Posts in category: Uncategorized

A good night’s sleep is essential for everyone. In individuals with Huntington’s disease (HD), sleep disturbances constitute an additional burden that may exacerbate disease outcomes and impact patients’ quality of life. In a special issue of the Journal of Huntington’s Disease , researchers review what is, and perhaps more importantly, what is not known about sleep and circadian rhythms in HD.

Many websites selling home fertility tests, also known as the “egg timer” test, directly to consumers are making misleading claims about their usefulness, a University of Sydney led study has found.

A new form of screening may improve survival rates among people with a fast-growing type of brain tumor by helping identify those most likely to benefit from certain treatments.

Research funding drives advances in research and leads to discoveries. In the field of basic research, research funds allocated to researchers by public organizations (in Japan, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research: KAKENHI) account for a large portion of research funds.

Australia has experienced an intense surge in severe Strep A cases, similar to the northern hemisphere wave, despite differences in seasons and circulating respiratory viruses, according to a new study.

IT may be pointless, but we will not tire speaking out for the ordinary Zambian seriously impacted by the shambolic state of our health care system.

The recent recall of drugs imported from India is but the tip of the malaise afflicting our moribund health system, where patients are daily dying from cancer for lack of a radiation machine while the Ministry engages in the construction of more hospitals.

This does not make any sense, but nothing does considering the politicisation of the health sector where the loss of life is simply collateral to political gains.

In a normal functioning health system, the recall of drugs should have been accompanied by a full audit of regularity of purchase but most important a thorough study of the effects that the offending molecules may have caused on patients who ingested them.

In our case, this does not matter.

 Government is clearly not coping with the pitiable shadow of what used to be a robust system aspiring and striving for more efficient levels of service delivery. Now even the most rudimentary of services including procurement of medicines and medical supplies is a struggle.

We say so because of the shambolic manner in which these important health requirements are being handled, leading to the recalls and subsequently under stocking in government health institutions. Considering the long delay in the procurement of replacement drugs. Understocking will therefore persist, with some health facilities having no medicines at all.

The unraveling of the medical supply chain has clearly been laid bare.  This is an indictment of the ministry of Health and just how ill-prepared government is in as far as procurement of medical supplies and medicines are concerned.

At this rate, we could rightly conclude that there is no definitive system to provide any form of rigor, let alone regularity and due diligence of the medical supplies brought in the country.

Otherwise how does the ministry of Health explain the importation of medicines and medical supplies which do not meet WHO standards? 

The medicines and allied substances manufactured by Glumex Pharmaceutical MFG of India have been recalled from the Zambian market through advertisements in the print media.

According to a notice in the local media, Pharma Plus Limited writes, “We wish to notify our clients that Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) has directed us to recall all medical products manufactured by the above  mentioned company in India, due to non-compliance with W.H.O current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) guidelines.”

The procurement system is well known or should be well known to the technocrats and should be followed when procuring medicines and other allied substances. 

There should be no room for short-cuts, for in there lies danger for the millions of Zambians relying on government health institutions for treatment.

Public life should be treated with care and not this willy-nilly conduct that has become characteristic of the Ministry of Health where everything goes. 

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By MICHAEL MIYOBA

THE Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has encouraged CAF envoys Power Dynamos and FC MUZA to finish off the job at home after picking mixed results in the first preliminary round first leg fixtures played over the weekend.

The Zambian Champions, Power Dynamos were stunned 2-1 by African Stars of Namibia in a game played in Johannesburg while FC MUZA held Cono Sports of Equatorial Guinea to a 1-1 stalemate.

The results impressed FAZ Chief Andrew Kamanga who believes that next weekends fixtures will be crucial for the continental envoys as they push for qualification to the next round.

Kamanga said both Power Dynamos and FC MUZA have what it takes to match on to the final preliminary stage.

“A big congratulations to debutants MUZA who recorded a 1-1 away draw to Cano Sport in Malabo while Power Dynamos lost 2-1 to Namibian outfit African Stars in South Africa but are still in with a chance at home,” Kamanga said.

“There CAF campaign is no longer a club affair but a national one and we urge everyone to come in droves and support our flag carriers,” he said.

Kamanga said Power Dynamos and FC MUZA’s progress on the continent will ultimately translate in progress for the whole country.

Meanwhile Kamanga said that is it was refreshing to catch some action across the league which resumed last weekend.

Kamanga is hopeful that this season will be better than last season because teams have given some sense of appreciation of improved game management especially around stadium safety and security

“It is our prayer that we do not have to resort to extreme disciplinary measures to curb some of the ugly incidences we witnessed in the previous season. There should be no room for thuggery and hooliganism in our game,” Kamanga said.

Kamanga also congratulated Chipata United for winning the play offs to replaced suspended Buildcon FC in the National Division One League.

Kamanga said that it is encouraging to see that the National Division One league extends beyond the traditional power houses.

On the 2023 FIFA Womens WORLD Cup which was finally scooped by Spain who defeated England 1-0 in the final Kamanga who congratulated Spain said; “There are plenty of lessons from the 2023 FIFA Women World Cup that we were privileged to be part of. It is now time to conduct a thorough postmortem and build on the world cup experience. Our eyes now are on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers and the WAFCON qualifiers that commence soon.”

Even though neurodegenerative diseases often strike in middle age or later, patients could have structural differences in their brains that arise before birth.

Our behavior is controlled through neural circuits in the brain. Molecular disturbances can lead to stereotypical behavior, as seen in neuropsychiatric disorders such as obsessive-compulsive and autism spectrum disorders.

A new study led by investigators from Mass General Brigham has found that ChatGPT was about 72% accurate in overall clinical decision making, from coming up with possible diagnoses to making final diagnoses and care management decisions.