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Josephine Chinele, CNS Correspondent, Malawi For many February is a month of love, as Valentine’s Day is celebrated. But 27 year old Elisa, based in Lilongwe, remembers this month because of her father who died of cancer. “Of course, World Cancer Day is commemorated on 4th of February every year. But I feel that the disease should be remembered all the time and efforts to control it intensified and renewed every year,” she says. “My father was a chain smoker. He had a prolonged cough for more than 2 years,” narrates Elisa. Elisa’s father died of lung cancer, which was diagnosed at an advanced stage. She says her father wasted much of his illness time believing that he had been bewitched. “He was a successful tobacco farmer in our village, and therefore thought that people were jealous of him. He only accepted to go to the hospital when he became very weak.” Elisa’s father is one of the more than 20% of all people around the world who have died of cancer due to smoking. Statistics point...

Josephine Chinele, CNS Correspondent, Malawi Over 50% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Malawi develop TB at some point of time and 7% of TB patients die whilst on treatment. International Union against TB and Lung Disease Press Statement titled TB 2016 and AIDS 2016: Jointly Tackling the Co-epidemic released in July this year says that these diseases together make up a co-epidemic, posing unique challenges to individuals and communities that bear the burden of both diseases at the same time. This is deeply entangling, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries like Malawi, as TB has become the leading cause of death among those who are HIV-positive, despite the fact that today HIV infection can be managed with antiretroviral therapy (ART), and TB can be cured in the vast majority of cases. When a person develops HIV, the immune system loses its ability to fight off infections, making him/her more vulnerable to developing other diseases like TB. PLHIV are especially vulnerable t...

Josephine Chinele, CNS Correspondent, Malawi About 57% of persons who smoked smoking 30 cigarettes per day for 25 years died of some cardiovascular disease (CVD) as compared to only 36% of non-smokers, says the World Health Organisation (WHO). It further says that a long-term study of men aged 40–59 years found a significant connection between tobacco consumption and death by CVD. The WHO information also points out that tobacco use is a universal but avoidable risk factor for many diseases, including CVDs. Apart from tobacco consumption, raised blood pressure (hypertension), raised blood glucose level (diabetes), obesity and physically inactivity, are also high risk factors of developing CVDs. CVD is a term used to describe a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels and includes coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, congenital heart disease and deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. 31% of all global deaths are attributed to CVDs – this equates to roughly 17....

Josephine Chinele, CNS Correspondent, Malawi Each year, leaders from around the world descend on New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. Last year marked the historic adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, which replaced the Millennium Development Goals. The SDGs marked a turning point in the way broad, global issues are addressed. However, it remains to be seen what impact they will have. The SDGs cover a number of important social and developmental areas, including climate change and resilience, global health, and economic empowerment. In total, there are 17 goals and 169 targets. SDG Goal 3, with its 13 targets, focuses on global health. Even as all 17 goals are equally important, they cannot be achieved if the nationals of the member states are not healthy. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) almost all of the other 16 goals are directly related to health or will contribute to health indirectly. Malawi’s public health system is beset ...