Tag: africa
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More than half of newborns not breastfed in first hour raising health risks: UNICEF
By Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – More than half of newborn babies are not breastfed within the first hour of life, putting them at heightened risk of disease and death, the United Nations’ children’s agency said on Friday, highlighting sub-Saharan Africa as an area of concern. Feeding babies within an hour of…
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Up to one million could flee fighting for Iraq’s Mosul: ICRC
Up to 1 million people could be forced to flee their homes in Iraq soon as fighting intensifies in a government offensive to retake Mosul from Islamic State militants, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday. U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces have stepped up their military campaign against Islamic State in an…
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‘Sugar daddies’ and ‘blessers’: A threat to AIDS fight
Lebogang Motsumi, 27, still remembers the moment when she learnt she had contracted HIV from a man a decade her senior. In South Africa, seven million people live with HIV — and older men are thought to be largely to blame for the shockingly high rate of infections among teenage girls and young women. Age-gap…
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‘Sugar daddies’ and ‘blessers’: A threat to AIDS fight
Lebogang Motsumi, 27, still remembers the moment when she learnt she had contracted HIV from a man a decade her senior. In South Africa, seven million people live with HIV — and older men are thought to be largely to blame for the shockingly high rate of infections among teenage girls and young women. Age-gap…
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Senegal seeks to protect albinos against their biggest killer – the sun
By Makini Brice DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Albinos in Africa live in fear of being murdered for their body parts, which are prized in witchcraft for use in charms and potions, but albinos face a much more pervasive threat: the sun. With little or no melanin – the pigment that colours eyes, hair and…
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Guinea-Bissau confirms three cases of Zika virus, government says
Guinea-Bissau has confirmed its first three cases of the Zika virus in a group of islands off the mainland and has set up an emergency committee to stop further transmission of the disease, the government said on Friday. Experts have feared the tiny nation could become a gateway for Zika's spread to mainland West Africa,…
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Nigeria’s Buhari to take 10-day holiday and see London doctor over ear infection: statement
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is to take a 10-day holiday during which he will travel to London and see a doctor regarding a persistent ear infection, his spokesman said on Sunday. Both Nigerian doctors recommended further evaluation purely as a precaution,” said spokesman Femi Adesina. The statement also said the president would travel to London…
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Nigeria’s Buhari to take 10-day holiday and see London doctor over ear infection: statement
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is to take a 10-day holiday during which he will travel to London and see a doctor regarding a persistent ear infection, his spokesman said on Sunday. Both Nigerian doctors recommended further evaluation purely as a precaution,” said spokesman Femi Adesina. The statement also said the president would travel to London…
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WHO rejects calls to move Olympics over Zika fears
The World Health Organization has ruled out any change in timing or the location of the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, shunning a call by doctors and scientists to shift the event over the Zika virus. An open letter addressed to the global health body signed by 150 international doctors, scientists and researchers…
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WHO rejects calls to move Olympics over Zika fears
The World Health Organization has ruled out any change in timing or the location of the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, shunning a call by doctors and scientists to shift the event over the Zika virus. An open letter addressed to the global health body signed by 150 international doctors, scientists and researchers…