BY DR CLAIRE CHAUMONT With over 96 million cases confirmed and over two million deaths over a period of about one year, Covid-19 has established itself as a truly global pandemic affecting all the countries in the world and several aspects of human life, including other core global health issues such as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). NTDs are a set of parasitic, bacterial and viral diseases that affect more than one billion people in the world. Among those diseases, five NTDs can be controlled through preventive chemotherapy (trachoma, river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, intestinal worms, and bilharzia). The Africa region bears…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
The world has an important opportunity to turn the hard-won lessons of this pandemic into a healthier, more equal future for all BY BILL AND MELINDA GATES We are writing this letter after a year unlike any other in our lifetimes. Two decades ago, we created a foundation focused on global health because we wanted to use the returns from Microsoft to improve as many lives as possible. Health is the bedrock of any thriving society. If your health is compromised—or if you’re worried about catching a deadly disease—it’s hard to concentrate on anything else. Staying alive and well becomes…
BY RACHAEL GATHIGIA The continent Africa includes 54 countries boasting different cultures, vast deserts, lush jungles and tropical paradise islands. Africa has so much more to offer than just big wild mammals in the world – it’s the diversity for many! Some countries have grown their tourism industry better than others, naturally, based on various factors such as infrastructure, accessibility, diplomatic relations, security, and political stability just to mention a few. Among these, Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, South Africa, attract the largest number of tourists into the continent. But what about the…
We had typically considered patients to fall into one of several categories; Those with either mild or no symptoms and who quickly recover, those who were critically ill and take somewhat longer to recover, those who passed away from the virus. However, there is a growing population that appears to have more chronic symptoms lasting many months – Dr. Jared Selter BY SUJATA SRINIVASAN In April, Rhonda Eigabroadt, 53, showed up at the ER at MidState Medical Center in Meriden, struggling to breathe. Doctors did not expect her to survive the night, she recalled. Ten days earlier, she had tested positive…
The Brave Generation Academy, a disruptive approach to education that will change the course of schooling, is now looking for people with the passion to make the difference to become partners in opening new educational Hubs across Africa. With an online curriculum that is recognized by the world’s leading universities as the gold standard of international education, the Brave Generation Academy has a network of Hubs that integrate with the community and democratize education for their learners. Moreover, The Brave Hubs are where online meets offline education. They promote an environment of collaboration and mutual growth, facilitating a classroom environment…
The turnaround time for vessels at African ports averages five days. In Asia, where port infrastructure is more automated, that time drops to as little as seven hours meaning Asian ports are able to process more goods quicker, with direct revenue increases as a result BY PEDRO GUERREIRO Is it too soon to be optimistic about an economic revival in East Africa following the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the global economy? The latest data – and the region’s continued focus on transforming its key industries, sectors and infrastructure through technology – is giving me hope that the economic outlook…
BY VICTOR ADAR As beauty products continue to draw in many users, Anna Njoroge Ngaruiya is keen on saving Kenyans from spending their time and money on imports. Hers was inspired by real life experience. After working for a US based retail company for about 15 years as chief financial officer with frequent visits to the country, she discovered that skin and personal brands were scarce. Ms Njoroge can vividly remember how she would travel in order to buy beauty products herself. To her, there was very little in the market. Actually, there was nothing. It is at the back…
Land plays a significant role in the socio-economic and political development of the country. Therefore, its ownership, allocation, distribution and utilization is of great concern to most Kenyans thus making it one of the contentious issues that require a lasting solution in effective legal and institutional framework. Land is either public, private or community land, with ownership being either on a freehold tenure which gives the holder absolute ownership for life, or leasehold tenure in which the interest in land for a specific period is subject to payment of a fee, rate or rent to the grantor. The National Land…
Government’s recurrent expenditure is set to increase at an even higher rate than the development expenditure going by the recently released National Treasury draft budget policy statement for 2021. The statement was released late January in line with the process of budget preparation that stresses on public participation. According to the statement, the recurrent expenditure will increase by 6.9% to Sh2tn from Sh1.8tn. The development expenditure on the other hand is set to decline by 4.8% to Sh611b from Sh641.9b for the FT’2020/21 budget. other key take-outs from the statement are, among others, that the budget deficoit is projected to…
Following a projected growth of 1% in 2020, Cytonn Investments, an investments management firm, are projecting the economy to register a growth of within the range of 3.9% – 4.1% in 2021 supported by improved business sentiment following the easing of restrictions meant to curb the spread of Covid-19. The key downside to this growth shall be, the firm says in a monthly report, any delays in the procurement, distribution and administration of the vaccine. According to the firm, muted inflationary pressures and the inflation rate will remain within the government’s target of 2.5-7.5% and come in at 5.2% as…