The patient in Morocco is a Moroccan man living in Italy, the Reuters news agency reports, and he is receiving treatment at a hospital in Casablanca, the largest city of Morocco.

His health condition is not critical, the ministry is quoted as saying in a statement.

The case was confirmed after tests at the Institut Pasteur-Maroc returned positive, according to the state-owned Maghreb Agency Press.

News of Morocco’s first patient on Monday coincides with similar confirmations in Tunisia and Senegal.

Tunisia’s Health Minister Abdelatif el-Maki told journalists on Monday that their patient was a 40-year-old Tunisian man, who arrived in the country by boat from Italy on 27 February.

Source; BBC

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The development of CRISPR Cas 9

In the same manner, as DNA developed and so is the technology of Clustered Inter Spaced Repeated Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) Cas 9 unveiled by Jennifer Doudna that can be used to alter genes of an embryo.

Cas 9 is the enzyme that it uses to making cutting sequences. To relate, it would make sense to refer to Crispin Maslog in paraphrasing a discussion of the world receiving results of the first gene-edited babies in November 2018. The babies were twins whose identical names were not mentioned here for security purposes. This invention which took place in the above year was by the Chinese Scientist Crispin Maslog on SciDev.Net. This regarded as an achievement at the giving end turned out as a debatable topic on the receiving or consuming end.

As bioethicist always focuses on the receiving end of any bio-technological achievement. To make clarity of some key terms CRISPR Cas 9 is the recent bio-technology idea that replaces the commonly known DNA. This technology can be used to cut, edit and add parts of the genome.

A genome can literally be understood as a trait that passes on from one’s grandparents to parents and to him/her. These traits that get passed on are in other words inherited. These are inherited in their combination or coding that may lead to words people normally refer to a child and parent. The reference is normally in that the child resembles his/her parent. This resemblance is what can be understood as the genome.

The genome, therefore, that is being edited results into either a positive or negative effect onto the edited bacteria. This process of editing is done by CRISPR Cas 9. The reason as to why this can edit is because the Cas 9 as protein enzyme plays a very big role as a cutter, editor and alternator. This role of editing embryos from its totipotent stage can only be engineered by the CRISPR Cas 9 enzyme. The totipotent stage is that from which any part of the body can be altered or modified into a desirable.

This also led to the idea of what can be referred to as ‘designer babies”. This process of gene editing designer babies basically encompasses the notion of adding or removing traits to suit qualities desired like beautiful, handsome, a certain species type and intelligence.

PHOTO OF GENE-EDITING 

Example of a gene-editing process using CRISPR Cas 9

Twins as a result of gene-editing to remove HIV

The declaration of the seven couples whom Crispin and his colleges recruited with HIV had in some days been declared to have borne in a womb twins with HIV-resistant. These scientists’ steps through CRISPR Cas 9 to edit in either removing HIV genes and implanted into a womb got many disagreements of no proven evidence. This lead to the raising of ears like a cock or rabbit focusing of one to attentively hear and make judgment or conclusions.

Bioethical issues that arise

Just like the Chinese second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong attended by 700 Scientists noted the following day on 29^th Nov 2018 that “Even if the modifications are verified, the procedure was irresponsible and failed to conform to international norms,” and so do Bioethicists argue.

Bioethical issues that range from biological, physical, social, spiritual and psychological in nature start to arise.  These issues arise just as Crispin’s colleagues noted as I paraphrase that they too got surprised that the research made them debate of as to whether it really followed ‘ethical guidelines’.

According to a bioethical understanding of the steps of the use of humans beings being used as research subjects to be ethical has to follow the National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines. The guideline would question as to whether the research before the seven couples went through the first and second stage before the third of a small sample of human beings. If so did it reach this third level would now call for evidence.

This rising is powered by the fact that the genetic engineering story is looking at this imaginary story of Alphabetical letters of English Grammar. They are 26 alphabetical letters of which you and I English writers and speakers use to join words. The removal or addition of these letters gives either a positive or negative result. To the later, the removal can lead to either a positive or negative effect and to the addition in a reverse way. The removal for example of alphabetical letters like a, e, o, i, and u will surely lead to the disappearance of some words hence affecting the alphabetical letters negatively. This means the opportunities to do many things is limited. In this same veil could be editing a gene that is inherited.

To refer to the inherited gene can best further be understood in our previous example of the resemblance of a child, parent, and grand-parents. When the genes that created resemblance of character, behaviour and maybe empathy are removed then the semblance that was shared between the lineages are lost. Bioethicists would not in any way give a go-forward to a research proposal of such nature because of the distortion.

On a second imagination, it is done to over 5 generations of 50 years. This means literally that a culture, tribe, and race might extinct and this will surely cause social stigma.

The most crucial gene editing notion that calls bioethics to play is whether we should proceed with it because of the end we focus on or also pay attention to the means used to attain the goal. In any case to take a simple example, when Chris is hungry and needs something to eat and know very well that their neighbour’s cassava in the garden is ready and uproots without permission to feed on. In this simple scenario, Chris will get satisfied and hunger no more. On the other hand if we are to question would Chris have used the best means to solve hunger?

In this case of the gene-edited babies so do we question the means used through CRISPR Cas 9 that fellow 700 scientists questioned its ethics. The goal of attaining HIV free twin babies was achieved but it shouldn’t be a justification of not bothering of the means used.

Bioethicists would recommend instead to use a means that everybody in this case scientists would also conform to gene editing to attaining any desired result. Furthermore, any means thought of for a process should be prior subjected to ethical or research ethics review.

JURUA Charles

Master of Arts in Bioethics –Finalist

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 Medical Robot Assistants, courtesy Photo

Robots are deployed with an aim to curb the spread of the virus and to reduce the risk of infecting medical personnel. According to  the local media, robots are  deployed  in city hospitals such as Guangzhou, Jiangxi, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin.

The 5G-powered medical robots are equipped with cameras that allow remote video communication, patient monitoring and safely delivery medical goods (medicine) to patient.

Delivery robots,courtesy photo

Keenon Robotics Co., a Shanghai-based company, deployed 16 robots of a model nicknamed “little peanut” to a hospital in Hangzhou.

Wuhan coronavirus Hospital built in 10 Days, courtesy photo

companies that had a hand in the deployment of robots

Siasun Robot and Automation Co. donated seven medical robots and 14 catering service robots to the Shenyang Red Cross to help hospitals combat the virus

JD.com Inc. is testing the use of autonomous delivery robots in Wuhan

China Mobile Ltd. donated one 5G robot each to both Wuhan Union Hospital and Tongji Tianyou Hospital.

The increased quantity of robots deployed to combat the coronavirus has helped accelerate China’s path to the goal it had already set for itself. The country wants to become one of the world’s top 10 most intensively automated nations by the end of this year.

Source; https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-06/virus-pushes-robots-to-the-frontlines-of-hospitals

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Scientists believe that the drug named “Pyramax” has the capacity to remain active in the body system for long period of time.

The country manager of Shin Poong Pharm, a Korean company behind the drug, Mr Bob Peter Okello, revealed that the new drug is an answer to disturbing cases malaria.

“The clinical trials have captured so far over 9,000 people. The drug is very tolerable to most patients who took it .If you look at the studies and compare it with other drugs on market in terms of clearing the parasite in the body that is causing malaria, it’s actually faster,” Mr Okello said.

“We have learnt that 17 years have been invested in developing this product. It is in the interest of the anti-malaria community to constantly develop alternatives. Mosquito parasites have constantly changed and therefore, we need to develop new tools to match their ability to change,”
National Malarial Control programme, Dr Jimmy Opigo said during the launch of the drug on Friday.

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According to an official with the World Health Organization, two treatment units have been established in the western border districts of Kasese and Bundibugyo to respond to any deadly Ebola outbreak,

“Ebola Treatment Units are where patients can get the best care possible with access to rehydration methods and protection from infecting their family and community,” Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, Uganda’s WHO Representative said.

Woldemariam said the treatment units were fully equipped and ready to manage any Ebola cases in the East African country. Although there are no confirmed Ebola cases in Uganda, the country remains on high alert following an outbreak in the neighboring Congo.

Ebola is highly contagious and can cause a range of symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain and in many cases internal and external bleeding. The WHO says as of Aug. 21, there are 103 confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC, with 61 deaths 32 were confirmed and 27 were probable.

Mortality rates of Ebola, according to WHO, are high, with the human case fatality rate ranging from 50 percent to 89 percent, depending on viral sub-type.

The current Congolese outbreak mirrors the 2014 West African outbreak that saw more than 11,000 deaths, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Liberia. There were also 11 cases of Ebola in the United States tied to the outbreak, including four deaths.

Read also:

Ebola hits DR Congo again

Kenyans protest against detention of Bobi Wine

Why fire tear-gas, why fire bullets, Museveni questions Police

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A team from Doctors Without Borders dons protective clothing and equipment as they prepare to treat Ebola patients in an isolation ward of Mbandaka hospital in Congo

The government of Uganda through State Minister for Health and General Duties, Sarah Opendi, has denied reports of Ebola outbreak  in the country.

Earlier reports had indicated that there has been an outbreak in Mubende district, located in central Uganda.

“We would like to inform the public that there is no Ebola outbreak in Mubende District or any other part of the country,” Uganda’s Daily Monitor reported State Minister for Health-General Duties, Sarah Opendi as saying.

Opendi said that the earlier report of Ebola in the media was actually a case of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF).

“On the night of May 21, a 35-year-old male from Nkoko sub-county in Bugangaizi county, Kakumiro district presented at Melt Care Clinic with a high fever and vomiting and was admitted for two days,” said Opendi

“As his condition deteriorated he was transferred to Mubende Regional Referral Hospital several days later, put in the hospital’s isolation ward and given intravenous fluids. However, he died the same night,” the minister added saying that tissue samples from the deceased were sent to the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI).

“The attendants of the deceased who included his expectant wife and four others were immediately quarantined and they are closely being monitored. To mitigate any possible exposure from contact with the suspect, all material used by the deceased, including a trolley and beddings were burnt,” she added.

Further measures have been taken by the authorities to prevent the spread of CCHF.

VIDEO: No Ebola outbreak in Uganda — health ministry – YouTube

ALSO READ:Uganda likely to miss middle income target, report

ALSO READ:Uganda yet to win battle against tobacco use

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A man lights a cigarette Uganda banned cigarette smoking in public

As the world prepares to commemorate World No Tobacco Day on Thursday, Uganda is striving to fight against the use of the substance which is a source of income to some people and yet a drain to the economy in terms health care.

World Health Organization (WHO) in a statement issued on Wedneday May 30, 2018 said in Uganda the cost of tobacco use constitutes 0.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while expenditure on treating tobacco induced illness is 2 percent of the National Health Expenditure.

ALSO READ: American national stung to death by wasps

The statement noted that tobacco causes over 1 in 10 heart diseases, including stroke.
This year’s theme, ‘Tobacco and heart disease,’ focuses on tobacco use as a key risk factor for developing heart and related diseases, including stroke.
A study, “The Health Cost of Tobacco in Uganda,” released last year shows that the total cost of tobacco use including the direct cost of treatment and the indirect costs of loss of income and productivity from death and disability is 126.48 million U.S. dollars.

The study indicates that the total health cost outweighs the market value (81.22 million dollars) of tobacco products or the assumed benefits of tobacco use in Uganda.

Global annual costs from tobacco use, according to WHO, is 1.4 trillion dollars in health care expenditure and lost productivity from illness and premature death.
The health body says there is need to highlight the dangers associated with using tobacco, and to press for policies to reduce its use.

Uganda enacted a Tobacco Act about three years ago spelling out stringent measures to curb the produce, import, use and promote tobacco products.
The law banned advertising, promotion and sponsorship by tobacco manufacturers, distributors and sellers.
Government also banned importation, manufacture and sale of tobacco products which do not conform to standards. The country’s tax body, Uganda Revenue Authority, recently destroyed contraband cigarettes worth 410,000 dollars.
The law also made it illegal to smoke in public places.

Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary ministry of health recently said that whereas the country has a good law, it needs to be implement to realize the desired results.
Atwine said government would embark on sensitizing young people on the dangers of smoking.
“The percentage of young people with mental illness is associated with drug abuse. Young people fancy smoking shisha this is dangerous,” she said, noting that in their campaign against smoking, they will target university students.

She said the ministry would also destroy a 40-feet container full of shisha pots and related apparatus that were confiscated from bars and restaurants across the country.

Civil society organizations are also pushing companies to have in place regulations against the use of tobacco.
Primah Kwagala, an official of The Center for Health, Human Rights and Development, a civil society organization, told reporters recently that companies which fail to protect employees from smokers will face civil litigation.
Tobacco farmers, however, protest the increased pressure to stop tobacco use arguing that their household income is reducing.

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Luttamaguzi while presenting a matter of national importance noted that more than 600 patients have been affected in the area with the doctors advising them to buy them from the black market.

Luttamaguzi said that many of the patients can not afford to buy these drugs daily as they are prescribed but says many of them are poor and can not afford these drugs which he says is going to put their lives in danger.

The minister of State for General duties, Sarah Opendi, denied the scarcity of ARVS in the country saying these drugs are with national medical stores but that as for septrine they had funding gap which has resulted into scarcity.

She added that the drug will be available in July.

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David Bahati – Internet Photos

Government has apologized for the delay in releasing the approved funds for treatment and management of nodding disease.

The minister of State for Planning, David Bahati made the apology after the MP for Tochi County, Peter Okot, raising the matter on the floor of parliament.

Bahati said that the Ministry of Finance is to sign a warrant releasing this money which was authorized by parliament through a supplementary budget.

On 14th March this year, parliament approved 1.2 billion shillings to support eight districts and two regional referral hospitals for treatment and management of nodding disease but the money has not been released.

ALSO READ: State House disowns claims by Lands Minister Betty Amongi

RELATED:President Museveni orchestrated spread of nodding disease – Besigye

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The statistics released by George Kawage, a senior statistician with Uganda Bureau of Statistics, during the dissemination seminar of findings from the Uganda Demographic and health services survey for Kigezi region held at White Horse Inn Hotel in Kabale Municipality.

The survey also indicated that in Kigezi region, 14 percent of women give birth from private health facilities, 56percent opt for public health facilities as only one percent give birth from other unidentified places.

The 2016 Uganda Demographic and health services survey is the 6th conducted in the country since 1988 as part of the Demographic health survey program. The survey is designed to provide estimates at the national level,Urban and rural areas in each of the 15 regions in the country.

Dr. Asaph Byamugisha a medical officer with Rukungiri district local government condemned the practice of some women giving birth from their homes and described the practice as unfortunate.

Byamugisha said that delivering from homes puts mothers at risks of heavy bleeding, retaining of the placenta which can in turn lead to loss of life. He added the practice also increases the risks of HIV spread to newly born babies.

Byamugisha advised women in the region to always embrace delivering from health facilities for their well being and for the well being being of their babies and families in general.

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