The post New HIV Prevention Ring For Women Approved In South Africa appeared first on Provoker Magazine.
]]>The dapivirine ring is an intravaginal silicone ring, developed by the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) for HIV prevention
The ring releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine for a month and reduces HIV infection by 35%. %. Its safety has been impressive in all clinical trials to date. It received approval from the European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organisation (WHO) also added it to its list of prequalified medicines.
South Africa is the first country to approve the ring as it was successfully tested in six African countries (South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
Dr Zeda Rosenberg, IPM’s founder and CEO, said:
“This approval is a positive step towards offering women more prevention options they can use to control their health on their own terms.
We look forward to collaborating with the South African government and partners to incorporate the monthly ring into the health system, and into women’s lives in South Africa.”
HIV experts argue that expanding women’s HIV prevention choices is critical to controlling the epidemic and ensuring their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Women are currently most affected by the HIV virus with nearly two-thirds of new adult infections in South Africa and across the continent occurring among women.
This is yet another huge stride in the continuous fight against HIV. Recently researchers successfully cured an HIV patient with stem cell therapy. Although stem cell therapy is not accessible to most people, this ring will be accessible to all women and they can insert it themselves.
With the legalization of sex work in many countries as a recognized profession, we are also bound to see women in these lines of work operating more confidently. One has to wonder if the fear of contracting HIV has been contributing to the rate at which the virus has been spreading. Will the spread of HIV be curbed if people start being more sexually active on the assumption that the ring will protect them? The ring is after all 35% effective.
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]]>The post Zimbabwe elected in World Health Assembly committee appeared first on Provoker Magazine.
]]>The World Health Assembly is the body that is in charge of making the decisions pertaining to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The body has 194 member states who help in the governance of WHO.
As a part of the general committee, Zimbabwe will share in the following responsibilities:
- Determining the WHO policies
- Appointing of WHO General Director
- Supervising of financial policies and approving budgets
This announcement follows after Zimbabwe was first in SADC in this WHO list we shared here.
The recognition here was not the first time the nation was recognised by the World Health Organisation. Upon launching the Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) this month, Zimbabwe received praise from WHO. This is because it became the third country in the world to make the TCV vaccination a part of its routine vaccination programme. Maybe these are some of the milestones that were considered before giving Zimbabwe a place in the committee.
What are your thoughts?
Let us know in the comment section below.
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]]>The post Zimbabwe tops SADC countries in World Health Organization list appeared first on Provoker Magazine.
]]>The Zimbabwean government has since taken a serious approach to combating the corona virus. One of the measures taken is putting in place a goal of vaccinating 60% of the population in order to reach herd immunity. Aiding in the achievement of this goal is the various donations of the Covid-19 vaccines from India and China. The latest consignment of vaccines was received on Monday 17th of May. We reported on that matter in this article.
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Addis Ababa-based , Zimbabwe has procured vaccines for almost 900 000 people. All other Southern African countries are yet to reach this figure.
The President of Zimbabwe, Mnangagwa has expressed that the focus on vaccinating as many people as possible will make the country safe and allow for safe tourism. Tourism is one of the economy drivers and its restoration, as stated by the President, will allow fast economic growth to take place.
Some countries seem to have slowed down in their vaccination efforts as a result of various alleged side effects that have been reported. Here is a list of countries were vaccines were deferred.
What are your thoughts?
Let us know in the comment section below.
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]]>The post World leaders propose International Covid-19 Treaty appeared first on Provoker Magazine.
]]>The leaders stated that this pandemic is a clear sign that “nobody is safe until everyone is safe”. In addition, they spoke of the probability of another pandemic saying that it is not a question “if” another pandemic might happen but “when” it will happen.
In addition to those sentiments, it was also added that a single country can not effectively deal with the threat is such a pandemic alone. Hence, it is deemed necessary that countries work together in fighting such threats.
The 23 world leaders who are part of this global treaty proposal argue that such a treat as was formed in the wake of WW2 is needed to allow cross-boarder cooperation.
The signatories, who include the head of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, equated these times with WW2 times and vouched for a Covid-19 International treaty because: “At that time(WW2), following the devastation of two world wars, political leaders came together to forge the multilateral system.
The leaders said that similarly, countries must now “be better prepared to predict, prevent, detect, assess and effectively respond to pandemics in a highly coordinated fashion”.
The treaty is proposed to serve the purpose of establishing rigid systems that alert people of pandemics before they occur. In addition it would also facilitate an improved data sharing and vaccine and protective equipment distribution system.
The aforementioned leaders went on to say “At a time when Covid-19 has exploited our weaknesses and divisions, we must seize this opportunity and come together as a global community for peaceful co-operation that extends beyond this crisis.
If this proposal is supported by other major countries, that treaty can take several years to negotiate then ratify. Will it be ready before the next big pandemic?
Thus far the following countries have shown their support for this global treaty:
- Fiji
- Portugal
- Romania
- Britain
- Rwanda
- Kenya
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Korea
- Chile
- Costa Rica
- Albania
- South Africa
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Netherlands
- Tunisia
- Senegal
- Spain
- Norway
- Serbia
- Indonesia
- Ukraine
- WHO
What are your thoughts on such a treaty?
Let us know in the comment section below.
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]]>The post Covid19 vaccine deferred in these countries appeared first on Provoker Magazine.
]]>The safety data on this vaccine is to be reviewed soon by the World Health Organization (WHO). Thus far WHO had expressed confidence in the vaccine. The organizations chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebhreyesus even went as far as saying there was no evidence of a link between the effects report and the vaccine yet.
However, due to the increasing number of reports that seem to link the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and blood clotting, the following countries have already suspended the vaccine:
- Sweden (16 March) – The Swedish Medical Products Agency said a day earlier it had recorded 10 cases of blood clots and one case of low levels of platelets among people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine, but not in combination.
- Latvia (16 March) – Latvian government health agencies announced a “temporary suspension” of up to two weeks.
- France (15 March) – President Emmanuel Macron said, “The decision has been made … to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution, hoping that we can resume it quickly if the judgement of the EMA allows it”.
- Germany (15 March)
- Italy (15 March)
- Spain (15 March) – Health Minister Carolina Darias told reporters, “We have decided to temporarily suspend [use of the AstraZeneca vaccine] as a precaution”
- Luxembourg (15 March)
- Cyprus (15 March)
- Portugal (15 March)
- Slovenia (15 March)
- Indonesia (15 March)
- The Netherlands (15 March)
- Ireland (14 March)
- Bulgaria (12 March)
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo (12 March)
- Thailand (12 March)
- Romania (11 March)
- Iceland (11 March)
- Denmark (11 March)
- Norway (11 March)
- Austria (7 March)
More conclusive information on the vaccine will be available following the aforementioned WHO meet up.
Let us know your thoughts on this in the comment section below.
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