- Title: Taking the pulse of Africa’s health sector in 2019
- Date: 30th December 2019
- Summary: ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR (FILE) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** HAND PICKING VACCINE SYRINGES/NURSE PUTTING VACCINE INTO SYRINGE CHILD BEING VACCINATED SYRINGE VARIOUS OF CHILDREN BEING VACCINATED FORT DAUPHIN, MADAGASCAR (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF A BOY SICK WITH MEASLES SICK CHILD BEING EXAMINED INTRAVENOUS DRIP (IV) IN CHILD'S HAND DOCTOR EXAMINING SICK CHILD 7-YEAR-OLD DORINE WHO IS SUFFERING FROM MEASLES LYING IN BED VARIOUS OF IV DORINE'S FATHER, ANDRO MOSA TSARA WITH DORINE (SOUNDBITE) (Malagasy) ANDRO MOSA TSARA, DORINE'S FATHER, SAYING: "We tried to heal her with traditional medicine, using natural herbs, but it didn't help at all." HOMABAY, KENYA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PARENTS WAITING WITH BABIES AT VACCINE LAUNCH VARIOUS OF CHILD BEING VACCINATED FOR MALARIA KENYA CABINET SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, SICILY KARIUKI, TALKING TO MOTHER OF VACCINATED CHILD VARIOUS OF BABIES BEING VACCINATED FOR MALARIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOSEPHINE ATIENO, PARENT OF VACCINATED BABY, SAYING: "Now my child is not going to be sick of malaria again so I am very happy." ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (FILE) (REUTERS) PEOPLE DURING WORKOUT SESSION VARIOUS OF FITNESS INSTRUCTOR, ADULFETAH MUZEYIN, LEADING SESSION FEET MOVING DURING WORKOUT SESSION VARIOUS OF WOMEN AND MEN EXERCISING WORKOUT SESSION IN PROGRESS ADULFETAH LEADING SESSION PEOPLE WORKING OUT (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) ADULFETAH MUZEYIN, FITNESS INSTRUCTOR, SAYING: "The response from the people is amazing. It's really gratifying. There are all kinds of people here. Young, old, male, female and children. I don't make them do heavy exercises. I want them to exercise in a fun way so that they just sweat and go home. If I make it too intense the workout will not be suitable for everyone." KAMPALA, UGANDA (FILE) (REUTERS) 19. VARIOUS OF SARAH TUSHEMEREIRWE ENTERING ROOM IN HER WHEELCHAIR 20. VARIOUS OF SCARS ON SARAH'S ARMS AS SHE CHATS WITH HER MOTHER 21. VARIOUS SARAH TALKING TO HER MOTHER 22. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SARAH TUSHEMEREIRWE, MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE, SAYING: "It wasn't so much about trying to end, to stop living, it was about wanting to end the pain, the hurting. So I thought of, let me take the drugs, and the pain will stop. I gathered all the medicine and I swallowed, and I entered bed thinking it would just stop: the voices, the pain, the crying would stop." 23. VARIOUS OF SARAH PLAYING THE PIANO
- Embargoed: 13th January 2020 13:21
- Keywords: Ebola fitness health malaria mental health
- Location: BENI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO / ANTANANARIVO, FORT DAUPHIN, MADAGASCAR/HOMABAY, KENYA / ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA / KAMPALA, UGANDA
- City: BENI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO / ANTANANARIVO, FORT DAUPHIN, MADAGASCAR/HOMABAY, KENYA / ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA / KAMPALA, UGANDA
- Country: Various
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA002BC63A6V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in Congo continued this year, as the country battled the second-worst outbreak after one in West Africa between 2013 and 2016 that claimed over 11,000 lives.
Faustin Kalivanda, an Ebola survivor was at Beni General Hospital for a check-up when we met him in January.
Kalivanda was admitted at this treatment center last year, unfortunately he lost his wife and their five-year-old daughter to the disease.
The World Health organization (WHO) and its partners started a programme that monitors progress of survivors like Kalivanda.
Each survivor comes for follow-up visits every month over a period of six months and then every three months for a year.
"I want to thank all the doctors in the Ebola treatment centre, all the hygienists, who kept the treatment room clean, the psychologists who gave us advice on the disease and psychological support to bring us back to life. And all others who are part of the response team, for helping us, for providing food. For all that, I want to thank them," Kalivanda said.
In March, Madagascar was battling its worst measles outbreak in decades amid a desperate shortage of vaccines. Nearly 1,000 people had died, at the time.
The highly contagious airborne virus lives for up to two hours in the air after a cough or sneeze. It increases susceptibility to other diseases and can cause blindness, brain swelling and death.
When seven-year-old Dorine fell ill with fever and started developing a rash, her father Andro Mosa Tsara gave her traditional herbs. But when her condition worsened so he brought her to the local health center.
"We tried to heal her with traditional medicine, using natural herbs, but it didn't help at all," he said, adding that Dorine is now on the mend.
Kenya added the world's first malaria vaccine to the routine immunization schedule for children under two this year, becoming the third country in Africa to roll out the vaccine for the disease that kills one child globally every two minutes.
Malaria is a top killer of children under five in the East African nation, and the vaccine is critically important to its efforts to combat the disease, according to the health ministry.
"Now my child is not going to be sick of malaria again so I am very happy," said Josephine Atieno, a mother whose baby was vaccinated.
Fitness instructor, Abdulfetah Muzeyin was leading workout sessions in neighboring Ethiopia for free, because he wants as many Ethiopians as possible to get fit.
Every Sunday hundreds of residents turn out for a morning workout session in Addis Ababa's Meskel Square.
Muzeyin started the program in 2003 after noticing that people wanted to join in whenever he and his friends were working out at the square.
"The response from the people is amazing. It's really gratifying. There are all kinds of people here. Young, old, male, female and children. I don't make them do heavy exercises. I want them to exercise in a fun way so that they just sweat and go home. If I make it too intense the workout will not be suitable for everyone," said Muzeyin.
In Uganda, we met Sarah Tushemereirwe, one of the country's fiercest and best-known advocates for mental health.
Psychiatrists there say non-communicable diseases like depression are on the rise and predict it could become the second most diagnosed disorder in the East African country by 2020.
Sarah was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she says she's struggled with suicidal thoughts, and tried to take her own life on several occasions.
"It wasn't so much about trying to end, to stop living, it was about wanting to end the pain, the hurting. So I thought of, let me take the drugs, and the pain will stop. I gathered all the medicine and I swallowed, and I entered bed thinking it would just stop: the voices, the pain, the crying would stop," she said.
Sarah is hopeful that speaking out will help prevent others from going down the same path she did. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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