Tobacco control must accelerate to protect innocent children, women and men in Afric...

Nairobi, February 27 2015 -- Delegates attending the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Nairobi marked the 10-year celebration of the implementation of tobacco control in Africa with jubilation and concerted determination to fight the tobacco epidemic to the end.

The delegates from 39 of the 47 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region agreed to the Nairobi Declaration on FCTC to accelerate comprehensive measures, which will save the lives of innocent children, youth and adults from tobacco-related diseases.

Closing the gap on pneumonia through immunization

Soon after the birth of her second child, a daughter she named Neema, Tabu Kalama found herself homeless and with no regular income. Ms Kalama had no option but to sleep with her newborn daughter and her 18-month old son in the meagre shelter of palm trees near the beach in Kilifi, in eastern Kenya.

It was June, among the coolest and wettest months there. “I was so worried that the baby would fall sick, and there was nothing that I could do,” Kalama says.

Kenya hosts commemoration to accelerate comprehensive implementation of WHO FCTC in ...

Nairobi, 25 February 2015 -- The WHO meeting to commemorate the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) started in Nairobi today with members and participants commending great milestones but cautioning that a lot is still needing to be done to save lives from the tobacco epidemic.

The meeting attended by Member States outlines the implementation status for each state and what still remains to be done to protect African citizens from tobacco use and tobacco-related deaths.

Global ALL IN campaign fights rising HIV infections and deaths among adolescents

The Global ALL IN campaign against adolescent infection and death by HIV-AIDS kicked off with calls to listen, involve and include young people in efforts to reduce AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections. 

The launch presided by the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and lauded by various UN global leaders, is a fresh call to act on the rising numbers of infection and death among global and African youth. The campaign aims to achieve reductions in AIDS-related deaths by 65% and new HIV infection by 75% by 2020.

Kenya marks World Cancer Day with high expectation

The World Cancer Day in Kenya has been marked by a call for heightened public awareness, greater responsibility and action by all stakeholders and the need for a medical environment that enables early screening, access to treatment and better trained personnel.

The calls come at the backdrop of the Kenyan situation in which 27 000 people are estimated to die of the disease annually and between 20 000 and 80 000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed annually.

International Health Conference calls for Africa-based Solutions

An international  Africa health conference opened in Nairobi, Kenya, with calls for  research-based interventions, Africa-suitable solutions and leadership to enable Africa overcome  its health challenges that include the tragedy of Ebola which has left over 5000 people dead mainly in  West Africa.

The three-day conference under the theme, ‘Evidence to Action: Lasting Health Change for Africa,’ is an initiative of Africa Medical Research Foundation, Amref, and co-sponsored by WHO.

Kenya faces rising burden of diabetes

“I didn't know I had diabetes until I became sick. I went into hospital and was told: ‘Your blood sugar level is way up.’”

In 1996, Evelyne Musera’s diagnosis of type 2 diabetes set her on a life-long path of medical treatment. The ongoing costs of managing her condition pose a serious financial burden on her family.