Health Archive
No Kitchen Sinks in Africa
Posted by jimheck in Health, South Africa on April 23, 2013
Today’s developing world health crisis is not malaria, or HIV, or infant mortality… it’s tuberculosis. And a University of Cape Town scientist knows what to do about it. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that most Americans associate with the pre-World War era. It attacks the lungs, essentially disrupting the normal physiology that keeps the lungs [...]
Travel to Uganda Now Deadly
Posted by jimheck in Health, Planning Travel, Safety, Uganda on July 31, 2012
There is a reason that ebola has reached Kampala, and it’s the same reason I’ve recommended against visiting Uganda for a while: the dictatorial Ugandan government. The first (and last) time that ebola (or what we thought might have been ebola) reached a metropolitan area was in Nairobi in 1980, which became the subject of [...]
Manhood Explodes, Now What?
Posted by jimheck in "Modern" Africa, Health on April 13, 2012
Last week a Zambian infatuated by South African advertisements for Viagra obtained a local herbal alternative. It worked, then killed him. As euphemistically described in Zambia, he exploded his manhood. Traditional medicines are remarkably important in the developing world. According to a 2003 WHO report, affirmed by a 2008 report, 60% of children with high [...]
What 9-11 Means to Me & Africa
Nine Eleven was a day of reflection, but in Kenya where I am it exploded. A British tourist was murdered and his wife kidnaped in the far north as southern Somalia imploded further, and Kenya desperately appealed to U.S. Republicans not to undermine its development by making it the victim of the U.S. budget crisis. [...]
Blood for a Buck
Posted by jimheck in Corruption, Economy, Health on August 12, 2011
Almost a generation ago, John Le Carre wrote the block buster novel which became a film, Constant Gardener, about mega “pharmas” illegal testing of experimental drugs on witless Africans. Only a few years before publication, Pfizer has now admitted to having done just that in Nigeria. Carre’s story focused on an aid agency physician driven [...]
CordaWhatta in my Tutta?
This dark circular tale starts with a motive of greed so pure that death doesn’t matter, and it ends in a dither of hypocrisies that if not so morbid would be laughable. Yes, we are proud that the EPA is once again doing its job to protect us … but at what cost? At the [...]
At last Politics Bites!
For the first time in 40 years, an outbreak of yellow fever has been reported in East Africa, far from any tourist area. Until now tourists’ yellow fever inoculations were political! That’s right. One of the great irritants of traveling to East Africa in the last 40 years has been the necessity of getting a [...]
Good News in Fight against Malaria
A breakthrough discovery announced last week by a University of Illinois professor leads the pack in the race to eradicate malaria. University of Illinois at Chicago researcher Dr. John Quigley announced a possibly new way to foil malaria at the American Society of Hematology’s annual meeting last week by giving the mosquito supreme indigestion. (Boy, [...]
Hot Cocoa is Pure Kaka!
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Economy, Health, South Africa on November 15, 2010
The thousands of little kids like me sent to a freezing winter bed at night with a steaming mug of hot cocoa now have to contend with the fact that their benefactor is one of the most thieving, villainous multinationals in the history of the world! Nestle (which is now as most things in the [...]
Not Enough Drops to Drink
Posted by jimheck in Economy, Health, Uncategorized on July 22, 2010
This week as summer rains pelted the Midwest major battles for single drops of water were raging in Africa. We take so much for granted and nothing more necessary to almost every aspect of our lives than potable water. That may be one of Africa’s top problems, if not the single-most urgent need. All of [...]
New Malaria Vaccine
A malaria vaccine for children will be available by 2015. It’s no magic bullet but a significant step in the continent’s attempt to prevent its second greatest killer. At a conference today in Nairobi more than 1500 medical specialists were told by scientists from GlaxoSmithKline (GKS) that the clinical trials of their RSS,S children’s malaria [...]
How many shots do we need?
Posted by jimheck in Advice, Health, Planning Travel on September 25, 2009
From FrankLFriedreick@ Q. Do we have to get a lot of shots to go on safari? A. No, but your doctor might think so. Here’s what I mean. The only shot that any of the governments of sub-Sahara Africa might require is a vaccination against yellow fever, and then only in certain cases and with [...]