Photo Stories

Congo bolsters diagnosis to curb TB infections

Brazzaville – Access to tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis as a crucial first step to detect and treat the disease remains a huge challenge in Congo, where around half of the estimated 21 000 TB cases are detected every year.

Scaling up genomic sequencing in Nigeria

Nigeria has stepped up COVID-19 genomic surveillance to effectively track the evolution of the virus and adjust responses to pandemic waves driven by variants of concern. The country began carrying out genomic sequencing in March 2020. Currently it can carry out around 500 sequences per month. Before the pandemic, the country only had two laboratories with sequencing capacity. Genomic sequencing is currently done through a network of four laboratories coordinated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s National Reference Laboratory.

Congo boosts COVID-19 fight with community testing

COVID-19 cases have been on the rise in the Republic of the Congo in recent weeks, prompting the authorities to ramp up control measures. A community screening campaign, with the support of World Health Organization (WHO), is underway in hotspot locations involving mobile health teams visiting communities to trace contacts of known COVID-19 cases, relay public health information and see that those who test positive receive treatment at home or referred to health facilities. The campaign kicked off on 25 October and runs for 10 weeks.

No-cost diabetes care saving young lives in Kenya

Tala, Kenya — Four years ago 15-year-old Simon Maingi was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, but only after several hospital visits. Many children with this condition, which requires daily insulin administration to survive, die before they are diagnosed, says Zacharia Ndegwa Muriuki, the head of Kenya’s National Diabetes Prevention Control Programme.