Lymphatic filariasis is one of the world’s leading causes of permanent and long-term disability. Sometimes referred to as Elephantiasis tropica, it is a neglected and stigmatised mosquito-borne disease. It damages the human lymphatic system, leading to disfiguring swelling of limbs, breasts and genitals. Despite a decade of World Health Organisation (WHO)-led drug administration to halt its spread, […]
Epilepsy is a brain disorder that arises from imbalances of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. This disorder manifests as recurring seizure, unconsciousness and momentary loss of memory. These events are frequent and unpredictable. This is because the brain cells called neurons either overwork or are unable to balance the release of two chemicals that are vital for […]
By Cheji Bakari in Tanga THE government in collaboration with the country’s medical research centres, National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) and other stakeholders’ reiterated its commitment to end malaria infection by 2030. During a recent oneday meeting in Tanga which also involved officials from the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, as […]
The first case of fatal Marburg virus disease was identified in Guinea, West Africa on 9 August 2021. Marburg is a highly infectious zoonotic haemorrhagic fever transmitted to people from fruit bats, specifically the Egyptian Rousette bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus). It spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. […]
It has been said that malaria breeds poverty, and poverty breeds malaria. This is the reality in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where after decades of control initiatives there were still some 384,000 deaths and 188 million malaria cases in 2019. Malaria prevention in African countries heavily depends on using insecticide-treated bed nets and house spraying. […]
