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What Sub-Saharan African Nations Can Teach the U.S. About Black Maternal Health
While poor maternal outcomes among Black women in the U.S. is not new, improving it is imperative. U.S. policymakers can look to sub-Saharan Africa for guidance on reversing this trend. Credit: Ernest Ankomah/IPSBy Ifeanyi NsoforABUJA, Jun 2 2023 (IPS) New research shows that Black mothers in the United States disproportionately live in counties with higher maternal vulnerability and face greater risk of preterm death for the fetus, greater risk of low birth weight for a baby, and a higher number of maternal deaths. While poor maternal outcomes among Black women in the U.S. is not new, improving it is imperative. U.S. poli...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - June 2, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Ifeanyi Nsofor Tags: Africa Gender Headlines Health Inequality North America Poverty & SDGs Maternal Health Source Type: news

South Africa: Hypertension - South Africa's 'Silent Killer'
[spotlight] High blood pressure (hypertension) is the leading cause of heart disease and premature death worldwide, according to an article in Nature. While it is not specifically listed on the World Health Organization's list of top 10 causes of death, it is an underlying cause of heart disease and stroke, both of which are on the list.
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - December 6, 2021 Category: African Health Source Type: news

Registration of amiloride in South Africa: Cutting the Gordian knot.
Authors: Rayner BL, Spence JD, Bryer A, Mpe MT Abstract Amiloride is an antagonist of the renal tubular epithelial sodium channel (ENaC). As such, it is a diuretic that is both potassium and magnesium sparing. It is used for the treatment of potassium depletion and hypertension, and is the specific therapy for hypertension due to overactivity of the ENaC (Liddle syndrome and several additional genetic causes of the Liddle phenotype - low renin and low aldosterone). It is listed as a World Health Organization essential drug, but has never been registered in South Africa (SA) and can therefore only be prescribed unde...
Source: South African Medical Journal - October 24, 2019 Category: African Health Tags: S Afr Med J Source Type: research

Let Plants be Thy Medicine – You Are What You Eat
Credit: Busani Bafana/IPSBy Esther Ngumbi and Ifeanyi NsoforILLINOIS, United States / ABUJA, Oct 16 2019 (IPS) United Nations World Food Day is celebrated around the world on October 16 under the theme: “Our Actions ARE Our Future. Healthy Diets for a Zero Hunger World”. This theme is timely, especially, because across Africa and around the world, there has been a gradual rise in malnutrition and diet-related non communicable diseases, as highlighted in The Lancet study and a United Nations Report published earlier this year. While 45 percent of deaths in children are from nutrition-related causes, mainly malnu...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - October 16, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Esther Ngumbi and Ifeanyi Nsofor Tags: Food & Agriculture Global Headlines Health World Food Day Source Type: news

Health system challenges affecting rehabilitation services in South Africa.
This article presents challenges and solutions to ensure that South Africa can meet WHO 2030 Rehabilitation Goals for equitable provision of effective public rehabilitation services using the WHO's health system building block framework. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION To meet the challenge of providing rehabilitation for those in need requires country-specific, strategic, evidence-informed, and planned decisions in terms of best investment for highest return. Whilst there is sound international evidence for best-practice rehabilitation care, country-specific strategies are required to identify and address local barriers t...
Source: Disability and Rehabilitation - August 2, 2019 Category: Rehabilitation Authors: Morris LD, Grimmer KA, Twizeyemariya A, Coetzee M, Leibbrandt DC, Louw QA Tags: Disabil Rehabil Source Type: research

Factors predicting community participation in patients living with stroke, in the Western Cape, South Africa.
CONCLUSION: The findings suggest focusing stroke rehabilitation on important factors such as mobility, cognition, life activities and risk factors to advance patients' participation. It also emphasizes giving specific consideration to key factors specific for gender and age of stroke survivors. Implications for Rehabilitation Community participation in the general population of stroke survivors' is largely determined by their mobility function. Determinants of community participation among stroke survivors essentially vary according to age and gender. Clinically, this study suggests that focusing on specific determinants o...
Source: Disability and Rehabilitation - May 29, 2018 Category: Rehabilitation Authors: Elloker T, Rhoda A, Arowoiya A, Lawal IU Tags: Disabil Rehabil Source Type: research

Post-stroke depression: Prevalence, associated factors and impact on quality of life among outpatients in a Nigerian hospital
Conclusion: Depression was 20-fold prevalent in stroke survivors compared to controls with stable hypertension, and sevenfold the life-time prevalence reported among adult general population in Nigeria. Furthermore, increased health care bills per month, significant post-stroke disability and poorer QoL indicated survivors more likely to have depression. Findings in this study support the need to pay closer attention to psychosocial needs of stroke survivors to improve well-being. Future longitudinal study on psychosocial burden of stroke is warranted.
Source: South African Journal of Psychiatry - March 21, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research

Endocrine Disruptors and Health Effects in Africa: A Call for Action
Conclusion: To address the many challenges posed by EDCs, we argue that Africans should take the lead in prioritization and evaluation of environmental hazards, including EDCs. We recommend the institution of education and training programs for chemical users, adoption of the precautionary principle, establishment of biomonitoring programs, and funding of community-based epidemiology and wildlife research programs led and funded by African institutes and private companies. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1774 Received: 16 February 2017 Revised: 22 May 2017 Accepted: 24 May 2017 Published: 22 August 2017 Address correspond...
Source: EHP Research - August 23, 2017 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Daniil Lyalko Tags: Commentary Source Type: research

Promoting evidence-based health care in Africa
Charles Shey Wiysonge, Director ofCochane  South Africa, gave an interview to the World Health Organization Bulletin. Here is a re-post , with premission, from their  recent publication.Charles Shey Wiysonge is devoted to encouraging better use of scientific evidence for health policies and programmes in African countries. He is the director of the South African Cochrane Centre, a unit of the South African Medical Research Council, and a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the department of Global Health in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He was Chief Res...
Source: Cochrane News and Events - August 17, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: Muriah Umoquit Source Type: news

Emerging trends in non-communicable disease mortality in South Africa, 1997 - 2010.
CONCLUSIONS: NCDs contribute to premature mortality in SA, threatening socioeconomic development. While NCD mortality rates have decreased slightly, it is necessary to strengthen prevention and healthcare provision and monitor emerging trends in cause-specific mortality to inform these strategies if the target of 2% annual decline is to be achieved. PMID: 27138667 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: South African Medical Journal - May 5, 2016 Category: African Health Tags: S Afr Med J Source Type: research