a draft of an updated organ transplant guideline released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. go →

Its proponents argue that leaving it out of a newborn baby’s bath water is recipe for bad luck and a myriad of infections. Experienced women will be seen looking around for it in markets, bushes or wherever it can be found, just to make sure a baby is off to a good start. go →

HIV/Aids fight. Described as the grand project, the arrangement will benefit the five regions of Central, West Nile, Northern, Mid-western and Eastern. Mpigi A new initiative to intensify levels of HIV/Aids awareness and prevention in rural areas has started, in a bid to curb the increasing rate of infection among married couples in 19 districts countrywide. The project dubbed Strengthening Civil Society for Improved HIV/Aids is a brainchild of the Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) and Joint Clinical Research Institute in partnership with district authorities. Under the arrangement, village health teams will be created and facilitated to help their respective communities live positively as well as encourage voluntary counselling and testing among couples and prevention of mother to child transmission. Door-Door vaccination Ms Emily Katalikawe, the director of special projects at UHMG, said the move seeks to boost health service delivery through giving door-to-door HIV/Aids vaccine using the Village Health Team Strategy (VHTS). While handing over bicycles to VHT leaders at Mpigi District Headquarterson Friday, Ms Katalikawe said each district chosen in the five regions will receive Shs100 million to purchase kits and other facilities for the community members. Promoting positive living Ms Katalikawe also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mpigi CAO, Ms Filanda Nabirye, to confirm the service delivery in the district. “The VHT leaders will be taught how to promote health and help the community living with HIV lead a positive life,” she said. Mpigi District Chairman John Mary Luwakanya welcomed the project, saying it will help create awareness, as a step towards the HIV/Aids fight. “Empowering the VHTS without providing a means of transport would not have been enough but since bicycles have been provided, this will ease movement,” he said. Other districts set to benefit from the Shs3 billion projects include Kalangala, Kiboga, Mityana, Moyo, Koboko, Arua, Nebbi Pader, Lira, Amolatar Kabaroole, Bundibugyo, Kasese, Hoima, Masindi, Katakwi, Soroti, and Tororo. go →

Researchers are to expand a clinical trial of a new malaria vaccine after promising results in a preliminary study in Burkina Faso. go →

A chemical found in the dogfish shark could be a safe and potent weapon against human viruses, say scientists. Noting how powerful the shark’s natural immunity to viral infections is, the researchers set about finding out why….. go →

Researchers say just nine of 137 developing countries will achieve ambitious targets to improve the health of women and children. go →

The rate of new lung cancer cases among American women is finally beginning to decline, much as it has for men, a new U.S. government report shows. New cases of lung malignancies fell by 2.2 percent per year on average for women between 2006 and 2008, after rising an average of 0.5 percent between 1999 and 2006, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…… go →

The World Health Organization has set out a plan to tackle non-communicable diseases like heart disease, which now pose a greater global burden than infectious diseases. “Lifestyle-related” diseases are now the leading cause of death worldwide, killing 36 million people a year. Much of the toll is in low and middle-income countries and this is where efforts must be focused. go →

Fistula; a dungeon for many young, poor mothers. With no one to tell or to listen, they cry, rot, and use all types of local herbs from witch doctors, just hoping this time it might work - in other words waiting for a miracle. “Is there heaven for me?” Patricia Nambi (not real names), a 16-year-old girl seems to say. go →

The Uganda Cancer Institute is set to open a new administra­tion block – another construc­tion project in two years - in a bid to improve the conditions of health services in the country. go →

Pregnant women who eat low-fat yoghurt can increase the risk of their child developing asthma and hay fever, a study says. go →

Uganda`s national referral hospital, Mulago National Referral Hospital will next year be closed temporarily to pave way for its rehabilitation. go →

At least 10 per cent of Ugandans are currently suffering from the deadly Hepatitis B, and are in urgent need of antiretrovirals for treatment, MPs have been told. go →

At least 27 per cent of expectant mothers in Pallisa District do not visit health centres for antenatal services, the district health officer, Dr David Okoth, has said. He said the attitude is hindering efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/Aids during childbirth. “Most pregnant mothers in the district prefer traditional birth attendants. This has caused more maternal deaths,” Dr Okoth said. The district health status report for March 2011 says giving birth at health centres has improved from 43-63 per cent on average, while the remaining 27 per cent either deliver at home or visit traditional birth attendants. “Although the figure could be much higher, reports indicate that with the mushrooming clinics a small percent of pregnant mothers also visit these facilities. We can’t rule out the fact that they prefer traditional birth attendants,” he said…….. go →