Health

The Practice Manager in the Urban, Rural & Social Development Global Practice for Africa ,Elisabeth Huybens who signed for the World Bank said the project is to reinforce the health system and render it performant.

It is worth nothing that, the venture is intended to improve on global health and ameliorate health services with a particular interest on reproductive health, infant mortality and nutrition.

In Africa, twenty-six health districts have been sidelined to benefit from this largesse with Cameroon inclusive.

The Minister of Economy, Louis Paul Motaze and that of Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda both signatories  agreed to the terms of the accord which has to do with reviewing health training and  facilities in the country.

According to the country’s health boss, beneficiaries will be trained on antenatal care, good patient relationship amongst others and the finance will only be given the assistance after illustrating good health services.

CRTV

Details

Rita Akana

20.Sep.2016

Hits: 2955

Write comment (0 Comments)

 

What is diabetes?

Diabetes Mellitus also commonly known as diabetes is a disease in which your body is unable to utilize blood sugars and so blood sugars (blood glucose) remain high in the blood after meals.

What causes diabetes?

When we eat food, it is broken down to a simpler form and then absorbed through the stomach or intestinal wall into the blood stream.  Once in the blood stream this simpler form of food passes into the cells where they are used for different functions. Blood sugars from high sugar containing foods and carbohydrates (starch) are used to produce energy. 

In order for the sugars to get into the cell, they need a key to open the door that lets them in.  This key is called insulin. Insulin is produced by an organ located inside the abdomen (belly) called the pancreas.

Diabetes is caused by an inability of the cells of the body to take in blood sugars from the blood stream because of inadequate insulin or insulin not working appropriately

When sugars enter the cell, they are either used right away to produce energy, or stored as fat. If the cells do not receive enough sugars from the blood stream, the liver will manufacture sugars in order to give you some energy.

People who have high blood sugars in their blood stream because the sugar does not get into the cell to be used in producing energy are said to have diabetes.

What are the different types of diabetes?

1. Type 1 diabetes
2. Type 2 diabetes
3. Gestational diabetes mellitus (diabetes diagnosed in the second or third trimester of pregnancy)
4. Specific types of diabetes like:

• neonatal diabetes
• maturity-onset diabetes of the young
• diabetes caused by some diseases of the pancreas
• drug or chemical-induced diabetes

Type 1 diabetes: This type of diabetes occurs when the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin have been damaged, and so not enough insulin or no insulin is produced.  Once there is a shortage of insulin, blood sugars remain in the blood stream because there is no key available to let them into the cells. This type of diabetes is commonly diagnosed for the first time in people who are younger than 20years old. Since it takes long for the cells that produce insulin to be destroyed, type 1 diabetes can also be diagnosed in people who are older than 20 years of age. Also most people with type 1 diabetes have a family member who had type 1 diabetes. It is considered a disease that runs in the family also known as hereditary disease. People with type 1 diabetes need insulin injections in order to let blood sugars into the cells and by so doing; lower blood sugars in their blood stream.

Type 2 diabetes: People who have type 2 diabetes produce insulin, either in an inadequate amount, or the insulin they produce does not work well for them. It does not appropriately enable the sugars in the blood stream to go from the blood stream into the cells where it can be used to produce energy. When this happens, the blood sugars remain high in the blood stream. This type of diabetes is commonly diagnosed in adults usually older than 45 years of age, and who are usually overweight. When people are overweight, insulin may not work appropriately for them. This is called insulin resistance.  Some people with type 2 diabetes who are overweight can get their insulin to work better by losing weight through diet and exercise. 

Type 2 diabetes is treated with medications by mouth, and when that is not appropriately controlling the blood sugars, insulin injections may be needed.

A third type of diabetes occurs in women who are pregnant. This is called gestational diabetes....Let me know if you would like to know more.

There are also some specific types of diabetes ......Let me know if you would like to know more.

Who is at risk of having Diabetes?

• People who have family members with diabetes
• Overweight
• Black people
• People with high blood pressure, high bad cholesterol (LDL) or triglyceride
• Older people
• Smokers or people who drink a lot of alcohol
• History of autoimmune disease
• People with high blood sugars or diabetes when they are pregnant

When do you suspect that you have diabetes: (Symptoms)

• Increase thirst and a dry mouth
• Increase hunger
• Frequent urination
• Fatigue, feeling weak and tired most of the times
• Unintentional weight lose despite feeling more hungry and eating more
• Slow healing of wounds
• Tingling of the hands or toes
• Numbness of the fingers and toes
• Dry and itchy skin especially around the private area
• Frequent yeast infection

 

If you have a few of these symptoms, you should let your doctor know so they could check your blood sugars and the blood A1C also known as hemoglobin A1C or glycated hemoglobin.

What will the doctor look for to say you have diabetes?

• Random blood sugars greater than 200mg/dl in two separate occasions
• A1C levels greater than 6.5% in two separate days
• Blood sugar equal or greater than 126mg/dl when you have not eaten anything for 8 hours, or
• Blood sugars greater than 200ng/dl after a glucose tolerance test, then you have diabetes

These tests have to be ordered and interpreted by your doctor

Complications of Diabetes

The main organs that diabetes can damage are:

• The Brain
• The eyes
• The heart
• The kidneys

People with diabetes should be careful not to get their blood sugars to low.

Low blood sugars can lead to acute confusion, fatigue, sleepiness, or even passing out completely.  This is a medical emergency and the patient needs to be treated right away.

How can you prevent or delay type 2 diabetes?

• Intensive diet and physical activity targeting to weight lose 7% of you your body weight
• Increase moderate-intense physical activity suck as fast walking to 150min/week
• Some people who are obese, less than 60 years of age or have had diabetes during pregnancy may be eligible for medications by mouth to prevent or delay the development of diabetes
• If you are at high risk of developing heart disease, you will need to reduce these risks

Some of the common risks for heart disease include:

• Smoking
• Eating foods that are high in cholesterol or unhealthy fats
• Overweight/obese
• Frequent alcohol consumption
• High blood pressure
• Lack of physical exercise
• Family members with heart disease

What can you do if your blood sugars are high or have been diagnosed with diabetes?

• Take your medications as prescribed by your doctor
• Watch your diet and exercise
• Let people around you know that if you pass out; they should first give you sugars or something sweet
• If you are sweaty, check your blood sugars right away.
• Some people may wear a band which says they have diabetes so that when they pass out people could easily help them

Low blood sugars are very dangerous also, and can lead to severe medical problems and even death faster than very high blood sugars which are also very dangerous. If your blood sugar drops to low levels, you have to immediately let your doctor know immediately (after taking sweets to bring up the sugars)

 

Good to Know

• Eating too much sugar will not cause you to have diabetes. It may cause you to gain weight and so putting you at a high risk of type 2 diabetes
• You cannot catch diabetes from someone else.
• Garlic does not treat diabetes

The internet has many physical exercise programs and sources on how to eat right for people with diabetes or people at risk of developing diabetes

To read more please click here

Prof. J. Akwe's health Column

 

Details

Prof J.Akwe's health column

26.Aug.2016

Hits: 7497

Write comment (0 Comments)

The world marks the diabetes day today, health facilities across African countries are holding free diabetes screening, find out at your nearest health center about  free tests today and get yourself tested.

According to the International Diabetes Federation the earlier a person is diagnosed, the earlier interventions can be initiated that provide durable effects on the harmful and costly complications of diabetes.

In Africa, more than two thirds of people with diabetes are undiagnosed.

There were 567,300 cases of diabetes in Cameroon as of 2015.

 

What is diabetes?

Diabetes Mellitus also commonly known as diabetes is a disease in which your body is unable to utilize blood sugars and so blood sugars (blood glucose) remain high in the blood after meals.

What causes diabetes?

When we eat food, it is broken down to a simpler form and then absorbed through the stomach or intestinal wall into the blood stream.  Once in the blood stream this simpler form of food passes into the cells where they are used for different functions. Blood sugars from high sugar containing foods and carbohydrates (starch) are used to produce energy. 

In order for the sugars to get into the cell, they need a key to open the door that lets them in.  This key is called insulin. Insulin is produced by an organ located inside the abdomen (belly) called the pancreas.

Diabetes is caused by an inability of the cells of the body to take in blood sugars from the blood stream because of inadequate insulin or insulin not working appropriately

When sugars enter the cell, they are either used right away to produce energy, or stored as fat. If the cells do not receive enough sugars from the blood stream, the liver will manufacture sugars in order to give you some energy.

People who have high blood sugars in their blood stream because the sugar does not get into the cell to be used in producing energy are said to have diabetes.

What are the different types of diabetes?

1. Type 1 diabetes
2. Type 2 diabetes
3. Gestational diabetes mellitus (diabetes diagnosed in the second or third trimester of pregnancy)
4. Specific types of diabetes like:

• neonatal diabetes
• maturity-onset diabetes of the young
• diabetes caused by some diseases of the pancreas
• drug or chemical-induced diabetes

Type 1 diabetes: This type of diabetes occurs when the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin have been damaged, and so not enough insulin or no insulin is produced.  Once there is a shortage of insulin, blood sugars remain in the blood stream because there is no key available to let them into the cells. This type of diabetes is commonly diagnosed for the first time in people who are younger than 20years old. Since it takes long for the cells that produce insulin to be destroyed, type 1 diabetes can also be diagnosed in people who are older than 20 years of age. Also most people with type 1 diabetes have a family member who had type 1 diabetes. It is considered a disease that runs in the family also known as hereditary disease. People with type 1 diabetes need insulin injections in order to let blood sugars into the cells and by so doing; lower blood sugars in their blood stream.

Type 2 diabetes: People who have type 2 diabetes produce insulin, either in an inadequate amount, or the insulin they produce does not work well for them. It does not appropriately enable the sugars in the blood stream to go from the blood stream into the cells where it can be used to produce energy. When this happens, the blood sugars remain high in the blood stream. This type of diabetes is commonly diagnosed in adults usually older than 45 years of age, and who are usually overweight. When people are overweight, insulin may not work appropriately for them. This is called insulin resistance.  Some people with type 2 diabetes who are overweight can get their insulin to work better by losing weight through diet and exercise. 

Type 2 diabetes is treated with medications by mouth, and when that is not appropriately controlling the blood sugars, insulin injections may be needed.

A third type of diabetes occurs in women who are pregnant. This is called gestational diabetes....Let me know if you would like to know more.

There are also some specific types of diabetes ......Let me know if you would like to know more.

Who is at risk of having Diabetes?

• People who have family members with diabetes
• Overweight
• Black people
• People with high blood pressure, high bad cholesterol (LDL) or triglyceride
• Older people
• Smokers or people who drink a lot of alcohol
• History of autoimmune disease
• People with high blood sugars or diabetes when they are pregnant

When do you suspect that you have diabetes: (Symptoms)

• Increase thirst and a dry mouth
• Increase hunger
• Frequent urination
• Fatigue, feeling weak and tired most of the times
• Unintentional weight lose despite feeling more hungry and eating more
• Slow healing of wounds
• Tingling of the hands or toes
• Numbness of the fingers and toes
• Dry and itchy skin especially around the private area
• Frequent yeast infection

 

If you have a few of these symptoms, you should let your doctor know so they could check your blood sugars and the blood A1C also known as hemoglobin A1C or glycated hemoglobin.

What will the doctor look for to say you have diabetes?

• Random blood sugars greater than 200mg/dl in two separate occasions
• A1C levels greater than 6.5% in two separate days
• Blood sugar equal or greater than 126mg/dl when you have not eaten anything for 8 hours, or
• Blood sugars greater than 200ng/dl after a glucose tolerance test, then you have diabetes

These tests have to be ordered and interpreted by your doctor

Complications of Diabetes

The main organs that diabetes can damage are:

• The Brain
• The eyes
• The heart
• The kidneys

People with diabetes should be careful not to get their blood sugars to low.

Low blood sugars can lead to acute confusion, fatigue, sleepiness, or even passing out completely.  This is a medical emergency and the patient needs to be treated right away.

How can you prevent or delay type 2 diabetes?

• Intensive diet and physical activity targeting to weight lose 7% of you your body weight
• Increase moderate-intense physical activity suck as fast walking to 150min/week
• Some people who are obese, less than 60 years of age or have had diabetes during pregnancy may be eligible for medications by mouth to prevent or delay the development of diabetes
• If you are at high risk of developing heart disease, you will need to reduce these risks

Some of the common risks for heart disease include:

• Smoking
• Eating foods that are high in cholesterol or unhealthy fats
• Overweight/obese
• Frequent alcohol consumption
• High blood pressure
• Lack of physical exercise
• Family members with heart disease

What can you do if your blood sugars are high or have been diagnosed with diabetes?

• Take your medications as prescribed by your doctor
• Watch your diet and exercise
• Let people around you know that if you pass out; they should first give you sugars or something sweet
• If you are sweaty, check your blood sugars right away.
• Some people may wear a band which says they have diabetes so that when they pass out people could easily help them

Low blood sugars are very dangerous also, and can lead to severe medical problems and even death faster than very high blood sugars which are also very dangerous. If your blood sugar drops to low levels, you have to immediately let your doctor know immediately (after taking sweets to bring up the sugars)

 

Good to Know

• Eating too much sugar will not cause you to have diabetes. It may cause you to gain weight and so putting you at a high risk of type 2 diabetes
• You cannot catch diabetes from someone else.
• Garlic does not treat diabetes

The internet has many physical exercise programs and sources on how to eat right for people with diabetes or people at risk of developing diabetes

To read more please click here

Prof. J. Akwe's health Column

 

Details

Prof J.Akwe's health column

14.Nov.2016

Hits: 3447

Write comment (0 Comments)

Between 18 August 2015, the date it started service and 18 August 2016, the first anniversary, Yaoundé Emergency Centre (Cury) received a total of 15,802 patients according to the report of its Director Louis Joss Bitang, being an average of 1,316 people monthly or 43.89 patients daily.

Out of the 15,802 patients, states the doctor, 6,534 were received in a life-threatening state. In this last category, 2,748 patients were admitted to the resuscitation and intensive care units with an overall mortality rate estimated at 3.87%. In absolute numbers 191 deaths were recorded in one year out of 15,802 patients treated. "This mortality rate is comparable to that observed in major emergency centres where the mortality rate ranges between 3.5 and 4.5%", indicates Louis Joss Bitang. 

For off-site emergencies, Cury made 585 call outs to assist those injured on public roads, or to transport patients in difficulty home. And Yaoundé Central Hospital fully played its role as principal partner in receiving 264 patients from Cury for follow-on treatment.

The Cameroonian capital Emergency Centre employs 345 staff of whom, 41 GPs and specialists, 195 technical staff, 41 administrative officers, 61 assistant personnel and 9 Korean aid workers. The health facility has a 50-bed capacity with the possibility of extending to 100 beds in case of a massive influx of patients.

BIC

Details

Rita Akana

24.Aug.2016

Hits: 7393

Write comment (0 Comments)

Tania has to shout to be heard over music blasting out of a brothel in downtown Durban, South Africa, where dozens of sex workers slouch in chairs under the red glow of the bar or lean against walls as they wait for clients.

Dressed in a tight top and trousers, the 42-year-old looks younger than her age. Sex work is illegal in South Africa but the trade thrives, drawing women from as far away as Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mozambique and Botswana to work alongside Tania.

Cracking jokes and quick to laugh, Tania said working in a brothel was safer than selling sex on the streets. But even so, the men can be aggressive. Condoms can burst, and when they do, sex workers are often reluctant to seek healthcare.

"Some of them are scared of going to the nurse for testing. They discriminate: 'There is that prostitute'. And that name in public, it hurts," said Tania, who declined to give her real name fearing reprisals.

In a report published in 2015, researchers found that the HIV prevalence rate among sex workers, one of the most at risk groups, and their clients in Durban was 53 percent - far higher than the national adult HIV prevalence rate of 19.2 percent.

Yet stigma is still one of the biggest obstacles to ending the AIDS epidemic three decades after it began, experts say.

In South Africa, sex workers speak of nurses that laughed at them, dismissed or shamed them for coming to a health clinic, even in a country with the highest number of people living with HIV - 7 million - and the largest number of people accessing anti-retroviral treatment - 3.5 million.

Deputy director of UNAIDS Dr Luis Loures, who saw his first AIDS case in 1981, said medical advances in creating lifesaving drugs to treat HIV were "a historical achievement for humanity".

"But when I see how much we progress as societies, in terms of achievements in discrimination, I feel we are still in the 1980s," Loures told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, referring to the start of the epidemic.

"Having health systems that discriminate against gay men, sex workers and other key populations (means that) AIDS is coming back, in a very selective way," he said.

 

"WAKE UP THE WORLD"

Sixteen years after South Africa first hosted the International AIDS Conference, the biggest gathering of its kind returned to Durban last month.

Some of the same campaigners who marched with President Nelson Mandela to break the silence around AIDS in 2000 were back. This time they were voicing alarm over unequal access to HIV treatment.

"People with HIV are mostly poor, they're mostly marginalized," said leading activist Mark Heywood from South Africa's Section 27 rights group.

"They die in their homes, they die in hospitals," Heywood said as he marched to "wake up the world again" to the AIDS epidemic, which killed some 180,000 people in South Africa last year.

South Africa had 380,000 new HIV infections in 2015, accounting for nearly 40 percent of new HIV infections in eastern and southern Africa, according to U.N. agency UNAIDS.

International AIDS funding fell for the first time in five years to $7.5 billion in 2015 from $8.6 billion in 2014. Only 17 million of the world's 36.7 million HIV-positive people having access to anti-retroviral treatment, UNAIDS says.

Rights activist Nana Gleeson said in neighboring Botswana, health worker prejudice against those on the margins of society like prisoners, foreigners and transgender people was widespread.

"It's actually stigma that's killing people. It creates an opportunity for people to then not give people access to treatment or whatever they need," she said.

Oscar-winning South African actress Charlize Theron, who runs a HIV charity, has blamed racism, sexism and homophobia for fuelling the epidemic.

"We value some lives more than others," Theron told the opening ceremony of the AIDS conference.

"We value men more than women, straight love more than gay love, white skin more than black skin, the rich, more than the poor and adults more than adolescents," she said.

CRIMINALIZATION

Even as some 18,000 people attended this year's AIDS conference, a few kilometers (miles) away, staff at a center for Durban's poor and homeless noticed that its regulars were not coming to the clinic for checkups.

"We know the police are regularly told to clear them away," said the manager of the Denis Hurley Centre, Raymond Perrier.

"Almost half of the people we see in our clinic are refugees, because they tell us they don't feel welcome in government clinics," he added.

Human rights activists say the criminalization of sex workers makes them more vulnerable with women working the streets reporting frequent arrest for carrying condoms, attacks and detention by the police.

Sex worker and activist Janet sees many sex workers who have given up seeking treatment and are rapidly deteriorating.

"Their skin is peeling off and it's like maize-meal when they scratch it," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Since June, Janet, who like Tania is HIV-positive, has been persuading women who are still negative to start taking Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a daily pill that can cut the risk of getting HIV by up to 90 percent.

But the drugs will only work if people have access to them, UNAIDS' Loures said.

"The only way to face things like discrimination is through activism. There is no drug that will fix that," he said.

Reuters

Details

Rita Akana

17.Aug.2016

Hits: 6202

Write comment (0 Comments)

Some 920 cartons of drugs worth over 118 million FCFCA and 236 cartons estimated at over 9milliom FCFA and been sized and incinerated by Police and the customs respectively After going through laboratory test, experts concluded that the drugs were poorly packaged, poorly stored and lacked importation papers. The drugs were later labelled not good for consumption.  

The process took place in Bamenda under the supervision of the inspector General at North West governor’s office, Ivo Charles MAKOGE, Regional Delegate for Trade and Commerce, Cletus Matoya and Fon Matilda Manjo, Regional Delegate for Public Health.

Details

Rita Akana

08.Aug.2016

Hits: 3267

Write comment (0 Comments)