Kenya has become as the first country in the world to launch new child-friendly medicines for treating tuberculosis (TB).

The drugs are strawberry-flavoured and dissolve in water to make it easier for children to swallow.

The number of tablets given to children has also been reduced by half, from eight to four pills daily.

The Ministry of Health said the new drugs, to be rolled out countrywide by October 1, will be given to children depending on the child’s weight

About 7,000 children in the country have TB.

The flavoured regimen, known as a “fixed dose combination”, will be available for free at all health facilities countrywide.

The Kenyan government spends about Sh2 billion annually to treat TB.

Kenya has announced it will donate $5 million (Sh500 million) to the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria as other international donors pledged over $12.9 billion for the next three years to help end the epidemics.

Kenya’s pledge at the launch of the Fund’s fifth replenishment made it one of the highest contributors from Africa.

The replenishment conference was hosted in Montreal, Canada, between September 16 and 17 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said there was a need to engage the youth in order to succeed in global health.

Canada increased its own contribution by 23 per cent to CAD$804 million, with many new partners making first-time pledges.

At the same time, private sector contributions more than doubled.

The Kenyan government donation is part of the concept of “giving to receive” that requires countries that benefit from the global fund to also make contributions.

Last year, Kenya pledged $2 million (Sh200 million).

Running the seventh largest Global Fund portfolio, Kenya is expected to receive more than Sh34 billion from the Global Fund in the next three years.

Other countries from Africa that made contributions to the Fund include South Africa ($5 million) and Namibia ($1.5 million).

“We can end these epidemics for good if we accelerate our efforts and continue to bring in new partners,” said Mr Trudeau.

Global Fund financing comes primarily from the public sector, with approximately 95 per cent of total funding coming from donor governments and the remaining 5 per cent coming from the private sector, private foundations and innovative financing initiatives.

More than 50 donor governments have contributed to the Fund, with a total of more than $30 billion.

As a public-private partnership, the Global Fund organises a resource mobilization programme every three years for private sector and non-government partners to make contributions to the fund, which is used in financing HIV, tuberculosis and malaria programmes across low- and middle-income countries.

Mbeya – The government plans to distribute over 21 million condoms free of charge across the country to reduce new HIV infections.

The acting Director General of the Aids Control Programme at the ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Eddah Katikiro, said this on Thursday in Mbeya, during a preparatory meeting for the launch of a condom distribution exercise to be held on Friday.

She emphasised that the condoms would be distributed freely at selected locations to the public. “The condoms will be distributed at the offices of village executives, bars, hotels and any at health facilities,” she said.

The ministry’s information officer, Shoko Subira, said the programme was being implemented following the government’s strategy of controlling new HIV/Aids infections, with the aim of halting new infections by 2030.

Subira said the condoms given by the government have been branded Zana ya Ukweli, meaning ‘tool of reality’ are expected to be launched by health minister Ummy Mwalimu.

The medical equipment registration officer at the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA), Goodluck Botola, said the authority has confirmed the quality of the condoms.

Mbeya Region’s Aids Control Programme co-ordinator Francis Phiri, said the region had received 1.5 million condoms.

The Ethiopian Public Health Institute said efforts are under way to eradicate Guinea Worm Disease (GWD) in a strengthened manner.

Briefing journalists on Drancunculiasis Eradication Programme yesterday, Institute Deputy Director Dr. Dadi Jima said that contrary to the previous years, Ethiopia is presently close to eradicate the disease which requires the concerted effort of all.

Jointly with stakeholders the Institute has offered pure water in some parts of the country, especially in Gambella State. It is also constructing Case Containment Center for patients to avoid contamination.

Though the Institute is on the right track to eradicate the disease, the participation of the people is decisive to achieve the desired objective, he added. The public has also been requested to provide information via 8335 and win 2,000 Birr award.

Carter Centre Country Representative Dr. Zerihun Tadesse on his part said that Ethiopia should work aggressively for the eradication of the disease for it is prevalent in Gambella State.

He also said that the country is highly engaged for the eradication by identifying states based on the symptoms and the prevalence rate of the disease. Accordingly, much attention has been given to Gambella State where 13 woredas are identified requiring support and follow up.

He also called on the media to provide the public appropriate information to protect themselves from the disease.

The 2016 WHO report indicated that GWD is prevalent in four countries including Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and South Sudan.

A new method of male contraception that is as effective as a vasectomy but entirely reversible with little to no side-effects is being tested and is showing promising results in animal trials.

If it is successful, it could drastically change the field of contraception. It would give men the power to prevent a pregnancy without any input from women using a method that is not permanent, such as the vasectomy.

The vasectomy is currently the only reliable contraceptive option available to men. It is a minor surgical procedure where the the duct that conveys sperm from the testicle to the urethra is tied or cut. The challenge is that it is not reversible.

The new contraceptive – Vasalgel – is a type of no-scalpel vasectomy. It has no hormonal effects or other side-effects, and can be reversed when the man wants to start a family.

In the same way that a vasectomy would, Vasalgel blocks the flow of sperm from the testicles to the penis. But it does not require any surgery. Instead of severing the tube that carries sperm – called the vas deferens – a gel is injected into the tube, forming a barrier that blocks sperm but allows other fluids to pass through.

Low uptake of vasectomies

Vasectomies are usually quick and straightforward procedures that carry minor risks like bleeding or infection. There is also a small chance that a man might experience post-vasectomy pain due to pressure build-up in the testicles.

Although very few vasectomies fail or go wrong, globally there has been a low uptake of this procedure.

In 2013 only 2.2% of men globally had vasectomies. This compares to 18.9% of women who underwent female sterilisation. Although some countries like Canada have higher rates of men who have undergone a vasectomy (22%), in Africa only 0.1% of men have undergone vasectomies.

On the continent, vasectomies could be one of the most effective male birth control methods because they are inexpensive and could therefore have a major impact on sustainable development and population growth. But the procedure is misunderstood and, as a result, is poorly used.

A second attempt

The new contraceptive is not the first time a male contraceptive has been introduced. Several years ago, the idea of the “male pill” was abandoned and more recent research efforts have been focusing on intra-vas devices, including Vasalgel.

Previous efforts to develop a male contraceptive focused on hormonal manipulation, which is how the contraceptive “pill” for women works. A man would basically be given hormones (like testosterone and progesterone) and these hormones would then interfere with certain processes in the body and cause the testicles to stop producing sperm.

The male hormone testosterone is linked to sperm production and by lowering the testosterone level in a man’s testicles you can prevent the production of sperm. But to lower testosterone in the testicles, you have to increase testosterone levels in the blood. Several studies have shown that there are too many unpleasant side-effects to this. These include aggression, depression, fatigue, low libido, high blood pressure and an increase in cholesterol levels.

Researchers have also tried to tweak the method of hormonal male contraception by adding other hormones, like the female hormone progesterone. But it still had too many side-effects and wasn’t effective enough.

Final steps

Vasalgel is currently being tested in humans but its reversability has only been shown in animal studies. These studies have shown rapid restoration of sperm flow.

For the reversal to happen, the man gets an injection of a bicarbonate solution into the duct that conveys sperm from the testicle to the urethra. This bicarbonate solution will dissolve the Vasalgel and it is flushed from the duct.

The challenge with Vasalgel is that although it blocks the flow of sperm, it does not offer any protection against the transmission of sexually-transmitted infections such as HIV.

Family planning is still considered a woman’s responsibility in many parts of the world. This has prevented men from being more involved in family decisions about fertility. It has also limited their access to family planning services targeted at them. The new method could be the first step to change this.

Liberia is officially free of the Ebola virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced yesterday Thursday, after the country successfully passed 42 days without a confirmed case of this often-fatal disease, the Voice of America (VOA) reported.

“WHO commends Liberia’s government and people on their effective response to this recent re-emergence of Ebola,” said Dr. Alex Gasasira, the organization’s representative in Liberia.

“WHO will continue to support Liberia in its effort to prevent, detect and respond to suspected cases,” he assured.

This is the fourth time that Liberia has been declared free of the virus since the epidemic began in December 2013. The most recent flare-up was traced to a woman who had been exposed to the virus in Guinea and traveled to Liberia with her children. They subsequently became infected thereby spreading the virus.

By late last year, when the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak virtually over, the virus had killed more than 11,000 people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the three most seriously affected West African countries.

The Kenyan Ministry of Health’s program to modernize core healthcare services at 98 hospitals and government facilities across the country is being heralded as “the first Government-led program of its kind in Kenya – and one of the largest undertaken to date in Africa to support sustainable healthcare development.” As a technology provider, GE Healthcare will supply the radiology modernization tranche of the program as well as training and technical support for medical staff to ensure the optimal operation of the equipment. Read more. More about GE in Africa in this BRIEFING.

In Pic: Patients wait to be treated at Mgabathi Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya on June 15, 2016. Mgabathi Hospital is one of the 98 hospitals in Kenya that will benefit from the program being led by the Ministry of Health to modernize core healthcare services at key government facilities across the country.